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US-Iran Talks Continuing, but Strikes on Saudi Arabia May Derail Effort, Say Sources
Smoke rises following an explosion, amid the US-Israeli conflict with Iran, in Tehran, Iran, March 7, 2026. Picture taken with a mobile phone. Photo: Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via REUTERS
Talks between the United States and Iran were at risk of being derailed following Tehran’s attacks on Saudi Arabian industrial facilities, two Pakistani sources with knowledge of the discussions told Reuters on Tuesday, as the hours before President Donald Trump’s threat to unleash “hell” on the nation dwindled.
The next few hours of talks are critical, one of the sources said. Trump has given Iran until 8 pm in Washington – 3:30 am in Tehran – to end its blockade of Gulf oil or see the US destroy every bridge and power plant in Iran.
Iran has vowed to retaliate against US allies in the Gulf, whose desert cities would be uninhabitable without power or water. Iran intensified its strikes overnight, hitting a Saudi petrochemical complex in the latest evidence of the nation’s ability to strike back against US-Israeli attacks.
The five-week-old war has killed thousands across the region, mostly in Iran and Lebanon, and resulted in the worst-ever energy supply disruption in history due to the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, the key artery used to transit one-fifth of the world’s oil and gas.
Pakistan has been the main go-between for proposals shared by both sides, but there has been no sign of a compromise.
The attack on the Jubail petrochemical complex raises the risk that Saudi Arabia could retaliate, a move that would end the talks, one of the sources said, as it could also draw Pakistan into the conflict under its defense pact with Riyadh which binds both nations to fight for each other in case of a war.
In a telephone call with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Pakistan‘s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif condemned the strikes on Saudi facilities, saying Pakistan would stand shoulder-to-shoulder with its Saudi brothers and sisters.
MESSAGES BEING EXCHANGED
“We are in touch with the Iranians. They have lately shown flexibility that they could join the talks, but they are at the same time taking hard lines as a prerequisite for any negotiations,” the Pakistani security source said.
He added that Islamabad was persuading Tehran to enter negotiations without prior conditions.
Iran‘s foreign ministry spokesperson said on Monday that messages are still being exchanged between Iran and the US via mediators.
A senior Iranian source said Tehran had rejected a proposal for a temporary ceasefire with talks dependent on an end to US-Israeli strikes and compensation for damages.
Pakistan‘s foreign office said on Tuesday that the strikes on Saudi Arabia constitute a dangerous escalation.
“Such unwarranted aggressions have serious repercussions, to spoil the ongoing peaceful options and conducive environment,” added a Pakistani army statement after top commanders met with army chief Asim Munir.
Pakistan wants to avoid being pulled into the war, which could wreak havoc along its shared western border with Iran and roil discontent among its large Shi’ite population, the second largest in the world after Iran.
Analysts say the defense agreement may not trigger immediate military action but could be activated if conflict escalates.
Iran‘s willingness to risk embarrassing Pakistan at a time when “it is crucial to brokering a ceasefire reveals just how committed Tehran is to a tit-for-tat strategy that punishes the Gulf for US and Israeli strikes,” said Adam Weinstein, an expert on Pakistan, Afghanistan and US politics at the Quincy Institute.
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The Forward publishes exclusive interview with Columbia protest leader Mahmoud Khalil
New York — April 7, 2026 — Today, the Forward, the nation’s leading Jewish news organization, published an exclusive, in-depth interview with Mahmoud Khalil, the Columbia University protest leader whose arrest during last year’s campus demonstrations thrust him into the national spotlight.
In a candid and wide-ranging conversation with Arno Rosenfeld, an enterprise reporter and author of the Forward’s Antisemitism Decoded newsletter, Khalil critiqued Hamas and said it had come to power through collaboration with Israel, explained his “nuanced” view of Zionism and detailed his vision for a “free Palestine” that includes the Jewish citizens of Israel.
“I was glad to have the opportunity to drill down on specifics that have been widely speculated upon but not addressed in Khalil’s previous interviews,” said Rosenfeld. “He wanted to speak directly to a major Jewish audience.”
