US Iran war highlights: White House ‘confirms’ Vance won't travel to Pak after Trump announces ceasefire extension

US Iran war LIVE updates: Ahead of the negotiations in Islamabad, US President Donald Trump said America was in a “very, very strong negotiating position.”

“We're going to end up with a great deal. I think they have no choice…” Trump told broadcaster CNBC. While the US delegation, led by Vice President JD Vance, is yet to leave for Islamabad, Iran has not given any formal confirmation regarding its attendance.

US Iran war LIVE updates: Pakistan's information minister Attaullah Tarar said that the decision from Iran on its attendance for the talks in Islamabad before the ceasefire deadline is critical.

Tarar said that Pakistan as a mediator is in constant touch with the Iranians and pursuing the path of diplomacy and dialogue, Reuters news agency reported.

US Iran war LIVE updates: Pakistan's information minister Attaullah Tarar on Tuesday said formal confirmation from the Iranian side on their attendance for the peace talks in Islamabad was awaited.

However, Tarar said that Pakistan had made sincere efforts to convince the Iranian leadership to participate in the second round of talks with the US, and efforts to that end will continue, Reuters news agency reported.

US Iran war LIVE updates: The shipping traffic through the Strait of Hormuz remained largely halted on Tuesday, with only three ships having passed the waterway in the past 24 hours, Reuters news agency reported citing shipping data.

Among the ships which passed was thre Ean Spir products tanker and the Lian Star cargo ship, which had no known flag or known ownership, and the Meda liquefied petroleum gas tanker, which had called at a UAE port in the Gulf.

US Iran war LIVE updates: Islamabad has urged the United States and Iran to extend their two-week ceasefire which ends on April 22, Reuters news agency cited Pakistan's foreign ministry as saying.

Pakistan foreign minister Ishaq Dar, in a meeting with US Chargé d’Affaires in Pakistan, Natalie A. Baker, reiterated the need for dialogue between both sides.

US Iran war LIVE updates: US forces have boarded an oil tanker previously sanctioned for smuggling Iranian crude oil in Asia, the Department of Defense said on Tuesday.

The Pentagon, in a social media post, said US forces “conducted a right-of-visit maritime interdiction” and boarded the M/T Tifani “without incident.” Ship-tracking data showed the Tifani was carrying oil in the Indian Ocean on Tuesday between Sri Lanka and Indonesia.

US Iran war LIVE updates: US President Donald Trump on Tuesday said Iran could boost the chances of success in peace talks with the United States by freeing eight women he says are facing execution.

“I would greatly appreciate the release of these women…Would be a great start to our negotiations!” the US President said in a post on Truth Social. The post came after a pro-Israel youth activist in the United States, Eyal Yakoby, re-posted a claim on X that eight women faced death by hanging. The claim, which did not provide any names but posted photographs, could not be verified.

“To the Iranian leaders, who will soon be in negotiations with my representatives: I would greatly appreciate the release of these women,” the US president wrote in a social media post in response to unverified news alleging that Iran is planning to hang eight women.

“I am sure that they will respect the fact that you did so. Please do them no harm! Would be a great start to our negotiations!!!”

US President Donald Trump has said that his administration is weighing a currency swap with UAE to help bolster finances of Mideast ally rattled by war.

Iran foreign ministry has condemned arrests in UAE as 'baseless'. UAE had said that it busted a ‘terror cell’ linked to Iran.

US Iran war LIVE updates: US President Donald Trump threatened Iran on Tuesday, saying America was “ready to go militarily,” Reuters news agency reported.

US Iran war LIVE updates: US President Donald Trump told CNBC in an interview on Tuesday that he did not want to extend a ceasefire with Iran.

He said that he believed that US was in a strong negotiating position and would be able to get what he called a great deal. “I don't want to do that. We don't have that much time,” Trump said on extending the ceasefire.

US Iran war LIVE updates: Pakistan-led mediators have received confirmation that top US and Iran negotiators will land in Islamabad early Wednesday for negotiations, Associated Press reported citing officials.

Two regional officials told AP that US and Iran have signalled their willingness to hold a new round of the ceasefire talks in Islamabad.

