President Trump says US Navy will begin blockade of Strait of Hormuz
The U.S. and Iran failed to reach a peace deal after 21 hours of negotiations.
President Donald Trump announced "major combat operations" against Iran on Feb. 28, with massive joint U.S.-Israeli strikes targeting military and government sites.
Trump set a deadline for Iran to fully reopen the Strait of Hormuz or face broad strikes on its critical infrastructure. Hours before the deadline expired, Trump said he had agreed to suspend planned bombing for two weeks if Iran agreed to reopen the Strait of Hormuz.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi then said that "safe passage through the Strait of Hormuz will be possible via coordination with Iran's Armed Forces and with due consideration of technical limitations."
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he supported the ceasefire with Iran, but that Lebanon -- where intense Israeli strikes continued -- was not covered by the agreement, despite Iranian protests.
Key Headlines
- US blockade of Iranian ports to begin Monday, CENTCOM says
- Military vessels approaching Strait of Hormuz 'will be met with severe force,' IRGC says
- DOJ will 'vigorously prosecute' buyers or sellers of sanctioned Iranian oil, Blanche says
- Despite blockade announcement, Trump urges Iran to open Strait of Hormuz
- President Trump says US Navy will begin blockade of Strait of Hormuz
Marathon high-stakes talks continue late into the night
The trilateral in-person negotiations between the U.S, Iran and Pakistan have continued into the early morning hours, according to the White House.
Asked about the state of ongoing negotiations being led by Vice President JD Vance, a senior White House official told ABC News: "15 hours and counting!"
The statement came shortly after 7:30 p.m. ET, which is 4:30 a.m. in Islamabad where the talks are taking place.
Both sides met first with Pakistani leaders before the historic sitdown Saturday, the highest level face-to-face meeting between the U.S. and Iran in 47 years.
In addition to Vance, special envoy Steve Witkoff and the president's son-in-law, Jared Kushner took part in the talks with top Iranian officials, including the speaker of the Iranian Parliament.
Trump says it 'makes no difference to him' if US, Iran make a deal or not
Speaking to reporters at the White House before leaving for Miami, President Donald Trump said he doesn’t “care” what happens with Iran negotiations because “regardless what happens, we win.”
“Whether we make a deal or not makes no difference to me,” Trump said.
Throughout the gaggle, Trump repeatedly asserted that the United States emerges victorious, no matter the result of the ongoing negotiations in Islamabad, Pakistan.
“We'll see what happens. Look, regardless we win. Regardless what happens, we win. We totally defeated that country. And so let's see what happens. Maybe they make a deal. Maybe they don't. From the standpoint of America, we win,” Trump said.
While claiming that the U.S. will open the Strait of Hormuz, the president repeated his usual criticism against other countries for their lack of assistance with the critical waterway.
“Now all we do is we'll open up the strait even though we don't use it, because we have a lot of other countries in the world that do use it, that are either afraid or weak or cheap,” he said.
Asked about Iran’s assets, which is a key point in the Iranian’s proposal, the president sidestepped and said the U.S. is in “very deep negotiations with Iran” before repeating the assertions that the U.S. will “win regardless.”
The president also repeated his claims from this morning that other countries are sending oil tankers to the U.S. to be filled with oil and gas, calling this a “beautiful thing.”
“One of the things that's happening is that boats are sailing up and heading out to our country – big, beautiful tankers, and we're loading them up with oil and gas and everything else and it’s pretty, beautiful thing to see,” he said.
Trump also acknowledged that Iran “probably [has] a couple of mines” in the Strait of Hormuz but emphasized that the U.S. has minesweepers to combat this.
“They probably have a couple of mines in the water. We have mine sweepers out there. We're sweeping these straight. In addition to that, we're negotiating,” Trump said.
-ABC News’ Emily Chang
Iran denies claims that US vessels entered Strait of Hormuz
A spokesperson for Iran's joint military command denied a claim by the United States that two Navy destroyers transited the Strait of Hormuz, saying "the initiative for the passage and movement of any vessel is in the hands of the Armed Forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran," according to Iranian state broadcaster IRIB.
-ABC News' Morgan Winsor
Trilateral meetings 'ongoing,' White House says
The White House confirmed that trilateral meetings between the U.S., Iran and Pakistan are ongoing on Saturday.
"Trilateral in-person negotiations are ongoing," a senior White House official said in a statement to ABC News.
-ABC News' Emily Chang