{"id":124620,"date":"2026-04-23T09:36:47","date_gmt":"2026-04-23T04:36:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/?p=124620"},"modified":"2026-04-23T09:36:48","modified_gmt":"2026-04-23T04:36:48","slug":"us-optimistic-about-iran-talks-this-week","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/2026\/124620\/","title":{"rendered":"US optimistic about Iran talks \u2018this week\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

WASHINGTON\/TEHRAN(National Times)- As the\u00a0Iran-US ceasefire extension\u00a0<\/a>created space for further diplomacy, US Presi\u00addent Donald Trump on Wednesday hoped a second round of talks could take place within two to three days, despite persistent mistrust.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s possible!\u201d President Trump reportedly told the New York Post<\/em> by text message, after the newspaper reached out to him to confirm whether the talks were \u201cexpected in Islamabad within the next 36 to 72 hours\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The optimism was in contrast to tensions in the Strait of Hormuz amid a blockade<\/a> of Iranian ports by the US and the Iranian navy\u2019s seizure of at least two ships on Wednesday, which were directed to the Iranian coast after they tried to cross the strait, and statements by Iran\u00adian officials accusing the US of violating the ceasefire by blockading the ports.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The US, however, insisted the blockade would continue, with reports claiming that Iran had only a few days to share its proposal. US outlet Axios<\/em> quoted an American source who claimed that Pres\u00adident Trump had given Iran only a few days to come up with a unified proposal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cTrump is willing to give another three to five days of ceasefire to allow the Iranians\u201d to get their affairs in order. \u201cIt is not going to be open-ended,\u201d Axios<\/em> reported.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fox<\/em> News also reported the development, citing an unnamed US official. In his social media post that announced the extension of the ceasefire, the US president had said the ceasefire was extended till the Iranian government, which was \u201cfractured\u201d, came up with a proposal, without giving an explicit deadline.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, Trump later denied these media reports, saying there is \u201cno time pressure\u201d surrounding the ceasefire, or agreeing to a new date for talks with Iran, Fox News<\/em> reported late in the day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He told Fox<\/em> News that reports about three- to five-day window for the ceasefire extension were \u201cfalse\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Asked when the war might end, he said there was \u201cno time frame\u201d and no rush.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Meanwhile, Tehran took exception to the claims of divisions. Mehdi Tabatabaei, deputy for communications at the Iranian president\u2019s office, quoted by Al Jazeera,<\/em> rejected the claim as \u201cpolitical propaganda\u201d. He claimed that unity within the Iranian leadership was \u201cunprecedented and exemplary\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cInstead of weaving lies, they should cease their breach of promise, bullying, and deceit; the door to negotiations based on fairness, dignity, and rationality remains open,\u201d he wrote on X.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Similarly, Reuters<\/em> quoted Iran\u2019s parliament speaker and top negotiator, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, as saying that a complete ceasefire only made sense if it was not violated by the US blockade of Iranian ports. He said in a tweet that the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz was impossible with such a \u201cflagrant breach of the ceasefire\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, meanwhile, said that the \u201cbreach of commitments, blockade and threats\u201d are the main obstacles to genuine negotiations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In a social media post on X, President Pezeshkian said, \u201cThe Islamic Republic of Iran has welcomed dialogue and agreement and continues to do so. \u201cBreach of commitments, blockade and threats are the main obstacles to genuine negotiations. The world sees your endless hypocritical rhetoric and contradiction between claims and actions.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2018Necessary and logical groundwork\u2019<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Iran\u2019s foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei did not give a clear answer on resuming talks with the US. When asked about the possibility of a second round of talks, Baqaei replied, \u201cDiplomacy is a tool to secure national interests and security, and whenever we conclude that the necessary and logical groundwork is in place to use this tool for realising national interests and consolidating the Iranian nation\u2019s achievements in frustrating enemies from achieving their sinister goals, we will take action.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The foreign ministry\u2019s statement, however, expressed \u201cgratitude for Pakistan\u2019s gracious efforts and mediation attempts to end the imposed war and establish peace in the region\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to the spokesperson, Tehran was taking the necessary measures to safeguard Iran\u2019s national interests and security\u201d and that the Iranian forces stood \u201cready to comprehensively and decisively defend the nation\u2019s integrity against any threat or hostility\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He emphasised that Iran had not initiated the war and that all of Tehran\u2019s actions \u201chave been carried out in line with its inherent right to legitimate self-defence against military aggression by the United States and the Israeli regime\u201d. \u201cIran will use every opportunity and capacity to hold aggressors accountable, secure Iran\u2019s rights \u2014 including delivering justice for perpetrators and instigators of war crimes \u2014 and demand compensation,\u201d according to the statement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The US president, however, appreciated Iran for complying with one of his requests to terminate the planned execution of eight women detained by the Iranian government in connection with unrest. In a social media post, US President Donald Trump announced that eight women detained by Iran \u201cwill no longer be killed\u201d after warning in an earlier social media post that they would be executed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cFour will be released immediately, and four will be sentenced to one month in prison,\u201d he said on Truth Social, while appreciating Iran for \u201crespecting his request\u201d to terminate the planned execution. The Iranian judiciary had already denied claims that the detained women were on death row.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Two ships seized in Hormuz<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Iran\u2019s Revolutionary Guards said they seized<\/a> two container ships trying to cross the Strait of Hormuz. UK-based maritime security monitors confirmed that three commercial vessels had reported incidents involving gunboats in the crucial strait. \u201cThe Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps naval force this morning identified and stopped in the Strait of Hormuz two violating ships,\u201d the Guards said in a statement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe two offending ships\u2026 were seized by the IRGC\u2019s naval forces and directed to the Iranian coast.\u201d They identified one ship as the Panama-flagged container ship MSC Francesca and the Liberia-flagged Epaminodas. The tracking site Marine Traffic showed the last known positions of both vessels closer to the Iranian coast of the strait, northeast of Oman.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Separately, a third ship was fired upon and stopped in the water eight nautical miles west of the Iranian coast, UKMTO said, without identifying the attackers. British Security firm Vanguard Tech identified it as the Panama-flagged container ship Euphoria, which it said was \u201ctransiting outbound of the Strait of Hormuz\u201d.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

WASHINGTON\/TEHRAN(National Times)- As the\u00a0Iran-US ceasefire extension\u00a0created space for further diplomacy, US Presi\u00addent Donald Trump on Wednesday hoped a second round of talks could take place within two to three days, despite persistent mistrust. \u201cIt\u2019s possible!\u201d President Trump reportedly told the New York Post by text message, after the newspaper reached out to him to confirm whether the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":124621,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-124620","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-latest_news","entry"],"yoast_head":"\nUS optimistic about Iran talks \u2018this week\u2019 - Nation<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/2026\/124620\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"US optimistic about Iran talks \u2018this week\u2019 - 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