Wars 2026 02/28 Israel-Iran War 3.0

[Saif]

Trump extends ceasefire to give Iran more time to negotiate

Directs to continue US naval blockade

www.thedailystar.net

Trump extends ceasefire to give Iran more time to negotiate

Directs to continue US naval blockade

Representational image

President Donald Trump on Tuesday said he was extending a ceasefire with Iran to give more time for negotiations, but would maintain a US naval blockade of the country's ports.

Trump posted on social media that he would "extend the Ceasefire" until Iran came up with a proposal to end the conflict. However, he "directed our Military to continue the Blockade."

Trump's ceasefire extension came hours before it was believed to be set to expire.

It also came as the White House said Vice President JD Vance would not be going to Pakistan for what had been expected to be a second round of peace talks.

The US president cast the breakdown in more talks as resulting from Iranian infighting, adding that Pakistan's leaders had asked him to extend the truce.

"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 posted on his Truth Social site.

But the blockade of ports on Iran's coast in the Strait of Hormuz will remain in place, Trump said, while the US military will "in all other respects, remain ready and able."

The ceasefire, he said, will be extended "until such time as their proposal is submitted, and discussions are concluded, one way or the other."​

 

[Saif]

Trump says Iran talks ‘possible’ within days as ceasefire extended

US President Donald Trump has said a second round of peace talks with Iran could begin within the next few days, raising cautious hopes for diplomatic progress. According to a report by the New York Post, Pakistani officials indicated that talks might take place within the next 36 to 72 hours. Whe

thefinancialexpress.com.bd

Trump says Iran talks ‘possible’ within days as ceasefire extended

BBC
Published :
Apr 23, 2026 00:21
Updated :
Apr 23, 2026 00:21

US President Donald Trump has said a second round of peace talks with Iran could begin within the next few days, raising cautious hopes for diplomatic progress.

According to a report by the New York Post, Pakistani officials indicated that talks might take place within the next 36 to 72 hours. When asked about the possibility, Trump replied in a text message, “It’s possible! President DJT.”

The development comes a day after Trump announced the extension of a ceasefire with Iran, which was initially set to expire on Wednesday evening. The extension is aimed at giving Tehran more time to present a “unified proposal” to end the ongoing conflict.

While uncertainty remains over Iran’s participation, the prospect of renewed talks signals a potential diplomatic opening amid heightened tensions between the two sides.​

 

[Saif]

Three ships targeted in Hormuz, Iran seizes two: monitors, Guards

British maritime security agency UKMTO said an Iranian gunboat fired at a container ship off the coast of Oman Wednesday

en.prothomalo.com

Three ships targeted in Hormuz, Iran seizes two: monitors, Guards

AFP
Published: 22 Apr 2026, 19: 18

Map of Strait of Hormuz Reuters file photo

Iranian forces targeted three container ships on Wednesday, seizing two and firing on a third, global security monitors and the country's Revolutionary Guards said, the latest incidents to threaten a crucial trade route in the Middle East war.

British maritime security agency UKMTO said an Iranian gunboat fired at a container ship off the coast of Oman Wednesday, while a ship off Iran was also fired upon.

Iran's Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) said separately that their naval forces stopped two ships attempting to cross the Strait of Hormuz and directed them to Iranian waters.

It accused them of breaching its blockade of the route, imposed in the Middle East war that erupted on February 28 with US and Israeli strikes on Iran.

"The master of a container ship reported that the vessel was approached by one IRGC gunboat... that then fired upon the vessel, which has caused heavy damage to the bridge. No fires or environmental impact reported," the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations centre said.

It added that the incident took place 15 nautical miles northeast of Oman and all the crew were safe.

According to British maritime security firm Vanguard Tech, the vessel was sailing under a Liberian flag and "had been informed it had permission to transit the Strait of Hormuz".

Iranian news agency Tasnim said the ship had "ignored warnings from Iran''s armed forces".

The IGRC said its naval force "this morning identified and stopped in the Strait of Hormuz two violating ships".

