Ceasefire on brink of collapse as US and Iran exchange threats

DUBAI — Both the United States and Iran said they were ready to resume the war as the second round of US-Iran peace talks scheduled for this week in Pakistan remains in limbo after the US military seized an Iranian-flagged vessel near the Strait of Hormuz over the weekend, provoking Iranian anger and another surge in oil prices. Iran’s Parliament Speaker and chief negotiator Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf has said his country is “prepared to reveal new cards on the battlefield” after US President Donald Trump threatened Tehran with “problems like they’ve never seen before” if the two-week ceasefire expires on Wednesday without a deal. The White House said Vice President JD Vance was ready to fly back to Islamabad to lead the US delegation, which would also include the president’s special envoy Steve Witkoff and his son-in-law Jared Kushner. They were initially planned to reach the Pakistani capital on Monday, but were disrupted after Iran announced its withdrawal from the talks aimed at ending the war, which has shaken global markets. Trump said he was confident that Iran would negotiate, adding that the country would otherwise “see problems”. He told PBS News on Monday that if the ceasefire expires without a deal, then “lots of bombs start going off”. Tehran’s withdrawal was partly sparked by the US seizure of an Iranian-flagged cargo vessel en route to a port on Sunday. The US Navy said the ship had not complied with its warnings and was attempting to evade its blockade of Iranian ports. Iran said it refuses to engage in any diplomatic efforts under the threat of attack, after Trump, in various posts on social media over the last few days, threatened to intensify the fighting and “blow up” the entire country if it fails to enter into a deal with Washington. In an overnight post on X on Monday, Ghalibaf expressed anger at Trump for “imposing a siege and violating the ceasefire”. “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,” Ghalibaf wrote. “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,” he added. Iran said the naval blockade of its ports is a violation of the ceasefire agreement, which the US refutes.Trump insisted that the US Navy will continue to enforce it until Iran reopens the strategic waterway it controls to maritime traffic, without conditions. “The blockade, which we will not take off until there is a ‘deal,’ is absolutely destroying Iran. They are losing $500 million … a day, an unsustainable number, even in the short run,” wrote Trump in a post on Truth Social. Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) warned of targeting any vessel attempting to pass through the Strait of Hormuz without permission. The waterways facilitate the passage of roughly one-fifth of the world’s oil exports, gas and other crucial items like fertilisers. Brent crude, the international standard, traded at just over $95 a barrel on Tuesday, a steep drop-off from the close to $120 figure it reached prior to the ceasefire, but still a roughly 40% hike compared to prices in early February. — Agencies