US President Donald Trump has extended his country’s ceasefire with Iran until negotiations are concluded.
Mr Trump, in a post on Truth Social, said the ceasefire, set for two weeks and due to expire on Tuesday night, will be extended until the Iranian proposal is submitted and talks are concluded.
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This decision, he said, came at Pakistan’s request. Pakistan has been mediating the talks between both parties.
“Based on the fact that the Government of Iran is seriously fractured, not unexpectedly so and, upon the request of Field Marshal Asim Munir, and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, of Pakistan, we have been asked to hold our Attack on the Country of Iran until such time as their leaders and representatives can come up with a unified proposal,” he said.
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“We will therefore extend the Ceasefire until such time as their proposal is submitted, and discussions are concluded, one way or the other.”
Mr Trump, however, said the naval blockade of the Strait of Hormuz will continue, and troops deployed to lay siege to the waterway will remain in place.
“I have therefore directed our Military to continue the Blockade and, in all other respects, remain ready and able,” he noted.
PREMIUM TIMES reports that both sides were due to commence a second round of direct talks.
Vice President JD Vance, who is leading the US delegation, is expected to depart for Pakistan on Tuesday evening, Pakistan time, according to Al Jazeera. He will arrive in Islamabad late Wednesday morning while Special Envoy Steve Witkoff and Mr Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, will join him in Islamabad later.
But it is unclear who they’ll meet, as the presence of an Iranian delegation is uncertain.
Iran insists it will not be negotiating “under the shadow of threat” or under a US naval blockade.
The Iranian Foreign Minister, Abbas Araghchi, said the US violated the ceasefire by seizing its ship, which was attempting to pass through the waterway.
He said, “All this is a clear violation of international law and the UN charter, as well as violations of the ceasefire. In situations like this, how can anyone trust the US claim about reconciliation and diplomacy?”
READ ALSO: UPDATED: Trump announces 10-day ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon
“We are still in a state of war, and even though a ceasefire has been supposedly announced, it is one that has been broken repeatedly by the United States from the start.”
Iran’s ambassador to Pakistan, Reza Moghadam, in a post on X, paraphrased the first sentence of Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice to read as, “It’s a truth universally acknowledged that a single country in possession of a large Civilisation, will not negotiate under Threat and Force.
“This is a substantial, Islamic and theological principle. I wish the US would have perceived …”
Also, Iran has threatened to retaliate against the US seizure of its oil vessel.
Meanwhile, Israel continues to attack southern Lebanon, despite the 10-day ceasefire which Mr Trump claimed Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Lebanon’s Joseph Aoun agreed last week.
Israeli strikes on Qaaqaaiyet El Jisr, a town in Southern Lebanon, killed six people on Tuesday.
Air raids by the army also destroyed civilian buildings and houses in Khiam, another Lebanese town.
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