In a statement, the force said the vessels "were seized by the IRGC''s naval forces and directed to the Iranian coast."

The IRGC named the two ships seized as the MSC-Francesca and the Epaminondas, Iranian broadcaster IRIB said on Telegram.

It alleged the Francesca was linked to Israel while the Epaminodes lacked "the necessary permits" and had been "tampering with navigation systems".

Ship-tracking platform MarineTraffic showed the two vessels -- both container ships -- stopped near the Iranian coast on Wednesday.

Cargo ship fired on

In a separate incident, a cargo ship eight nautical miles west of Iran was fired upon and stopped in the water, UKMTO said.

"A master of an outbound cargo ship reports having been fired upon and is now stopped in the water. Crew are safe and accounted for. There is no reported damage to the vessel," UKMTO said.

Vanguard identified it as the Panama-flagged containership Euphoria, which it said was "transiting outbound of the Strait of Hormuz".

MarineTraffic later showed the Euphoria had left the strait and was headed to Jeddah in Saudi Arabia.

Shipping through the strategic Strait of Hormuz has been heavily restricted by Iran since the start of the war with Israel and the United States, while the US military is enforcing a counter-blockade of Iranian ports.

US President Donald Trump announced Wednesday that the truce between the two countries would be extended after it first took effect on 8 April.​

 

[Saif]

Iran tightens control of Hormuz after US calls off renewed attacks

Iran seized two ships in the Strait of Hormuz as it tightened its grip on the strategic waterway after US President Donald Trump announced he was indefinitely calling off attacks, with no sign of peace talks restarting. The status of a two-week-old ceasefire, due to have expired earlier this week

thefinancialexpress.com.bd

Italy ready to deploy two minesweepers in Hormuz Strait, navy chief says

REUTERS
Published :
Apr 23, 2026 19:37
Updated :
Apr 23, 2026 19:38

Ships and boats in the Strait of Hormuz, Musandam, Oman, April 22, 2026. Photo : REUTERS/Stringer

Italy is ready to deploy up to four vessels, including two minesweepers, as part of an international mission to clear the Strait of Hormuz, ‌the navy's chief of staff said.

European leaders met in Paris last week to discuss a multinational effort to protect shipping through the strait, which was largely closed during the US-Israel war against Iran.

About a fifth of the world's ⁠oil and liquefied natural gas normally passes through the Strait of Hormuz. More than a dozen countries, including Italy, have said they would join a mission to ensure safe passage once conditions allow.

"The contingency plan drawn up by the Chief of the Defence Staff envisages a group consisting of two minesweepers, an escort vessel and a logistics vessel," Navy Chief ‌of ⁠Staff Giuseppe Berutti Bergotto told state broadcaster RAI late on Wednesday.

"Obviously we are not acting alone. We are part of an international coalition, and other nations will also send minesweepers," he said, ⁠adding that Britain, France, Belgium and the Netherlands had mine-clearing capabilities.

Berutti Bergotto said the Italian ships would sail from the northwestern port ⁠of La Spezia and would take about four weeks to reach the area. Italy currently has eight minesweepers in ⁠service.

Defence Minister Guido Crosetto said last week that the government would seek parliamentary approval before authorising Italy's participation in the Hormuz mission.​

 

[Saif]

Iran tightens control of Hormuz after US calls off renewed attacks

Iran seized two ships in the Strait of Hormuz as it tightened its grip on the strategic waterway after US President Donald Trump announced he was indefinitely calling off attacks, with no sign of peace talks restarting. The status of a two-week-old ceasefire, due to have expired earlier this week

thefinancialexpress.com.bd

Iran tightens control of Hormuz after US calls off renewed attacks

REUTERS
Published :
Apr 23, 2026 16:23
Updated :
Apr 23, 2026 16:33

Ships and boats in the Strait of Hormuz, Musandam, Oman, April 22, 2026. Photo : REUTERS/Stringer

Iran seized two ships in the Strait of Hormuz as it tightened its grip on the strategic waterway after US President Donald Trump announced he was indefinitely calling off attacks, with no sign of peace talks restarting.

