• US blockade of Iran ports to continue even during ceasefire.
• Trump says closing strait risks Iran losing $500m daily.
• Israel-Lebanon ceasefire talks set for Thursday.
  

WASHINGTON: President Donald Trump extended the US ceasefire with Iran to allow more time for peace talks, with Tehran silent on the decision early Wednesday.

Trump indefinitely pushed back the end of the two-week truce, crediting a request from mediator Pakistan and stressing the need to give Iran’s “fractured” leadership time to form a proposal. But he said the US blockade of Iran’s ports — a sticking point for Tehran — would continue.

In a Truth social post on Tuesday, the US president accused Iran of wanting to keep the Strait of Hormuz open “so they can make $500 Million Dollars a day,” which he said the Gulf nation would risk losing if it remains closed.

Trump insisted in the post that keeping a US blockade of the strait, a critical waterway for about a fifth of the world’s oil and natural gas exports, is vital for forging a deal with Iran.

“People approached me four days ago, saying, ‘Sir, Iran wants to open up the Strait, immediately.’ But if we do that, there can never be a Deal with Iran, unless we blow up the rest of their Country, their leaders included!,” Trump said in the post.

In an earlier social media post, Trump indicated that he had no desire to extend the ceasefire and had warned of a resumption of bombing when it expired.

“I have… directed our Military to continue the Blockade and, in all other respects, remain ready and able, and will therefore extend the Ceasefire until such time as their (Iran’s) proposal is submitted,” Trump wrote on social media.

Ahead of Trump’s eleventh-hour intervention, it had been unclear when the original ceasefire would expire, with Pakistan indicating it would end at 2350 GMT Tuesday.

This moment came and went with no reports of new military activity by Iran, which had said the ceasefire would end at 0000 GMT. Iran are yet to respond to Trump’s ceasefire extension.

The fate of peace talks hosted by Pakistan was left hanging in the balance following Trump’s announcement.

A White House official confirmed that Vice President JD Vance would not travel to Pakistan for talks on Tuesday as previously planned, pending the submission of an Iranian proposal.

Islamabad lockdown

Strict security measures were adopted on Tuesday in Islamabad which was virtually shut down, even as no Iranian-US meeting was fixed.

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif thanked Trump for extending the ceasefire, with UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres also welcoming it.

As the original ceasefire deadline drew in, Iran preemptively threatened to attack its Gulf neighbors’ oil production facilities if their territory was used to attack it once the ceasefire expired.

Since the first round of talks in Islamabad, Trump announced a blockade of Iranian ports, which US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said would remain in place.

“In a matter of days, Kharg Island storage will be full and the fragile Iranian oil wells will be shut in,” Bessent said in an X post Tuesday, adding that constraining Iran’s maritime trade will target its “primary revenue lifelines.”

He warned: “Any person or vessel facilitating these flows-through covert trade and finance risks exposure to US sanctions.”

The US Defence Department said Tuesday that its forces intercepted and boarded a “stateless sanctioned” vessel as part of Washington’s efforts. AFP has identified the vessel as one affiliated with Iranian activity.

Both sides have accused the other of ceasefire breaches.

‘Cursed ceasefire’

Residents in the Iranian capital who spoke to Paris-based AFP journalists say life has only worsened despite the truce.

“This cursed ceasefire has broken us,” said Saghar, 39. “I don’t know anyone around me who is doing well.”

Experts said Iran’s noncommittal public stance was an attempt to put pressure on Washington.

“The current standoff between the United States and Iran is no longer a clash of capabilities but rather a struggle of political endurance and bargaining leverage,” Daniel Byman of the Center for Strategic and International Studies wrote in a commentary.

Despite the ongoing uncertainty, stocks rose on Tuesday amid lingering hopes for a deal to end the conflict.

Israel-Lebanon talks

On another front in the war, Israel and Lebanon, which have no diplomatic relations, will hold fresh talks in Washington on Thursday, a State Department official told AFP.

A separate 10-day ceasefire was agreed between the two nations on Friday and included Hezbollah, whose rocket fire in support of Iran drew Lebanon into the wider Mideast conflict.

Sporadic violence has continued, and Israel’s military warned civilians against returning to dozens of villages in southern Lebanon.

Israeli attacks on Lebanon have killed at least 2,454 people since the start of the war, a Lebanese government body said in its latest toll.

Hezbollah said it launched an attack on northern Israel on Tuesday in retaliation for what it said were Israeli violations of the ceasefire, the first such claim since the truce began.

