TRUMP REJECTS EXTENDING WAR TRUCE

WASHINGTON: President Donald Trump said on Tuesday that he did not want to extend a rapidly expiring ceasefire in the US-Israeli war on Iran and that the US military was 'raring to go' if negotiations were not successful. He spoke shortly after the US military announced it had boarded a huge Iranian oil tanker at sea in international waters, the first such move against Iran's crude exports.
That could make it more difficult to revive peace talks with Iran, which has said it will not negotiate while Washington enforces a blockade of its ports. Washington has expressed confidence that last-ditch talks with Iran will go ahead in Pakistan, and a senior Iranian official said Tehran was considering joining. But with the final hours of ⁠a two-week truce ticking by, there was little time left.
Asked about the possibility of extending the truce, Trump told CNBC: 'I don't want to do that. We don't have that much time.' 'I expect to ⁠be bombing because I think that's a better attitude to go in with,' he added. 'But we're ready to go. I mean, the military is raring to go.' Iranian government spokesperson Fatemeh Mohajerani said: 'We do not want to be attacked again, but if such attacks occur, we will definitely respond more firmly than before,' according to the state news agency IRNA.
- HORMUZ REMAINS CLOSED -
Iran has largely blocked off the Strait of Hormuz that controls access to the Gulf to all ships but its own. It had announced last week that it would reopen the strait, but reversed that decision on Saturday after Trump refused to lift his blockade of Iranian ports. That has left the strait closed and the world deprived of the 20 million barrels of oil that typically crossed it each day.
Pakistani officials said that if the delegations do attend talks, they will not arrive until Wednesday. A first session of talks 10 days ago produced no agreement and Tehran had been ruling out a second ‌round after the US refused to end its blockade and seized an Iranian cargo ship. Trump has threatened to attack Iran's civilian infrastructure if no deal is done. Still, a Pakistani source involved in the ​discussions told Reuters there was momentum for talks to resume and US Vice President JD Vance was expected in Islamabad.
Pakistan is still ​awaiting ​a formal response from Iran about confirmation of delegation to attend a second ⁠round of peace ⁠talks with the US in Islamabad, the country's ‌Information Minister ​Attaullah Tarar ⁠said in ​a post on X. 'Decision from Iran ​to attend the talks before the end of two weeks ceasefire is critical,' Tarar said ​in a post ​on ‌X, adding ⁠that Pakistan has made sincere ​efforts to convince ⁠the Iranian leadership ​to participate in the second round of ​talks.
An Iranian official said on Monday that Tehran was 'positively reviewing' its participation, but stressed that ​it was waiting to see if its ⁠conditions would be met, including recognition of its right to enrich uranium. Oil prices eased around $0.30 and stocks bounced back in Asia on expectations that peace talks will resume, with European shares also up. Oil had jumped around 6% on Monday on doubts about the talks.
IRAN NUCLEAR PROGRAMME
Trump wants an agreement that would prevent further oil price rises and stock market shocks, but has insisted Iran cannot have the means ​to develop a nuclear weapon. He wants Iran to give up its stockpile of highly enriched uranium, which can, if further enriched, be used ⁠for a nuclear warhead. Tehran hopes ​to exploit its control of the strait to strike a deal that averts a restart of the war and lifts sanctions, while retaining more of its nuclear programme, which it says is for peaceful purposes.
Trump initially announced the ceasefire would last two weeks from the evening of Tuesday, April 7 in Washington, though he has lately suggested it runs until the evening of Wednesday, April 22, effectively an extra 24 hours. A Pakistani source involved in the talks also said it would expire at 8 pm Eastern Time on Wednesday, which is 3:30 am Thursday in Iran.
The Pentagon on Tuesday unveiled more details of President Donald Trump's $1.5 trillion defence budget request for fiscal year 2027, by far the largest year-over-year increase in defence spending in the post-World War Two era. In a new wrinkle, the Pentagon has created a category it is calling 'presidential priorities,' covering Golden Dome missile defence, drone dominance, artificial intelligence and data infrastructure, and the defence industrial ⁠base, Pentagon officials told reporters. The request includes a pay raise weighted toward ​junior enlisted troops, getting a 7% increase, 6% for their superiors and 5% for ⁠the top ranks. ​The budget also proposes expanding the force by 44,000 additional service members in fiscal 2027, following the addition of more than 20,000 in fiscal 2026. — Reuters