Trump Warns Iran as US Blockade of Iranian Ports Continues Ahead of Ceasefire Deadline

Iran’s nuclear and regional disputes with the United States are being tested in parallel with a widening campaign of pressure that includes a continuing blockade of Iranian ports and a fast-approaching ceasefire deadline, according to multiple reports.

CNN describes US President Donald Trump and aides meeting energy executives to discuss measures that could be taken to continue the blockade of Iranian ports for months, if needed, and how to limit the effects on consumers, while Iran’s oil minister urged Iranians to cut consumption.

Al Jazeera

CNN also reports that Trump warned Iran “better get smart soon,” and that Pakistan could receive Iran’s revised peace proposal by Friday as Trump responded to the current deadlock in peace talks.

Al Jazeera reports that Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi is pursuing a proposal aimed at reopening the Strait of Hormuz while deferring talks with the US on Tehran’s nuclear programme for later, during a 72-hour diplomatic sprint across three countries.

Al Jazeera further says Iran submitted its latest proposal to end the war with the US to Pakistan, which is transmitting messages between Tehran and Washington after direct talks on April 11 in Islamabad failed to deliver a breakthrough.

CNN Arabic says Pakistani officials told CNN that Iran has not yet confirmed its participation in peace talks with the United States scheduled for this week, as the ceasefire deadline set by Trump approaches on Wednesday evening.

In the same CNN Arabic account, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Ismail Baqai is quoted as saying Tehran’s hesitancy stems from “contradictory messages, contradictory conduct, and unacceptable actions on the part of the United States,” while Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Aragchi said the blockade of Iranian ports constitutes “an act of war” and a violation of the ceasefire.

Iran’s diplomatic posture in the current round is being framed around a proposal that separates the Strait of Hormuz issue from nuclear negotiations, while insisting that the United States lift its blockade and end the war.

AP reports that Iran offered to end its chokehold on the Strait if the U.S. lifts its blockade on the country and ends the war, in a proposal that would postpone discussions on the Islamic Republic’s nuclear program, according to two regional officials.

Al Jazeera

Al Jazeera says Araghchi discussed with regional interlocutors a proposal aimed at reopening the Strait of Hormuz but deferring talks with the US on Tehran’s nuclear programme for later, during a 72-hour diplomatic sprint across three countries, and that nuclear-related issues were set aside for a later stage.

Al Jazeera also reports that the White House has not confirmed the contents of the Iranian proposal, and quotes spokeswoman Olivia Wales saying the US “will not negotiate through the press” and would “only make a deal that puts the American people first, never allowing Iran to have a nuclear weapon.”

In CNN’s account of the broader negotiation environment, Iran’s oil minister urged Iranians to cut consumption while US officials discuss continuing the blockade, and CNN notes that Pakistan could receive Iran’s revised peace proposal by Friday.

Al Jazeera adds that Trump, speaking to Fox News, said Iran already knew what was required, stating, “They cannot have a nuclear weapon. Otherwise, there’s no reason to meet,” and adding that Tehran was welcome to reach out via “the telephone.”

Al Jazeera also describes the diplomatic sprint as including meetings in Islamabad, Muscat, and St Petersburg, with Araghchi meeting Russian President Vladimir Putin in St Petersburg after visiting Islamabad twice in two days and meeting in Muscat, Oman in between.

The negotiation push is also being accompanied by an unusually public rift within Iran’s hardline camp, with ultraconservative MPs refusing to back the negotiating team and hardline media outlets clashing over the direction of talks.

“Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Saeed Khatibzadeh said on Saturday that no date has been set for the next round of negotiations between Iran and the United States, mediated by Pakistan, after the first round failed”

AL24 News

Iran International reports that the divide became unusually public this week as several ultraconservative MPs refused to sign a letter backing Iran’s negotiating team, and that the dispute spilled into hardline media with Raja News and the Revolutionary Guards-linked Tasnim News Agency clashing.

Iran International says the confrontation largely pits supporters of former nuclear negotiator and National Security Council member Saeed Jalili against allies of parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, who recently led Iran’s delegation in talks in Islamabad.

On Monday, Iranian media reported that 27 members of parliament—including seven affiliated with Jalili’s ultraconservative camp—refused to sign a letter backing the negotiating team and Ghalibaf’s leadership in the Islamabad talks.

