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Special Series Middle East conflict Conflict in the Middle East has been escalating. These stories provide context for current developments and the history that led up to them. By NPR Staff Commuters drive past a giant billboard referring to the Strait of Hormuz along a busy street in Tehran, Iran, on Sunday. Atta Kenare/AFP via Getty Images hide caption A U.S.
− negotiating team is headed to Pakistan Monday for a second round of peace talks with Iran — which says it might not even show up.
+ 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 one of its cargo ships in the Strait of Hormuz as part of Washington's blockade on Iranian vessels in the vital waterway, and just two days before the ceasefire is set to expire.
+ 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 operation, with Marines descending from a helicopter by rope to board the vessel, the Touska, after "guided-missile destroyer USS Spruance…disabled Touska's propulsion." President Trump said Sunday the 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.
− Oil prices surged in reaction to these developments, rising more than 5.3 % at $95.62 a barrel on Monday from Friday's close at $90.38 a barrel.
+ This all comes as the expiration looms this week on a temporary ceasefire between the U.S. and Iran.
− The April 8 ceasefire agreement between the U.S.-Israel and Iran is set to expire on Wednesday. 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 April 20, 2026, ahead of anticipated US-Iran peace talks.
+ 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.
Aamir Qureshi/AFP via Getty Images hide caption 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.
− Iran Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei said Monday Tehran had no plans yet regarding a second round of talks, accusing the U.S.
+ 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 US Air Force Boeing C-17A McChord aircraft prepares to land at Pakistan's Nur Khan military airbase in Rawalpindi on April 20, 2026.
+ A U.S.
+ Air Force Boeing C-17A McChord aircraft prepares to land at Pakistan's Nur Khan military airbase in Rawalpindi on Monday.
Farooq Naeem/AFP via Getty Images hide caption Trump announced Sunday that a negotiating team was headed to Islamabad on Monday evening and warned Iran against walking away from negotiations.
− Trump said "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.
+ "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!" 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.
+ NICE GUY!" Trump wrote on social media.
− 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.
+ Islamabad is ready to host. The city's traffic police said in a video announcement that several routes into Islamabad have been blocked and the high-security Red Zone, which houses government buildings and embassies, has now been completely sealed.
− Two-thirds of respondents disapproved of Trump's handling of the Iran conflict and inflation, the poll showed.
+ Even several hiking trails in the lush Margalla Hills on the city's edge were closed on Monday.
− Iran ally China has weighed in on the U.S.
+ Pakistan's government has given no formal indication about the status of its ongoing mediation efforts. The first round of peace talks just over a week ago in Islamabad, with Vice President Vance leading the U.S.
− seizure of the Touska, according to the Associated Press, expressing concern over "the forcible interception" and calling for a resumption of peace talks.
+ delegation, concluded without an agreement. Vance accused Iran of being unwilling to accept Washington's terms on Iran's plans for nuclear enrichment.
− China is heavily reliant on Iranian oil imports.
+ 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.
− Iran officials said Monday at least 3,375 people had been killed during the war. Iranian Red Crescent rescuers train during the US-Iran ceasefire at their training camp in southwest Tehran on April 19, 2026 in Tehran, Iran.
+ Iranian Red Crescent rescuers train during the U.S.-Iran ceasefire at their training camp in southwest Tehran in Tehran, Iran, on Sunday.
− Majid Saeedi/Getty Images Europe hide caption Abbas Masjedi, the head of Iran's Legal Medicine Organization, didn't give separate figures for civilian and security force casualties.
+ Majid Saeedi/Getty Images hide caption 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.
− The temporary ceasefire to pause the fighting between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon is holding, though shaky.
+ 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." Damaged buildings are seen in the Haret Hreik neighborhood of Dahieh in Beirut's southern suburbs on April 19, 2026, after Israeli strikes and days after a 10-day ceasefire took effect at midnight on April 17.
+ 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.
− Manon Roca/Middle East Images/AFP via Getty hide caption The ceasefire agreement between Israel and Lebanon says Israel can continue military activity in self-defense.
+ Manon Roca/Middle East Images/AFP via Getty hide caption 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.
+ The tenuous truce took effect midnight Friday local time, following direct talks last week between Israel and Lebanon in Washington.
+ The State Department said in a statement to NPR the U.S. will host a second round of talks between the Israeli and Lebanese ambassadors on Thursday. Jane Arraf in Amman, Jordan, Aya Batrawy in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, Betsy Joles in Islamabad, and Kate Bartlett in Johannesburg contributed to this report.
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