President Trump announced he is extending the ceasefire with Iran, with no set deadline.
The announcement, which came after a White House meeting with his national security team, came a few hours before the ceasefire was set to expire, averting at least a temporary resumption of the war. It also came after the vice president’s trip was postponed indefinitely after Iran refused to participate in a new round of talks.
Trump’s truce extension also came after the price of Brent crude temporarily back up to around $100 per barrel at the prospect of the war resuming.
While large-scale hostilities aren’t underway, both Washington and Tehran are maintaining their restrictions in the Strait of Hormuz. The United States boarded a tanker carrying Iranian oil in the Indian Ocean while Iran was reported to have seized two ships in the strait.
Trump wrote on Truth Social that he made the decision at the request of Pakistani mediators — military chief Field Marshal Asim Munir and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif. Trump said he directed the U.S. military to continue the naval blockade on Iran's ports and 'remain ready and able' to resume the war if needed.
Mahdi Mohammadi, a national security adviser to Iranian parliamentary Speaker and chief negotiator Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, wrote on X that the ceasefire extension 'has no meaning and the losing side cannot set conditions. The continuation of the blockade is no different from bombing and must be responded to militarily. Moreover, the extension of the ceasefire by Trump certainly means buying time in order to deliver a surprise strike. It is the time for Iran's initiative,' A spokesperson for Iran's armed forces said in a statement that Iran is '100% ready' for any surprise U.S. attack, warning that 'in the event of aggression,' its forces 'will immediately and powerfully attack predetermined targets and will give America ... a harsher lesson than before.'
U.S. and Pakistani mediators are now waiting for Iranian Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei to respond to the latest proposal and give a clear directive to his negotiators.