The Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) Navy says the management of the Strait of Hormuz has entered a new stage.

The IRGC Navy made the announcement in a post on its social media account on Friday, two days after a temporary Pakistan-mediated ceasefire went into force between Tehran and Washington following the failure of the US and Israel to achieve their objectives after 40 days of war against the Iranian nation.

“The two days of silence in military battle clearly showed to friends and enemies that the management of the Strait of Hormuz has entered a new phase,” it said.

The announcement echoed Thursday’s remarks by Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Mojtaba Khamenei, who said Iran will “take the management of the Strait of Hormuz to a new stage.”

The United States and the Israeli regime launched their illegal act of aggression against Iran on February 28, but the Iranian armed forces responded by launching 100 waves of missile and drone operations targeting locations in the Israeli-occupied territories as well as US military bases and assets across the region.

Iranian forces also blocked the Strait of Hormuz to oil and gas tankers affiliated with the adversaries and those cooperating with them in an attempt to maintain security at the strategic waterway.

The US sought to form a coalition to open the strategic waterway, asking NATO countries to contribute naval and air assets. However, most of Washington’s allies have declined to commit forces.

Additionally, on Friday, South Korea’s Foreign Ministry said the country will send a special envoy to Iran to examine the situation in West Asia amid conflicting reports about the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz.

It added that the decision had been taken during a telephone conversation between top top Iranian and South Korean diplomats.

Meanwhile, Hamid Hosseini, spokesman for the association of Iranian oil product exporters said that the acceptance of Iran’s proposed provisions about the security and legal regime of the Strait of Hormuz as part of the truce agreement can be one of the most important diplomatic achievements in recent decades.

The strait was previously open, but now some international analysts believe that new conditions could benefit Iran, Hosseini noted.

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• Talks won’t start until US fulfil previous demands: Iran.
  

Iran said on Friday that blocked Iranian assets must be released and that a ceasefire must take hold in Lebanon before peace talks can proceed, throwing last-minute doubt over negotiations scheduled for Saturday in Pakistan.

Iran’s parliament speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf said on X that the two measures had been previously agreed with the US and warned that negotiations would not start until they are fulfilled.

There was no immediate comment from the White House.

Earlier, Vice President JD Vance, who will lead the US delegation, set off for the talks in Pakistan saying he expected a positive outcome. But “if they’re going to try to play us, then they’re going to find the negotiating team is not that receptive”, Vance added.

Iran has been unable to obtain tens of billions of dollars of its assets in foreign banks, mainly from exports of oil and gas, due to US sanctions on its banking and energy sectors.

Tenuous truce

US President Donald Trump announced a two-week ceasefire in the six-week war on Tuesday, just hours before a deadline after which he had threatened to destroy Iran’s civilisation.

However, the truce is tenuous with Israel’s continuing bombardment of Lebanon and the ongoing closure of the Strait of Hormuz proving key sticking points for both sides.

The ceasefire has halted the campaign of US and Israeli air strikes on Iran. But it has so far done nothing to end the blockade of the strait, which has caused the biggest-ever disruption to global energy supplies, or to calm a parallel war waged by Israel against Iran’s Hezbollah allies in Lebanon.

Iran was doing a “very poor job” of letting oil through the strait, US President Donald Trump said in a social media post. He also warned Tehran against trying to collect fees from ships crossing it. “That is not the agreement we have!”

Israel has also said that its parallel campaign against Hezbollah in Lebanon was not part of the agreed ceasefire.

Israeli strikes continued across southern Lebanon on Friday, with more than a dozen people reported killed in various towns. One strike killed eight members of Lebanese state security forces, the country’s state media said.

• Vance warns Iran against trying to “play” Washington.
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• Iran’s nuclear enrichment will be part of talks: official sources.

ISLAMABAD: US Vice President JD Vance warned Iran on Friday against trying to “play” Washington, as he set off for talks in Islamabad aimed at transforming a fragile ceasefire into a lasting peace deal.

Despite the temporary truce struck between the foes, deep disagreements remain as to the way forward, and both sides have accused the other of failing to properly implement the current agreement.

“If the Iranians are willing to negotiate in good faith, we’re certainly willing to extend the open hand,” Vance told reporters before taking off from Joint Base Andrews in Maryland.

But “if they’re going to try to play us, then they’re going to find the negotiating team is not that receptive”, he said.

Since the ceasefire took effect, US President Donald Trump has voiced displeasure at Iran’s handling of the strategic Strait of Hormuz, which was meant to be reopened, while Tehran has reacted angrily to Israeli attacks in Lebanon, insisting that it too falls under the agreement.

Official sources say the talks in Islamabad will cover several sensitive points, including Iran’s nuclear enrichment and the free flow of trade through the strait.

Late Friday evening, all routes leading to the Serena Hotel, the expected venue, were blocked off with heavy security, while a large banner and digital signs along the expressway heralded the “Islamabad Talks”.

Iran has suggested that its participation could hinge on a halt to Israeli attacks on Lebanon: “The holding of talks to end the war is dependent on the US adhering to its ceasefire commitments on all fronts, especially in Lebanon,” said Esmaeil Baqaei, Iran’s foreign ministry spokesperson.

Iranian officials have said the Israeli strikes had rendered the Pakistan talks “meaningless”.

Nevertheless, Iran’s powerful Revolutionary Guards signalled they were committing to the ceasefire and had “not launched anything at any country”, according to the state broadcaster.

In a barrage of social media posts that sparked fears for the shaky truce, Trump on Thursday accused Iran of doing a “very poor job” of allowing oil through the Strait of Hormuz and of breaching the terms of their ceasefire agreement.

But Vance, who is leading the US delegation alongside special envoy Steve Witkoff and Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, told reporters: “We’re going to try to have a positive negotiation.”