US-Iran war updates: Trump ‘unlikely’ to extend ceasefire agreement, fighting to resume if no deal reached

Iran’s Parliament speaker Mohammad Ghalibaf says Iran is ready to reveal “new cards” on the battlefield as more doubt is cast over ongoing peace negotiations.

Mr Ghalibaf called out US President Donald Trump, saying that he had created a “table of surrender” to justify his warmongering.

He added that Iran has spent the last two weeks of the US-announced ceasefire preparing.

“Trump, by imposing a siege and violating the ceasefire, seeks to turn this negotiating table— in his own imagination— into a table of surrender or to justify renewed warmongering,” Mr Ghalibaf wrote on X.

“We do not accept negotiations under the shadow of threats, and in the past two weeks, we have prepared to reveal new cards on the battlefield.”

Mr Trump added more fuel to the fire, telling US media that more bombs will drop if Iran does not make a deal by the time the ceasefire runs out on Wednesday.

Israeli strikes have killed at least two Palestinians in separate incidents in the Gaza Strip, and fighters from Hamas clashed with gunmen from an Israeli-backed militia.

Medics said one man was killed overnight in an Israeli airstrike in the Bureij camp in the central area of the enclave, while another strike killed one person and wounded others in Gaza City.

The two deaths were the latest violence to overshadow the US-brokered ceasefire deal signed in October after two years of full-blown war between Israel and Hamas.

Progress on moving forward with parts the deal, which include the disarmament of Hamas and Israeli army pullouts, has stalled.

The Israeli military didn’t immediately comment on either incident.

US President Donald Trump has declared he is winning the war against Iran “by a lot”, claiming that his US media critics want Iran to win.

“I’m winning a War, BY A LOT, things are going very well, our Military has been amazing,” Mr Trump wrote on Truth Social.

The US President went on to criticise the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal and the Washington Post for being “Anti-America”.

Mr Trump reiterated that Iran’s navy and air force had been wiped out, adding that his blockade was now starving Iran’s economy of “$US500 million a day”.

On his blockade, Mr Trump revealed he would leave it in place until a deal was reached.

“Most important of all, THE BLOCKADE, which we will not take off until there is a ‘DEAL’, is absolutely destroying Iran,” Mr Trump wrote.

“They are losing $500 Million Dollars a day, an unsustainable number, even in the short run.

“The Anti-America Fake News Media is rooting for Iran to win, but it’s not going to happen, because I’m in charge!”

Israeli and Lebanese representatives will hold talks in Washington DC, a US State Department spokesperson and an Israeli source speaking on the condition of anonymity have told Reuters.

The US will host the second round of ambassador-level talks between the two countries at the Department of State on Thursday, the State Department spokesperson said.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio hosted the first round of talks between Israeli ambassador to the US Yechiel Leiter and Lebanon’s ambassador to the US Nada Moawad - the first direct talks between Israel and Lebanon in decades - on April 14.

“We will continue to facilitate direct, good-faith discussions between the two governments,” the spokesperson said.

The second round of talks will mark the first talks between the two countries since a 10-day ceasefire took effect on Thursday.

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Iran is considering attending peace talks with the United States in Pakistan, a senior Iranian official says, following moves by Pakistani officials to end a US blockade of Iran’s ports, a major hurdle for Iran to rejoin peace efforts.

However, the official stressed that no decision had been made.

Adding to the uncertainty, a source told Reuters that Vice President JD Vance was still in the US, denying reports that he was already on his way to Pakistan’s capital Islamabad for talks.

With a two-week ceasefire set to expire, the senior Iranian official said it was “positively reviewing” its participation but no final decision had been made.

The comments conveyed a clear change of tone from earlier statements ruling out attendance and pledging to retaliate for US aggression.

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US President Donald Trump says he is “unlikely” to extend a 14-day ceasefire with Iran if a deal is not made within hours.

US representatives for Mr Trump are currently planning to return to the negotiating table in Pakistan, with Iran yet to commit to the fresh round of talks.

On the ceasefire, which expires Wednesday night US time (Thursday morning in Australia) Mr Trump said it was “highly unlikely that I’d extend it”.

“I’m not going to be rushed into making a bad deal. We’ve got all the time in the world,” Mr Trump told Bloomberg.

Speaking about Operation Epic Fury and US attacks on Iran, Mr Trump added: “If there’s no deal, I would certainly expect (a return to conflict).