What is the story about?
The Iran-US 10-day ceasefire is just hours away from expiring, and yet there is no clear indication whether a second round of talks will be held to extend the truce or not.
US President Donald Trump has said that it is "highly unlikely" he would extend it further if no deal is reached, and explicitly said "if there's no deal, I would certainly expect" fighting to resume.
After leading a largely unsuccessful first round of talks from Washington’s side, US Vice President JD Vance is expected to fly down to Islamabad again on Tuesday.
Reaching a comprehensive agreement within such a short timeframe would be challenging, but Trump could opt to extend the deadline if meaningful progress is being made.
In fact, he has already effectively granted an extra day: although the two-week ceasefire period was set to expire on Tuesday, he stated on Monday that the deadline would instead be Wednesday evening.
The April 8 ceasefire framework called for an immediate halt to hostilities, the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, and a 14-day negotiation window between Iran and the US — but since its declaration, the ceasefire has been violated by both sides, with the Strait opened and closed multiple times within the same 48-hour windows.
There is also a nuclear gap. Washington proposed a 20-year pause on Iranian uranium enrichment; Iran rejected the demand and insisted on five years — a gap of 15 years on the single most consequential point in the entire negotiation, with no bridging formula yet in sight.
Over Sunday and Monday, tension escalated at Hormuz, with the US capturing an Iranian vessel after six-hour standoff, and Tehran claiming a drone strike in retaliation.
Trump's approval rating has reached a new low as Americans express concern over rising costs and the US war with Iran, according to an
NBC poll.
Overall, 37 per cent of adults approve of Trump’s job performance, while 63 per cent disapprove -- 50 per cent of them strongly -- marking the lowest rating of his second term in NBC News Decision Desk polling.
Around two-thirds of respondents also expressed disapproval of his handling of inflation and the Iran conflict.
With the Strait of Hormuz effectively closed for nearly two months, the global energy crisis is worsening, putting Trump under pressure to find an exit route, but with Iran not agreeing to his demands, military strikes are more likely to resume.
US President Donald Trump has said that it is "highly unlikely" he would extend it further if no deal is reached, and explicitly said "if there's no deal, I would certainly expect" fighting to resume.
After leading a largely unsuccessful first round of talks from Washington’s side, US Vice President JD Vance is expected to fly down to Islamabad again on Tuesday.
Reaching a comprehensive agreement within such a short timeframe would be challenging, but Trump could opt to extend the deadline if meaningful progress is being made.
In fact, he has already effectively granted an extra day: although the two-week ceasefire period was set to expire on Tuesday, he stated on Monday that the deadline would instead be Wednesday evening.
The cracks in the ceasefire
The April 8 ceasefire framework called for an immediate halt to hostilities, the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, and a 14-day negotiation window between Iran and the US — but since its declaration, the ceasefire has been violated by both sides, with the Strait opened and closed multiple times within the same 48-hour windows.
There is also a nuclear gap. Washington proposed a 20-year pause on Iranian uranium enrichment; Iran rejected the demand and insisted on five years — a gap of 15 years on the single most consequential point in the entire negotiation, with no bridging formula yet in sight.
Over Sunday and Monday, tension escalated at Hormuz, with the US capturing an Iranian vessel after six-hour standoff, and Tehran claiming a drone strike in retaliation.
Trump's approval rating hit all-time low
Trump's approval rating has reached a new low as Americans express concern over rising costs and the US war with Iran, according to an
Overall, 37 per cent of adults approve of Trump’s job performance, while 63 per cent disapprove -- 50 per cent of them strongly -- marking the lowest rating of his second term in NBC News Decision Desk polling.
Around two-thirds of respondents also expressed disapproval of his handling of inflation and the Iran conflict.
With the Strait of Hormuz effectively closed for nearly two months, the global energy crisis is worsening, putting Trump under pressure to find an exit route, but with Iran not agreeing to his demands, military strikes are more likely to resume.
