Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Tuesday asked US President Donald Trump to extend the deadline he set for Iran to end its oil blockade in the Gulf by two weeks, stressing that Pakistan is playing the role of key mediator between Tehran and Washington.
Sharif said in a post on the X platform: “So that diplomacy can have a chance… I sincerely request President Trump to extend the deadline for two weeks, just as Pakistan sincerely requests our Iranian brothers to open the Strait of Hormuz for a similar two-week period as a gesture of goodwill.”
Axios, citing White House spokeswoman Caroline Leavitt, reported that Trump had been briefed on the Pakistani proposal regarding Iran and that an official response would be forthcoming. Meanwhile, a senior Iranian official told Reuters that Tehran was positively considering a two-week ceasefire.
Earlier on Tuesday, the Wall Street Journal reported that Iran had cut off direct communications with Washington in response to the latest threats from the US president , a move that Middle East officials considered complicated by efforts to reach an agreement to end the war involving Israel and the United States, despite ongoing talks through intermediaries.
The New York Times confirmed that senior Iranian officials reported that Tehran had stopped participating in talks aimed at ending the fighting, while a spokeswoman for the Iranian government said that exchanges through mediating countries were continuing but had not yet resulted in a breakthrough, noting that “the language of abuse and insult is hindering the path to any possible understanding.”
The Iranian First Vice President added that the government is prepared for all eventualities in response to threats against its infrastructure. Tasnim News Agency quoted a military source as saying that Iran has “surprises” in store if Trump carries out his threats and will not hesitate to impose “heavy costs” on Washington and its partners. Meanwhile, an Iranian official indicated that communication with the United States continues through intermediaries.
This comes hours before Trump’s latest ultimatum to Iran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz expires, with the US president again threatening Tehran with annihilation if it does not lift its blockade of the vital waterway for global oil supplies, saying on the Truth Social platform: “An entire civilization will die tonight, and it will never be brought back. I don’t want it to happen, but it could.”
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