US President Donald Trump has confirmed that US negotiators will be arriving in Islamabad today (Monday) to hold the second round of talks with Iran, while warning Tehran of dire consequences if it rejects a peace deal with Washington.

“My Representatives are going to Islamabad, Pakistan — They will be there tomorrow [Monday] evening, for Negotiations,” the US president wrote in a post on his Truth Social on Sunday.

He also accused Iran of a “total violation” of the two countries’ ceasefire for firing on ships near the Strait of Hormuz, and renewed a threat to wipe out Iran’s bridges and power plants unless it accepted his terms.

“We’re offering a very fair and reasonable DEAL, and I hope they take it because, if they don’t, the United States is going to knock out every single Power Plant, and every single Bridge, in Iran,” he warned. “NO MORE MR. NICE GUY!”

Meanwhile, conflicting reports have emerged over the composition of the US delegation for the second round of talks with Tehran.

Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, and Special Envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff were heading to Islamabad for the talks, Axios quoted the US president as saying.

The report came shortly after NBC News reported that Vice President JD Vance — who led Washington’s delegation in the previous talks — will be part of the delegation for the second round.

Citing the US ambassador to the United Nations, the publication said that Vance will lead the delegation.

Global oil prices fell and stock markets surged on Friday when Iran first announced it would reopen the strait, which it had effectively closed to all shipping apart from its own since Trump and Israel launched the war on February 28.

But after Trump said he would continue a blockade of Iranian shipping, Tehran said on Saturday it was keeping the strait closed. At least two ships reported they had been fired upon while approaching the strait on Saturday.

“Iran decided to fire bullets yesterday in the Strait of Hormuz — A Total Violation of our Ceasefire Agreement!” Trump wrote in Sunday morning’s post. “That wasn’t nice, was it?”

Security on high alert

Meanwhile, an advance team from the US has arrived in Islamabad as Pakistan prepares to host the second round of talks between Washington and Tehran, sources said on Sunday.

Advance teams from foreign delegations have begun arriving in the country ahead of the much-anticipated talks, sources said.

Authorities in Islamabad and Rawalpindi heightened security in the federal capital, sealing off the Red Zone to all traffic.

The Middle East conflict began on February 28, following joint strikes by the US and Israel against.

The scope of the conflict quickly spread as Tehran effectively blocked the Strait of Hormuz and launched retaliatory attacks against Israel and US bases across the Gulf region.

After agreeing to the PM Shehbaz-facilitated ceasefire, the two sides held negotiations in Islamabad over the last weekend on a wide range of disputes. However, the talks could result in an agreement for a permanent end to the conflict.

However, Pakistan continued its marathon efforts to help resolve longstanding disputes between the two sides, including COAS-CDF Field Marshal Asim Munir’s visit to Tehran, where he met Iran’s top political and military leadership.

A day after CDF Munir’s visit, Iran declared the Strait of Hormuz open, citing the agreement of a ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon.

However, the country blocked the waterway again, citing Washington’s naval blockade of Iranian ports as the reason.

Despite lingering issues, Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf said talks with Washington have seen “progress,” but “many gaps and some fundamental points remain.”

“We are still far from the final discussion,” said Ghalibaf in a televised address earlier today.

US forces killed three men whom ​the military described as ‌illicit drug smugglers in a strike on a boat in ​the Caribbean, US Southern ​Command said on Sunday.

Southern Command ⁠posted what it said ​was a video of the ​strike on the social media platform X, showing an explosion of a ​small boat travelling on ​open water.

The boat was travelling on “known ‌narco-trafficking ⁠routes in the Caribbean,” Southern Command said.

The US military has so far killed 157 ​alleged ​members ⁠or affiliates of drug organisations in 45 ​strikes against drug trafficking ​vessels ⁠in the Western Hemisphere, a senior US defence official said ⁠last ​month.

Four contenders are squaring up to succeed Antonio Guterres as leader of the United Nations, which faces unprecedented global instability, wars and its own crushing budget crisis.

Chile’s Michelle Bachelet, Argentina’s Rafael Grossi, Costa Rican Rebeca Grynspan, and Senegal’s Macky Sall will each face grillings by 193 member states and NGOs for three hours on Tuesday and Wednesday.

It is only the second time the UN has held a public Q&A, a format created in 2016 to boost transparency.

Ultimately the five permanent members of the UN’s top body, the Security Council, hold the power, wielding vetoes over who leads the global organisation as its secretary-general.

US President Donald Trump’s envoy to the Manhattan-based UN, Mike Waltz, has warned the next chief must align with “American values and interests” and that Washington would back the best candidate — not necessarily a Latin American woman, as some countries are demanding.

All four candidates to take over the embattled UN when Guterres departs on December 31, 2026 pledge to grow trust in the bitterly divided organisation that faces financial Armageddon because of Washington’s refusal to pay its bills.

Here is a look at the contenders:

Michelle Bachelet

A Chilean socialist brutally tortured by the regime of Augusto Pinochet, Bachelet became her country’s first woman president in 2006.

She went on to be the UN rights chief, a sensitive role in which she alienated some countries, especially China, which mauled her for reporting on alleged abuses of the Uyghur people.

Bachelet, 74, has said that she is “convinced” she has the experience “to confront a moment” marked by unprecedented crises and conflicts.

She is backed by Mexico and Brazil — but Chile withdrew its backing after far-right President Jose Antonio Kast took office.

Rafael Grossi

The 65-year-old Grossi, a career diplomat, has led the International Atomic Energy Agency since 2019, propelling him into the middle of the battle over Iran’s nuclear programme as well as the Russian occupation of Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant.

His handling of the two situations has drawn close scrutiny from the United States and Russia, which both have veto power on the Security Council.

Grossi has called for the UN to “return to its founding promise — to save humanity from the scourge of war.”

Rebeca Grynspan

Less well-known than her opponents, Grynspan — Costa Rica’s former vice president — leads the UN trade and development body UNCTAD, pulling off a diplomatic feat by brokering the Black Sea Grain Initiative between Moscow and Kyiv to allow grain exports following Russia’s invasion.

In her pitch to world leaders, the 70-year-old plays up her personal story as the daughter of Jewish parents.

She said they “barely survived” the Holocaust before emigrating to Costa Rica, stressing her attachment to the UN Charter, calling the document signed as World War II came to an end a “standing warning against the perils of dehumanisation, distrust and fragmentation.”

Macky Sall

Macky Sall, 64, is the only candidate who does not come from Latin America, from where the next UN boss should come, according to convention.

The former Senegalese president has stressed the link between peace and development in his pitch to lead the UN.

He said peace can never be “sustainable” if development is undermined “by poverty, inequality, exclusion and climate vulnerability.”

Proposed by Burundi, the current chair of the African Union, Sall is supported neither by the regional African bloc — 20 of its 55 members oppose him — nor by his own country.

Senegalese authorities accuse him of bloodily repressing violent political demonstrations that left dozens dead between 2021 and 2024.