. Uncertainty in West Asia Despite a truce between Iran and the US-Israel, uncertainty contin ues to hang over West Asia with both the sides giving mutually conflicting versions of progress being made in resolving the conflict through diplomatic channels. While the US President has repeatedly declared the war is all but over following understanding reached with Iran, the Iranian leadership has indicated that no deal has been struck because of the maximalist demands put forth by the US side. Hence, there will be no further talks on the issue. Not only this. Iran has now announced that it is reversing its decision to reopen the Strait of Hormuz and has warned that it would continue to block transit through the strait as long as the US blockade of Iranian ports remained in effect.

The escalating standoff over the critical choke point threatened to deepen the energy crisis roiling the global economy and push the two countries toward renewed conflict, even as mediators expressed confidence that a new deal was within reach. The strait is closed until the US blockade is lifted, Iran’s Revolutionary Guard navy declared. Hours earlier, two gunboats from Iran’s Revolutionary Guard opened fire on a tanker transiting the Strait of Hormuz. The the tanker and crew are safe though the identity of the vessel or its destination has been disclosed. The only positive sign in the situation is that a 10-day truce between Israel and the Iran backed Hezbollah militant group in Lebanon appears to be holding. The fighting in the Middle East conflict, which is approaching the two-month mark, has killed at least 3,000 people in Iran, nearly 2,300 in Lebanon, 23 civilians and 15 soldiers in Israel, and more than a dozen in Gulf Arab states. T

hirteen US service members have also been killed. Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump has said in a Truth Social post that repre sentatives are going to Islamabad for Iran negotiations. Iran has committed a “serious violation” of the ceasefire but he still thinks he can get a peace deal. Iran’s chief negotiator says his country wants “a lasting peace so that war is not repeated again.” Parliamentary Speaker Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf made the comments in a televised interview late Saturday, a few days before a ceasefire deadline is set to expire, according to Iranian state media. “What is fundamental for us is distrust of the United States,” he said. “At the same time, we have good intentions and seek a lasting peace – one that prevents the recurrence of war.” He said that the Islamabad negotiations didn’t address the mistrust, but that the US and Iranian negotiators “reached a more realistic understanding of one another.