Well, the US says that no Iranian ships have passed its blockade of that key sea passage, the Strait of Hormuz, in the last 24 hours. The blockade came into effect yesterday afternoon after peace talks with Iran ended without agreement at the weekend. Frank Gardner reports. Poised offshore, at a safe distance from Iran's coastline, US Navy warships like this are enforcing America's blockade of Iran's ports, hoping to pressure Iran to meet Washington's demands by choking off its sea trade. The US says it's turned round at least six vessels due to their links with Iran.

Tanker traffic is close to a standstill. This map shows tankers in red, general cargo in green. As you can see, most are going nowhere. During the first 24 hours, says US Central Command, no ships have made it past the US blockade, and six merchant vessels complied with direction from US forces. China and Russia's foreign ministers have been meeting today to discuss the Iran crisis. They're both allies of the Islamic Republic. China has condemned the US blockade.

This will only aggravate confrontation, escalate tension, undermine the already fragile ceasefire, and further jeopardize safe passage through the Strait of Hormuz. It is a dangerous and irresponsible move. China has warships like these in the region. It's a major customer for Iran's oil, and it's unlikely to put up for long with this US-imposed blockade. At what point does China then go, "Okay, well, let's we can now board some American flagships somewhere else in the world." So, the risk of escalation is there. The risk of miscalculation is very high. And I think if there's a Chinese warship sitting off that tanker, uh I can't envisage a situation where

you would where you would board it. So, then your blockade's failed. So, for now, ships carrying oil and gas from the Gulf are still largely stuck. Only a trickle are getting out into the ocean. Only when that situation is resolved could the US blockade be judged a success. Frank Gardner, BBC News. Well, despite the blockade, Mr. Trump has told the New York Post that talks with Iran could restart in the next 2 days. Sarah Smith is at the White House for us, and talks with Iran, Sarah,

failed at the weekend. So, why the optimism they could start again and so soon? Well, very good question. Donald Trump told a reporter that they could start again in a couple of days. That reporter was in the Pakistani capital of Islamabad, and President Trump told him to stay there because that's where the talks took place at the weekend, and he says that's where they could start again. But why would they be any more likely? Well, Donald Trump said yesterday that Iran very badly wants to make a deal. And of course, the US blockade on the Strait of Hormuz is designed to try and pressure Iran into agreeing to an American deal. But the same three sticking points remain that

meant that the talks could not be resolved at the weekend. They are the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, the fate of Iran's nuclear program, which America wants it to abandon and hand over all of the enriched uranium stockpile that it has. And then there's the issue of Israeli attacks on Lebanon. Iran says that those must cease, and that was part of the deal that led it to agree to the 2-week ceasefire. America says it's got nothing to do with that deal. But on that, there was a meeting here in Washington today between representatives of Israel and Lebanon, and that's the first time those countries have met in face-to-face talks in decades. And they came out of it

reasonably positive. The Israeli ambassador said that both countries had agreed they wanted to free Lebanon of the influence of Iranian-backed Hezbollah militants. And they did agree to meet again and continue further talks. But throughout the day, Israel continued attacking Lebanon, and there was no agreement for any kind of ceasefire there. So, those two countries appear to still be pretty far apart, and there's no clear sign as to what could bring Iran and the United States any closer together if they are to meet for talks again.