Washington, The Donald Trump administration has extended its ceasefire with Iran while maintaining a sweeping naval blockade, with the White House insisting there is no deadline for negotiations and signalling continued economic pressure on Tehran.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said the United States is pursuing a dual-track approach, pausing military strikes while intensifying financial and maritime restrictions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cPresident Trump announced an extension of the cease fire\u2026 and generously offering a bit of flexibility to a regime who has been completely tarnished because of Operation Epic Fury,\u201d she told reporters inside the White House on Wednesday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
She made clear that the pause in combat operations does not signal a reduction in pressure. \u201cThere\u2019s a cease fire with the military and kinetic strikes but Operation Economic Fury continues, and the effective and successful naval blockade continues as well,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
According to the White House, the blockade is inflicting significant economic damage. \u201cWe are completely strangling their economy through this blockade\u2026 they\u2019re losing $500 million a day,\u201d Leavitt said, adding that Iran is unable to move oil shipments or sustain payments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Despite the escalation in economic pressure, the administration has deliberately avoided setting a timeline for negotiations. \u201cThe President has not set a firm deadline\u2026 ultimately, the timeline will be dictated by the commander in chief,\u201d she said, rejecting reports of a short window for talks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Pressed on whether the ceasefire or blockade would continue indefinitely, Leavitt declined to provide clarity, reiterating that the President would determine the course \u201cwhen he feels is in the best interest of the United States and the American people.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
She also pointed to divisions within Iran\u2019s leadership as a key factor shaping the negotiations. \u201cThere\u2019s obviously a lot of internal division\u2026 a battle between the pragmatists and the hardliners,\u201d she said, noting that Washington is waiting for a \u201cunified response\u201d from Tehran.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The White House acknowledged that conflicting signals from Iran have complicated the process. \u201cWhat they say publicly is much different than what they concede to the United States\u2026 privately,\u201d Leavitt said, cautioning against relying on official Iranian rhetoric.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
She said US negotiators have already engaged directly with Iranian counterparts but emphasised uncertainty over who ultimately holds decision-making authority within the regime.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Defending the administration\u2019s posture, Leavitt argued that Washington retains the upper hand. \u201cThe cards are in President Trump\u2019s hands right now\u2026 Iran is in a very weak position,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
She also defended the President\u2019s public messaging during the crisis, saying it had not undermined negotiations. \u201cThe United States and President Trump have been very clear in our demands and our red lines,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Separately, Leavitt said the administration is monitoring developments in the aviation sector amid reports of a potential bailout for Spirit Airlines, but offered no details.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Washington, The Donald Trump administration has extended its ceasefire with Iran while maintaining a sweeping naval blockade, with the White House insisting there is no deadline for negotiations and signalling […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[20,3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2305","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-display","category-international","has_no_thumb"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsaxis.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2305","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsaxis.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsaxis.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsaxis.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsaxis.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2305"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/newsaxis.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2305\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2306,"href":"https:\/\/newsaxis.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2305\/revisions\/2306"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsaxis.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2305"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsaxis.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2305"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsaxis.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2305"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}