President Donald Trump on April 21 announced that he is extending a ceasefire with Iran, citing what he said are fractures in the regime.

“Based on the fact that the Government of Iran is seriously fractured, not unexpectedly so and, upon the request of Field Marshal Asim Munir, and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, of Pakistan, we have been asked to hold our Attack on the Country of Iran until such time as their leaders and representatives can come up with a unified proposal,” Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social.

Trump also said he told the U.S. military to extend its more-than-week-long naval blockade of Iranian ports, saying that it will, “in all other respects, remain ready and able, and will therefore extend the Ceasefire until such time as their proposal is submitted, and discussions are concluded, one way or the other.”

Earlier this week, Trump said a U.S. delegation would head to Islamabad to negotiate a deal before the end of a two-week-long ceasefire on April 22. Both countries warned that, without a deal, they were prepared to resume fighting.

But an Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs official on April 21 said no decision has been made yet on whether it will send officials to new talks in Pakistan.

Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei said that “going to Islamabad must ensure [Iran’s] interests” and that “no final decision has been made yet to go to Islamabad,” according to Iran’s semiofficial Mehr News.

Amid the uncertainty, Iran’s top diplomat posted on X saying that American forces boarding an Iranian oil tanker earlier on April 21 was an act of war. Earlier in the day, the Pentagon said it boarded a vessel that was evading sanctions in the Indo-Pacific region, and it stated that more Iran-linked vessels would be targeted.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi also criticized a U.S. military decision on April 19 to fire at an Iran-flagged ship’s engine room and seize it during its enforcement of a naval blockade on the country’s ports.

“Striking a commercial vessel and taking its crew hostage is an even greater violation,” he wrote in the X post. “Iran knows how to neutralize restrictions, how to defend its interests, and how to resist bullying.”

In enforcing the blockade, U.S. Central Command wrote on April 21 that 28 ships have now been told by the U.S. military to “turn around or return to port.” The blockade went into effect on April 13 in a bid to ramp up economic pressure on Tehran amid the ceasefire.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in a post on X on April 21 that Iran’s oil storage facilities on Kharg Island are nearing capacity because of the U.S. blockade. He warned that any parties facilitating Iranian oil exports could face sanctions.

Kharg is a small island 16 miles offshore of Iran where 90 percent of the nation’s oil exports are pumped into supertankers.

“In a matter of days, Kharg Island storage will be full and the fragile Iranian oil wells will be shut in. Constraining Iran’s maritime trade directly targets the regime’s primary revenue lifelines,” he stated.

“The @USTreasury will continue to apply maximum pressure through Economic Fury to systematically degrade Tehran’s ability to generate, move, and repatriate funds. Any person or vessel facilitating these flows—through covert trade and finance—risks exposure to U.S. sanctions.”

Trump told CNBC on April 21 that should no deal occur, the United States would likely start striking Iran soon. That comment was made before he announced the ceasefire extension.

“Iran can get themselves on a very good footing if they make a deal,” Trump said. “They can make themselves into a strong nation again, a wonderful nation again, they have incredible people. But they seem to be bloodthirsty. They’re led by some very, very, unfortunately tough people. I don’t mean tough in a good way.”

Elaborating, he said the leaders have “to use reason and they have to use common sense, and they can get themselves into a great position to make themselves into a great country, but a legitimate country, not a country based on death and horror.”

Throughout the ceasefire, meanwhile, top Iranian officials would be prepared to launch attacks on neighboring countries in the Persian Gulf as they did throughout the nearly six-week-long war. The country also fired on ships in the region, including in the strategic Strait of Hormuz waterway, effectively closing it and causing the price of oil and gas to surge.

On April 21, the price for a barrel of Brent crude oil rose to just more than $100, while West Texas International increased to $89 per barrel. Data from the American Automobile Association published on April 21 showed gas prices hovering at about $4.02 per gallon nationwide.