Police officers stand guard on a road leading to the Serena Hotel Tuesday as Pakistan prepared to host the US and Iran for the second phase of peace talks in Islamabad. (Reuters) US President Donald Trump Tuesday said he was extending a ceasefire with Iran to give more time for negotiations, but would maintain a US naval blockade of the country's ports. Trump posted on social media that he would "extend the Ceasefire" until Iran came up with a proposal to end the conflict. However, he "directed our Military to continue the Blockade." Trump's ceasefire extension came hours before it was believed to be set to expire. It also came as the White House said Vice President JD Vance would not be going to Pakistan for what had been expected to be a second round of peace talks. The US president cast the breakdown in more talks as resulting from Iranian infighting, adding that Pakistan's leaders had asked him to extend the truce. "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," Trump posted on his Truth Social site. But the blockade of ports on Iran's coast in the Strait of Hormuz will remain in place, Trump said, while the US military will "in all other respects, remain ready and able." The ceasefire, he said, will be extended "until such time as their proposal is submitted, and discussions are concluded, one way or the other." The turnaround was in stark contrast from what the American president in the morning had threatened a military attack if Iran did not agree to US demands. “I expect to be bombing,” Trump said on CNBC this morning. “The military is raring to go.” Iran said Tuesday it had still yet to decide whether to attend last-ditch peace talks, after US forces boarded a huge Iranian oil tanker at sea with just a day left before the ceasefire runs out in the war in the Gulf. President Donald Trump said he hoped to reach a "great deal" to end the war, but he did not want to extend the ceasefire, and said the US military was "raring to go" if negotiations were not successful. Vice President JD Vance, who was due to lead the US delegation, did not board a flight for Islamabad, where the centre of the city has been locked down and a luxury hotel has been cleared out to host the talks. A White House official said Vance would participate in additional meetings in Washington. By the evening Tuesday, the spokesperson for Iran's foreign ministry, Esmaeil Baghaei, told state television Iran had still yet to decide whether to attend. He described the boarding of the tanker, as well as the seizure of a separate cargo ship on Sunday, as "piracy at sea and state terrorism", which he said called into question Washington's seriousness in negotiating. "The aggression against Iranian ships and the continued pressure indicate the continuation of the opposing side's contradictory behaviour," Baghaei said. Pakistan's Information Minister Attaullah Tarar said in a post on X that Pakistan was still waiting for Iran's reply to its invitation: "Pakistan as the mediator is in constant touch with Iranians and pursuing the path of diplomacy and dialogue." Iranian government spokesperson Fatemeh Mohajerani said: "We do not want to be attacked again, but if such attacks occur, we will definitely respond more firmly than before," according to the state news agency IRNA. Iranian officials have publicly cited a US blockade of their ships as a reason not to negotiate. On social media, Trump said Iran had carried out numerous violations of the ceasefire, without giving further details. He told CNBC that the blockade had been a success and the US was in a strong position to end up with a "great deal". The precise timing of the ceasefire's end had been a source of confusion. Trump initially announced it would last two weeks from the evening of Tuesday, April 7 in Washington. But he said this week that it runs until the evening of Wednesday, April 22, effectively giving it an extra 24 hours. A Pakistani source involved in the talks said it would have expired at 8pm Eastern Time on Wednesday, which is 3:30am Thursday in Iran. Still, a Pakistani source involved in the discussions told Reuters there was momentum for talks to resume. Wall Street stocks turned mostly lower Related Story
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