Washington 12 April 2026 #2

12 April 2026

After leading negotiations with Iran in Islamabad, Vice President JD Vance said “we go back to the U.S. having not come to an agreement. We’ve been made clear what our red lines are… the simple fact is that we need to see an affirmative commitment that they will not seek a nuclear weapon, and they will not seek the tools that would enable them to quickly achieve a nuclear weapon”. Iran’s parliamentary speaker, who also participated in the talks, asserted that “the opposing side ultimately failed to gain the trust of the Iranian delegation in this round”; Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi contended that “when just inches away from [an] ‘Islamabad MoU, we encountered maximalism, shifting goalposts and blockade”. President Trump announced that he had “instructed our navy to seek and interdict every vessel in international waters that has paid a toll to Iran. No one who pays an illegal toll will have safe passage on the high seas. We will also begin destroying the mines the Iranians laid in the Straits. Any Iranian who fires at us, or at peaceful vessels, will be blown to hell”. US. Central Command confirmed that it would “begin implementing a blockade of all maritime traffic entering and exiting Iranian parts” as of the morning of 13 April.