Donald Trump extends Iran ceasefire as peace talks hit impasse

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Donald Trump said he was extending the US ceasefire with Iran on Tuesday, a day before its expiry, at the request of Pakistan and because Iran’s government was “seriously fractured”.

The US president wrote on Truth Social that he was holding back from another attack on Iran “until such time as their leaders and representatives can come up with a unified proposal”.

Trump’s latest extension came on another day of mixed signals from the US and Iran, after he said he was hopeful for a peace deal but planned talks involving vice-president JD Vance hit an impasse amid accusations of ceasefire violations by both sides.

The US is deploying more forces to the Middle East, including another carrier strike group, according to a US official, in its biggest military build-up in the region since 2003.

A White House official said that in light of the president’s Truth Social post, Vance would not be travelling to Pakistan on Tuesday.

Trump said the move to extend the ceasefire followed a request from Pakistan’s military strongman Asim Munir and its Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, who have mediated talks between the US and Iran aimed at ending the war, now in its eighth week.

Trump said the US would continue its blockade of Iranian ships seeking to exit the Strait of Hormuz, the vital waterway Tehran has in effect blocked since the start of the war.

Brent crude prices rose by almost 6 per cent to more than $100 a barrel earlier on Tuesday as traders braced for the US-Iran talks to collapse. The benchmark pulled back after Trump’s post, leaving it up about 4 per cent at $99.15.

On Tuesday morning, Trump told CNBC that Tehran had “no choice” but to send its negotiators back to Pakistan and threatened to resume attacks if a deal was not reached.

“Iran has Violated the Cease Fire numerous times!” he later wrote on Truth Social.

The leader of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps warned of new attacks on the US’s allies if Trump attacked again, saying they should prepare to “say goodbye to oil production in the Middle East”.

By Tuesday evening in the US, both countries’ negotiators appeared to have abandoned plans to resume talks in Pakistan.

The Tasnim news agency, which is closely affiliated with Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, reported that Iranian officials saw no prospect for negotiations due to US ceasefire violations and “excessive demands” from Washington.

The warring countries held an initial round of discussions in Islamabad earlier this month. Vance, the president’s son-in-law Jared Kushner and special envoy Steve Witkoff met with their Iranian counterparts for 21 hours, but failed to reach a breakthrough.

Messages exchanged between the two sides this week made “no meaningful progress”, Tasnim reported on Tuesday.

Iran’s ambassador to the UN, Amir Saeid Iravani, on Tuesday accused the US military of violating international law by seizing an Iranian vessel off Oman’s coast on Sunday, likening it to an act of piracy.