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Peace talks are in doubt as the U.S. seizes an Iranian ship

NPR | By NPR Staff

Published April 20, 2026 at 7:02 AM EDT

Commuters drive past a giant billboard referring to the Strait of Hormuz along a busy street in Tehran, Iran, on Sunday.

Updated April 20, 2026 at 1:26 PM EDT

A U.S. negotiating team is expected to head to Pakistan for a second round of peace talks with Iran — which says it might not even show up.

Tehran's reticence comes after the U.S. on Sunday fired on and seized an Iranian cargo ship in the Strait of Hormuz as part of a U.S. naval blockade on vessels accessing Iran's ports in the vital waterway.

The U.S. delegation led by Vice President Vance, along with U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, President Trump's son-in-law, plans to travel to Islamabad soon, according to an official familiar with the plans speaking on background because they are not authorized to speak on the record.

A video released by U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) shows the seizure of the Iranian ship, with Marines descending from a helicopter by rope to board the vessel, the Touska, after "guided-missile destroyer USS Spruance (DDG 111) disabled Touska's propulsion," according to a statement with the video.

President Trump said Sunday the U.S. military had "stopped them right in their tracks by blowing a hole in the engine room" after the ship failed to heed repeated warnings.

Trump said Marines then took control of the vessel and moved to investigate its cargo. He said the Iranian flagged ship was under the existing U.S. Treasury Department sanctions.

Iran's Revolutionary Guard warned it will take action against the U.S. military for the seizure of that ship, without elaborating.

This all comes as the expiration looms this week on a temporary ceasefire between the U.S. and Iran.

Here's more news from the Middle East war on Monday:

Security personnel stand guard at a security checkpost along a road temporarily closed near the Serena Hotel at the Red Zone area in Islamabad on Monday, ahead of anticipated U.S.-Iran peace talks.

Talks or no talks?

Preparations to host Iranian and U.S. negotiating teams were underway in Pakistan's capital, Islamabad, on Monday, despite questions over whether Iran would attend.

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei said Monday Tehran had no plans yet regarding a second round of talks, accusing the U.S. of lacking "seriousness in pursuing a diplomatic process," according to Iran's state news agency, IRNA.

A U.S. Air Force Boeing C-17A McChord aircraft prepares to land at Pakistan's Nur Khan military airbase in Rawalpindi on Monday.

Trump announced Sunday that a negotiating team was headed to Islamabad on Monday evening and warned Iran against walking away from negotiations.

"We're offering a very fair and reasonable DEAL, and I hope they take it because, if they don't, the United States is going to knock out every single Power Plant, and every single Bridge, in Iran. NO MORE MR. NICE GUY!" Trump wrote on social media.

The first round of peace talks led by Vice President Vance just over a week ago broke down, with Vance accusing Iran of being unwilling to accept Washington's terms on Iran's plans for nuclear enrichment.

A poll released this week by NBC shows Trump's approval rating has hit a new low, with 63% of those surveyed disapproving of the president's performance.

Two-thirds of respondents disapproved of Trump's handling of the Iran conflict and inflation, the poll showed.

Death toll in Iran

At least 3,375 people have been killed in Iran since the U.S. and Israel launched attacks on the country seven weeks ago, Iranian officials said Monday.

Iranian Red Crescent rescuers train during the U.S.-Iran ceasefire at their training camp in southwest Tehran in Tehran, Iran, on Sunday.

Abbas Masjedi, the head of Iran's Legal Medicine Organization, didn't give separate figures for civilian and security force casualties.

He said 383 of the dead were children under 18 years old, according to Iran's Mizan news agency.

Lebanon ceasefire holding

The temporary ceasefire to pause the fighting between Israel and Iran-backed Lebanese militia Hezbollah in Lebanon is holding, though shakily.

In the south, where the Israeli military is still occupying a large swath of land, Israel has carried out a number of airstrikes against what it called "terrorist activity."

Buildings damaged by Israeli airstrikes are seen in the Haret Hreik neighborhood of Dahieh in Beirut's southern suburbs on Sunday, days after a 10-day ceasefire took effect at midnight going into Friday.

The ceasefire agreement between Israel and Lebanon says Israel can continue military activity in self-defense, according to a text shared by the U.S. State Department.

Hezbollah claimed responsibility for an explosion that killed at least one Israeli soldier over the weekend and said the explosive device was planted before the ceasefire.

Jane Arraf in Amman, Jordan, Aya Batrawy in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, and Kate Bartlett in Johannesburg contributed to this report.