US President Donald Trump announced an extension to the ceasefire with Iran and said the US military would postpone a planned attack to give Iran more time to submit a proposal to end the war.
Trump said Tuesday’s move was made at the request of Pakistani mediators. The ceasefire agreement was scheduled to expire on Wednesday.
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“Therefore, I have directed our military to continue the blockade and maintain readiness and capability in all other respects. Therefore, we will extend the ceasefire until proposals are submitted and some form of consultation is completed,” the US president said in a social media post.
Although no specific deadline was given, President Trump’s statement suggests that the ceasefire extension is open-ended, at least from the U.S. perspective.
Iran had no immediate reaction to President Trump’s statement. The semi-official Tasnim news agency said the Iranian government’s position “will be officially announced at a later date.”
The extension marks President Trump’s latest sudden change in policy. Hours before the social media post, President Trump had opposed extending the ceasefire and warned Iran that time was running out before the United States launched a major attack on Iranian infrastructure.
The turn of events came as Iranian officials condemned the U.S. blockade of the country’s ports, raising questions about their participation in talks scheduled for Wednesday.
Later, Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif thanked President Trump for agreeing to extend the ceasefire and said that Islamabad would continue to seek a negotiated solution to the conflict.
“I sincerely hope that both sides will continue the ceasefire and conclude a comprehensive ‘peace agreement’ during the second round of talks for a permanent end to the conflict scheduled for Islamabad,” Foreign Minister Sharif wrote in a post on X.
The naval siege continues, and it is unclear whether extending the ceasefire will be enough to bring Iran to the negotiating table in Islamabad.
Earlier on Tuesday, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Aragushi said Iran’s port blockade was an “act of war” and a violation of the existing ceasefire.
“Iran knows how to override restrictions, protect its interests and resist bullying,” Aragushi wrote.
Iran’s public stance is to reject U.S. threats and naval siege, but President Trump has suggested that disagreements within Tehran’s leadership are slowing diplomatic efforts.
“Not unexpectedly, given the fact that the Iranian government is deeply fractured, and at the request of Pakistan’s Field Marshal Asim Munir and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, we have been asked to halt attacks against Iran until our leaders and representatives can come up with a unified proposal,” the US president said in a message on Tuesday.
Since the United States and Israel first launched attacks against Iran on February 28, several senior Iranian officials have been killed, including Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.
Despite this, however, there were no major defections in Tehran’s ruling system, with the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) spearheading the war effort.
Khamenei was succeeded by his son Mojtaba, who has not yet appeared in public since being elected supreme leader last month.
Reporting from Tehran, Al Jazeera correspondent Ali Hashem explained that President Trump’s claims about rifts in Iran’s leadership were likely a “misunderstanding.”
“Iran has had a very unified leadership since the assassination of former supreme leader Ayatollah Khamenei,” Hashim said.
“Why? Because the new leader Mojtaba Khamenei and those around him are a team that has been working together for the past 15 years. Members of this team are now at the center of decision-making in Tehran.”
Iran and the United States agreed to an initial two-week cease-fire on April 8, but the deal has been marred by disagreements over Lebanon’s participation in the truce and control of the Strait of Hormuz, and tensions remain.
To end the war, the United States is calling for a complete halt to Iran’s nuclear program, limits on missile production, and support for regional allies including Hezbollah and Hamas.
However, the Iranian government has maintained its right to enrich uranium domestically as part of its civilian nuclear program. He also ruled out using military power or regional alliances as concessions.
Another problem is Iran’s existing highly enriched uranium stockpile.
President Trump claimed that the Iranian government had agreed to allow the United States to extract nuclear material from the bombed sites. However, Iran says it will not allow uranium to flow out of the country.
Barbara Slavin, a distinguished fellow at the Stimson Center think tank, said Trump’s statement extending the ceasefire was “a way to hide the embarrassment” of stalled negotiations.
He noted that President Trump is willing to send Vice President Vance to negotiate with Iran in Pakistan, but the Iranian government does not appear ready to attend the talks.
“This war did not go as he expected from the beginning, and Iran found new leverage in controlling the Strait of Hormuz,” Slavin told Al Jazeera.
He added that the United States should “abandon its extremist demands” and offer Iran “some gesture that shows it is serious about seeking a solution.”
