Trump extends Iranian ceasefire as planned negotiations put on hold

Only hours before the U.S.-Iran ceasefire was set to expire, President Donald Trump posted Tuesday to Truth Social that he will extend the ceasefire until the fractured Iranian government presents a unified proposal. Also on Tuesday, Vice President J.D. Vance was scheduled to fly to Pakistan for another round of peace talks with Iranian officials. But he went to the White House instead, and no updated schedule had been released as of Tuesday afternoon. Special envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law, were also expected at the talks, but their plane was also headed to Washington as of Tuesday afternoon. In a post on X on Tuesday, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said the United States violated its ceasefire by imposing a naval blockade of Iranian ports, which he called an act of war. In his own post, Trump said Pakistan had requested the extension. He said the blockade around ports will also continue.

When does the ceasefire expire? Trump did not provide a new deadline in his post. The original two-week ceasefire was set to expire either Tuesday or Wednesday night. Iran began allowing ships through the Strait of Hormuz during the ceasefire period but closed it again on Saturday. Pakistan offered to be a mediator between the United States and Iran for the talks, but Information Minister Attaullah Tarar posted on X Tuesday that the Iranian delegation has still not confirmed whether it would attend. Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Esmail Bahaei told a state media outlet on Tuesday that the United States has given contradictory messages and that Iran doubts the administration’s dedication to a peace agreement.

Dig deeper: Listen to Alex Vatanka, a senior fellow with the Middle East Institute, discuss Iran’s economy and the ongoing war on The World and Everything in It.