US, Iran to hold second round of peace talks in Pakistan? Trump says ‘over next two days...’

US President Donald Trump said on Tuesday that Iran talks could resume in Pakistan over the next two days, according to an interview with the New York Post.

"You should stay there, really, because something could be happening over the next two days, and we're more inclined to go there," Trump was quoted as saying.

Trump said Pakistan's Army chief, Field Marshal Asim Munir, was doing a "great job" on the talks. "He's fantastic, and therefore it's more likely that we go back there," Trump said.

“It's more likely, you know why? Because the field marshal is doing a great job,” Trump was quoted by the New York Post as saying.

"He's fantastic, and therefore it's more likely that we go back there," he said. "Why should we go to some country that has nothing to do with it?," Trump added.

Trump's comments came as Pakistan proposed hosting a second round in the coming days.

Two Pakistani officials told the Associated Press that the first talks were part of an ongoing diplomatic process rather than a one-off effort.

Meanwhile, two US officials said Monday that discussions were still underway about a new round of talks. A diplomat from one of the mediating countries said that Tehran and Washington had agreed to it, the Associated Press reported.

The talks could happen on Thursday, according to the US officials. The location, timing and composition of the delegations had not been decided, although Islamabad and Geneva are being considered as host cities.

The US-Iran war, now in its seventh week, has jolted markets and rattled the global economy as shipping has been cut off and airstrikes have torn through military and civilian infrastructure across the region.

The fighting has killed at least 3,000 people in Iran, more than 2,000 in Lebanon, 23 in Israel and more than a dozen in Gulf Arab states. Thirteen US service members have also been killed.

Trump announces blockade of Strait of Hormuz

The standoff between the United States and Iran deepened Tuesday as the US declared it had blockaded Iran's ports, Tehran threatened to strike targets across the region, and Pakistan said it was racing to bring the sides together for more talks.

The US and Iran delegations met in Pakistan over the weekend to hold peace talks after a two-week ceasefire was announced in the Middle-East war that began on February 28.

After the Islamabad talks, Trump said, “IRAN IS UNWILLING TO GIVE UP ITS NUCLEAR AMBITIONS!” In a post on TRUTH Social, Trump said, “…the meeting went well, most points were agreed to, but the only point that really mattered, NUCLEAR, was not.”

He also called Sharif and Munir “very extraordinary men.”

“I have been fully debriefed by Vice President JD Vance, Special Envoy Steve Witkoff, and Jared Kushner, on the meeting that took place in Islamabad through the kind and very competent leadership of Field Marshal Asim Munir, and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, of Pakistan,” Trump said after the meeting.

Though last week's ceasefire appeared to hold, the showdown over the Strait of Hormuz risked reigniting hostilities and deepening the regional war's economic fallout.

Meanwhile, in Washington, direct talks between Israel and Lebanon were set to begin, the first such negotiations in decades.