By Lesedi Sibiya-Diplomatic Insider 

United States President Donald Trump has stated that Iranian negotiators contacted the US capital on Monday as they are looking to strike a deal that could potentially end the war following a collapse in talks between the two countries in Pakistan over the weekend. 

“I can tell you we’ve been called by the other side. They’d like to make a deal very badly…we’ve been called this morning by the right people, appropriate people” said Trump. 

These comments signify progress in terms of putting an end to this war that the US and Israel have waged against Iran, however these comments come as Trump imposes a naval blockade on the Strait of Hormuz.

 The blockade was imposed on Monday due to the peace talks collapsing between the US Vice-President JD Vance and Iranian officials in Islamabad. The US Central Command, which is set in place to oversee the US military activity in the Middle East had issued a notice to mariners stating that the blockade of Iranian should cover the entire Iranian coastline and would apply to all ships.

 Trump has highlighted that the intention of the blockade is to apply more economic pressure on Iran as they are already facing struggles due to sanctions imposed by the United States. 

“Iran is doing absolutely no business, and we’re going to keep it that way very easily,” said Trump. 

One of the components that caused the talks to break down was the free passage through the Strait of Hormuz which was considered a red-line demand from the United States. Other list demands included the dismantling of Uranium enrichment facilities, the retrieval of its enriched uranium stock piles as well as Iran’s funding of regional proxy groups. 

US officials have expressed their certainty that these applied pressures by the US blockade will nudge Iran to agree to US terms.