WEEKLY UPDATE - 05.01.2026

US-Iran War enters state of limbo as talks hit a wall

On Saturday, US President Donald Trump announced on social media that he had called off talks with Iran citing divisions within the Iranian regime. President Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff and his son-in-law Jared Kushner had been scheduled to travel to Pakistan for another round of talks on ending the war. Trump later claimed that Iran had updated its proposal to reflect US demands regarding negotiations but did that the two-sides were still too far apart to engage in talks. After discussions with Pakistani mediators, Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi posted on X, “have yet to see if the U.S. is truly serious about diplomacy.” According to several sources, the US and Iran remain far apart on the issue of Iran’s nuclear program. Iranian officials suggested that the US and Iran table the issue of the nuclear program and instead focus on ending the war, lifting the US blockade, and opening the Strait of Hormuz. The US has yet to formally respond to the proposal.

Following the scuttled talks Iran continued to disrupt traffic through the Strait of Hormuz and the US continued its maritime blockade of Iran. On Thursday, Iran’s new supreme leader Mojtaba Khamenei issued a rare statement insisting that Iran will retain control of the Strait of Hormuz following the war. In the defiant statement posted on Telgram, Ayatollah Khamenei condemned the US and Israel as “bullies.” Questions persist concerning the health of Ayatollah Khamenei, who has made few public statements since his appointment and no public appearances.

Pakistan announced the opening of six overland transit routes for third-party goods bypassing the US blockade of Iran. The six routes link Pakistan’s main ports like Karachi, Port Qasim, and Gwadar with the Iranian border crossings of Gabd and Taftan.

Around the Region

• North Africa:

  • Tunisian authorities transferred Rachid Ghannouchi, the country’s former Speaker of Parliament and jailed opposition leader, to a hospital due to the rapid deterioration of his health. The 84-year old Ghannouchi has been jailed since 2023 on what are widely believed to be politically motivated charges.

  • A German tourist in Egypt died after being bitten by a venomous snake during a tourist show in the resort town of Hurghada. During the show the snake slithered up the man’s trousers and bit him. He was transported to a hospital where he later died from the bite.

• The Gulf:

  • The UAE announced that it will leave OPEC, the cartel comprised of several of the largest oil-producers, on 1 May. Historically, the 12-member OPEC states have worked in concert to secure “fair and stable prices for petroleum producers.” The move is the latest signaling the UAE’s growing cooperation with the US and Israel as well as the divergence of the UAE and Saudi strategies moving forward.

  • Following months of negotiations, Ali al-Ziadi emerged as the leading candidate to form a government following parliamentary elections. Washington has exerted its influence in Iraq to thwart the formation of a government under the leadership of former PM Nouri al-Maliki, who enjoyed the support of Iraq’s largest parliamentary bloc. President Trump signaled his support for Ziadi in a post on social media and wished him luck in forming a government.

• The Levant:

  • Two of Israel’s leading opposition politicians Naftali Bennett and Yair Lapid entered a political alliance in their bid to unseat current PM Benjamin Netanyahu in the upcoming elections. Bennet, a right-wing politician ,will head the electoral slated named “Together.” While polling suggests that the Bennett-Lapid alliance would win a plurality of votes in the upcoming election surpassing Netanyahu’s Likud as the largest party in parliament, opposition parties would still struggle to form a coalition government. Bennett has ruled out forming a coalition with the country’s Arab parities narrowing the path to forming a government.

  • Israel continued air strikes across southern Lebanon in spite of the extension of a ceasefire last week. According to Al Jazeera, Israeli strikes killed 28 Lebanese in recent days as both Hezbollah and the IDF have escalated attacks between each other recently. The IDF announced that one of its soldiers had been killed in a Hezbollah attack. Lebanese President Joseph Aoun condemned what he called Israel’s continued violations of the ceasefire.

Recommended:

• “The West Bank on Strike” New Lines Magazine

• “How is the Persian Invasion of Greece like the Iran War” New York Times