US President Donald Trump on Tuesday accused Iran of violating the ceasefire “numerous times” just ahead of the expiration of the truce deal, even as Washington’s delegation was en route to Islamabad for a second round of peace talks with Tehran.
According to the Associated Press report, which quoted two regional officials, Pakistan-led mediators received confirmation that top negotiators from the US and Iran, US Vice President JD Vance and Iran’s parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, will arrive in Islamabad early Wednesday to lead their teams in the talks.
On the other hand, Trump said in a Truth Social post, “Iran has Violated the Cease Fire numerous times!
Trump has been offering mixed messages about the path ahead for the Iran war, declaring that he was in no rush to end the conflict while also saying that he still expects to dispatch his negotiating team, led by JD Vance, to Pakistan’s capital of Islamabad for talks. This has kept the prospect of a second round of talks uncertain as of Tuesday. The ceasefire is due to expire on Wednesday.
Stalemate continues
Both Iran and the US remain dug in rhetorically, with 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.
“We do not accept negotiations under the shadow of threats,” and the Islamic Republic has been preparing “to reveal new cards on the battlefield,” Iran’s chief negotiator and parliamentary speaker, Mohammed Bagher Ghalibaf, wrote in a post on X early on Tuesday.
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 yet confirmed who it might send. Iranian state television on Tuesday broadcast a message saying that “no delegation from Iran has visited Islamabad … so far.”
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% of the world’s natural gas and crude oil transits in peacetime. That has been a key sticking point in Iran, shadowing the peace talks.
Iran’s iron grip on the strait has sent oil prices soaring, and Brent crude, the international benchmark, was trading near $95 per barrel on Tuesday, up more than 30% 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.
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