Iran seized two container ships in the Strait of Hormuz on Wednesday, hours after president Donald Trump announced an indefinite ceasefire.
The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said the vessels had been detained for alleged maritime violations, according to Iranian news agencies.
Identified as the MSC Francesca and the Epaminondas, the ships were reportedly captured for “operating without the required authorisation and for manipulating navigation systems” and have been taken to Iranian ports.
A third vessel, Euphoria, is also reported to have come under attack and is stranded off the Iranian coast. Tehran warned that “disrupting order and safety in the Strait of Hormuz is considered a red line”.
Mr Trump announced on Tuesday that a ceasefire would be extended until Iran’s “seriously fractured leadership” could come up with a “unified plan” for a longer-term agreement.
A US blockade on Iranian ports and coastlines has continued in the interim and the Strait of Hormuz remains largely closed.
On Wednesday, Pakistani sources told the New York Post that the next round of negotiations in Islamabad were set to take place within “36 to 72 hours”, with Mr Trump adding, “It’s possible!” via text message by way of confirmation. However, Tehran is yet to show any willingness to engage in a further round of talks.
Iran’s foreign ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghaei acknowledged the ceasefire extension but stopped short of revealing any information about the next stage of discussions.
Mr Trump drew criticism after the latest developments marked yet another instance of him walking back threats against Iran. He hit out at suggestions he had backed down, attacking The Wall Street Journal over a headline that read: “The Iranians take Trump for a sucker.”
“How many times will President Trump pay Iran for the same real estate?” wrote WSJ journalist Elliot Kaufman in the piece.
“Twice he has announced the opening of the Strait of Hormuz, and twice he has given up US leverage in exchange. Yet the strait remains closed, as Iran’s regime demands more.”
The US leader insisted he had not given into Iranian demands and had left them a “country in tatters”.
The president hit out: “An IDIOT on The Wall Street Journal’s Editorial Board, named Elliot Kaufman, just wrote an Op Ed entitled, ‘The Iranians Take Trump for a Sucker.’ Really? For 47 years, they have killed our people, and many others, and taken advantage of every President, except me — And what did I give to them, a Country in tatters!”
Meanwhile, oil prices continue to remain high amid the uncertainty. German airline Lufthansa announced it had cut 20,000 flights in response to the crisis after soaring fuel prices made journeys on its CityLine subsidiary “unprofitable”.
Suspicion abounds on both sides, with the president accusing Iran of keeping the Strait of Hormuz closed to “save face” while Mahdi Mohammadi, a senior adviser to Iran’s parliamentary speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, alleged that “Trump’s ceasefire extension is certainly a ploy to buy time for a surprise strike” in a post on X, formerly Twitter, on Wednesday.
Head of the Iranian mission in Egypt, Mojtaba Ferdousi Pour, said Iran “won’t negotiate under threat”. He added: “We won’t go to Islamabad before the lifting of the blockade.”
Lebanon is expected to request a one-month extension of a truce agreement with Israel that is set to expire on Sunday, according to a Lebanese official.
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