People gather in Tehran to participate in anti-US and anti-Israel demonstrations

Trump declares Iran ceasefire extension, talks in doubt

22 Apr 2026, 01:12 · RTE.ie

US President Donald Trump said he would indefinitely extend the ceasefire with Iran to allow for further peace talks, although it was not clear if Iran or Israel, the US ⁠ally in the two-month war, would agree.

Mr 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.

However, even as he announced what appeared to be a unilateral ceasefire extension, Mr 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 to Mr Trump's announcement from senior Iranian officials, although some initial reactions from Tehran suggested Mr Trump's comments were being treated skeptically.

Mr Trump had previously indicated he would not extend the ceasefire

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, the speaker of parliament Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf, said Mr Trump's announcement carried little weight and may be a ploy.

Mr Trump's wartime rhetoric has veered between extremes. In an expletive-filled threat against Iran only two weeks ago he promised that a "whole civilization will die ‌tonight", while at other times he has appeared keen to end the violence ⁠and market uncertainty.

With his announcement, Mr Trump again pulled back at the last moment from his threats to bomb Iran's power plants and bridges.

United Nations Secretary General António Guterres and others have condemned those threats, noting international humanitarian law forbids attacks targeting civilians and civilian infrastructure.

Next peace talks uncertain

The US and Israel began the war on 28 February 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.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has for decades sought to oust Iran's leadership, but Mr Trump has given shifting and sometimes contradictory rationales for joining Israel to launch the war and how he foresees it ending, stirring confusion in global markets.

Police officers stand guard as Pakistan's leaders hosted peace talks in Islamabad to end the war

US stock futures rose, the dollar ‌wavered and oil prices turned lower after Mr Trump's announcement.

More than 5,000 civilians have been killed across the region and hundreds of thousands displaced so far, mostly in Iran and Lebanon, and 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.

Israel-Lebanon talks

On another front in the war, Israel and Lebanon, which have no diplomatic relations, will hold fresh talks in Washington tomorrow, a State Department official told AFP.

A separate ten-day ceasefire was agreed between the two nations on Friday and included Hezbollah, whose rocket fire in support of Iran drew Lebanon into the wider Middle East conflict.

Sporadic violence has continued and Israel's military warned civilians against returning to dozens of villages in southern Lebanon.

A digger removes the rubble of buildings destroyed in Israeli strikes in southern Lebanon

Yesterday, the Israeli army said the "Hezbollah terrorist organization launched several rockets" at its troops in Lebanon, adding it had "struck the launcher from which the rockets were launched."

Israeli attacks on Lebanon have killed at least 2,454 people since the start of the war, a Lebanese government body said in its latest toll.

Hezbollah said it launched an attack on northern Israel in retaliation for what it said were Israeli violations of the ceasefire, the first such claim since the truce began.