US-Iran talks stall as strikes widen and Lebanon truce frays
Why it matters: The impasse clouds a 2-month extension tied to reopening the Strait of Hormuz and wider nuclear talks.
Negotiations between Iran and the United States over an interim peace deal showed no recent progress, even as regional violence intensified and clashes continued in southern Lebanon. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said no tangible progress had been made in talks on a proposed two-month truce extension that would also have Iran reopen the Strait of Hormuz to commercial shipping. The diplomatic deadlock followed the worst skirmishes since an April 8 ceasefire took hold, including Iranian missile and drone attacks on Kuwait and Bahrain after a US strike on a tanker bound for Iran. The US also pushed a new Israel-Lebanon ceasefire that depends on Hezbollah halting attacks and withdrawing from border areas, but fighting persisted.