Washington/NEW DELHI, Apr 22:
US President Donald Trump extended the ceasefire with Iran indefinitely at the request of Pakistan to give Tehran’s leadership more time to prepare a unified proposal to end the war, even as Iranian forces fired on three ships and seized two of them in the Strait of Hormuz on Wednesday.
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Trump’s dramatic announcement, welcomed by Pakistan’s top leadership, came just hours before the two-week ceasefire was set to expire.
Iran’s semi-official Tasnim News Agency reported that Tehran has not issued any official statement confirming its agreement to extend the ceasefire.
Pakistan had urged an extension of the truce due to uncertainty surrounding the second round of talks. There was still no clarity on the date of the next round of talks.
On Wednesday, The New York Post quoted President Trump as saying that the second round of the US-Iran talks could take place as early as Friday.
Such development was “possible” within the next 36 to 72 hours, the paper reported, quoting Trump.
However, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei said Tehran has not yet decided whether to attend a new round of Pakistani-mediated talks in Islamabad.
“We have made it clear that if we conclude that going to Islamabad is in our national interest, we would go there. But for the time being, the decision has not yet been made,” Baqaei told the BBC on Wednesday.
Baqaei said Iran’s delegation had travelled to Pakistan for the first round of talks “with good faith and sense of seriousness, but you have a negotiating party that has shown its lack of seriousness, lack of good faith”.
The extension of the truce effectively delayed the planned visit of a US delegation led by Vice President JD Vance to Islamabad for talks with Iranian interlocutors.
Meanwhile, the Revolutionary Guards intercepted and transferred two vessels – identified as the “MSC-FRANCESCA” and the “EPAMINODES” – to Iranian territorial waters for inspection of their cargo, documents, and related records, Tasnim News Agency reported.
Citing a statement by the Guards, it said the ships were “attempting to exit” the Strait of Hormuz when they were intercepted.
Another ship, Euphoria, was stopped after being “fired upon”, according to BBC.
The development came as Trump announced the extension of the ceasefire with Iran indefinitely.
“Based on the fact that the Government of Iran is seriously fractured, not unexpectedly so and, upon the request of Field Marshal Asim Munir, and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, of Pakistan, we have been asked to hold our attack on the country of Iran until such time as their leaders and representatives can come up with a unified proposal,” Trump said on Tuesday.
However, Trump made it clear that the US will refrain from attacking Iran only until its leadership presents a unified proposal for negotiations. He said the economic blockade of Iran’s ports will remain in place.
The US President said he has therefore “directed the military to continue the blockade”.
The decision to extend the ceasefire marked a significant shift in Trump’s tone.
Earlier, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi slammed the US, saying blockading Iranian ports is an “act of war and thus a violation of the ceasefire”.
“Striking a commercial vessel and taking its crew hostage is an even greater violation. Iran knows how to neutralise restrictions, how to defend its interests, and how to resist bullying,” he said in a social media post.
Meanwhile, one of three commercial vessels fired upon by Iranian forces in the Strait of Hormuz on Wednesday may have been headed for Gujarat, according to initial shipping data.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards opened fire on the vessels as they transited the strategic waterway, with two ships later seized and at least one sustaining damage, though no casualties were reported.
Of the vessels targeted in the Strait of Hormuz incident on Wednesday, container ship Epaminondas was signalling Mundra port in Gujarat as its destination, according to vessel-tracking data from maritime intelligence firm MarineTraffic.
The ship is sailing under the flag of Liberia and “is currently located in the Oman Gulf”, it said in an 18.30 IST update.
Information on its owner and the cargo it is carrying for was not immediately available.
Ships can and do change course or destination during a voyage, typically due to commercial instructions, weather, congestion, port delays, or security considerations.
Also, vessel-tracking systems rely on AIS (Automatic Identification System) signals, which can be manipulated in some cases. Ships may transmit incomplete, delayed or intentionally altered AIS data to obscure their exact location or intended destination – often referred to as “spoofing” or signal masking.
Another container ship, MSC Francesca, was indicating Hambantota port in Sri Lanka, while a third vessel, Euphoria, was showing Jeddah as its destination, the data showed.
Tehran said the vessels had violated transit rules or ignored warnings, while maritime sources indicated at least one ship had prior clearance.
At an inter-ministerial briefing on recent developments in West Asia in New Delhi, Mukesh Mangal, Additional Secretary in the Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways, said last week, two Indian vessels attempting to cross the strait were fired upon and had to make a retreat.
This, even as an Indian-flagged crude tanker, Desh Garima, safely transited the Strait of Hormuz on April 18 and is expected to reach Mumbai on Wednesday, he said.
The Shipping Corporation of India (SCI) tanker is the 10th India-flagged vessel to have crossed the strait since early March. (Agencies)
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