Trump keeps pressure on Iran as ceasefire deadline nears

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump declared Monday that he was in no rush to end the conflict with Iran, expressing confidence that further negotiations with Tehran will soon take place in Pakistan.

With the 14-day ceasefire to expire on Wednesday, Trump indicated that he still expects to dispatch his negotiating team, led by Vice President JD Vance, to Pakistan's capital of Islamabad for a second round of talks, even as Iran insisted it would not take part until the U.S. dialed back his demands.

Iran’s chief negotiator and parliament speaker, Mohammed Bagher Qalibaf, accused the United States of wanting Iran to surrender and added that, on the contrary, Iran has been preparing “to reveal new cards on the battlefield."

Trump insisted he feels no pressure to end the war until Iran agrees to his terms.

“I am under no pressure whatsoever,” Trump said on his Truth Social platform, “although, it will all happen, relatively quickly!”

Pakistani officials moved ahead with preparations for a new round of talks between the U.S. and Iran as the tenuous ceasefire was further strained over the weekend by renewed conflict around the Strait of Hormuz.

Trump told Bloomberg News he was “highly unlikely” to renew the ceasefire.

Tensions flared after the U.S. Navy attacked and seized a ship on Sunday that it said was trying to evade its blockade of Iranian ports. On Saturday, Iran fired at vessels and abruptly stopped traffic in the strait, abandoning its promise to allow some ships to pass and claiming the U.S. was not holding up its side of the ceasefire.

The U.S. actions are “incompatible with the claim of diplomacy,” Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Monday in a social media post.

He gave no indication of what Iran will do after the ceasefire expires or whether Iran will return to a second round of negotiations with the U.S.

Over the weekend, Iran said it had received new proposals from the U.S. but suggested that a wide gap remains between the sides. Issues that derailed the last round of negotiations included Iran’s nuclear enrichment program, its regional proxies, and the Strait.

Iran has throttled traffic through the strait, which connects the Persian Gulf to the open seas, since shortly after the U.S. and Israel attacked Iran on Feb. 28. The U.S. has also instituted a blockade of Iranian ports.

The U.S. president lashed out at war critics at home who are urging him to wrap up the conflict that began more than seven weeks ago.

“How bad is it that when you are in the middle of negotiations, and you have got the Iranians in a perfect position, including being militarily defeated, and you have Democrats and some Republicans asking to settle it now?” Trump told the New York Post.

Trump sought to soothe jittery investors as U.S. stocks slipped modestly on Monday, following the chaotic weekend in the Persian Gulf.

The president found himself remonstrating with his energy secretary, Chris Wright, who on Sunday said American motorists might not see gas prices fall back into the $3 per gallon range until late this year or next year.

“I disagree with him totally. I think it’ll come roaring down if it ends,” Trump told PBS. “If we end it, if Iran does what they should do, it will come roaring down.”

Meanwhile, historic diplomatic talks between Israel and Lebanon were set to resume Thursday in Washington, an Israeli, a Lebanese, and a U.S. official said. All three spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the behind-the-scenes negotiations.

The Israeli and Lebanese ambassadors met last week for the first direct diplomatic talks in decades. Israel says the talks are aimed at disarming the terror group Hezbollah and reaching a peace agreement with Lebanon.

A 10-day ceasefire began Friday in Lebanon, where fighting between Israel and Iranian-backed Hezbollah militants broke out two days after the U.S. and Israel attacked Iran. Fighting in Lebanon has killed more than 2,290 people.

In two separate encounters on Monday, the Israeli air force struck and killed Hezbollah militants who the military said approached its troops in a threatening way. Israel has carried out several airstrikes since the ceasefire went into effect.

Since the war started, at least 3,375 people have been killed in Iran, according to a new toll released Monday in official Iranian media by Abbas Masjedi, the head of Iran’s Legal Medicine Organization.

Additionally, 23 people have died in Israel and more than a dozen in Gulf Arab states. Fifteen Israeli soldiers in Lebanon and 13 U.S. service members throughout the region have been killed.

Oil prices were up again Monday, with Brent crude, the international standard, at just over $95 a barrel — up from about $70 a barrel before the war started.

Iran said it had reopened the strait to ships on Friday, but traffic halted after Trump refused to lift the U.S. blockade.

Sunday's U.S. seizure of the Iranian cargo was the first such interception under the blockade. Iran’s joint military command called the armed boarding an act of piracy and a ceasefire violation.

Trump said the blockade will remain “in full force” until Tehran agrees to a deal. The U.S. military said on Monday that it has directed 27 ships to return to Iranian ports since the blockade began last week.