Officials from the Gulf countries, Pakistan and Iran also said that delegations from both sides may return to Pakistan later this week, although a senior Iranian source said that the specific time has not yet been set.
You should stay there, because something might happen in the next 2 days, and we tend to come back," Mr. Trump said in an interview with the New York Post.
Although the US blockade of the Strait of Hormuz faced angry reactions from Tehran, signals suggesting that the diplomatic channel could be restored have helped the oil market cool down, pulling the benchmark oil price below the 100 USD mark on April 14.
Iran has closed the Strait of Hormuz - a strategic transportation route for global oil and gas - since the conflict broke out on February 28. About 5,000 people have been killed.
The round of negotiations in Islamabad last weekend did not yield results, raising doubts about the possibility of maintaining the 2-week ceasefire agreement, which is currently in effect for about another week.
Iran's nuclear program continues to be the biggest bottleneck. According to sources, the US proposed that Tehran suspend all nuclear activities for 20 years, while Iran only accepts a term of 3-5 years. Washington is also putting pressure on Iran to remove all enriched nuclear material.
However, a source participating in negotiations in Pakistan said that backstage contacts from last weekend have made certain progress, contributing to narrowing differences and paving the way for the possibility of reaching an agreement in the upcoming round of negotiations.
However, the prospect of reaching a rapid nuclear agreement is still unclear, due to the complexity of the 2015 agreement between Iran and the world powers - an agreement that Mr. Trump withdrew from in 2018 - as well as the requirement for monitoring and verification from the International Atomic Energy Agency.
For its part, Iran continues to demand the lifting of international sanctions, while the US can only do this if it receives widespread support from partners.
