US and Iran deadlocked over Hormuz after Trump extends ceasefire

THE US and Iran are locked in a battle for control of the Strait of Hormuz after failing to meet for a fresh round of peace talks, with both sides using blocks to the waterway to gain leverage during an extended ceasefire.

US President Donald Trump said the truce agreed Apr 7 would stay in place indefinitely while Washington waits for Iran to submit a new peace proposal, though Teheran says it has no plans to resume negotiations imminently. Vice-President JD Vance had been prepared to fly to Islamabad on Tuesday to resume discussions, before it became clear Iran would not send its own delegation.

The US maintained a naval blockade on ships going to and from Iran’s ports to pile pressure on the Islamic Republic, a move Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi called a violation of the ceasefire.

At the same time, Iran is keeping Hormuz closed to almost all other international traffic, and the country’s gunboats fired on commercial ships in the strait on Wednesday.

Trump’s ceasefire extension represented a climb down from threats to resume the bombing of Iran in the event a deal could not be reached by a Wednesday deadline, a move that would have revived a war that has killed thousands of people and sent energy prices soaring.

But there is still no sign Hormuz will be reopened to oil and liquefied natural gas (LNG) shipments soon, increasing the likelihood of supply shortages and a global inflation crisis.

Trump blamed divisions among the Islamic Republic’s leaders for the need to extend the truce, which Fox News reported on Wednesday may not last for more than five days. Aside from Hormuz, the sides remain far apart on longer-term issues such as the status of Iran’s nuclear and missile programmes, and its support for militant groups across the Middle East.

Iran says it will not reopen the Strait of Hormuz – effectively shut since the start of the war at the end of February – or take part in peace talks until the US naval blockade ends. About a fifth of the world’s oil and LNG was shipped through the waterway before the war, as well as supplies of key commodities for fertiliser and other agricultural products.

On Wednesday morning, Iran’s envoy to the United Nations said the country had “received some sign” the US was ready to lift the blockade, without giving further details.

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“As soon as they break this blockade, I think that the next round of the negotiations will take place in Islamabad,” Amir-Saeid Iravani was cited as saying by Iran’s semi-official Tasnim news site.

Oil climbed on Wednesday, with Brent trading back above US$100 a barrel. Futures for the benchmark are up 37 per cent since the war started, pushing US gasoline pump prices to the highest level in almost four years, an issue that has put Trump under pressure to resolve the conflict.

Hormuz was the subject of multiple reports of shipping attacks on Wednesday.

The UK Maritime Trade Operations, a naval liaison with the shipping industry, said on X that a cargo ship and a container ship came under Iranian fire in the waterway.

Iranian state TV reported later that the country’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps had seized two ships – identified as the MSC Francesca and Epaminondas – in Hormuz and brought them to shore for inspection. The Wall Street Journal reported that both came under attack, as well as a third, the Euphoria.

The US Navy fired upon and seized an Iranian cargo ship in the Gulf of Oman on Sunday.

At least two fully laden Iranian tankers have sailed out of the Persian Gulf and past the US blockade this week. The exit of the tankers demonstrates the limits of US efforts to curb Teheran’s crude exports.

Figures from data intelligence firm Vortexa suggest at least 34 Iran-linked tankers and natural gas carriers have made their way through the strait and the US blockade line.

Israeli air strikes on Lebanon

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 Apr 16 between Israel and Lebanon.

Both sides are set to resume direct talks on Thursday in Washington. Mike Huckabee, the US ambassador to Israel and a Trump ally, is expected to attend them, according to a State Department official.

Israel and Hizbollah, an Iran-backed group based in Lebanon, started a parallel war in early March. Trump announced a ceasefire last week that ends on Apr 26. While Hizbollah, designated a terrorist organisation by Washington, is not formally part of it, the truce has broadly held, despite each side accusing the other of fresh attacks. Trump is keen for a wider deal to end that conflict.

Hormuz standoff

The US and Iran have engaged in a tense back-and-forth since the two sides announced a two-week truce on Apr 7.

There was confusion last week when Araghchi announced the Strait of Hormuz had been reopened for all commercial vessels. Iran soon backtracked when it became clear the US blockade would remain in place.

Some members of the Iranian government and military leadership, including those at the top of the powerful IRGC, took the continuation of the US blockade as a further signal that Trump cannot be trusted, according to US and Iranian officials.

The IRGC’s leader Ahmad Vahidi is among those in that camp and is pushing for a tough negotiating stance, people familiar with the dynamics said.

The UK and France are holding a summit of military planners from more than 30 countries this week to discuss how Hormuz can be kept open once the Iran war ends. UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer and French President Emmanuel Macron have been leading efforts to coordinate a plan. They have resisted Trump’s request for allied nations to reopen the strait by force.

A previous round of talks between the US and Iran in Islamabad in mid-April ended after American officials said Teheran was not willing to accept limits on its nuclear programme. Iran, which was led at the meeting by Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, argued the US made a series of demands it could not meet. BLOOMBERG, REUTERS