Democracy Dies with Dictatorship
NY Times
Apr 11, 2026
Iran War Live Updates: U.S. and Iran Hold Marathon Peace Talks Into the Early Morning
At a historic meeting in Islamabad, Vice President JD Vance and senior Iranian officials were seeking to make a fragile truce permanent. The length of the talks suggested the two sides remained engaged.
Updated
April 11, 2026, 8:33 p.m. ET34 minutes ago
Tyler PagerFarnaz FassihiElian Peltier and Aaron Boxerman
Tyler Pager and Elian Peltier reported from Islamabad, Pakistan.
Here’s the latest
Marathon talks between high-level officials from the United States and Iran in Pakistan stretched past 5 a.m. local time on Sunday, a historic encounter between decades-old adversaries as they sought to broker peace after more than a month of war.
The sheer length of the discussions — the U.S. delegation led by Vice President JD Vance arrived at the hotel where talks were taking place more than 15 hours ago — suggested the two sides remained engaged and still had topics to discuss. Control of the Strait of Hormuz, the economically vital waterway that Iran closed at the start of the war, remains a sticking point, according to two senior Iranian officials familiar with the negotiations.
The negotiating session, mediated by Pakistan, was the highest-level face-to-face meeting between U.S. and Iranian officials since Iran’s 1979 Islamic Revolution, which put the two countries on a collision course.
Israel is not involved in the talks, but its forces have not struck Iran since the cease-fire was reached. It has continued to strike targets in Lebanon, however, and on Saturday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that while Iran’s military had been badly damaged, the war was “not over.”
In Washington, President Trump projected nonchalance, claiming it did not matter to him whether the U.S. delegation reached an agreement with Iran. “We win, regardless,” he said. “We’ve defeated them militarily.”
Teams of experts from each delegation negotiated for multiple rounds, and negotiators continued exchanging messages into the early hours of Sunday through Pakistani mediators, according to IRIB, Iran’s state broadcaster.
While the talks have yet to produce a diplomatic breakthrough, the fact that the speaker of Iran’s Parliament, who was leading Iran’s delegation, met face to face with the American vice president is still extraordinary, given the long history of animosity between the two nations. Just six weeks ago American and Israeli airstrikes killed Iran’s supreme leader, and Iranian officials pledged to avenge his blood.
The United States and Iran agreed to a provisional cease-fire on Tuesday that suspended the fighting for at least two weeks.
Israel’s military campaign in Lebanon against Hezbollah, the Iran-backed militant group, has threatened to derail the truce. Iran had accused Israel of breaking the cease-fire by continuing to attack in Lebanon, leading Mr. Trump to ask Israel to rein in its assault.
Israeli fighter jets have not attacked the Lebanese capital of Beirut since Wednesday. But Israel has kept up its airstrikes in southern Lebanon, including on Saturday morning, according to Lebanon’s state media.
Here’s what else we’re covering:
Negotiating team: Mr. Vance was joined in Islamabad by Mr. Trump’s special envoy, Steve Witkoff, and son-in-law, Jared Kushner. The Iranian delegation, which includes Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, the speaker of Iran’s Parliament, arrived earlier in the Pakistani capital. Read more about them here.
Strait of Hormuz: The Defense Department said on Saturday that two U.S. warships crossed the Strait of Hormuz to begin an operation to clear mines from the critical waterway. Iran denied the claim. Only a handful of ships have passed through the strait since the cease-fire began this week. U.S. officials said one reason Iran had been unable to get more ships through was that it could not locate and remove all of the mines it laid in the waterway.
Israel and Lebanon: The countries’ ambassadors to the United States are expected to meet in Washington next week for direct talks, but a settlement to end the war in Lebanon is not expected imminently. More than a million people — roughly a fifth of the population — have been forced from their homes since the renewed war erupted last month between Israel and Hezbollah. Take a closer look in photos and video here.
Death tolls: The Human Rights Activists News Agency said at least 1,701 civilians, including 254 children, had been killed in Iran as of Wednesday. Lebanon’s health ministry on Saturday said that 2,020 people had been killed in the latest fighting between Israel and Hezbollah, including 357 in a wave of Israeli strikes on Wednesday. In attacks attributed to Iran, at least 32 people have been killed in Gulf nations. In Israel, at least 20 people had been killed as of Monday. The American death toll stands at 13 service members.
April 11, 2026, 8:51 p.m. ET17 minutes ago
Reporting from Islamabad, Pakistan
Vice President Vance is expected to address reporters shortly at the Serena Hotel in Islamabad.
April 11, 2026, 7:08 p.m. ET2 hours ago
Reporting from Islamabad, Pakistan
We’re now crossed 4 a.m. local time in Islamabad and Vice President JD Vance is still in negotiations with the Iranians. The American delegation arrived at the Serena Hotel shortly after noon on Saturday, but the press has not seen Vance or other senior officials since they arrived in Pakistan hours earlier. During the more than 15 hours of talks, the White House has not provided any details about the status of the negotiations.