US Iran war LIVE updates: With the uncertainty around the talks in Islamabad still prevailing, Qatar's foreign ministry spokesperson Majed Al Ansari said the country is in contact with all parties, including the US.

Ansari further said that Qatar was also in “direct contact” with all Gulf countries, Al Jazeera reported.

US Iran war LIVE updates: Qatar foreign ministry spokesperson Majed Al Ansari said the resolution of the Strait of Hormuz crisis is the responsibility of not one country, but all.

Ansari said the continued closure of the strait turns the crisis from regional to an international one, according to Al Jazeera.

US Iran war LIVE updates: Qatar has condemned the violation of Lebanon's sovereignty, amid Israeli strikes in the country. Qatar's foreign minister spokesperson Majed Al Ansari said the country had always called for an end to the war, Al Jazeera reported.

He said that the conflict had put everyone at risk along with its energy markets, and called for the continuation of the ceasefire.

US Iran war LIVE updates: While Pakistan has been preparing for the talks between US and Iran in Islamabad, both negotiating sides are in a travel standoff to see who gets on the plane first, Al Jazeera reported.

While US President Donald Trump had on Monday said their delegation was on their way to Islamabad, it was later clarified that Vice President JD Vance had not yet departed for the talks. Meanwhile, Iran has still not confirmed its attendance, with the US blockade of its ports now a sticking point.

US Iran war LIVE updates: The International Maritime Organization is working on an evacuation plan for hundreds of ship stranded in the Persian Gulf following the closure of the Strait of Hormuz.

The plan can only be put into action when there are clear signs of de-escalation, International Maritime Organization Secretary General Arsenio Dominguez said Tuesday, Bloomberg reported.

US Iran war LIVE updates: International Maritime Organization Secretary General Arsenio Dominguez has appealed on Tuesday for help for thousands of seafarers stranded due to the closure of the Strait of Hormuz.

Dominguez told a maritime conference in Singapore that stranded sailors were suffering from stress and fatigue, and urged shipping companies to provide remote support to them, AFP reported

US Iran war LIVE updates: Iran Air will resume domestic flights on Wednesday (April 22), after a 50-day halt in services owing to the war, Al Jazeera reported citing Tasnim news agency.

The first route it will operate on is the Tehran-Mashhad corridor, with return flights also operating on the same day.

US Iran war LIVE updates: The Israeli military issued another warning to the residents of southern Lebanon, asking them “not to move south of the line of the villages shown and their surroundings” that it showed on a map.

“Additionally, approaching the area of the Litani River, Wadi Salhania, and Saluki is not permitted,” the Israeli army's spokesperson Avichay Adraee said in a post on X.

US Iran war LIVE updates: European Union transport commissioner Apostolos Tzitzikostas has said that without the return of permanent freedom of navigation through the Strait of Hormuz, consequences will be “catastrophic” for Europe and the world at large.

However, the transport commissioner says Europe maintains emergency jet fuel stocks, which can be released when necessary, Reuters news agency reported. Tzitzikostas added that the EU was working to find an alternative jet fuel supply for Europe, like from the United States.

US Iran war LIVE updates: European Union's transport commissioner on Tuesday said there was no indication yet that there will be widespread flight cancellations in the coming weeks or months.

The transport commissioner added that there was no need to intervene in how people live, work or travel at this point, Reuters news agency reported.

US Iran war LIVE updates: Iran has said that an Iranian tanker managed to enter the country's territorial waters last night despite “threats” from the US military, which has imposed a blockade on Iranian ports.

“Despite multiple warnings and threats from the naval task force of the US Army … the Iranian oil tanker Sili City, with the operational support of the Army Navy … entered Iranian territorial waters last night after passing through the Arabian Sea,” Iranian Army's public relations office said, according to Mehr News Agency.

US Iran war LIVE updates: Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam is scheduled to meet with foreign ministers of European Union countries in Luxembourg and brief them, Al Jazeera reported.

The meeting of EU foreign ministers might also focus on the countries' ties with Israel, even as Belgian foreign minister Maxime Prevo has called Israel’s conduct in Lebanon “totally unacceptable”. Some countries, including Spain, Slovenia and Ireland, have also tried to revise the EU’s association agreement with Israel.