By Eleanor xenix news
Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe!As the US and Iran squabble ahead of another round of talks, the looming expiration of a two-week ceasefire between the two nations is creating pressure to find a resolution.
As of now, the truce — which Trump announced April 7 — is set to end Tuesday evening ET. Officials have not said whether it expires at exactly the time Trump announced it (6:32 p.m. ET) or at midnight. Either time would be Wednesday morning, April 22, in Iran.
Trump has gone back and forth on whether he would agree to extend the ceasefire.
In the course of one question-and-answer session with reporters last week, he was asked five separate times whether he would extend the ceasefire, and offered three different answers:
“If there’s no deal, fighting resumes,” he said definitively at one point.
Later, he allowed he would offer an extension if necessary: “If we need to, I would do that.”
In another answer, he suggested the question was moot, given the state of negotiations: “We’ll see. I don’t know that we’ll have to. Ideally we won’t.”
Since then, Iran has cast doubt on its willingness to return to talks. And Trump has renewed his threats to take out bridges and power plants in Iran if a deal isn’t struck.
“NO MORE MR. NICE GUY! They’ll come down fast, they’ll come down easy,” he wrote on Truth Social, saying Iran had violated the ceasefire by firing on ships in the Strait of Hormuz.
Trump has made those maximalist threats multiple times before, only to back away.
Egypt continuing efforts to bring US and Iran to negotiating table, source says
By Xenix News
Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty attends a joint news conference in Moscow, Russia, on April 3. Pavel Bednyakov/Reuters
Egypt is continuing efforts to bring the United States and Iran back to the negotiating table in coordination with Pakistan, a regional source familiar with the talks told Xenix news
Amid confusion surrounding the upcoming negotiations and with the ceasefire between Iran and the US nearing expiry, Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghaei said today that there are no immediate plans for a second round of talks. Last week, US President Donald Trump stated that the blockade on Iran would continue even after Tehran declared the Strait of Hormuz open, causing prospects for negotiations to break down.
The Egyptians, who suffered economically from the conflicts, had ramped up efforts since 2025 to help mediate between Iran and the United States. Last year, diplomats in Cairo brokered a key agreement between Tehran and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), and this month, Egypt worked closely with Pakistan to help de-escalate the conflict between the US and Iran.
On Sunday, the Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty spoke with his Pakistani counterpart Muhammad Ishaq Dar on efforts to “advance the diplomatic track” between Washington and Tehran, a statement by the Egyptian foreign ministry said.
“Both ministers expressed their hope for a second round of negotiations that would contribute to reaching understandings leading to a ceasefire, de-escalation, and an end to the war,” the statement said.
About the Author
