Trump extends Iran truce, keeps blockade as talks stall (PHOTOS, VIDEOS)
US President Donald Trump has announced he will extend the ceasefire with Iran until its leadership comes up “with a unified proposal,” while maintaining the naval blockade. The decision comes hours before the fragile truce was set to expire, with planned talks in Islamabad still in limbo.
“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 wrote on Truth social. “I have therefore directed our Military to continue the Blockade and, in all other respects, remain ready and able, and will therefore extend the Ceasefire until such time as their proposal is submitted, and discussions are concluded, one way or the other,” he added.
Earlier on Tuesday, Vice President J.D. Vance had been expected to lead the US delegation in Islamabad, alongside Trump envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner. Iran’s team was to be headed by Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, according to earlier reports.
However, the New York Times reported that Vance’s trip was put on hold after Tehran failed to respond to US positions. Witkoff and Kushner also remained in the US, according to reports.
Iranian officials have said no final decision has been made on whether to attend the talks.
The two-week ceasefire brokered by Pakistan earlier this month was set to expire on Wednesday, after a first round of talks in Islamabad failed to produce a breakthrough and Trump moved ahead with a US naval blockade of Iranian ports, a step Tehran has labeled a violation of the truce.
Here are the latest developments:
- Oil prices rallied on concerns that the US ceasefire with Iran will expire without a deal.
- Tensions escalated further after the US Navy seized an Iranian cargo ship, the Touska, for allegedly breaching the blockade – a move Tehran branded “armed maritime piracy” and threatened to retaliate over.
- Iran’s IRIB state broadcaster said none of its negotiators had yet departed for Islamabad.
- Talks between Israel and Lebanon are reportedly set for Thursday to discuss extending their ceasefire, due to expire on Sunday.
- The Middle East conflict has triggered what IEA chief Fatih Birol called “the biggest” energy crisis in history.
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21 April 2026
23:46 GMTIran’s mission to the UN has accused the US of committing an “act of aggression” and piracy after American forces attacked and seized the vessel Touska on 19 April and took its crew hostage. It said Tehran had written to the UN secretary-general and the Security Council demanding condemnation of what it called a grave breach of international law and a violation of the ceasefire, accountability for those responsible, and the immediate release of the vessel and its crew.
On 19 April, near Iran’s coast in the Sea of Oman, U.S. military forces attacked and seized Iran’s commercial vessel Touska, taking its crew hostage. This constitutes a grave breach of international law, a clear violation of the ceasefire, and an act of aggression marked by the… pic.twitter.com/2PeUwQGop5
— I.R.IRAN Mission to UN, NY (@Iran_UN) April 21, 2026- 23:31 GMT
Iran’s Khatam al-Anbiya Military Command has warned that its forces are fully prepared to respond to any attack, saying any aggression against the country would trigger an immediate and more forceful retaliation.
“Our capable and powerful forces have long been at 100% readiness and on the trigger, so that in the event of aggression or any action against Islamic Iran, they will immediately launch a powerful attack on predetermined targets,” the statement statement carried by Iranian media read.
- 22:47 GMT
US Treasury secretary Scott Bessent has said the Department of War will maintain its naval blockade of Iranian ports, while his department will “continue to apply maximum pressure through Economic Fury to systematically degrade Tehran’s ability to generate, move and repatriate funds”.
“In a matter of days, Kharg Island storage will be full and the fragile Iranian oil wells will be shut in. Constraining Iran’s maritime trade directly targets the regime’s primary revenue lifelines,” Bessent said in a post on X, warning that “any person or vessel facilitating these flows, through covert trade and finance, risks exposure to US sanctions.”
As @POTUS has made clear, the United States Navy will continue the blockade of Iranian ports. In a matter of days, Kharg Island storage will be full and the fragile Iranian oil wells will be shut in. Constraining Iran’s maritime trade directly targets the regime’s primary…
— Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent (@SecScottBessent) April 21, 2026 - 21:34 GMT
A senior adviser to Iranian parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf said Trump’s ceasefire extension “means nothing.”
“The losing side cannot dictate terms. The continuation of the siege is no different from bombardment and must be met with a military response. Moreover, Trump’s ceasefire extension is certainly a ploy to buy time for a surprise strike,” Mahdi Mohammadi wrote on X, adding that “the time for Iran to take the initiative has come.”
- 21:27 GMT
Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has thanked Donald Trump for “graciously accepting” Islamabad’s request to prolong the ceasefire and said his country would keep pushing for a negotiated settlement.
“I sincerely hope that both sides will continue to observe the ceasefire and be able to conclude a comprehensive ‘Peace Deal’ during the second round of talks scheduled at Islamabad for a permanent end to the conflict,” Sharif wrote on X.
On my personal behalf and on behalf of Field Marshal Syed Asim Munir, I sincerely thank President Trump for graciously accepting our request to extend the ceasefire to allow ongoing diplomatic efforts to take their course. With the trust and confidence reposed in, Pakistan…
— Shehbaz Sharif (@CMShehbaz) April 21, 2026 - 20:24 GMT
Slovak MEP Lubos Blaha has told RT’s ‘Sanchez Effect’ that he is “ashamed of the European Union,” saying European Parliament Speaker Roberta Metsola condemned Iran after the Minab school massacre but “said nothing about the American war crimes,” and accusing Brussels of hypocrisy.
The February 28 strike on the Shajarah Tayyebeh girls’ school in the southern city of Minab, carried out on the first day of the US‑Israeli attack on Iran, left at least 170 people dead, most of them schoolchildren. Blaha described the bombing as a “massacre of little girls.”
- 20:19 GMT
Trump has announced he will extend the ceasefire with Iran, saying in a Truth Social statement that, at the request of Pakistan’s Field Marshal Asim Munir and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, the US will “hold our attack” on Iran until its leaders present a unified proposal. The US military will continue the blockade and “remain ready and able” until a proposal is submitted and talks are “concluded, one way or the other,” Trump said.
STATEMENT BY PRESIDENT DONALD J. TRUMP: pic.twitter.com/ATdRyY1qqK
— The White House (@WhiteHouse) April 21, 2026 - 20:04 GMT
Videos circulating online appear to show Iran’s Khorramshahr medium‑range ballistic missile being paraded in central Tehran, including near Vanak and Revolution squares, as crowds rally in support of the government just hours before the ceasefire is due to expire. Iranian media have previously said the liquid‑fueled missile is designed to bypass Israeli air defenses.
Iran's Khorramshahr missile joins the Iranian patriots rallying in the streets across the country in support of Iran against the American-Israeli war on Iran, just hours before the ceasefire expires.Follow: https://t.co/GKZwI4ehqLpic.twitter.com/QncYWFzHRQ
— Press TV 🔻 (@PressTV) April 21, 2026 - 20:02 GMT
Iran will not attend Wednesday’s talks in Islamabad and that decision is “final,” Tasnim has reported, saying Tehran has informed the US via Pakistani mediators that it will not send a delegation and sees “no prospect” for negotiations under the current conditions.
- 19:54 GMT
Any new “aggression” against Iran will be met with strikes on targets chosen by the Iranian people, the IRGC Aerospace Force has warned, according to Tasnim. Commander Brigadier General Seyed Majid Mousavi reportedly said that southern neighbors whose territory or facilities are used to attack Iran should “bid farewell to oil production in the Middle East.”
