Two regional officials said Tuesday, April 21, that the United States and Iran have signalled they will hold a new round of ceasefire talks in Islamabad as a fragile two-week truce was due to expire.
Neither the US nor Iran has publicly confirmed the timing of the talks, with Iranian state television denying that any official was already in Pakistan’s capital.
Pakistan-led mediators received confirmation that the top negotiators, US Vice President JD Vance and Iran’s parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, will arrive in Islamabad early Wednesday, April 22, to lead their teams in the talks, the officials told The Associated Press.
A ceasefire that began on April 8 was set to expire on Wednesday.
Both sides remain dug in rhetorically, with US President Donald Trump warning that “lots of bombs” will “start going off” if there’s no agreement before the ceasefire deadline, and Iran’s chief negotiator saying that Tehran has “new cards on the battlefield” that haven’t yet been revealed.
The ceasefire seemed likely to be extended if talks resume. White House officials have said that Vance would lead the American delegation, but Iran hasn’t said who it might send, and Iranian state television on Tuesday broadcast a message saying that “no delegation from Iran has visited Islamabad … so far.”
The on-screen alert likely reflects the ongoing internal debate within Iran’s theocracy as it weighs how to respond to the US Navy’s seizure of an Iranian container ship over the weekend.
Don’t want to extend ceasefire, says Trump
US President Donald Trump said he does not want to extend the ceasefire with Iran, which is due to expire on Wednesday.
“We don’t have that much time. Iran can get themselves on very good footing if they make a deal,” he said in an interview with CNBC.
He said Iranian officials have “no choice” but to negotiate, adding that the US military has used the ceasefire period to restock on equipment and is ready to resume attacks against Tehran.
“We’re loaded up… We have so much ammo, so much of everything… We’re ready to go. The military is raring to go,” he told CNBC.
Strait of Hormuz control key to negotiations
The US has instituted a blockade of Iranian ports to pressure Tehran into ending its stranglehold on the Strait of Hormuz, a key shipping lane through which 20 per cent of the world’s natural gas and crude oil transits in peacetime.
Iran’s iron grip on the strait has sent oil prices soaring, and Brent crude, the international standard, was trading at close to USD 95 per barrel on Tuesday, up more than 30 per cent from February 28, the day that Israel and the US attacked Iran to start the war.
Before the war began, the Strait of Hormuz had been fully open to international shipping, and Trump has demanded that vessels again be allowed to transit unimpeded through the waterway.
European Union transportation ministers were meeting in Brussels on Tuesday to discuss how to protect consumers after the head of the International Energy Agency warned that Europe has “maybe six weeks” of jet fuel supplies remaining.
Over the weekend, Iran said that it had received new proposals from Washington, but also suggested that a wide gap remains between the sides. Issues that derailed the last round of negotiations included Iran’s nuclear enrichment program, its regional proxies and the Strait.
Ghalibaf on Tuesday accused the United States of wanting Iran to surrender and said that, on the contrary, Iran has been preparing “to reveal new cards on the battlefield.”
“We do not accept negotiations under the shadow of threats,” he wrote in an X post.
Pakistan is hopeful talks will proceed
Despite the rhetorical skirmishing between the two sides, Pakistani officials have expressed confidence that Iran will also send a delegation late Tuesday so that the talks could resume.
Pakistani Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar on Tuesday spoke with his Egyptian counterpart, Badr Abdelatty, to discuss the latest regional developments, as part of diplomatic preparations, Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry.
Dar also met with the ambassador from China, which is a key trading partner with Iran, as the Foreign Ministry in Beijing said that the conflict was at a “critical stage of transition between war and peace.”
“At such a moment, it is all the more necessary for all parties to show the utmost sincerity, remain committed to a political solution, maintain the momentum of the ceasefire and negotiations,” ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun said.
Security has been tightened across Pakistan’s capital, where authorities have deployed thousands of personnel and increased patrols along routes leading to the airport.
The arrangements appear stricter than those put in place during the first round of talks held in Islamabad on April 11 and 12, suggesting the possibility of high-level participation, if negotiations make progress, said Syed Mohammad Ali, an Islamabad-based security analyst.
“Pakistan appears to be preparing for the possibility of visits by top US and Iranian leaders if the talks advance to a stage where an agreement could be signed,” he told AP.
US forces board oil tanker previously sanctioned for smuggling Iranian crude oil
US forces boarded an oil tanker previously sanctioned for smuggling Iranian crude oil in Asia, the Department of Defence said on Tuesday.
In a social media post, the Pentagon said US forces “conducted a right-of-visit maritime interdiction” and boarded the M/T Tifani “without incident.” Ship-tracking data showed the Tifani in the Indian Ocean between Sri Lanka and Indonesia.
The announcement described the incident as happening overnight, adding that “international waters are not a refuge for sanctioned vessels.”
Historic Israel-Lebanon talks also set to resume
Meanwhile, historic diplomatic talks between Israel and Lebanon were set to resume on Thursday in Washington, an Israeli, a Lebanese, and a US official said. All three spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the behind-the-scenes negotiations.
The Israeli and Lebanese ambassadors met last week for the first direct diplomatic talks in decades. Israel says the talks are aimed at disarming Hezbollah and reaching a peace agreement with Lebanon.
A 10-day ceasefire began on Friday in Lebanon, where fighting between Israel and Iranian-backed Hezbollah militants broke out two days after the US and Israel launched joint strikes on Iran to start the war. Fighting in Lebanon has killed more than 2,290 people.
Since the war started, at least 3,375 people have been killed in Iran, according to authorities. Additionally, 23 people have died in Israel and more than a dozen in Gulf Arab states. Fifteen Israeli soldiers in Lebanon and 13 US service members throughout the region have been killed.
(With inputs from Associated Press)
