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President Donald Trump on Tuesday extended the deadline for the temporary ceasefire in Iran, citing the need for additional time for consultations.
The leader based the decision on the request of Prime Minister of Pakistan, Shehbaz Sharif, and Field Marshal Asim Munir, Pakistan’s Chief of Defence Forces.
Trump indicated that the United States was asked to hold its attack on Iran until their leaders and representatives “can come up with a unified proposal.”
The President, however, announced that he had directed the U.S. military to continue the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz and “remain ready and able.”
On Tuesday, Vice President JD Vance’s planned trip to the Pakistani capital, Islamabad, was postponed following Iran’s refusal to participate in a new round of peace talks.
The flight was initially delayed and later cancelled. Tasnim reported that Tehran mediators informed the U.S. through Pakistan that they will not be in Islamabad on Wednesday.
Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi described the blockading of Iranian ports as an act of war and thus a violation of the ceasefire.
The diplomat said striking a commercial vessel and taking its crew hostage is a “greater violation,” adding that Iran “knows how to neutralize restrictions, defend its interests, and resist bullying.
The ceasefire talks between the United States, US, and Iran are under way in Pakistan’s capital of Islamabad.
This is the first direct peace talks between the US and Tehran since the 1979 Islamic revolution.
US Vice President JD Vance led the America’s delegation to the meeting.
He met Pakistani Prime Minister, Shehbaz Sharif ahead of ceasefire negotiations.
Iranian officials, including Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf and Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, also met Sharif.
Meanwhile, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian has expressed support for the Iranian negotiators in Pakistan.
Pezeshkian said the delegation will “negotiate bravely” in defence of the country’s interests.
“In any case, our service to the people will not stop for a moment, and whatever the outcome of the negotiations, the government will stand by the people,” Pezeshkian wrote on X.
US President Donald Trump on Thursday warned Iran against imposing a toll for ships passing through the Strait of Hormuz, after Tehran agreed to reopen the crucial route as part of a two-week ceasefire.
“There are reports that Iran is charging fees to tankers going through the Hormuz Strait — They better not be and, if they are, they better stop now!” Trump said on his Truth Social platform.
In a second message just a few minutes later, Trump added that “very quickly, you’ll see Oil start flowing, with or without the help of Iran.”
Oil prices crashed and stock markets surged around the world on Wednesday after the United States and Iran agreed a two-week conditional ceasefire, with global investors exhaling collectively at the first serious off-ramp from a war that had pushed crude above $110 a barrel and rattled financial markets for five weeks.
Brent crude fell 13.5 percent to $94.36 a barrel by late Wednesday afternoon London time — its steepest single-day decline since the Covid-19 lockdowns of 2020. US crude dropped 15.5 percent to $95.36. Wall Street posted its biggest single-day rally in a year, with the Dow Jones gaining more than 1,300 points, or 2.9 percent, to close at 47,909. The S&P 500 advanced 2.5 percent and the Nasdaq climbed 2.8 percent. In Asia, South Korea’s Kospi soared 7.5 percent, Japan’s Nikkei gained more than 5 percent and Australia’s benchmark index rose 2.55 percent. Europe’s Stoxx 600 recorded its best session in a year, gaining 3.7 percent.
