Iran has threatened to attack any US navy ships that enter the Strait of Hormuz shortly after American vessels moved through the channel for the first time since the war broke out.
Tehran warned Pakistani mediators that “if the vessel continues to move, it will be targeted within 30 minutes, and the Iranian-American negotiations will suffer,” a Foreign Ministry spokesperson told Khabar Network, according to Fars News Agency.
The warning comes just after reports broke that two US vessels had crossed the strait for the first time in months in a move that “was not co-ordinated with Iran”, as US President Donald Trump said Saturday that the US had started “clearing out” the strategic waterway.
The US Navy guided-missile destroyers passed through the strait with no issues reported, The Wall Street Journal reported, citing three US officials.
“We’re now starting the process of clearing out the Strait of Hormuz,” Mr Trump said on his Truth Social platform, calling it “a favour” to countries such as China, Japan and France that “don’t have the Courage or Will to do this work themselves.”
The US, Pakistan and Iran, meanwhile, held face-to-face trilateral talks in Islamabad on Saturday, the White House said, as top officials met to try and end the war in the Middle East.
A senior White House official said the three sides were holding the direct talks in person, a departure from recent practice where Washington and Tehran held talks only through a mediator while seated in separate rooms.
The US delegation included Vice President JD Vance, US envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, the White House said. It did not say who from the Iranian or Pakistani sides was taking part.
