Trump gives Iran days to unify proposal, extend ceasefire talks

President Donald Trump has given Iran only a few days to pull its factions into line and return with one counterproposal, turning a fragile ceasefire into a deadline-driven test of leverage. Axios reported that Trump is allowing roughly three to five days for Tehran to unify behind a coherent answer, while U.S. officials have made clear the pause in fighting is not meant to become open-ended.

Trump extended the ceasefire on April 21, after earlier signaling that an extension was unlikely. The original truce was announced on April 7 and was set to expire on April 22. In the talks now being discussed, Pakistan has emerged as the key mediator again, with follow-up negotiations under consideration in Islamabad and Vice President JD Vance expected to lead the U.S. delegation if the process resumes.

The immediate question is not just whether Iran will come back to the table, but what, exactly, Washington wants Tehran to accept. Iran had already put forward a 10-point proposal as a basis for talks, but reports say the country’s leadership is split over how to answer the U.S. push. Iranian media and officials have shown reluctance to commit to Pakistan talks unless American commitments are clearer, while Trump and his advisers have described Tehran as deeply fractured and under pressure to present a single line.

That internal struggle is unfolding alongside a sharp escalation at sea. On April 20, the U.S. seized an Iranian-flagged cargo ship near the Strait of Hormuz after accusing it of trying to evade the blockade of Iranian ports. Tehran vowed retaliation. Reuters-linked reporting said Pakistan’s Asim Munir told Trump that the blockade was an obstacle to talks, and an Iranian source said the same pressure was undercutting prospects for peace negotiations.

The stakes extend far beyond the negotiating room. The Strait of Hormuz typically carries about one-fifth of the world’s oil and liquefied gas supply, making any disruption a global problem as much as a regional one. If Iran fails to settle its internal dispute before Trump’s deadline runs out, the ceasefire could collapse into a harsher standoff, with the blockade still in place and the next round of diplomacy pushed back toward confrontation.