ISLAMABAD (AP) — President Donald Trump said Tuesday the United States is extending its ceasefire with Iran at Pakistan’s request as he waits for a unified proposal from the Islamic Republic.
The announcement came as last-minute ceasefire talks between the U.S. and Iran looked uncertain and a two-week truce was set to expire Wednesday.
Earlier, the White House put on hold Vice President JD Vance’s expected trip to Islamabad for a second round of talks as Tehran — at least for the time-being — has balked at further talks.
In a Truth Social post announcing the ceasefire extension, Trump said the U.S. military would “remain ready and able, and will therefore extend the Ceasefire until such time as their proposal is submitted, and discussions are concluded, one way or the other.” He said the U.S. would continue it’s blockade of Iranian ports.
Both countries have warned that, without a deal, they were prepared to resume fighting.
Pakistan scrambles to get US and Iran to negotiate
Pakistani leaders, including Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, worked intensively late Tuesday to get both sides to agree to a second round of ceasefire talks, according to two officials who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media.
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei told Iran’s state TV there has been “no final decision” on whether to agree to more talks because of “unacceptable actions” by the U.S., apparently referencing its recent blockade in the Strait of Hormuz.
As Vance put on hold a return trip to Islamabad, Pakistan’s capital, Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff and son-in-law Jared Kushner were expected in Washington on Tuesday afternoon for consultations about how to proceed, said a U.S. official who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss internal administration deliberations.
The official cautioned that Trump could change his mind on negotiating with Iran at any time, and declined to predict what would happen if the ceasefire expires without another meeting. The official said Trump has options short of restarting airstrikes.
Both sides remain dug in rhetorically
Before announcing the ceasefire extension, Trump had warned that “lots of bombs” will “start going off” if there’s no agreement before the Wednesday deadline, while Iran’s chief negotiator said that Tehran has “new cards on the battlefield” that haven’t yet been revealed.
A senior commander in Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps threatened to destroy the region’s oil industry if war with the United States resumes. “If southern neighbors allow the enemy to use their facilities to attack Iran, they should say goodbye to oil production in the Middle East region,” Gen. Majid Mousavi told an Iranian news site.
Strait of Hormuz control key to negotiations
Iran’s envoy to the United Nations said Tuesday that Tehran has “received some sign” that the U.S. is ready to stop its blockade of Iranian ports. The U.S. had made no public statements about lifting the blockade.
Ambassador Amir Saeid Iravani said ending the blockade remains a condition for Iran to rejoin peace talks. When that happens, he said, “I think the next round of the negotiations will take place.”
The U.S. imposed the blockade to pressure Tehran into ending its stranglehold on the Strait of Hormuz, a key shipping lane through which 20% of the world’s natural gas and crude oil transits in peacetime.
Iran’s grip on the strait has sent oil prices soaring. Brent crude, the international standard, was trading at close to $95 per barrel on Tuesday, up more than 30% from Feb. 28, the day that Israel and the U.S. attacked Iran to start the war.
Before the war began, the Strait of Hormuz had been fully open to international shipping. Trump has demanded that vessels again be allowed to transit unimpeded.
Over the weekend, Iran said that it had received new proposals from Washington, but also suggested that a wide gap remains between the sides. Issues that derailed the last round of negotiations included Iran’s nuclear enrichment program, its regional proxies and the strait.
US says its forces board sanctioned oil tanker
On Tuesday, the U.S. said its forces boarded an oil tanker previously sanctioned for smuggling Iranian crude oil in Asia. The Pentagon said in a social media post that U.S. forces boarded the M/T Tifani “without incident.”
The U.S. military did not say where the vessel had been boarded, though ship-tracking data showed the Tifani in the Indian Ocean between Sri Lanka and Indonesia on Tuesday. The Pentagon statement added that “international waters are not a refuge for sanctioned vessels.”
The U.S. military on Sunday seized an Iranian container ship, the first interception under the blockade. Iran’s joint military command called the armed boarding an act of piracy and a violation of the ceasefire.
Pakistan hopeful talks will proceed
Pakistani officials have expressed confidence that Iran will also send a delegation to resume talks that mark the highest-level negotiations between the U.S. and Iran since the 1979 Islamic Revolution. The first round April 11 and 12 ended without an agreement.
Pakistan said Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar met Tuesday with the acting U.S. ambassador in Islamabad to urge a ceasefire extension. Dar also met with the ambassador from China, a key trading partner with Iran.
Security has been tightened across Pakistan’s capital, where authorities have deployed thousands of personnel and increased patrols along routes leading to the airport.
Talks between Israel and Lebanon set to resume
In Lebanon, the Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah said in a statement it had fired rockets and drones at Israeli forces for the first time since a 10-day truce took effect Friday “in response to the blatant and documented violations” by Israel, which it said included “attacks on civilians and the destruction of their homes and villages in southern Lebanon.”
The Israeli army said it responded by striking the group’s rocket launcher. Israeli officials have said they intend to maintain a buffer zone in southern Lebanon — an area that includes dozens of villages whose residents have not been allowed to return.
Historic diplomatic talks between Israel and Lebanon are set to resume on Thursday in Washington, an Israeli, a Lebanese and a U.S. official said. All three spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the behind-the-scenes negotiations.
The Israeli and Lebanese ambassadors met last week for the first direct diplomatic talks in decades. Israel says the talks are aimed at disarming Hezbollah and reaching a peace agreement with Lebanon.
A 10-day ceasefire began on Friday in Lebanon, where fighting between Israel and Iranian-backed Hezbollah militants broke out two days after the U.S. and Israel launched joint strikes on Iran to start the war. Fighting in Lebanon has killed more than 2,290 people.
Since the war started, at least 3,375 people have been killed in Iran, according to authorities. Additionally, 23 people have died in Israel and more than a dozen in Gulf Arab states. Fifteen Israeli soldiers in Lebanon and 13 U.S. service members throughout the region have been killed.
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Gambrell reported from Dubai, United Arab Emirates, and Lee from Washington. Associated Press journalists Michelle Price, Aamer Madhani and Darlene Superville in Washington; Samy Magdy in Cairo; David Rising and Huizhong Wu in Bangkok; Sam McNeil in Brussels; Julia Frankel in New York; Bill Barrow in Atlanta, Edith Lederer at the United Nations and Russ Bynum in Savannah, Georgia, contributed to this story.