DON GONYEA, HOST:
Pakistan is hosting talks today to try to end the war in neighboring Iran. President Trump's deadline is looming. He has given Iran till April 6 to reopen the Strait of Hormuz. In the meantime, thousands of U.S. Marines and sailors have arrived in the region, and Israel intensified its strikes in Iran this weekend. NPR's Daniel Estrin is in Jerusalem. Daniel, thanks for joining us.
DANIEL ESTRIN, BYLINE: Thanks for having me, Don.
GONYEA: Tell us about Pakistan's diplomatic efforts to end the war.
ESTRIN: Well, Pakistan says it's hosting diplomats today from Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Turkey for talks on trying to actually hold talks - ceasefire talks. You know, Pakistan has emerged as a key mediator in this conflict. It was the one that passed along the U.S. proposal to Iran on ending the war last week. We still don't know yet if the U.S. and Iran will actually sit for talks.
GONYEA: OK. For a second time, President Trump has extended his deadline for reopening the Strait of Hormuz. New deadline is now a week from tomorrow. What's going on there?
ESTRIN: Well, the Strait of Hormuz is a key waterway. It's key to the world's oil and gas trade. And since the war began, Iran has hold - had a chokehold on the Strait of Hormuz. So Trump is saying that if Iran does not completely open the strait to ships, he will destroy energy sites in Iran. He says diplomatic efforts are going well with Iran, and so he's extended his deadline to April 6. But meanwhile, a first group of about 3,000 U.S. Marines and soldiers have arrived in the region. And there's a lot of speculation that they could be there to eventually seize Iranian territory and try to secure the Strait of Hormuz. Iran's parliament speaker today said what's going on here is that the U.S. is signaling that - signaling negotiations in public and in secret it's plotting, he said, a ground attack.
GONYEA: So with diplomacy and a military ramp up happening simultaneous, the question is, is the U.S. actually looking to end the war?
ESTRIN: Well, if you hear Vice President JD Vance, he spoke on a podcast Saturday, and he said it's already mission accomplished. Here's what he told commentator Benny Johnson.
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JD VANCE: I think you can make a good argument we've accomplished all of our military objectives. The president's going to keep at it for a little while longer to ensure that we - once we leave, we don't have to do this again for a very, very long time.
GONYEA: And does Israel consider this war mission accomplished? - if I can use that term.
ESTRIN: Yeah. Well, a person briefed on Israel's thinking, who was not authorized to speak publicly, told me that Israel is concerned about the U.S. handling possible negotiations with Iran. That person said Israel's influence over these negotiations - potential negotiations - is going to be very limited. Israel doesn't feel the U.S. is keeping it in the loop on negotiations. Israel wants this war to keep going. I spoke with a military official today who said Israel would still need weeks more and wants weeks more to complete its military goals in Iran. Israel does understand the momentum here is headed toward a negotiated end of the war. So Israel sped up attacks this weekend on Iran's military industry, its manufacturing sites. And Israel's military spokesman Effie Defrin told reporters that Israel thinks it will finish that in a matter of days.
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EFFIE DEFRIN: (Non-English language spoken).
ESTRIN: He's saying, in a matter of days, Israel will finish hitting critical components of Iran's military industries, and he said it will take Iran a long time to rebuild them. And yet, Don, Iran does still manage to fire missiles in the region. Here in Israel, we ran into shelters multiple times today, including just a few moments ago.
GONYEA: We've been talking to NPR's Daniel Estrin in Jerusalem. Daniel, thank you very much.
ESTRIN: You're welcome, Don. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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