Iran International adds that one of them, Mahmoud Nabavian, later claimed that Mojtaba Khamenei’s “red lines” had been violated, alleging that negotiators had engaged with the United States on nuclear issues against those guidelines.

Iran International reports that Jalili escalated tensions by calling on Mojtaba Khamenei to clarify publicly whether ongoing actions reflected his directives, and that in a now-deleted post he wrote that if no such message was issued, “there is one hundred percent a ‘sedition of officials,’ and all these statements are written by the coup plotter himself.”

The feud escalated after a Tasnim editorial said demanding the United States lift all sanctions or agree to a comprehensive ceasefire with Iran’s armed allies amounted to unrealistic expectations like a “magic beanstalk,” and that negotiations with the United States should not be seen as a final solution because “the power of the people in the streets” could serve as Iran’s main leverage.

Different outlets describe the same negotiation environment with sharply different emphasis, from the US side’s insistence on nuclear constraints to Iran’s portrayal of blockade and strikes as violations and “provocative rhetoric.”

CNN’s account highlights US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth slamming opposition to the Iran war during a congressional hearing, describing lawmakers who criticize the effort as “the biggest adversary,” and it frames the White House’s posture as seeking roughly $1.5 trillion for its defense budget while discussing how to continue the blockade of Iranian ports.

AP News

CNN Arabic, by contrast, centers uncertainty about whether Iran will participate in peace talks, quoting Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Ismail Baqai saying Tehran’s hesitancy stems from “contradictory messages, contradictory conduct, and unacceptable actions on the part of the United States,” and quoting Abbas Aragchi calling the blockade “an act of war.”

Al Jazeera frames the diplomatic effort as a structured attempt to secure broader buy-in for a Hormuz reopening plan, reporting that nuclear-related issues were set aside for later stage and that Iran submitted its proposal to Pakistan after direct talks on April 11 in Islamabad failed to deliver a breakthrough.

Al Jazeera also quotes Olivia Wales saying the US “will not negotiate through the press” and would “only make a deal that puts the American people first, never allowing Iran to have a nuclear weapon,” while also quoting Trump’s demand that “They cannot have a nuclear weapon.”

PressTV presents a different Iranian narrative focused on distrust and alleged attacks during negotiations, quoting President Masoud Pezeshkian saying Iran’s trust in the United States has been “completely destroyed” after two US and Israeli military strikes on Iran during negotiations.

PressTV also quotes Pezeshkian condemning “provocative” rhetoric and actions and calling the US naval blockade of Iranian ports an “extension of military operations,” saying “Continuation of this oppressive approach is intolerable.”

The next phase of the Iran-US confrontation is being shaped by both legal deadlines and operational signals, with multiple reports pointing to a narrow window for diplomacy and a readiness to continue pressure if talks fail.

Al Jazeera reports that under the 1973 War Powers Resolution, Trump faces a May 1 deadline to obtain congressional authorisation to continue military operations against Iran, now in their ninth week, and it says a fourth bipartisan Senate bid to invoke the resolution was defeated 52-47 on April 15.

CNN

Al Jazeera also describes the ceasefire timing as a “ticking clock,” and CNN Arabic says the ceasefire deadline set by Trump approaches on Wednesday evening, adding that Trump announced it ends “Wednesday evening, Washington time,” while Pakistan’s Information Minister Attaullah Tarar said it ends at 4:50 a.m. Wednesday Pakistan time (7:50 p.m. Eastern Time).

CNN Arabic further reports that in an interview with CNBC, Trump said he expects continued strikes on Iran if the United States and Iran cannot reach an agreement to extend the ceasefire by the deadline set, stressing that the U.S. military is “on standby.”

AP adds that U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio appeared to rule out any deal that excludes Iran’s nuclear program, and it says Trump seems unlikely to accept the offer described by regional officials.

Al Jazeera reports that Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister Saeed Khatibzadeh denied setting a date for a new round of negotiations, saying “We cannot set a date as long as we have not agreed on the framework,” and warning against negotiations that could be used as a pretext for escalation.

Across the accounts, the stakes are tied to the Strait of Hormuz and the blockade, with CNN Arabic saying the American blockade of the Strait of Hormuz has contributed to uncertainty, and with AP describing the strait as the narrow mouth of the Persian Gulf through which a fifth of all traded oil and natural gas passes.