When American and Iranian negotiators met last weekend in Islamabad, the US proposed a 20-year suspension of all Iranian nuclear activity, while Iran suggested a halt of three to five years, according to people familiar with the proposals.

Iran’s deputy foreign minister, Saeed Khatibzadeh, said no date had been set for the next round of negotiations, adding that a framework of understanding must ‌be agreed first.

US president Donald Trump had said on Friday there could be talks this weekend and that the two sides were “very close ​to making a deal”.

There were no signs on Saturday of preparations for new talks in the Pakistani capital, where the ‌highest-level US-Iran negotiations since the 1979 Islamic Revolution ended without agreement last ⁠weekend.

Senior national security aides gathered at the White House on Saturday morning. Mr Trump later went to the Trump National Golf Club with ⁠top envoy Steve Witkoff, one of his Iran negotiators.

Pressure for a way out of the war has mounted as Trump’s fellow Republicans defend narrow majorities in Congress in the November ‌midterm elections with US gasoline prices high, inflation ​rising and his own approval ratings down.

Oil prices fell about 10 per cent and ‌global stocks jumped on Friday on the prospect of marine traffic ​resuming through the strait. But hundreds of vessels and about 20,000 seafarers remain stranded in the Gulf awaiting passage through the waterway, shipping sources said.

Concern in the Strait of Hormuz remained after at least two vessels reported being attacked yesterday while trying to transit the waterway.

India summoned the Iranian ambassador in New Delhi and ⁠expressed deep concern that two Indian-flagged ships had come under fire in the strait, the government said.

US Central Command said American forces were enforcing a maritime blockade of Iran but did not comment on the latest Iranian actions.

Tehran’s reversal raised the risk that oil and gas shipments through the strait could remain disrupted just as Trump weighs whether to extend the ceasefire.

The Israeli ⁠military said this morning that ​one ⁠soldier ⁠was ​killed ⁠during ‌combat in southern ‌Lebanon, adding ‌that ⁠nine soldiers were wounded, including one ‌who ​was severely ‌injured.

Iran reversed course on Saturday to reassert control over the strait, again closing the energy choke point and adding fresh uncertainty to the war, which ⁠the US and Israel launched on 28 February.

Iran said it was responding to a continued US blockade of Iranian ports, calling it ​a violation of ⁠the ceasefire, while supreme leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei said ‌Iran’s navy was ready to inflict “new bitter defeats” on its enemies.

US president Donald Trump called the move “blackmail” even as he praised “very good conversations” with Tehran.

On Friday, Iran had announced the temporary reopening of the Strait of Hormuz following a separate US-brokered 10-day ceasefire agreement on Thursday between Israel and Lebanon.

Mr Trump defended the ‌US blockade and threatened “to start dropping bombs again” unless the countries reached a long-term deal ‌before the ceasefire expires on Wednesday.

Iran’s Supreme National Security Council said Tehran’s control over the strait included demanding the payment of costs related to security, safety and environmental protection services, state media said.

Iran’s top negotiator said recent talks with the US had made progress but gaps remained over nuclear issues and the Strait of Hormuz, while president Donald Trump cited “very good conversations” with Tehran despite warning against “blackmail” over the key shipping channel.

Neither side offered any specifics about the state of negotiations yesterday, days before a ⁠fragile ceasefire in the US-Israeli war against Iran is set to expire.

“We have had progress but there is still a big distance between us,” Iran’s chief negotiator, Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf, told state media, referring to talks last ⁠weekend. “There are some issues on which we insist … They also have red lines. But these ​issues ⁠could be just one or two.”

The war, now in its eighth week, has killed thousands, spread to Israeli attacks in Lebanon and sent oil prices surging because of the de facto closure of the strait, which before the war carried one-fifth of the world’s oil shipments.

• Iran closed the Strait of Hormuz again on Saturday, citing the continued US blockade.
• The Revolutionary Guards said the strait would remain shut until the blockade ends.
• The WSJ reported that the US was preparing to board Iran-linked tankers in international waters, widening the conflict.
• There was no sign weekend talks were expected to go ahead on Sunday, with just days left until the ceasefire ends.
• Trump reportedly called a meeting on Saturday to discuss the lingering issues with Hormuz and the stalled talks.

Donald Trump was adamant that Iran would not “blackmail” the United States as Tehran said it was reimposing its grip on the Strait of Hormuz.

Two tankers reported coming under fire in the channel on Saturday, as Iran declared it was closing the strait again due to the continued American presence in the area.

Trump played down the threat, saying Iran had “got a little cute”, after Iran’s supreme leader said his navy was ready to make the US “taste the bitterness of new defeats”.

“They wanted to close up the strait again, as they’ve been doing for years. They can’t blackmail us,” Trump said.

The US blockade on Iranian ports remains a point of major contention, with just days left before the two-week ceasefire agreement expires on Tuesday.

Trump insisted that “very good conversations” were ongoing, while Iran’s national security council said it was considering new proposals from the US, following mediation efforts by Pakistan in recent days.

Tankers in the Gulf came under fire on Saturday as Iran reimposed its blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, just hours after declaring the vital waterway had reopened to commercial traffic.

At least two vessels reported being struck by gunfire as they tried to cross the strait, after Tehran said it would be shutting the strategic chokepoint in response to the continued US blockade on Iranian ports.

Hopes for diplomacy were dashed as Iran’s new supreme leader Mojataba Khamenei said the nation’s navy was ready to inflict “new bitter defeats” on its enemies, with the US-Iranian ceasefire set to expire within days.

Read the full story of Saturday’s events here:

Iran is not yet ready to hold a new round of direct talks with the US, a senior Iranian official said on Saturday, citing Washington’s refusal to abandon “maximalist” demands on key issues.

Iranian deputy foreign minister Saeed Khatibzadeh told the Associated Press his country will not hand over its enriched uranium to the United States, against claims made by Donald Trump.

“I can tell you that no enriched material is going to be shipped to United States,” Khatibzadeh said. “This is a non-starter and I can assure you that while we are ready to address any concerns that we do have, we’re not going to accept things that are nonstarters.”

Khatibzadeh said there have been many exchanges of messages between the sides but accused the United States of holding firm on demands Iran deems to be excessive.

“We are still not there yet to move on to an actual meeting because there are issues that the Americans have not yet abandoned their maximalist position.”