Ceasefire extended, fractured Iranian government cited

By Sarah Roderick-Fitch
The Center Square

With hours left before the two-week ceasefire between the U.S. and Iran was set to expire, President Donald Trump has extended it, citing a “seriously fractured” Iranian government.

Trump did not indicate a timeline for the latest ceasefire. Prior to the Tuesday afternoon announcement, Vice President JD Vance, Middle East Special Envoy Steve Witkoff, and Jared Kushner were tentatively scheduled to attend a second round of talks in Pakistan.

“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,” the president said in a statement.

Despite the extended ceasefire, the president remains committed to continuing the naval blockade on Iranian ports, put in place over two weeks ago.

Trump indicated that the U.S. stands “ready and able” during the ceasefire, waiting for a unified proposal that can be submitted and “discussions are concluded, one way or the other.”

In the lead-up to the extended ceasefire, the president accused Iran of violating the ceasefire “numerous times” on a Truth Social post Tuesday morning.

The president told CNBC that the U.S. was prepared to carry out further strikes if a deal wasn’t struck, while acknowledging the Iranians could be using the ceasefire to restock their arsenal.

“They probably have done a little bit of restocking. We caught a ship yesterday that had some things on it, which wasn’t very nice. A gift from China, perhaps, I don’t know. But I was a little surprised, because I have a very good relationship, and I thought I had an understanding with President Xi,” the president said during his phone interview with the network.

The ship named Touska was intercepted Sunday in the Gulf of Oman after the U.S. Navy “gave them fair warning to stop,” according to the president. Trump claims the “nearly 900 feet long” ship attempted to get through the naval blockade put in place over a week ago at the direction of Trump.

A U.S. Navy destroyer intercepted and seized an Iranian-flagged cargo ship en route to an Iranian port originating from China, raising concerns that China could be resupplying the Islamic Republic with weapons.

On Tuesday, the U.S. Navy intercepted and boarded a “stateless” sanctioned boat in the Indo-Pacific region, according to the Department of War.

“As we have made clear, we will pursue global maritime enforcement efforts to disrupt illicit networks and interdict sanctioned vessels providing material support to Iran,” the DOW wrote in a social media post.

U.S. Central Command has said since the start of the Naval blockade on Iranian ports, the U.S. has intercepted 28 vessels to “turn around or return to port.”