They came from around the world: hundreds of journalists rushed to Islamabad's flagship convention centre -- converted into a media hub by Pakistani authorities for landmark talks between the United States and Iran to end the war in the Middle East.

But as negotiations began behind closed doors half a kilometre away, all the world's media could do was wait -- and sip on an expertly brewed coffee while listening to live eastern folk music.

Even the lattes had a tagline: "Brewed for Peace."

Two US Navy warships transited the Strait of Hormuz to begin clearing Iranian-laid mines, US Central Command said Saturday -- a claim Tehran denied as the Revolutionary Guards threatened to deal "severely" with military vessels crossing the strategic waterway.

The announcement of the first such transit since the US-Israeli war with Iran began came shortly after President Donald Trump said Washington had started "clearing out" the strait, through which a fifth of the world's crude oil passes.

WASHINGTON, April 11 (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump on Saturday posted on social media that the United States military has started to clear the Strait of Hormuz nL1N40T08R, and that all of Iran's minelaying ships have been sunk.

"We're now starting the process of clearing out the Strait of Hormuz," Trump wrote in a social media post, adding that "all 28" of Iran's "mine dropper boats are also lying at the bottom of the sea".

By Mubasher Bukhari

ISLAMABAD, April 11 (Reuters) - The luxury five-star Serena Hotel in Pakistan's capital has become theunlikely venue for peace talks aimed at ending the Iran war https://www.reuters.com/world/iran/, cementing its status as one of Islamabad'smost heavily fortified buildings.

The city is under unprecedented security ahead of the talks, with shops and offices shut for two days ahead of the arrival of U.S. Vice President JD Vance nL1N40T02F, who is leading the American delegation, and senior Iranian officials.

CAIRO, April 11 (Reuters) - An airstrike hit a police checkpoint in Bureij camp in the central Gaza Strip early on Saturday, killing at least six people and injuring several others, medics said.

It was not immediately clear whether all those killed were police members. There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military.

A series of Israeli strikes has killed dozens of Hamas-led police force members since October, according to medics and police sources.

PARIS, April 11 (Reuters) - French President Emmanuel Macron said on Saturday that he had discussed the Iran ceasefire https://www.reuters.com/world/iran/ talks and the situation in Ukraine https://www.reuters.com/world/ukraine-russia-war/ with Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan.

By Tom Polansek, Brad Brooks, Maria Tsvetkova, Rich McKay and Daniel Trotta

By Daniel Flynn

KYIV, April 11 (Reuters) - Ukraine can play a useful role in international efforts to secure the Strait of Hormuz, Britain's armed services minister said, praising its drone technology as amongthe best in the world.

Britain has organized discussions this month among more than 30 nations nL1N40L0A8 on how to reopen the strait, amid an Iranian blockade that has choked oil supplies to the global economy following U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iran https://www.reuters.com/world/iran/.

Some three-quarters of the airstrikes during the Middle East war targeted sites in Iran or Lebanon, according to an AFP analysis of data from ACLED, a non‑profit that tracks political violence worldwide.

At least 7,700 strikes or series of strikes by missiles, drones, rockets or bombs, were recorded by the US-based conflict research group between the start of the war on February 28 up to April 8, when a fragile ceasefire concluded between Tehran and Washington came into effect.

By Parisa Hafezi

DUBAI, April 11 (Reuters) - A senior Iranian source said on Saturday the U.S. had agreed to release Iranian frozen assets that were held in Qatar and other foreign banks, welcoming the move as a sign of "seriousness" in reaching a deal with Washington in talks in Islamabad.

The United States has not made any public comments on the issue of unfreezing assets.