HEADLINES IN BRIEF

• Pakistan officials say US and Iran signal a return for talks as ceasefire is due to expire. READ MORE BELOW

• US forces board an oil tanker sanctioned for smuggling Iranian oil. READ MORE BELOW

• The UN chief says the conflict in the Middle East has triggered 'the most severe energy' crisis in a generation. READ MORE BELOW

• Israeli strikes killed at least five people in the Gaza Strip early Tuesday. READ MORE BELOW

• China says that it hopes all parties can maintain the momentum for peace talks.

• EU ministers meet in Brussels to discuss energy and jet fuel concerns.

• UN climate chief: The Iran war has locked the world in much higher fossil fuel costs for months and likely years to come.

IN DETAIL

Regional officials say US and Iran signal a return for talks

There appeared to be movement toward another round of US-Iran ceasefire talks on Tuesday as two regional officials said that both countries have signaled a return to Pakistan for discussions.

Pakistan-led mediators received confirmation that the top negotiators, US Vice President JD Vance and Iran's parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf, will arrive in Islamabad early Wednesday, the officials told The Associated Press.

Neither the US nor Iran have publicly confirmed the timing of talks.

It comes as the Iranian state television earlier issued an on-screen alert saying that "no delegation from Iran has visited Islamabad ... so far" fueling the growing speculation about possible talks with the United States.

A fragile two-week ceasefire is due to expire on Wednesday and US President Donald Trump said he didn't want to extend a ceasefire with Iran, adding the US was in a strong negotiating position and would end up with what he called a great deal.

During a live telephone interview Tuesday on CNBC, Trump was asked if he would continue the ceasefire if there's progress in the next round of Iran talks.

"Well, I don't want to do that. We don't have that much time."

He said Iran "had a choice" and "they have to negotiate."

Trump also said he would resume strikes if there isn't progress in the coming talks in Islamabad.

"Well, I expect to be bombing because I think that's a better attitude to go in with," he said.

"But, you know, we're ready to go. I mean, the military is raring to go."

US forces board oil tanker sanctioned for smuggling Iranian oil

The Pentagon said on social media that the US forces "conducted a right-of-visit maritime interdiction" and boarded the M/T Tifani "without incident".

Ship-tracking data showed the Tifani in the Indian Ocean between Sri Lanka and Indonesia.

"As we have made clear, we will pursue global maritime enforcement efforts to disrupt illicit networks and interdict sanctioned vessels providing material support to Iran—anywhere they operate," the post on X reads.

"International waters are not a refuge for sanctioned vessels.

"The Department of War will continue to deny illicit actors and their vessels freedom of maneuver in the maritime domain."

It comes after the US forces seized an Iranian-flagged vessel, the Touska, on Sunday.

Iran called it a violation of the ceasefire and said it would retaliate soon for the "act of armed piracy".

UN chief: 'Most severe energy crisis in a generation'

The conflict in the Middle East has triggered "the most severe energy crisis in a generation", UN Secretary-General António Guterres said on Tuesday, speaking remotely from New York to a climate conference in Berlin.

The current crisis, he said, makes it clear that "fossil fuels are not just wrecking our planet, they are holding economies hostage."

Guterres said that the energy crisis should be solved without exacerbating the climate crisis and that can be done by investing in homegrown renewables, developing the infrastructure to support them and providing financing for less developed economies to transition away from fossil fuels.

The head of the International Energy Agency (IEA) went a step further on Tuesday, calling the energy crisis caused by the conflict between Iran and the United States and Israel the worst ever faced by the world.

"This is indeed the biggest crisis in history," Fatih Birol told France Inter radio.

"The crisis is already huge, if you combine the effects of the petrol crisis and the gas crisis with Russia," he added.

Birol had said earlier this month that he viewed the current situation in global energy markets as worse than previous crises in 1973, 1979 and 2022 combined.

Israeli strikes kill 5 in Gaza

Israeli strikes killed at least five people in the Gaza Strip early Tuesday, hospital authorities said.

Four suspected militants were killed when a drone strike hit a security point overnight in the southern city of Khan Younis, the Nasser hospital said.

Another man was wounded in the strike, it said.

Israel's military didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.

The militant-manned point was around 4 kilometers west of the so-called Yellow Line, separating the Israeli-controlled areas from the rest of Gaza, according to relatives of those killed.

In the northern town of Beit Lahiya, a 30-year-old woman was killed when the Israeli navy opened fire toward tents sheltering displaced people early Tuesday, the Shifa hospital said.

The Israeli military said that it wasn't aware of attacks in Beit Lahiya.

The deaths were the latest among Palestinians in Gaza since a fragile October ceasefire deal took hold to halt a more than two-year war between Israel and Hamas.