April 11, 2026, 5:00 p.m. ET4 hours ago
White House reporter
President Trump stopped to talk to reporters before leaving the White House for a trip to Miami. As negotiations continue in Pakistan, Trump said it did not matter to him if a deal with Iran is reached or not. “We win, regardless,” he said. “We’ve defeated them militarily.”
April 11, 2026, 4:59 p.m. ET4 hours ago
Reporting from Islamabad, Pakistan
Trilateral in-person negotiations are still ongoing as we approach 2 a.m. local time in Islamabad.
April 11, 2026, 4:51 p.m. ET4 hours ago
International reporter
While the U.S.-Iran talks on Saturday have not yet resulted in a diplomatic breakthrough, the fact that the head of Iran’s Parliament met face to face with the American vice president is still extraordinary given the long history of animosity between the two nations. Just six weeks ago American and Israeli airstrikes killed Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and Iranian officials pledged to avenge his blood. But on Saturday, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, the speaker of Iran’s Parliament and a powerful military and political figure, shook hands with Vice President JD Vance, according to two senior Iranian officials, who described the mood of the meeting as cordial and calm.
April 11, 2026, 4:46 p.m. ET4 hours ago
Shirin Hakim
A new round of trilateral talks between Iran, the United States and Pakistan began in Islamabad, according to IRIB, Iran’s state broadcaster, with journalists awaiting a final readout as negotiations continue amid what it described as “serious disagreements.”
Iranian and U.S. negotiators have continued exchanging messages into the early hours of Sunday through Pakistani mediators, IRIB reported. Iranian media said last-minute efforts were underway to reach a breakthrough before dawn.
April 11, 2026, 4:07 p.m. ET5 hours ago
Reporting from Islamabad, Pakistan
Hundreds of journalists who have spent the day at a lofty convention center across from the Serena Hotel, where talks are taking place in Islamabad, are slowly leaving the premises. It is nearly 1 a.m. local time, and some of them have spent more than 15 hours in that center with no update from Pakistani officials or the two delegations, and little clarity on what comes next. At least there was live traditional Pakistani music, a nice buffet and specially branded “Brewed for Peace” coffee cups.
April 11, 2026, 4:06 p.m. ET5 hours ago
International reporter
Iranian and American expert teams negotiated for two rounds on Saturday and are likely to continue negotiations on Sunday, according to IRNA, Iran’s state news agency, and two senior Iranian officials familiar with the negotiations. The Strait of Hormuz remains a sticking point in the talks, with the U.S. demanding an immediate opening of the chokepoint and Iran doubling down on its stance that the economically vital passageway will re-open only after a final peace deal is reached, according to the two officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity. The U.S. delegation has not yet publicly commented on the status of the talks.
April 11, 2026, 3:48 p.m. ET5 hours ago
Michael CrowleyJulian E. BarnesAdam Rasgon and Tyler Pager
Michael Crowley and Julian Barnes reported from Washington, Adam Rasgon reported from Tel Aviv, Tyler Pager reported from Islamabad.
Navy entered Hormuz, but turned back after destroying a drone, U.S. officials said
As high-level U.S. and Iranian officials met to negotiate an extended cease-fire, two American Navy destroyers entered the Strait of Hormuz on Saturday and destroyed an Iranian surveillance drone approaching one of the ships, according to multiple U.S. officials.
The operation was the beginning stage of an effort to clear mines from the strait and demonstrate to commercial tankers that the waterway could be transited safely.
The two Navy ships sailed from the Gulf of Oman before entering the Strait of Hormuz and then turning around, according to U.S. officials and others briefed on the operation. It is not clear exactly when the Iranian surveillance drone was destroyed. One person briefed on the operation said the drone was likely meant to signal a threat to the U.S. warships.
Though the American officials said the surveillance drone was not a direct threat, the Navy determined that it did not want Iranian forces tracking the ships’ movements. The American officials insisted that destroying the drone did not violate the cease-fire.
Iran strongly denied that the American warships had entered the critical international waterway on Saturday.
The U.S. military is eager to transit through the strait to show that it is open and that nations do not need to pay the tolls Iran is trying to impose.
But American officials also want to avoid an escalation at an exceedingly delicate moment, with Iranian and U.S. negotiators meeting in Islamabad for peace talks this weekend. The U.S. delegation is led by Vice President JD Vance.
In a statement, U.S. Central Command, which oversees American forces in the Middle East, said that the two ships, the U.S.S. Frank E. Petersen Jr. and U.S.S. Michael Murphy, both guided-missile destroyers, entered the Persian Gulf through the strait in preparation to locate and clear naval mines that Iran had laid in the waters. The ships were only in the Persian Gulf briefly before returning through the strait to the Gulf of Oman.
The destroyers were not assigned to locate or remove mines on Saturday, and officials said the destroyers had completed their primary task for the day when they left the strait.
The New York Times spoke to multiple people from multiple countries who were familiar with the movements of the vessels. All spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitive diplomatic negotiations.
