Sources said on Tuesday that negotiating?teams of the U.S., Iran, and other countries could return to Islamabad to resume the talks on ending the war this week, after the weekend's negotiations failed, prompting Washington to impose an?blockade against Iranian ports.

The U.S. oil blockade has angered?Tehran. However, the signs of?diplomatic engagement continuing have helped calm the oil markets and pushed benchmark prices below $100.

The weekend saw the highest-level discussions between the two rivals since the Islamic Revolution of 1979 end in Pakistan's capital without a breakthrough, which raised doubts about the future of the ceasefire agreement that has been in place for two weeks and still has one week left.

A source in the talks told us on Tuesday that both Iran and Washington could be back as soon as this week's end. They also said that Washington had received a proposal to send their delegations again.

A senior Iranian source said: "No date has been fixed, and the delegations are keeping Friday to Sunday open."

U.S. president Donald Trump said Iran was in contact on Monday, and that they wanted to reach a deal. He added that he wouldn't sanction any agreement which allowed Tehran to have a nuclear weapon.

Iran has effectively closed the Strait of Hormuz for all vessels, except those owned by it. It said that passage would only be allowed under Iranian control with a fee. The impact has been wide-spread, since nearly a fifth the world's oil & gas used to flow through the narrow waterway.

As a countermeasure the U.S. Military began blocking shipping in and out from Iran's port on Monday. Tehran has threatened that it will hit ships passing through the strait, and retaliate by attacking ports of its Gulf neighbours.

OIL SUPPLY PREDICTIONS CUT

The U.S. Blockade has further clouded global energy security, and the supply of many goods that depend on petroleum.

Britain and France, as well as the?NATO-allies of the United States, said that they would not get involved in the conflict by participating in the blockade. Instead, they stressed the importance of reopening the waterway.

The International Energy Agency cut sharply its projections for growth in global oil demand and supply on Tuesday, stating that both will now fall below levels of 2025 as the war in the Middle East disrupts the oil flow and weighs down on the global economic.

The demand for nuclear power remains firm

JD Vance of the U.S. Vice Presidency, who led Washington’s delegation against Iran’s Speaker of Parliament, Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf on Monday, said that Washington had "made much progress" in communicating to Tehran areas where Washington could "make some accommodations" and others where it would be rigid.

He said Trump was insistent that all enriched nuclear materials must be removed and that a system must be set up to verify that Iran does not develop nuclear weapons.

Vance, without divulging any further details, said that Tehran had "moved towards us, which is why we think we would say we had some positive signs, but they did not move far enough."

CEASEFIRE STILL HOLDING

Trump paused U.S.-Israeli airstrikes last week after threatening to destroy Iran’s “whole?civilisation” if it didn't reopen the strait.

The ceasefire that halted U.S. and Israeli strikes, as well as fire from Iran across Gulf in response, largely held its ground over the first week, despite harsh rhetoric from both parties.

A military spokesperson in Iran called U.S. restrictions against international shipping as "piracy," warning that no port on the Gulf of Oman or Gulf of Persia would be safe if Iranian ports are threatened. Iran's Revolutionary Guards warned that any military vessel approaching the strait will violate a ceasefire.

Trump claimed that the Iranian navy was "completely destroyed" in the war. He added that only a few "fast-attack vessels" were left.

Trump posted on Twitter: "Warning, if any of these ships get anywhere near our BLOCKADE they will be wiped out immediately."

Central Command of the?U.S. The Central Command of the U.S. military said that the blockade will be enforced against vessels entering or departing Iranian ports on the Gulf of Oman and Gulf of Gulf of Arabia. In a letter to seafarers, the military said that it would not interfere with neutral transit through the Strait of Hormuz for vessels going to or coming from non-Iranian ports.

Shipping data revealed that three Iranian-linked tankers transited the Strait of Hormuz during the first day of the U.S. ban on Tuesday. The vessels are not affected by the U.S. blockade as they do not travel to or from Iranian port.

(source: Reuters)