Embattled Iran sinks peace talks; delegations leave Pakistan

"Imperative" to maintain ceasefire

Pakistan's Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar said it was "imperative" to preserve the two-week ceasefire that was agreed last Tuesday as the sides attempt to wind down a war that began on February 28 with air strikes by the US and Israel on Iran.

Israeli security cabinet minister Zeev Elkin told Army Radio that more talks were still an option, but added: "The Iranians are playing with fire."

In his brief press conference, Vance did not mention reopening the Strait of Hormuz, a choke point for about 20 per cent of global energy supplies that Iran has blocked since the war began.

Vance said he had spoken with President Donald Trump as many as a dozen times during the talks. But even as the negotiations continued, Trump said on Saturday that a deal was not entirely necessary.

"We're negotiating. Whether we make a deal or not makes no difference to me, because we've won," he told reporters.

Even as the talks were taking place, US ally Israel continued bombing Tehran-backed Hezbollah terrorists in Lebanon, insisting that that conflict was not part of the Iran-US ceasefire. Iran says the fighting in Lebanon must stop.

The Israeli military said it struck Hezbollah rocket launchers overnight into Sunday and black smoke could be seen rising in the southern suburbs of the Lebanese capital Beirut on Sunday. In Israeli villages near the border, air raid sirens sounded, warning of incoming rocket fire from Lebanon.