Trump extends Iran ceasefire indefinitely while US maintains blockade and seizes sanctioned tankers

Trump said on April 21, 2026 the ceasefire with Iran is gonna stay in place for now, no real end date set. He said Tehran looks “seriously fractured,” and he wants Iran’s leaders to come back with one plan, not a bunch of split positions.

The extension came after Pakistan’s PM Shehbaz Sharif and Army Chief Asim Munir asked for more time, they’ve been acting as go-between in the talks. Trump put it out on Truth Social just before the original two week window was about to run out.

At the same time, pressure didn’t really ease up. US military still running naval blockade around Iranian ports, enforcement still active. Pentagon also said on April 21 that US forces boarded a sanctioned tanker, the M/T Tifani, somewhere in the Indian Ocean near Bay of Bengal. No incident, no exchange, just a boarding. Ship was carrying Iranian crude and already on sanctions list for smuggling. That’s the second one in a few days.

So it’s not really a “pause” in a clean sense. More like a hold while everything else stays tight. Talks still going through Pakistan, but nothing locked in. Shipping through Strait of Hormuz still slow, cautious, some routes just avoided altogether.