The ceasefire with Iran will expire on the evening of April 22, Trump said.
WASHINGTON—President Donald Trump said on April 20 that he is unlikely to renew the truce with Iran if a deal to end the war is not reached before the April 22 deadline.
The ceasefire, which was announced on April 7, expires on “Wednesday evening Washington time,” Trump told Bloomberg in a phone interview.
It’s “highly unlikely” that he will extend it if no deal is reached before then, Trump said. The ceasefire was originally set to expire on April 21.
Trump’s comments have heightened pressure on Tehran to finalize a deal this week as negotiators from the United States head to Pakistan’s capital, Islamabad, for a second round of talks.
U.S. Vice President JD Vance was set to resume negotiations “either Tuesday night or Wednesday morning,” Trump said. Jared Kushner, who is Trump’s son-in-law, and special envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff are expected to join negotiations in Pakistan.
Trump also said that the U.S. naval blockade of the Strait of Hormuz that began on April 13 will remain for now.
“The Iranians desperately want it opened,“ he said. ”I’m not opening it until a deal is signed.”
The United States has asked 27 vessels to turn around or return to Iranian ports since beginning its blockade in the Gulf of Oman in the Arabian Sea, the U.S. Central Command said on April 20.
“THE BLOCKADE, which we will not take off until there is a ‘DEAL,’ is absolutely destroying Iran,” Trump wrote on Truth Social on April 20. “They are losing $500 Million Dollars a day, an unsustainable number, even in the short run.”
“I read the Fake News saying that I am under ‘pressure’ to make a Deal,“ he wrote in another post. ”THIS IS NOT TRUE! I am under no pressure whatsoever, although, it will all happen, relatively quickly!”
Trump also said on Truth Social that the peace deal he’s working on will be “far better” than the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), known as the Iran nuclear deal, signed in 2015 under President Barack Obama to restrict Iran’s nuclear program.
Trump criticized the JCPOA for not meeting its objectives and said the new deal “will be something that the entire World will be proud of.”
By Emel Akan
