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Trump
announces extension of Iran ceasefire until ‘discussion concluded’
Declaration
comes amid intense efforts to bring two sides together in Pakistan for new
round of talks
Robert
Tait, Jason Burke and Shah Meer Baloch
Tue 21
Apr 2026 23.32 BST
Donald
Trump unilaterally announced an extension of the two-week ceasefire with Iran
on Tuesday amid frantic efforts to bring the two sides back to the negotiating
table.
Hours
after announcing that he “expected to be bombing”, the US president said he
would extend the ceasefire until Iranian negotiators submitted a proposal for
peace.
“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 wrote on his Truth Social platform.
“I have
therefore 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 proposal is submitted, and discussions are concluded, one
way or the other.”
The
declaration came in a topsy-turvy day in which an expected trip to Islamabad by
JD Vance, the vice-president, had been put on hold and Trump ramped up his
bellicose rhetoric, saying the US military was “raring to go”.
Trump’s
sharp about-turn drew a withering early response from Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf,
the speaker of the Iranian parliament who has emerged as the Islamic regime’s
lead negotiator in recent talks.
Ghalibaf’s
personal adviser dismissed the ceasefire extension as “a ploy to buy time for a
surprise strike”, adding that “the time for Iran to take the initiative has
come”.
“The
losing side cannot dictate terms,” Mahdi Mohammadi wrote on social media. “The
continuation of the siege must be met with a military response.”
Senior
figures of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps – who have the upper hand in
Iran’s leadership – were angered by Trump’s flurry of social media posts last
Friday, in which he all but proclaimed victory while depicting Iran as
surrendering on key points, including its nuclear programme. Iranian anger led
to the strait of Hormuz being re-closed a day after the foreign minister, Abbas
Araghchi, had declared it open.
However,
Sharif – who has acted as the principal mediator – thanked Trump. “Pakistan
shall continue its earnest efforts for [a] negotiated settlement of [the]
conflict,” he posted.
The US
president had earlier told the US business news network CNBC that he did not
want to extend the ceasefire with Tehran, insisting the US was in a strong
position and was “going to end up with a great deal”. Trump has previously said
that targets for new US attacks would include power stations and other civilian
infrastructure.
Iran
appeared unwilling to bend to Trump’s threats, though analysts say there is
fierce disagreement among its leaders over how to respond to US pressure and
whether to risk a potentially devastating new wave of bombing.
Iranian
state television on Tuesday broadcast a message confirming that “no delegation
from Iran has visited Islamabad … so far” and Ghalibaf accused the US president
of seeking to turn the negotiating table into a “table of surrender”.
“We do
not accept negotiations under the shadow of threats,” he wrote in a social
media post, and said Iran was preparing “to reveal new cards on the
battlefield”.
The
ongoing US Navy blockade of Iranian ports appears to a major hurdle in
arranging a second round of talks.
Iran has
said the US must end the blockade in order for negotiations to resume. But
Trump and Treasury secretary Scott Bessent on Tuesday both warned that the
blockade will continue. “In a matter of days, Kharg Island storage will be full
and the fragile Iranian oil wells will be shut in,” Bessent said in a statement
on X.
In a
meeting with Trump’s core national security team on Tuesday afternoon, it was
decided the US would keep up the pressure on Iran by maintaining the blockade –
reducing Iran’s perceived leverage after they closed the strait, according to
two people briefed on the matter.
A first
round of talks in Islamabad 10 days ago ended with no sign of agreement on the
future of the strait of Hormuz, the key waterway which was closed to shipping
by Iran in the early days of the conflict, cutting the supply of around a fifth
of the world’s oil and gas.
Fatih
Birol, the head of the International Energy Agency, said the combined impact of
the conflict’s effects on oil, alongside the effects of Russia’s war with
Ukraine on gas supplies, was “the biggest crisis in history” in global energy
markets.
The US
last week imposed a blockade on Iranian ports to pressure Tehran into reopening
the strait, and on Sunday it seized an Iranian cargo vessel.
US forces
then escalated the campaign on Tuesday, boarding an oil tanker previously under
sanctions for smuggling Iranian crude oil in Asia. Ship-tracking data showed
the vessel in the Indian Ocean between Sri Lanka and Indonesia around the time
it was intercepted.
Iran’s
foreign ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei said on Iranian state TV that US
moves against the two vessels amounted to “piracy at sea and state terrorism”
and questioned Washington’s seriousness in negotiating.
The
closure of the strait by Iran threatens a global recession and has given Tehran
a powerful strategic weapon to counter the overwhelming conventional military
superiority of its enemies. The war began in February with a first wave of
bombing by the US and Israel, which killed the then supreme leader of Iran,
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
Yvette
Cooper, the UK’s foreign secretary, who has been holding discussions with
counterparts aimed at safeguarding the strait, has described it as “a critical
diplomatic moment” in the crisis.
In
Islamabad, Pakistani officials have expressed confidence that Iran will resume
talks in what are the highest-level negotiations between the two countries
since the 1979 Islamic Revolution.
A
spokesperson said the Pakistani foreign minister, Ishaq Dar, met on Tuesday
with the acting US ambassador in Islamabad to urge a ceasefire extension. Dar
also met the ambassador from China, which is a key trading partner with Iran.
“Pakistan
has made sincere efforts to convince the Iranian leadership to participate in
the second round of talks, and these efforts continue,” Pakistan’s information
minister, Attaullah Tarar, said on X.
Security
has been tightened across Pakistan’s capital, where authorities have deployed
thousands of personnel and increased patrols along routes leading to the
airport. Government offices, schools and colleges in the city have been shut
down and much of the centre barred to civilians.
“If they
don’t come to Islamabad, or the second round does not take place, it will be an
embarrassing situation for Pakistan as well,” Nusrat Javed, a political analyst
and columnist, said.
Over the
weekend, Iran said it had received new proposals from Washington, but also
suggested a wide gap remains between the sides. Issues that derailed the last
round of negotiations included Iran’s nuclear enrichment programme, its support
for a series of militant movements that act as regional proxies, and the strait
of Hormuz.
Trump
said Iran had no choice and would take part in talks. “We’ve taken out their
navy, we’ve taken out their air force, we’ve taken out their leaders.”
The US
president again claimed “regime change” and said those now in charge were “much
more rational”.
Many
experts say the conflict has led to a radicalisation of Iran’s regime, with
more pragmatic figures having been killed or sidelined, allowing senior
officials in the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps to increase their hold on
power.
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