UNITED States President Donald Trump has paused attacks on Iran indefinitely, noting that he would continue the US Navy’s blockade of Iran’s trade by sea.
Trump in a statement posted on social media, revealed that the US decision followed a request by Pakistani mediators until the time their leaders and representatives can come up with a unified proposal and discussions are concluded.
However, even as Trump announced what appeared to be a unilateral ceasefire extension, Reuters reported that the Strait of Hormuz remained blocked on Wednesday with three ships reportedly hit by gunfire.
Just hours before Trump called off attacks, he had again threatened to resume military action, saying US forces were “raring to go” before ultimately stepping back from immediate strikes.
Tehran has rejected the move, viewing the blockade as an act of war and insisting it will not reopen the Strait of Hormuz under current conditions.
The waterway, a critical global energy corridor through which roughly 20 percent of the world’s oil and gas supplies pass, remains disrupted, intensifying pressure on global markets.
Pakistan’s last-ditch push to salvage the truce saw officials prepare for talks in Islamabad on Tuesday, hoping to secure a breakthrough before the two-week ceasefire lapsed.
Those efforts unraveled when Iran failed to confirm its participation, while a US delegation led by Vice President JD Vance never left Washington, deepening the deadlock in a conflict now nearing two months and leaving no pathway to reopen the Strait of Hormuz.
By early Wednesday, there was still no formal reaction from senior Iranian officials to the ceasefire announcement by Donald Trump, though early signals from Tehran indicated a cautious, and largely skeptical, reception.
Tasnim News Agency, which is affiliated with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, said Tehran never requested an extension of the ceasefire and reiterated warnings that it could use force to break the US naval blockade.
An aide to Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf, a key figure in Iran’s negotiating team, suggested that the announcement by Donald Trump could be a strategic ploy rather than a genuine shift toward de-escalation.
The war, launched on February 28 by the United States and Israel, rapidly expanded beyond its initial frontlines, pulling in Gulf states that host American military bases and spilling into Lebanon after the Iran-backed group Hezbollah entered the conflict.
The death toll risen to more than 5,000 civilians reported killed across the region. According to Lebanese state media, in the latest drone strike attributed to Israel killed one person and injured two others in the western Bekaa Valley, although the Israeli military said it had no information on the incident.
Despite a ceasefire agreement announced last week between Israel and Lebanon, Tehran maintains that a sustained halt to hostilities remains a key condition for any broader negotiations with the United States.
Nanji is an investigative journalist with the ICIR. She has years of experience in reporting and broadcasting human angle stories, gender inequalities, minority stories, and human rights issues. She has documented sexual war crimes in armed conflict, sex for grades in Nigerian Universities, harmful traditional practices and human trafficking.