“The United Arab Emirates has opened talks with the U.S. about obtaining a financial backstop in case the Iran war plunges the oil-rich Persian Gulf state into a deeper crisis,” the Wall Street Journal reports.

“President Donald Trump said Sunday that the U.S. military seized an Iranian-flagged cargo ship that tried to bypass the American blockade of the vital Strait of Hormuz, hours after he renewed his threats of broad attacks on Iran’s infrastructure if no deal is reached in talks expected this week in Pakistan,” the Washington Post reports.

“Donald Trump threatened to strike Iran’s civilian infrastructure again on Sunday in an effort to bring the regime to the table for 11th-hour talks before the ceasefire expires next week,” The Independent reports.

Said Trump: “NO MORE MR. NICE GUY! They’ll come down fast, they’ll come down easy and, if they don’t take the DEAL, it will be my Honor to do what has to be done, which should have been done to Iran, by other Presidents, for the last 47 years.”

“President Donald Trump said Sunday that U.S. representatives are returning to Pakistan for negotiations to end the war with Iran – but renewed his threats of broad attacks to destroy the country’s infrastructure if no deal is reached,” the Washington Post reports.

“Trump accused Iran of violating a fragile two-week ceasefire as it closed the vital Strait of Hormuz again on Saturday and two ships reported attacks while attempting to cross, after a brief reopening brought hope for an end to the war.”

“Trump said representatives would be in Islamabad on Monday evening but did not share further details. The ceasefire is set to expire on Wednesday.”

Robert Pape: “In a matter of a day, the system snapped back to escalation. This is not a story about fragile diplomacy or poor sequencing. It is a story about zero-sum conflict, where the core issues cannot be divided, traded, or deferred without forcing one side to accept a strategic loss—a direct contest over relative power.”

“At the center of the war is a fact that cannot be negotiated away: Iran either retains a nuclear capability on the threshold of weapons, or it does not. There is no stable middle ground that satisfies both sides. For the United States, allowing Iran to sustain that capability would fundamentally alter the regional balance of power, weaken deterrence, and undermine the credibility of long-standing nonproliferation commitments. For Iran, relinquishing that capability—especially under coercion—would expose the regime to future pressure and potential regime-threatening vulnerability.”

“This is not a bargaining problem where incremental concessions can produce equilibrium. It is a zero-sum condition, where the outcome directly determines the security of both sides—because it determines their relative power.”

“The Strait of Hormuz was largely shut to Western shipping early Sunday, as Iran’s top negotiator said the two countries were far from a final deal to end the war,” the New York Times reports.

“Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, the chief Iranian negotiator in talks with the United States, said in a televised address late Saturday that the United States had failed to pressure Iran through ultimatums or secure international backing for the war, which began with a U.S.-Israeli air assault in late February.”

Wall Street Journal: “Iran’s quick reversal of the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz has laid bare a rift between the country’s political leaders and the military hard-liners who have deepened their hold on the government since the war began.”

CNN: How 24 hours of whiplash over the Strait of Hormuz unfolded.

“The United States and Israel launched their war against Iran on the argument that if Iran one day got a nuclear weapon, it would have the ultimate deterrent against future attacks,” the New York Times reports.

“It turns out that Iran already has a deterrent: its own geography.”

“Iran’s decision to flex its control over shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, the strategic choke point through which 20 percent of the world’s oil supply flows, has brought global economic pain in the form of higher prices for gasoline, fertilizer and other staples. It has upended war planning in the United States and Israel, where officials have had to devise military options to wrest the strait from Iranian control.”

CNN: A timeline of how the Trump administration responded as the effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz consumed the global economy.

“North Korea fired ballistic missiles into the sea on Sunday, accelerating its missile launches amid Iran war tensions and talk of possible meetings with the U.S. and South Korea,” CNBC reports.

“Pyongyang’s intense missile activity – this was the fourth such launch this month and the seventh of the year – is meant to display its self-defence capabilities while gaining international leverage.”