Trump extends Iran truce, keeps blockade as talks stall (PHOTOS, VIDEOS)

Donald Trump has lashed out at the Wall Street Journal over an opinion piece critical of his handling of Iran, calling one of its editorial writers an “idiot” and accusing the paper of having “lost its way.”

READ MORE: Hegseth brands media ‘Pharisees’

In a lengthy post, Trump rejected the suggestion that Tehran had outmanoeuvred him, instead claiming Iran had been left militarily and economically devastated by US action. He listed what he described as the destruction of Iran’s navy, air force, air defences and nuclear facilities, and said the Strait of Hormuz was now under total US control, costing Tehran hundreds of millions of dollars a day.

Trump also used the post to attack former presidents over their handling of Iran and to criticise media owner Rupert Murdoch, saying the Journal was no longer essential reading but “just another failing political rag”.

President Trump has claimed Iran does not really want the Strait of Hormuz closed, arguing that Tehran is only saying so to “save face” after the US Department of War imposed its own blockade. In a post on Truth Social, Trump said Iran was losing about $500m a day while the strait remained shut and claimed that unnamed “people” had approached him four days earlier saying Tehran wanted it reopened immediately.

“But if we do that, there can never be a Deal with Iran, unless we blow up the rest of their Country, their leaders included!” he said.

The UN secretary-general has welcomed the US announcement that the ceasefire will be extended, calling it an important step towards de-escalation and a chance to create space for diplomacy and confidence-building between Washington and Tehran.

In a note issued by spokesperson Stephane Dujarric, Antonio Guterres urged all sides “to build on this momentum, refrain from actions that could undermine the cease-fire, and engage constructively in negotiations to reach a sustainable and lasting resolution.” He also voiced full support for Pakistan’s efforts to facilitate further talks, saying he hoped they would help create the conditions for a “comprehensive and durable resolution to the conflict.”

Iran’s mission to the UN has accused the US of committing an “act of aggression” and piracy after American forces attacked and seized the vessel Touska on 19 April and took its crew hostage. It said Tehran had written to the UN secretary-general and the Security Council demanding condemnation of what it called a grave breach of international law and a violation of the ceasefire, accountability for those responsible, and the immediate release of the vessel and its crew.

Iran’s Khatam al-Anbiya Military Command has warned that its forces are fully prepared to respond to any attack, saying any aggression against the country would trigger an immediate and more forceful retaliation.

“Our capable and powerful forces have long been at 100% readiness and on the trigger, so that in the event of aggression or any action against Islamic Iran, they will immediately launch a powerful attack on predetermined targets,” the statement statement carried by Iranian media read.

US Treasury secretary Scott Bessent has said the Department of War will maintain its naval blockade of Iranian ports, while his department will “continue to apply maximum pressure through Economic Fury to systematically degrade Tehran’s ability to generate, move and repatriate funds”.

“In a matter of days, Kharg Island storage will be full and the fragile Iranian oil wells will be shut in. Constraining Iran’s maritime trade directly targets the regime’s primary revenue lifelines,” Bessent said in a post on X, warning that “any person or vessel facilitating these flows, through covert trade and finance, risks exposure to US sanctions.”

A senior adviser to Iranian parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf said Trump’s ceasefire extension “means nothing.”

“The losing side cannot dictate terms. The continuation of the siege is no different from bombardment and must be met with a military response. Moreover, Trump’s ceasefire extension is certainly a ploy to buy time for a surprise strike,” Mahdi Mohammadi wrote on X, adding that “the time for Iran to take the initiative has come.”

Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has thanked Donald Trump for “graciously accepting” Islamabad’s request to prolong the ceasefire and said his country would keep pushing for a negotiated settlement.

“I sincerely hope that both sides will continue to observe the ceasefire and be able to conclude a comprehensive ‘Peace Deal’ during the second round of talks scheduled at Islamabad for a permanent end to the conflict,” Sharif wrote on X.

READ MORE: Who bombed Iran’s Minab elementary school?

Slovak MEP Lubos Blaha has told RT’s ‘Sanchez Effect’ that he is “ashamed of the European Union,” saying European Parliament Speaker Roberta Metsola condemned Iran after the Minab school massacre but “said nothing about the American war crimes,” and accusing Brussels of hypocrisy. 

The February 28 strike on the Shajarah Tayyebeh girls’ school in the southern city of Minab, carried out on the first day of the US‑Israeli attack on Iran, left at least 170 people dead, most of them schoolchildren. Blaha described the bombing as a “massacre of little girls.”

Trump has announced he will extend the ceasefire with Iran, saying in a Truth Social statement that, at the request of Pakistan’s Field Marshal Asim Munir and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, the US will “hold our attack” on Iran until its leaders present a unified proposal. The US military will continue the blockade and “remain ready and able” until a proposal is submitted and talks are “concluded, one way or the other,” Trump said.