US, Iran and mediators discuss terms for a 45-day ceasefire

[Twiglets1]

As reported by Axios, the U.S., Iran and a group of regional mediators are discussing the terms for a potential 45-day ceasefire that could lead to a permanent end to the war, according to four U.S., Israeli and regional sources with knowledge of the talks.

Four sources with knowledge of the diplomatic efforts said the negotiations are taking place through Pakistani, Egyptian and Turkish mediators and also through text messages sent between Trump's envoy Steve Witkoff and Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi.

• A U.S. official said the Trump administration gave Iran several proposals in recent days, but so far Iranian officials hadn't accepted them.
• The sources said the mediators are discussing with the parties the terms for two-phased deal; the first phase would a potential 45-day ceasefire during which a permanent end to the war would be negotiated.
• The ceasefire could be extended if more time were needed for talks, one of the sources said.
• The second phase would be an agreement on ending the war.
• The sources said mediators think that fully reopening the Strait of Hormuz and a solution for Iran's highly enriched Uranium — either through its removal from the country or dilution — could only be a result of a final deal.
• These two issues are Iran's main bargaining chips in the negotiations and the Iranians will not agree to fully give up on them for only 45 days of ceasefire, two of the sources said.
• The mediators want to see whether Iran could take partial step on both issues in the first phase of the deal. They are also working on steps the Trump administration could take to give Iran guarantees that the ceasefire will not be temporary and that the war will not resume.

www.axios.com/2026/04/06/iran-war-us-tehran-ceasefire-talks

Trump told reporters yesterday that negotiations would continue this weekend.

Negotiators for the two countries are planning to arrive in Islamabad on Sunday for the talks, Iranian sources told CNN, with peace talks scheduled for Monday.

Donald Trump said on Friday that he may end the ceasefire with Iran unless a long-term deal to end the war is agreed by Wednesday.

"Maybe I won't extend it, but the blockade (on Iranian ports) is going to remain," Trump told reporters on Air Force One on his way back to Washington from Arizona. "So you have a blockade, and unfortunately we have to start dropping bombs again."

Personally, I feel like the threat of dropping bombs is Trump hyperbole because it would work against the negotiations to start dropping bombs again. However, I imagine the US blockade continuing is not an idle threat as that seems to be working well in bringing Iran to the negotiating table and them making concessions.

I am not Piers Morgan, I don't need to up my performative virtue signalling by issuing condemnations.

Iran denied hitting the Kuwaiti desalination plant and Iran was extremely open listing every single entity they targeted in the 100 rounds of True promise 4, there were reports issued after every round like below (the spokesperson "appearing" in several LEGO videos):

"Operation True Promise 4 -wave 87- struck 5 US bases, military targets in occupied Palestine, and US-Zionist radar stations in the United Arab Emirates"

Kuwait can present the evidence that the attack originated from Iran.

Unfortunately , there were/are parties to this war who didn't want a ceasefire and would've benefited from escalation between the GCC states and Iran destroying each others infrastructure. It's uncanny how similar the American Lucas drone looks to the Iranian Shahed drone.

Ah I see Belle you are suggesting the water desalination plant could have been hit by the US.

The funny thing is posters would have no issue with what you call “performance virtue signalling” if the US was the culprit.

Give it a rest @Twiglets1

Iran's military closes Strait of Hormuz again

Iran's military says it is resuming its control of the Strait of Hormuz, according to Iranian state media.

The Fars News Agency, which is linked to the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC), the Iranian Students News Agency and state broadcaster IRIB cite a statement from the IRGC saying that the strait will return "to its previous state", with armed forces controlling the area.

It doesn't seem as if the SoH is really going to be open for business again until the US & Iran agree terms for a permanent ceasefire.

Which according to Trump will be done and dusted by Wednesday.

He may be being rather too optimistic with his timings but then again, weaponizing the SoH is hurting the Iran economy too now. And their economic problems were what triggered the last uprising so ... the IRGC do need to get this permanent ceasefire signed.

Iran's messaging is all over the place now ... a bit like Trump's.

Two days after saying the U.S. would NOT renew sanctions waivers on Russian or Iranian oil, Bessent’s Treasury quietly extended a license allowing Russian oil transactions for another month.

Yes I saw that.
Russia’s having a good war.

@BelleHathor that’s not even a straw to clutch at.
The IRGC did it.

Trump was again threatening that if Iran doesn't capitulate to his demands, then "unfortunately we'll have to start dropping bombs again"

I thought Trump said they destroyed the Iranian military?

Tanker reports being 'fired upon' by Iran gunboats as Tehran closes Strait

By gunboats they mean ribs or speed boats.
Iran will have quite a few of these small craft left.
The Iranian military is destroyed though, by any measurement.

Summary from Sky News this morning:

Iran reversed the brief reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, warning it will stay closed until the US blockade is lifted. Iranian gunboats have fired at vessels trying to pass through, with at least three reported attacks on commercial ships.

Iran's chief negotiator says big progress has been made in talks with the US but that a big distance still remains between the two sides, in comments reported on Iranian TV overnight.

Iran's enriched uranium remains the main sticking point, with the US pushing for it to be handed over.

"Gunboats" by the way are military speed boats, used by the IRGC

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seraj-class_speedboat

Yes those small boats is also my understanding and they can do a lot of damage and are hard to defend against.

Silly manoeuvre however by Iran to close the straight again if it's also hurting them ?

I believe Iran were being hurt anyway by the US blockade.

They hoped that by saying they would stop the blockade, the US would immediately follow.

But the US said they wouldn't do that until the peace deal was done.

I suppose the IRGC now realise that blocking the SoH wasn't such a smart move after all, as it has backfired on them and is now hurting their economy which was already in a terrible state before the war, hence the uprising of Iranian protestors in January.

If they carry on causing trouble with their gun boats the US might decide to destroy them too ... if a peace deal isn't done this week.

Yes so why block it again.

Ie they have blocked themselves also
.
Can they destroy the gun boats I read they are very fast appearing out of nowhere

Because they were blocked anyway (by the US).

Re destroying the gun boats @RoyalImpatience I'm not sure how easy or hard this would be to do.

As you say, they are very fast. But the US could have drones watching the sea from above at all times. I doubt the IRGC will be allowed to just carry on firing at tankers like it did with the India-flagged tanker Sanmar Herald.

The US have shown in recent years that they can and will blow high speed boats out of the water. Interesting times.

I still can't understand the Iranian logic here..

playing ball helps them ,this doesn't..

It doesn't inspire good will.
Re boats if it was that easy one thinks they may have done it already .

Maybe they are monitoring them and will come up with a plan

Well, not nowhere. There is loads of footage online of them being destroyed in harbors at night. Iran has a long coast so finding them all is difficult. On the open sea they would be very difficult to target, and some of them have anti-aircraft missiles.