*US Navy Will Continue To Blockade Iran’s Ports
*Unclear If Iran, Israel Agree To Extend Ceasefire
*Pakistan Requested Extension
UNITED States (US) President, Donald Trump, said he would indefinitely extend the ceasefire with Iran to allow for further peace talks, although it was not clear on Wednesday, April 22, if Iran or Israel, the US ally in the two-month war, would agree.
According to Reuters, Trump said in a statement on social media the US had agreed to a request by Pakistani mediators “to hold our Attack on the Country of Iran until such time as their leaders and representatives can come up with a unified proposal … and discussions are concluded, one way or the other.”
Pakistan’s leaders have hosted peace talks in Islamabad to end a war that has killed thousands of people and shaken the global economy.
But even as he announced what appeared to be a unilateral ceasefire extension, Trump also said he would continue the US Navy’s blockade of Iran’s trade by sea, considered an act of war by Iran.
There was no response early on Wednesday to Trump’s announcement from senior Iranian officials, although some initial reactions from Tehran suggested Trump’s comments were being treated skeptically.
Tasnim News Agency, affiliated with the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps, said Iran had not asked for a ceasefire extension and repeated threats to break the US blockade by force.
An adviser to Iran’s lead negotiator and Speaker of parliament, Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf, said Trump’s announcement may be a ploy.
Trump’s wartime rhetoric has veered between extremes. In an expletive-filled threat against Iran only two weeks ago, he promised that a “whole civilisation will die tonight,” while at other times, he has appeared keen to end the violence and market uncertainty.
With his announcement, Trump again pulled back at the last moment from his threats to bomb Iran’s power plants and bridges.
United Nations (UN) Secretary General, António Guterres, and others have condemned those threats, noting that international humanitarian law forbids attacks targeting civilians and civilian infrastructure.
The US and Israel began the war on February 28 with aerial bombardments of Iran. The conflict quickly spread to Gulf states that host US military bases and to Lebanon once the Iran-allied militant group, Hezbollah, joined the fighting.
Over 5,000 civilians have been killed across the region and hundreds of thousands displaced so far, mostly in Iran and Lebanon.
In addition to the human toll, the war has led to the virtual closure of the Strait of Hormuz, a vital chokepoint in global energy markets between Iran and Oman, sending oil prices soaring and fears that the global economy could enter a recession.
Iran has repeatedly exploited its ability to control the passage of oil tankers and other ships in the strait in response to US and Israeli attacks.
