Reactions in Tehran to the collapse of the Islamabad talks suggest Iran’s leadership is settling on a dual message: defiance toward Washington’s pressure while still leaving the door to diplomacy open.

As a fragile ceasefire holds between the United States and Iran, former CIA analyst and former National Security Council director Ken Pollack is warning that the greatest risk may be a war that ends with the Islamic Republic still intact.

Control of the Strait of Hormuz has become Tehran’s most powerful bargaining chip as it seeks maximum leverage in the ongoing peace talks with the United States in Islamabad.

The United States revoked the permanent resident status of three Iranian nationals with ties to the Islamic Republic and placed them in immigration custody, the State Department said on Saturday.

As US and Iranian envoys prepare to meet in Pakistan to explore a path out of the war, China is watching from further east—an influential but cautious actor that helped move diplomacy forward but is unlikely to become the guarantor Tehran would like.

What follows is a list of fifty-two senior military, intelligence and security officials of the Islamic Republic who have been killed in recent years—mostly in Israeli operations and in some cases with US involvement.