Iran agreed to reopen the strait to shipping traffic as part of a two-week cease-fire with the United States announced on Tuesday. But that process has been slow, in part because Tehran cannot locate all the mines and lacks the capability to remove them, according to U.S. officials.
U.S. officials have also said that Iran is not eager to reopen the strait, and that it now wants to impose tolls on ships passing through. It is unclear how many mines are in the strait or how dangerous they are.
The Central Command statement added that more U.S. military resources, including underwater drones, would join the clearance effort “in the coming days.”
A spokesman for Iran’s military, Ebrahim Zolfaghari, denied that the American vessels had approached and entered the strait, and said Iran’s armed forces still controlled the waterway, according to Iran’s state broadcaster.
Tasnim News Agency, a semiofficial Iranian news agency, also claimed on Saturday “that there is currently no traffic in the Strait of Hormuz,” and that Tehran had refused “permission” to an American destroyer that sought to enter it.
Multiple U.S. officials disputed the Iranian account that they had blocked the ships, explaining that the destroyers had entered the strait and turned back.
A choke point for energy and chemical shipments on which the global economy depends, the strait has been effectively closed since the United States and Israel attacked Iran in late February. Iran attacked several commercial ships and laid mines in the area in response to the bombings.
The conflict has led to widespread increases in energy prices and slower economic growth forecasts. Roughly a fifth of the world’s oil supply passes through the strait.
Reopening the strait is a central U.S. demand in the sensitive, face-to-face negotiations that continued into Sunday morning in Islamabad with U.S., Iranian and Pakistani officials. Iran has allowed some commercial ships to pass through Hormuz, but Iranian officials publicly insist that any peace deal ensure Tehran receive future revenue from shipping traffic in the waterway.
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April 11, 2026, 3:16 p.m. ET6 hours ago
Reporting from Islamabad, Pakistan
The U.S. delegation, led by Vice President JD Vance, has now been at the Serena Hotel in Islamabad for more than 12 hours. The White House has declined to provide any specific updates about the talks, beyond an official confirming two hours ago that they were ongoing. We do not know how much longer Vance plans to stay in Pakistan.
April 11, 2026, 2:40 p.m. ET6 hours ago
Reporting from Jerusalem
Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, gave a 13-minute televised address about the war with Iran. He did not mention the ongoing high-level negotiations in Pakistan between the United States and Iran, part of a two-week cease-fire announced on Tuesday. In an implicit reference to the current truce, however, he told the Israeli public that “the battle was not yet over,” without elaborating.
Netanyahu used his address to push back against rising criticism inside Israel that the war with Iran had not accomplished any of its strategic goals. “We crushed their nuclear program, we crushed their missiles, and we crushed the regime.” Iran still has large stockpiles of enriched uranium which it could use to build a bomb, and American intelligence has cast doubt on how much Iran’s missile capability had been wiped out.
April 11, 2026, 2:23 p.m. ET7 hours ago
The death toll in Lebanon from the current round of fighting with Israel that began in early March has reached 2,020, with at least 6,436 people wounded, the health ministry reported to the National News Agency.
April 11, 2026, 1:30 p.m. ET8 hours ago
Shirin Hakim
Iranian state media reports that two rounds of talks have taken place in Islamabad between negotiating teams and a third is scheduled for tonight. A White House official has confirmed the negotiations are continuing.
April 11, 2026, 1:25 p.m. ET8 hours ago
Reporting from Islamabad, Pakistan
The trilateral in-person negotiations in Islamabad are continuing, a senior White House official says.
April 11, 2026, 1:22 p.m. ET8 hours ago
Michael Crowley and John Ismay
U.S. Central Command said two U.S. warships crossed the Strait of Hormuz on Saturday for the first time since Iran closed the waterway to shipping traffic last month. The two ships, the U.S.S. Frank E. Peterson and U.S.S. Michael Murphy, entered the Persian Gulf in advance of a mission to locate and clear any naval mines that Iran may have laid in the waters, Central Command said in a statement on Saturday. Iran denied the U.S. warships had passed through the strait, calling the claims “unrealistic,” the Iranian state broadcaster reported.
The U.S. statement said that more U.S. forces, including underwater drones, will join the operation in the coming days.
April 11, 2026, 12:35 p.m. ETApril 11, 2026
Reporting from Islamabad, Pakistan
Vice President JD Vance has been at the Serena Hotel, the site of the talks, in Islamabad for nearly nine-and-a-half hours at this point. The White House never released a schedule of how long he was expected to stay in Pakistan and has declined to comment on the status of the negotiations, but the lengthy talks suggest the two sides remained engaged and still have topics to discuss.
April 11, 2026, 12:24 p.m. ETApril 11, 2026
Shirin Hakim
Tasnim, a news outlet affiliated with Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, said negotiations have been going on for nearly four hours, and are continuing.
April 11, 2026, 12:11 p.m. ETApril 11, 2026
Reporting from Islamabad, Pakistan
The White House has not provided any additional updates on the status of the negotiations. It remains unclear how long Vice President JD Vance and the U.S. delegation plan to stay in Islamabad as it is now past 9 p.m. local time.