The interview offers rare insight into one of the most scrutinized figures to emerge from the campus protest movement, drawing on original reporting, Khalil’s past public statements, and interviews with current and former Columbia students.
The post The Forward publishes exclusive interview with Columbia protest leader Mahmoud Khalil appeared first on The Forward.
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US Hits Military Targets on Iran’s Kharg Island, Vance Says No Change to Strategy
US Vice President JD Vance delivers remarks at the Wilshire Federal Building in Los Angeles, California, US, June 20, 2025. Phone: REUTERS/Daniel Cole
US strikes on Iran’s Kharg Island do not represent a change in American strategy, US Vice President JD Vance said on Tuesday as a US official separately told Reuters the additional strikes on military targets did not impact oil infrastructure.
The official, who spoke to Reuters on condition of anonymity, described at least some of the strikes as targeting sites that had been previously struck before and said the attack occurred in the early morning hours of Tuesday.
Vance, speaking separately in Budapest, said the strikes were not a change in US strategy, with the Trump administration confident that it can get a response from Iran by 8 pm (0001 Wednesday GMT) in negotiations to end the conflict. US President Donald Trump is demanding Iran forswear nuclear weapons and reopen the Strait of Hormuz, a critical oil transit waterway.
“We were going to strike some military targets on Kharg Island, and I believe we have done so,” Vance said.
“We’re not going to strike energy and infrastructure targets until the Iranians either make a proposal that we can get behind or don’t make a proposal,” he added. “I don’t think the news in Kharg Island … represents a change in strategy, or represents any change from the President of the United States.”
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French Nationals Leave Iran After Three and a Half Years Amid Softer France Tone on War
A woman walks past posters with the portraits of Cecile Kohler and Jacques Paris, two French citizens held in Iran, on the day of support rallies to mark their three-year detention and to demand their release, in front of the National Assembly in Paris, France, May 7, 2025. The slogan reads “Freedom for Cecile Kohler and Jacques Paris.” Photo: REUTERS/Abdul Saboor
Two French nationals were heading home on Tuesday after Iran allowed them to leave the country following three and a half years in detention, a surprise move that came as Paris sought to distance itself from the war in the region.
Cecile Kohler and Jacques Paris had been confined to France‘s embassy in Tehran since November, after being held since 2022 in the notorious Evin prison on spying charges that France has said were unfounded.
“This is a relief for all of us and obviously for their families,” President Emmanuel Macron said in a post on X. “Thank you to the Omani authorities for their mediation efforts.”
Neither the French presidency nor the foreign ministry responded to requests for comment on what had been agreed between the two sides to ensure their release.
Iran‘s official news agency IRNA said the couple were freed following an understanding under which France would in turn release Mahdieh Esfandiari, an Iranian student living in the French city of Lyon, and withdraw a complaint against Iran at the International Court of Justice.
However, both assertions were unclear. Esfandiari, who was convicted at the end of February for glorifying terrorism in social media posts, was released after serving almost a year in prison but has appealed the conviction.
It was not clear whether she had left the country, as ordered by the February ruling. France dropped the ICJ complaint last September.
Iran‘s Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi spoke with his French counterpart Jean-Noel Barrot on Sunday, confirming the pair’s imminent release.
Macron has criticized US President Donald Trump’s approach to the US-Israeli war on Iran and said France would only help restore freedom of navigation to the Strait of Hormuz once there is a ceasefire and after consultations with Tehran.
France last week refused Israel permission to transfer weapons through French airspace for the war and has led efforts to water down a draft UN Security Council resolution that could have opened the door to forceful action in the strait.
A French official briefing reporters after the release denied that France had a softer position towards Iran and said Paris had warned the Iranians about the safety of their citizens given the escalation in the war.
“I think the Iranians rightly considered that if anything happened to our compatriots, the reactions here would have been extremely catastrophic,” the official said, declining to comment on the details of the negotiation.
French officials have also refused to comment on why a container ship belonging to French shipping group CMA CGM was able to pass through the Strait of Hormuz, a sign that Iran may not consider France to be a hostile nation.