US Vice President JD Vance’s trip to Pakistan for a second round of negotiations with Iran has been put on hold after Tehran failed to respond to American positions, a US official familiar with the situation told The New York Times.
With just a day to go before the fragile two-week ceasefire expires, Iran said it had yet to decide whether to attend last-ditch peace talks with the United States, as the truce came under strain after US forces boarded a huge Iranian oil tanker at sea.
Pakistan said there was no confirmation that Iran would attend the peace talks. The negotiations could resume at a moment’s notice, even as US President Donald Trump has suggested that he did not want to extend the truce without a longer-term agreement.
Trump told CNBC
that the US was in a strong negotiating position and would end up with what he called a great deal, while making it clear that he did not want an extension of the ceasefire. “I don’t want to do that. We don’t have that much time,” he said.
Trump also said the US blockade of Iranian ports had been successful, arguing it has strengthened Washington’s negotiating leverage. The blockade has become one of the main sticking points in talks. Iran has demanded that maritime restrictions be lifted and has described US actions at sea as hostile and destabilising.
Iran Accuses US Of Piracy
Iran’s foreign ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei alleged that the US moves against two Iranian vessels amounted to “piracy at sea and state terrorism” after the US seized a tanker linked to Iran in international waters.
“The aggression against Iranian ships and the continued pressure indicate the continuation of the opposing side’s contradictory behaviour,” Baghaei said.
He also said Iran was upset about ‘mixed messages’ from Americans. “It is not out of indecisiveness, it is because we are facing contradictory messages and behaviors, and unacceptable actions from the American counterpart,” he said.
On the prospect of peace talks with the US, 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.”
The United States has maintained its blockade of Iranian ports, while Iran has repeatedly imposed and lifted restrictions on the Strait of Hormuz, a key global energy route that typically handles roughly one-fifth of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas supply.
