Iran considers US talks in Pakistan with blockade still unresolved

DUBAI/WASHINGTON, April 20 (Reuters): Iran is considering attending peace talks with the United States in Pakistan, a senior Iranian official told Reuters on Monday, following moves by Islamabad to end a US blockade of Iran's ports, a major hurdle for Iran to rejoin peace efforts.
However, the official stressed that no decision had been made.
Adding to the uncertainty, a source told Reuters that Vice President JD Vance was still in the US, denying reports that he was already on his way to Pakistan's capital Islamabad for talks.
With a two-week ceasefire set to expire, the senior Iranian official said Tehran was "positively reviewing" its participation but no final decision had been made. The comments conveyed a clear change of tone from earlier statements ruling out attendance and pledging to retaliate for US aggression.
The Iranian official said mediator Pakistan was making positive efforts to end the U.S. blockade and ensure Iran's participation.
US Navy seizes an Iranian-flagged ship
The ceasefire had appeared in jeopardy after the US said it had seized an Iranian cargo ship that tried to run its blockade and Tehran vowed to retaliate.
It was the first interception since the US blockade of Iranian ports began last week. Iran's joint military command called the armed boarding an act of piracy and a ceasefire violation, the state broadcaster said.
The US military said it had fired on an Iranian-flagged cargo ship headed towards Iran's Bandar Abbas port on Sunday after a six-hour standoff, disabling its engines. US Central Command released video showing Marines descending ropes from helicopters onto the vessel.
The vessel is likely to have been carrying what Washington deems dual-use items that could be used by the military, maritime security sources said on Monday.
Iran's military said the ship had been travelling from China and accused the U.S. of "armed piracy", according to state media. They said they were ready to confront U.S. forces over the "blatant aggression", but were constrained by the presence of crew members' families on board.
China, the main buyer of Iranian crude, expressed concern over the "forced interception", and Chinese President Xi Jinping called for ships to resume passage through the strait as normal and for the conflict to be resolved through political and diplomatic channels, state news agency Xinhua reported.
Trump warned on Sunday that the U.S. would destroy every bridge and power plant in Iran if it rejected his terms, continuing a recent pattern of such threats.
Iran has said that if the United States were to attack its civilian infrastructure, it would strike power stations and desalination plants in its Gulf Arab neighbours.
US-Iran ceasefire set to expire
Trump announced the two-week ceasefire with Iran on April 7, and has not specified when precisely it ends.
A Pakistani source involved in the talks said it would expire at 8 p.m. EST on Tuesday, which would be midnight GMT or 3:30 a.m. Wednesday in Iran.
Asked over the weekend about the chance of an extension, Trump replied: "I don't know. Maybe not. Maybe I won't extend it. But the blockade is going to remain."
The US has maintained its blockade of Iranian ports, while Iran lifted and then reimposed its own blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, which typically handles roughly one-fifth of the world's oil and liquefied gas supply.
Oil prices rose around 5% as traders remained fearful that the ceasefire would collapse. Traffic through the Strait of Hormuz was at a virtual standstill with just three crossings ?in the space of 12 hours, according to shipping data.