LIVE: US to block ships in Hormuz, says Trump; Russia steps in with mediation offer

Trump said on social media on Saturday that the US had begun “clearing out” the Strait of Hormuz.

“Today, we began the process of establishing a new passage and we will share this safe pathway with the maritime industry soon,” US Central Command commander Adm Brad Cooper later said.

The US statement about the destroyers added: "Additional US forces, including underwater drones, will join the clearance effort in the coming days.”

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi had said Tehran was entering negotiations with “deep distrust” after strikes on Iran during previous talks. Araghchi, part of Iran's delegation in Pakistan, said on Saturday that his country was prepared to retaliate if attacked again.

Iran's state-run news agency said the three-party talks began after Iranian preconditions, including a reduction in Israeli strikes on southern Lebanon, were met.

Iran's delegation told state television it had presented “red lines” in meetings with Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, including compensation for damage caused by US-Israeli strikes that launched the war on February 28 and releasing Iran's frozen assets.

The war has killed at least 3,000 people in Iran, 2,020 in Lebanon, 23 in Israel and more than a dozen in Gulf Arab states, and caused lasting damage to infrastructure in half a dozen Middle Eastern countries.

Reflecting the high stakes, officials from the region said Chinese, Egyptian, Saudi and Qatari officials were in Islamabad to indirectly facilitate talks.

The United States and Iran concluded a third round of historic, face-to-face negotiations before dawn on Sunday in Pakistan.

Two Pakistani officials told news agency AP that discussions between the heads of the delegations will resume after a break. Some technical personnel from both teams are still meeting, said the officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

Meanwhile, the US military said two destroyers transited the Strait of Hormuz ahead of mine-clearing work, a first since the war began. Iran's state media, however, said the joint military command denied that.

“We're sweeping the strait. Whether we make a deal or not makes no difference to me,” Trump told journalists as talks continued.

He called the negotiations “very deep.” Iranian state TV noted what it called “serious” differences.

Earlier, the US delegation led by Vice President JD Vance and the Iranian one led by Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf discussed with Pakistan how to advance the ceasefire already threatened by deep disagreements and Israel's continued attacks against the Iranian-backed Hezbollah in Lebanon, whose health ministry said the death toll has surpassed 2,000.