The status of a two-week-old ceasefire, due to have expired earlier this week, remained unclear. In a sharp about-face hours after threatening ‌renewed violence, Trump made what appeared to be a unilateral announcement on Tuesday that the US would extend a ceasefire until it had discussed an Iranian proposal in peace talks to end the two-month-old war.

But Iranian officials did not say they had agreed to any extension of the truce, and criticized Trump's decision to maintain the US Navy blockade of Iran's trade by sea, itself considered by Iran an act of war. Iran's parliament speaker and lead negotiator Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf said a full ceasefire only made sense if the blockade was lifted.

Reopening the Strait of Hormuz, the slender chokepoint that carried a fifth of the world's oil trade before the war, was impossible with such a "flagrant breach of the ceasefire," Qalibaf said on social media.

"You did not achieve your goals through military aggression and you will not achieve them by bullying ⁠either," he wrote in his first response to Trump's announcement. "The only way is recognizing the Iranian people's rights."

In another wartime shakeup at the Pentagon, Navy Secretary John Phelan has been fired, a US official and a person familiar with the matter said on Wednesday. The move came just weeks after Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth ousted the Army's top general.

The Pentagon said Phelan was leaving the administration "effective immediately," but did not provide a reason or say whether it was his decision to go.

Trump has again backed away from his repeated threats to bomb Iran's power plants and other civilian infrastructure, which the United Nations and others warn would violate international humanitarian law. But little progress has been made in ending the war that started with joint US-Israeli attacks on Iran on February 28.

That leaves the two sides in a holding pattern with the crucial Strait of Hormuz still effectively shut, straining economies across the world. Thousands of people have been killed across the Middle East, mostly in Iran and Lebanon, where the Iran-allied Hezbollah militant group joined the fighting against Israel.

The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps seized two vessels and escorted them to Iranian shores, according to statements by the shipping companies and Iran's semi-official Tasnim news agency.

The Revolutionary Guards accused the ships it had seized, the Liberia-flagged Epaminondas and Panama-flagged MSC Francesca, of operating without required permits and tampering with their navigation systems.

A third, Liberia-flagged container ship ‌was fired ⁠upon in the same area but was not damaged and had resumed sailing, according to maritime security sources.

Leavitt said in an interview with Fox News that since the ships were not US or Israeli vessels the seizure was not a violation of the ceasefire. She called it an act of "piracy".

The US military said on Wednesday it had so far directed more than 30 ships to turn around or return to port as part of the US blockade against Iran. Far beyond the Gulf, the US military has intercepted at least three Iranian-flagged tankers in Asian waters, sources said, redirecting them away from their positions near India, Malaysia and Sri Lanka.

Brent, the international crude oil benchmark, remained above $100 a barrel in Asian trade on Thursday, having hit triple figures ⁠a day earlier for the first time in two weeks.

NO NEW DEADLINE FOR CEASEFIRE

In his Tuesday announcement, Trump said that 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."

He has not set any deadline for the proposal or discussions, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters.

Pakistan, which has acted as a mediator, ⁠was still trying to bring the sides together after both failed to show up for tentatively scheduled talks in Islamabad on Tuesday before the two-week-old ceasefire was due to expire.

A first session of peace talks between Iran and the US in Islamabad 11 days ago produced no agreement.

Trump wants Iran to give up highly enriched uranium and forgo further enrichment to prevent it building a nuclear weapon. Iran says it has only a peaceful civilian nuclear programme, ⁠and wants the lifting of sanctions, reparations for damage and recognition of its control over the strait.

Iran has also made a ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon's Hezbollah militant group a condition of truce talks. On Wednesday, Israeli air strikes on Lebanon killed at least five people, including the Lebanese journalist Amal Khalil.

It was the deadliest day since a 10-day ceasefire was announced on April 16 between Israel and Lebanon.

Iran executed a man convicted of links to both an exiled opposition group and Israel's intelligence service, Iranian media reported on Thursday.​