Iran war: Everything you need to know about peace talks

Donald Trump has refocused his efforts on peace talks after a shock pause to 'Project Freedom' - the US effort to safely shepherd ships through the Strait of Hormuz.

That project was only announced on Sunday, yet the US president took to his Truth Social platform on Wednesday to say it had been "paused for a short period of time" to see whether or not an agreement with Iran "can be finalised".

He added that the announcement was following "a request of Pakistan and other countries" and that "great progress" had been made in peace discussions with Tehran.

But the pause came after tensions escalated in the strait.

Here's everything we know about the state of peace talks so far.

US believes Iran agreement close - reports

Hours after Mr Trump announced the Project Freedom pause, reports began surfacing that the US and Iran were close to agreeing a one-page memorandum of understanding to end the war.

US outlet Axios initially reported the development, citing two US officials and two other sources briefed on the issue.

Among other provisions, the deal would involve Iran committing to a moratorium on nuclear ⁠enrichment, the US agreeing to ​lift sanctions on Tehran and ​both sides lifting restrictions around transit ⁠through the Strait of Hormuz, Axios said.

It added the US expects Iranian responses on several ​key points within the next ⁠48 hours.

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Sky News has not independently verified this report, but a Pakistani source told Reuters news agency that it was accurate.

Pakistan has been mediating discussions between the US and Iran and hosted a round of direct talks between the two countries in Islamabad last month.

How Project Freedom affected ceasefire

A fragile ceasefire between the US and Iran has been in place since 16 April, but Mr Trump's Project Freedom, which was using the US Navy to attempt to force the strait open, antagonised Iran and raised tensions.

During the three days the project was in operation, Tehran launched a new wave of strikes on ships in the strait and on targets in neighbouring countries, and said it was expanding the area under its control to include swathes of the coastline of the United Arab Emirates, on the strait's far side.

The strait, a key waterway through which a fifth of the world's oil and natural gas is normally shipped, has effectively been shut to all shipping by Iran since the war began on 28 February, while the US has imposed its own separate blockade of Iranian ports.

Over the three days it was in effect, Iranian drones and missiles hit several ships in and around the strait, including a South Korean cargo vessel that reported an explosion in its engine room.

Iran also repeatedly struck targets in the UAE, including the only major Emirati oil port on the coast beyond the strait, which has allowed some exports without crossing through it.

French shipping group CMA CGM says one of its ships, the San Antonio, was attacked on Wednesday while transiting the strait, resulting in injuries among crew members and damage to the vessel.

The US Navy said it had hit several small Iranian boats on Monday.

Hours before Mr Trump called off the project, US defence secretary Pete Hegseth said the US did not see the Iran-US truce as being over, despite the clashes in the strait.

'Operation Epic Fury is over'

Shortly before Mr Trump postponed Operation Freedom, his secretary of state Marco Rubio announced Operation Epic Fury - the name given to the initial US-Israeli offensive against Iran - had concluded, adding that the offensive phase of the conflict was now "over".

"Operation Epic Fury is concluded. We achieved the objectives of that operation," he said.

He also insisted that ongoing US military action in the Strait of Hormuz was "defensive" in nature and a separate operation, in line with the Trump administration's argument that it doesn't need congressional authorisation to continue the war against Iran.

What do the different sides want?

At the start of talks, Mr Trump described a 10-point proposal from Iran as a "workable basis on which to negotiate".

State-run Iranian media released a version of the proposals which experts called "maximalist" and unrealistic, but Mr Trump suggested this was not the proposal he had been referring to.

Israel and the US both want Iran's missile capabilities ​to be ⁠significantly curbed. Tehran has maintained that its formidable missile arsenal will not be the subject of negotiations.

One of Mr Trump's key objectives since the start of the war has been the stipulation that Iran can never be allowed to develop a nuclear weapon.

However, Tehran says its 10-point peace plan includes Washington's "acceptance of enrichment" of uranium for Tehran's nuclear programme.

Iran also wants the withdrawal of US combat forces from the region.

Mr Trump has vowed to retain military ​assets in the Middle East until a peace deal is reached and warned of a major escalation ​in fighting if Tehran fails to comply.

What talks have taken place?

Several rounds of talks took place in April. The first round of direct talks in Pakistan, the highest-level US-Iran talks since the 1979 Islamic revolution, did not amount to much.

Mr Vance said the negotiations finished without a deal after the Iranians refused to accept US terms to refrain from developing a nuclear weapon.

Mr Trump's special envoy Steve Witkoff and his son-in-law and former special adviser Jared Kushner then met Iran's foreign minister Abbas Araghchi for renewed talks

The pair previously negotiated a Gaza ceasefire deal and are involved in Russia-Ukraine talks, but there was again no agreement.

What is happening between Israel and Lebanon?

Israel and Lebanon agreed to implement a "cessation of hostilities" on 16 April for 10 days, before Mr Trump announced the countries had agreed to extend the ceasefire by three weeks.

It was a move Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said started "a process to achieve a historic peace" between the countries.

The deal said Lebanon's government, with international ‌support, would take "meaningful steps" to prevent Hezbollah and other groups from launching attacks on Israeli targets.

It also said Israel and Lebanon recognise the country's security forces "as having exclusive responsibility for Lebanon's sovereignty and national defence", referencing a bid by the government since 2025 to disarm Hezbollah.

But Israel and Hezbollah have continued to trade attacks, accusing each other of breaking the terms of the agreement.

Israel is now occupying ‌an area that extends three to six miles into southern Lebanon, saying it aims to shield northern Israel from future attacks by Hezbollah.

As part of the US-mediated ceasefire, Israel says it maintains the right to pre-emptively strike Hezbollah targets that it deems a threat.

Hezbollah has claimed its continued rocket and drone attacks are a response to Israeli strikes.

On Wednesday, Israel issued a renewed evacuation warning to residents of 12 villages and towns in southern Lebanon "in light of Hezbollah's violation of the ceasefire agreement" and images from the region showed smoke rising from towns and villages.

In an effort to halt the war and end Israel's occupation of southern Lebanon, the Lebanese government has agreed to direct negotiations with Israel, but the only round of direct talks has been at an ambassadorial level and not with more senior officials.

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