Pakistani PM to visit Mideast as part of diplomatic blitz

Trump says no need to extend Iran ceasefire, as talks to end war continue

CENTCOM chief says blockade on Iran ‘fully implemented’ after 36 hours; IAEA head says any deal with Tehran needs ‘very detailed’ oversight of nuclear program

US President Donald Trump said on Tuesday that he was not considering extending a ceasefire with Iran, predicting “an amazing two days ahead” amid renewed diplomatic efforts with Tehran for an agreement to end the war.

But reports on Wednesday indicated that a ceasefire extension was on the table as US and Iranian negotiators try to reach an agreement.

Trump told ABC News on Tuesday he believed an extension was most likely not necessary, with the two-week ceasefire set to end on April 22. Earlier, he had predicted a second round of talks with Iran in Pakistan in the next two days.

“I think you’re going to be watching an amazing two days ahead,” Trump said, reiterating his prediction that there would be developments in the coming 48 hours. “I really do.”

“It could end either way, but I think a deal is preferable because then they can rebuild,” he said. “They really do have a different regime now. No matter what, we took out the radicals. They’re gone, no longer with us.”

Trump then asserted, “If I weren’t president, the world would be torn to pieces.”

On Wednesday, a senior official said that the US had yet to formally agree to extend the ceasefire, but that “engagement” between the sides is continuing as negotiators seek to extend the truce.

Before the ceasefire expires, mediators are pushing for a compromise on three main sticking points that derailed direct talks last weekend — Iran’s nuclear program, the Strait of Hormuz and compensation for wartime damages, according to a regional official who spoke to the Associated Press on condition of anonymity to discuss the mediation efforts.

The Axios outlet reported, citing US officials, that negotiators were getting closer to a framework deal to end the war. If such a deal is reached, the ceasefire would be extended to provide time to work out the details, sources told the outlet.

“They were on the phone and backchanneling with all the countries and they are getting closer,” a US official told Axios regarding talks on Tuesday.

Another US official told the publication, “We want to make a deal. And parts of their government want to make a deal. Now the trick is to get the whole of government over there to make the deal.”

Israel and the US launched their campaign against Iran on February 28 to degrade the Iranian regime’s military capabilities, distance threats posed by Iran — including its nuclear and ballistic missile programs and its proxy terror groups — and “create the conditions” for the Iranian people to topple the regime, the military and other Israeli leaders have said.

While the broader Islamic Republic regime has not fallen, Trump has repeatedly tried to frame the killing of supreme leader ayatollah Ali Khamenei and dozens of other top officials in airstrikes by the US and Israel as tantamount to the collapse of the regime as a whole.

Though the Trump administration has focused on negotiating with Iran’s current leadership amid the shaky ceasefire, Mossad chief David Barnea indicated on Tuesday that Israel wouldn’t consider its campaign over until that leadership is replaced.

After the first round of talks in Islamabad ended without an agreement over the weekend, the US military imposed a maritime blockade on Iranian ports to try to pressure the regime into accepting demands. The US military said on Wednesday that American forces had completely halted economic trade going into and out of Iran by sea, and had achieved “maritime superiority” in the Middle East.

The blockade on Iranian ports has been “fully implemented” within 36 hours of its launch, according to a social media post by US Central Command that quoted CENTCOM head Brad Cooper.

Since the United States and Israel began the war, Iran effectively shut the Strait of Hormuz to nearly all vessels except its own, saying passage would be permitted only under Iranian control and subject to a fee. The fallout has been widespread, as nearly a fifth of the world’s oil and gas previously flowed through the narrow waterway.

The nuclear program

On Wednesday, the head of the UN’s nuclear watchdog said that “very detailed” measures to verify Iran’s nuclear activities must be included in a potential US-Iran agreement to end the war in the Middle East.

International Atomic Energy Agency Director General Rafael Grossi stressed the need for a thorough verification regime for Iran’s nuclear program.

“Iran has a very ambitious, wide nuclear program so all of that will require the presence of IAEA inspectors,” he told reporters in Seoul. “Otherwise, you will not have an agreement. You will have an illusion of an agreement.”

Iran has not allowed the IAEA access to its nuclear facilities bombed by Israel and the United States during a 12-day war last June, according to a confidential IAEA report circulated to member states in February.

It has previously ruled out restrictions on its right to enrich uranium in what it insists is a civilian nuclear program. It has, however, enriched uranium to a point not needed for any civilian use, and has been said to be weeks away from breaking out to a bomb.

Israel and the US have insisted Iran cannot have a pathway to a nuclear weapon, and have also demanded Tehran end support for its terror proxies in the Middle East and curb its ballistic missiles program.

Pakistan prepares for possible talks

Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif was to embark on a four-day diplomatic blitz to Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and Turkey on Wednesday, Islamabad’s foreign ministry said, as the country engages in feverish diplomacy ahead of a possible second round of talks.

The visits to Saudi Arabia and Qatar would be conducted “in the bilateral context,” the ministry said in a statement, while in Turkey Sharif will participate in the Antalya Diplomacy Forum and hold bilateral meetings with Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and other leaders on the sidelines.

Sharif would be accompanied by Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar — one of the mediators during the US-Iran talks — and other senior officials on his visits.

Axios reported that representatives of Pakistan had also arrived in Tehran on Wednesday for talks.

Pakistan and Saudi Arabia share close ties, and Islamabad’s finance ministry announced on Wednesday that Riyadh would provide Pakistan with $3 billion to help bolster the country’s foreign reserves.

That support came days after Pakistan said it was returning billions in loans to Riyadh’s ally-turned-rival, the UAE.

Pakistan’s finance ministry added that an existing $5 billion Saudi deposit would also be extended for an unspecified period.