Pakistan on Wednesday morning welcomed an announcement by U.S. President Donald Trump extending its ceasefire with Iran, with Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif hoping ongoing diplomatic efforts in Islamabad will lead to a broader peace agreement.
“On my personal behalf and on behalf of Field Marshal Syed Asim Munir, I sincerely thank President Trump for graciously accepting our request to extend the ceasefire to allow ongoing diplomatic efforts to take their course,” Sharif wrote in a post on X.
“With the trust and confidence reposed in, Pakistan shall continue its earnest efforts for negotiated settlement of conflict,” he said, adding he hoped both sides would continue to observe the ceasefire until a second round of peace talks could take place in Islamabad to achieve a “comprehensive peace deal” for a “permanent” end to the conflict.
The prime minister’s statement followed a post by Trump on his TruthSocial account in which he extended the ceasefire hours before it was due to expire, saying it would remain in place until Tehran submitted its proposals and talks concluded. He said the decision was taken on the request of Pakistan to allow diplomatic efforts to continue and to give Tehran time to prepare a unified proposal.
During the ceasefire, wrote Trump, U.S. forces would remain on standby while maintaining pressure, including a naval blockade of Iran’s ports.
Earlier, Iran Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi had said Tehran considers the blockade an “act of war,” constituting a violation of the ceasefire. “Striking a commercial vessel and taking its crew hostage is an even greater violation,” he wrote on X. “Iran knows how to neutralize restrictions, how to defend its interests, and how to resist bullying,” he added.
The deferred talks come as Islamabad was preparing to host the second round, with Washington confirming a delegation led by Vice President J.D. Vance was to reach Pakistan. However, Iran maintained it was not sending any delegation “for now,” scuttling any chances of face-to-face dialogue.
The conflict began on Feb. 28 after the U.S. and Israel launched joint airstrikes on Iran, prompting it to retaliate against U.S. positions in the Gulf and blockade the Strait of Hormuz, crippling a vital shipping lane. On April 8, Pakistan mediated a ceasefire between the two sides, with them meeting in Islamabad on April 11 for a first round of talks that lasted nearly 21 hours. However, the talks ended inconclusively amidst a lack of trust from both sides.
Prior to Trump’s announcement, Information Minister Attaullah Tarar said Pakistan was in constant touch with Iran and pursuing the path of diplomacy and dialogue. “Formal response from the Iranian side about confirmation of delegation to attend Islamabad Peace Talks is still awaited,” he wrote on X.
Pakistan made “sincere efforts to convince the Iranian leadership” to participate in the second round of talks, he said, vowing that Islamabad would continue its efforts to bring Iran back to the table.