Investors have spent most of the week upbeat that a breakthrough to end the seven-week conflict will be made soon, while healthy earnings and a resumption of the AI trade has also provided support.

Iran's elite Revolutionary Guards said they forced two ships to the Iranian shore from the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow gateway for one-fifth of the world's oil.

Uncertainty over the Strait of Hormuz deepened yesterday after Iran’s Revolutionary Guards seized two container ships trying to cross, hours after US President Donald Trump unilaterally extended a ceasefire to allow more time for talks.

Iran and US remain divided on ceasefire, blockade, nuclear issues and control of strait

Increasing pressure on Baghdad to dismantle powerful Iranian-backed groups, the Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday

Trump said in a statement on social media the US had agreed to a request by Pakistani mediators "to hold our Attack on the Country of Iran until such time as their leaders and representatives can come up with a unified proposal

Washington targets 14 entities aiding Iran’s weapons procurement

The two sides have offered different timelines for the expiration of the truce

President Donald Trump yesterday said that he did not want to extend a rapidly expiring ceasefire in the US-Israeli war on Iran and that the US military was “raring to go” if negotiations were not successful.

Trump is demanding Iran give up its uranium stockpile and end attempts to control the strategic Hormuz waterway

Just hours remain until the two-week ceasefire struck between the warring sides expires

Greek maritime risk firm MARISKS warns of scam messages demanding Bitcoin or Tether

Senior Iranian official says Tehran ‘positively reviewing’ participation, but no decision yet

The White House said Vice President JD Vance was ready to fly back to the Pakistani capital Islamabad

The talks will take place at the State Department in Washington, again at the level of ambassadors.

Pakistan source said Trump was told US blockade is obstacle to talks

Trump wrote in a social media post after concerns expressed by Democrats and some nuclear experts that he is rushing negotiations

Traffic has again seized up in the Strait of Hormuz as both Tehran and Washington impose separate blockades

Relying on single protector has limits, analyst says

Iran is considering attending peace talks with the United States in Pakistan, a senior Iranian official told Reuters yesterday, following moves by Islamabad to end a US blockade of Iran’s ports, a major hurdle for Tehran to rejoin peace efforts.