The US Navy has seized an Iranian-flagged cargo ship attempting to breach the American blockade in the Gulf of Oman – an act Iran immediately labelled piracy – as Tehran responded by closing the Strait of Hormuz for a second time in weeks, citing continued American violations of the ceasefire agreement.
The seizure came as Vice President JD Vance arrived in Islamabad to lead the US delegation in what both sides have described as make-or-break negotiations. Pakistan, which has emerged as the unlikely broker of the conflict, hosted 21 hours of talks that ended without agreement – with Iran’s refusal to abandon its nuclear programme remaining the central impasse.
Iran’s position has not shifted: the nuclear programme is non-negotiable, the Strait is sovereign territory, and the US is the aggressor. Washington’s position has not shifted either: maximum pressure, total denuclearisation, or no deal.
What has shifted is the cost. Oil prices surged again on the Strait closure, with approximately 20% of the world’s petroleum supply now subject to the whims of a waterway that has been opened and closed like a valve since the war began in late February. Insurance premiums for vessels transiting the Gulf have reached levels not seen since the Iran-Iraq war of the 1980s.
The seizure of the cargo ship raises uncomfortable questions about the legal framework the US is operating under. Under international maritime law, blockades require a formal state of war – which the US has not declared. Without a declaration, the seizure looks less like enforcement and more like the piracy Iran claims it is.
Meanwhile, the 21-hour talks in Islamabad produced nothing but a commitment to return to the table. When two sides talk for an entire day and walk away empty-handed, the question is not whether they disagree – it is whether either side came to agree at all.
