President Donald Trump on Tuesday extended the US ceasefire with Iran to allow more time for peace talks, as Tehran's deadline to end the pause came and went without incident.
Trump indefinitely pushed back the end of the two week truce, crediting a request from mediator Pakistan and stressing the need to give Iran's "fractured" leadership time to form a proposal. But he said the US blockade of Iran's ports -- a sticking point for Tehran -- would continue.
Trump had previously indicated he would not extend the ceasefire and had warned of a resumption of bombing when it expired.
"I have...directed our Military to continue the Blockade and, in all other respects, remain ready and able, and will therefore extend the Ceasefire until such time as their (Iran's) proposal is submitted," Trump wrote on social media.
Ahead of Trump's eleventh-hour intervention, it had been unclear exactly when the original ceasefire would expire, with Pakistan indicating it would end at 2350 GMT Tuesday.
This moment came and went with no reports of of new military activity by Iran, which had said the ceasefire would end at 0000 GMT. Iran made no immediate public comment in response to Trump's announcement.
The fate of peace talks hosted by Pakistan was hanging in the balance following Trump's announcement.
A White House official confirmed that Vice President JD Vance would not travel to Pakistan for talks Tuesday as previously planned, pending the submission of an Iranian proposal.
"Any further updates on in-person meetings will be announced by the White House," the official said.
In Islamabad, heavily armed police and soldiers on Tuesday secured the city's government quarter, which was virtually shut down even as no Iranian-US meeting was fixed.
Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif thanked Trump for extending the ceasefire. UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres also welcomed it.
As the original ceasefire deadline drew in, Iran preemptively threatened to attack its Gulf neighbors' oil production facilities if their territory was used to attack it once the ceasefire expired.
"The southern neighbors should know that if their geography and facilities are used in the service of the enemies to attack the Iranian nation, they should bid farewell to oil production in the Middle East," the commander of the Guards' aerospace force, Majid Mousavi, was quoted by Fars news agency as saying.
Since the first round of talks in Islamabad, Trump has announced a blockade of Iranian ports, while Tehran has closed the Strait of Hormuz again.
The US Defense Department said Tuesday that its forces intercepted and boarded a "stateless sanctioned" vessel as part of Washington's efforts against networks that provide support to Iran.
AFP has identified the vessel as one affiliated with Iranian activity.
Both sides have accused the other of ceasefire breaches.
- 'Cursed ceasefire' -
Residents in the Iranian capital who spoke to Paris-based AFP journalists say life has only worsened despite the truce, squeezed by the government and the war's impact.
"This cursed ceasefire has broken us. There is no light at the end of the tunnel," said Saghar, 39. "The situation is terrible. I don't know anyone around me who is doing well."
Experts said Iran's noncommittal public stance was an attempt to put pressure on Washington.
"The current standoff between the United States and Iran is no longer a clash of capabilities but rather a struggle of political endurance and bargaining leverage," Daniel Byman of the Center for Strategic and International Studies wrote in a commentary.
Despite the ongoing uncertainty, stocks rose on Tuesday amid lingering hopes for a deal to end the conflict.
- Islamabad lockdown -
On another front in the war, Israel and Lebanon, which have no diplomatic relations, will hold fresh talks in Washington on Thursday, a State Department official told AFP.
A separate 10-day ceasefire was agreed between the two nations on Friday and included Hezbollah, whose rocket fire in support of Iran drew Lebanon into the wider Middle East conflict.
Sporadic violence has continued and Israel's military warned civilians against returning to dozens of villages in southern Lebanon.
On Tuesday, the Israeli army said the "Hezbollah terrorist organization launched several rockets" at its troops in Lebanon, adding it had "struck the launcher from which the rockets were launched."
Israeli attacks on Lebanon have killed at least 2,454 people since the start of the war, a Lebanese government body said in its latest toll.
Hezbollah said it launched an attack on northern Israel on Tuesday in retaliation for what it said were Israeli violations of the ceasefire, the first such claim since the truce began.