Iran has fully prepared for the possible resumption of war as the ceasefire deadline approaches, with new surprises ready for any new round of imposed war, the Tasnim News Agency reported on Tuesday, citing informed sources.

According to the report, the US naval blockade announcements and Washington’s excessive demands have prevented the formation of new negotiations as the agreed ceasefire period nears its end.

“Iran is fully prepared for the possibility of a new war and has prepared new surprises for a potential new round of combat,” the report said.

The sources told Tasnim that over the past two weeks, Iran has taken the possibility of renewed war seriously.

“Accordingly, some military movements and new target lists have been prepared for this purpose,” the report added.

Iran is ready to create “another hell” for Americans and Israelis from the very beginning of any potential new war, the sources said.

The United States and Israel launched their unprovoked, illegal war of aggression against Iran on February 28, assassinating the Leader of the Islamic Revolution, Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei, and striking nuclear facilities, schools, hospitals and bridges, along other civilian sites.

Iran’s armed forces responded with 100 waves of decisive retaliatory strikes under Operation True Promise 4, launching hundreds of ballistic and hypersonic missiles, as well as drones, against American military bases across West Asia and Israeli positions throughout the occupied territories.

A two-week ceasefire, brokered by Pakistan, took effect following the intense 40-day war. However, tensions have remained high.

The United States has declared plans for a naval blockade of Iranian ports, a move Tehran has condemned as provocative and a violation of the ceasefire.

Iranian officials have repeatedly warned that any US attempt to impose a blockade or conduct mine-sweeping operations in the Strait of Hormuz will be met with a decisive military response.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has previously accused Washington of bad faith, citing repeated US violations of the ceasefire, threats against Iranian shores and vessels, and continuous contradictions in American statements.

Tehran has made it clear that while it remains committed to diplomacy, it will not accept diktats or conditions imposed by the United States.

No Iranian delegation has arrived in Islamabad for talks with the United States, says a report, as senior Iranian officials declared they will not engage in talks “under the shadow of threats” following renewed American aggression at sea.

Contrary to numerous international and regional media reports suggesting an Iranian delegation was set to arrive for talks, IRIB News Agency reported on Tuesday that “to date, no delegation from Iran has gone to Islamabad, Pakistan; neither a main nor a subsidiary delegation; neither primary nor secondary.”

The report dismissed speculation about scheduled meetings, stating that news circulated since Saturday about the “departure” or “arrival” of an Iranian team, or even specific meeting times, was entirely without basis.

This firm stance follows blatant breaches of a two-week-old ceasefire by Washington. Iranian officials have maintained a consistent position since Sunday evening, asserting that the “continuation of talks depends on a change in American behavior and positions.”

Adding his voice to the resolute message, Iranian Parliament Speaker and lead negotiator Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf said on Monday that the US President was attempting to force Tehran into submission. “Trump, by imposing a blockade and violating the ceasefire, wants – in his own delusion – to turn the negotiating table into a table of surrender or to justify renewed warmongering,” he said in a post on X.

The speaker made Tehran’s position unequivocal. “We do not accept negotiations under the shadow of threats,” he said, warning, “Over the past two weeks, we have prepared ourselves to reveal new cards on the battlefield.”

The uncertainty shrouding the next round of talks escalated after the US Navy targeted an Iranian merchant vessel in the Sea of Oman on Sunday. Iran’s military condemned the incident as a “criminal operation” and “maritime piracy,” reiterating that its response posture remains active.

The backdrop to these renewed tensions is a 40-day US-Israeli war of aggression that began on February 28 with the assassination of high-level Iranian figures and civilians. After 40 days of criminal aggression, the US agreed to a ten-point proposal from Iran, leading to trilateral talks mediated by Pakistan.

While Iran subsequently opened the Strait of Hormuz to commercial traffic, it was forced to close the chokepoint again on Sunday after the US maintained its naval blockade in breach of the deal.

President Masoud Pezeshkian on Monday dismissed the American ultimatums as “pressure tactics,” insisting Iran will not submit to coercion.

This came as President Trump issued a direct threat on his social media pages, stating, “We’re offering a very fair and reasonable deal, and I hope they take it because, if they don’t, the United States is going to knock out every single power plant, and every single bridge, in Iran.”

The ongoing US blockade is also reportedly frustrating the mediation efforts. According to reports, Pakistani army chief Asim Munir conveyed to President Trump that the continued naval blockade of Iranian ports was hampering Islamabad’s ability to facilitate a permanent end to the war.