U.S. and Iran Report Progress in Peace Talks but Clash Over Strait of Hormuz Tolls

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said indirect negotiations with Iran have produced slight progress toward ending the war that began on February 28. " He added that the United States and its allies must prepare a Plan B if Iran refuses to reopen the Strait of Hormuz.

Rubio rejected Iranian efforts to impose tolls on commercial vessels transiting the strait. He said no country should accept a system that would allow Iran to charge fees for passage through the international waterway. President Trump told reporters on Thursday that his administration maintains total control of the strait and dismissed proposals for a joint payment system involving Oman.

Iranian state media reported that 35 vessels transited the strait in the past 24 hours after obtaining authorization from Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. Open-source tracking data showed traffic remains far below pre-war levels of roughly 138 ships per day.

The United States has pressed Iran to relinquish its stockpile of enriched uranium, which Washington fears could be used for nuclear weapons. Iran maintains the material is for peaceful purposes and has resisted calls to send it abroad. Iran's supreme leader issued a directive that near-weapons-grade uranium should not be sent out of the country.

Pakistan's Foreign Ministry said Friday it was not aware of any visit to Iran by Army Chief Field Marshal Syed Asim Munir, despite earlier reports from Iranian state media that he was traveling to Tehran as a mediator.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei said his country is not seeking concessions but is demanding the restoration of its rights, including the lifting of sanctions and the release of frozen assets. Four paramedics were killed Friday in an Israeli strike on an ambulance center in southern Lebanon, according to Lebanon's health ministry.

The United Nations Security Council is considering a draft resolution calling on Iran to end threats against vessels in the Strait of Hormuz and to stop placing sea mines in the waterway.