Trump offers mixed messages about path ahead for US war against Iran

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump offered mixed messages on Monday about the path ahead for the U.S. war against Iran, declaring that he was in no rush to end the conflict while also expressing confidence that further negotiations with Tehran will soon take place in Pakistan.

With the 14-day ceasefire to expire Wednesday, Trump whipsawed in telephone interviews and social media posts between measured optimism that a deal could soon be reached and warning that “lots of bombs” will “start going off” if there's no agreement before the ceasefire deadline.

Trump indicated that he still expects to dispatch his negotiating team, led by Vice President JD Vance, to Pakistan's capital of Islamabad for a second round of talks, even as Iran insisted it would not take part until Trump dialed back his demands.

Iran’s chief negotiator and parliament speaker, Mohammed Bagher Qalibaf, accused the United States of wanting Iran to surrender and added that on the contrary, Iran has been preparing “to reveal new cards on the battlefield."

“We do not accept negotiations under the shadow of threats,” Qalibaf wrote in a post on X early Tuesday.

Trump insisted he feels no pressure to end the war until Iran agrees to his terms.

“I am under no pressure whatsoever,” Trump said on his Truth Social platform, “although, it will all happen, relatively quickly!”

Pakistani officials moved ahead with preparations for a new round of talks between the U.S. and Iran as the tenuous ceasefire was further strained over the weekend by renewed conflict around the Strait of Hormuz.

Trump told Bloomberg News he was “highly unlikely” to renew the ceasefire.

Tensions flared after the U.S. Navy attacked and seized a ship on Sunday that it said was trying to evade its blockade of Iranian ports. On Saturday, Iran fired at vessels and abruptly stopped traffic in the strait, abandoning its promise to allow some ships to pass and claiming the U.S. was not holding up its side of the ceasefire.

The U.S. actions are “incompatible with the claim of diplomacy,” Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Monday in a social media post.

He gave no indication what Iran will do after the ceasefire expires or whether Iran will return to a second round of negotiations with the U.S.

Over the weekend, Iran said it had received new proposals from the U.S. but suggested that a wide gap remains between the sides. Issues that derailed the last round of negotiations included Iran’s nuclear enrichment program, its regional proxies and the strait.

Iran has throttled traffic through the strait, which connects the Persian Gulf to the open seas, since shortly after the U.S. and Israel attacked Iran on Feb. 28 to start the war. The U.S. has also instituted a blockade of Iranian ports. Roughly one-fifth of the world’s oil trade normally passes through the strait.

The U.S. president lashed out at war critics at home who are urging him to wrap up the conflict that began more than seven weeks ago.

“How bad is it that when you are in the middle of negotiations and you have got the Iranians in a perfect position, including being militarily defeated, and you have Democrats and some Republicans asking to settle it now?” Trump told the New York Post.

Even as Trump bristled at his detractors, he sought to soothe jittery investors as U.S. stocks slipped modestly Monday, following the chaotic weekend in the Persian Gulf.

The president found himself remonstrating his energy secretary, Chris Wright, who on Sunday said American motorists might not see gas prices fall back into the $3 per gallon range until late this year or next year.

“I disagree with him totally. I think it’ll come roaring down if it ends,” Trump told PBS. “If we end it, if Iran does what they should do, it will come roaring down.”

Meanwhile, historic diplomatic talks between Israel and Lebanon were set to resume Thursday in Washington, an Israeli, a Lebanese and a U.S. official said. All three spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the behind-the-scenes negotiations.

The Israeli and Lebanese ambassadors met last week for the first direct diplomatic talks in decades. Israel says the talks are aimed at disarming Hezbollah and reaching a peace agreement with Lebanon.

A 10-day ceasefire began Friday in Lebanon, where fighting between Israel and Iranian-backed Hezbollah militants broke out two days after the U.S. and Israel launched their war on Iran. Fighting in Lebanon has killed more than 2,290 people.

In two separate encounters on Monday, the Israeli air force struck and killed Hezbollah militants that the military said approached its troops in a threatening way. Israel has carried out several airstrikes since the ceasefire went into effect.

Hezbollah said it detonated explosives Sunday in an Israeli convoy inside Lebanon.

Since the war started, at least 3,375 people have been killed in Iran, according to a new toll released Monday in official Iranian media by Abbas Masjedi, the head of Iran’s Legal Medicine Organization.

He did not break down casualties among civilians and security forces, saying instead that 2,875 were male and 496 were female. Masjedi said 383 of the dead were children 18 years old and younger.

Additionally, 23 people have died in Israel and more than a dozen in Gulf Arab states. Fifteen Israeli soldiers in Lebanon and 13 U.S. service members throughout the region have been killed.

Iran’s grip on the strait has sent oil prices skyrocketing and given rise to one of the worst global energy crises in decades.

Oil prices were up again Monday, with Brent crude, the international standard, at just over $95 a barrel — up from about $70 a barrel before the war started.

Iran said it had reopened the strait to ships Friday, but traffic halted after Trump refused to lift the U.S. blockade.

Sunday's U.S. seizure of the Iranian cargo was the first such interception under the blockade. Iran’s joint military command called the armed boarding an act of piracy and a ceasefire violation.

Trump said the blockade will remain “in full force” until Tehran agrees to a deal. The U.S. military said on Monday that it has directed 27 ships to return to Iranian ports since the blockade began last week.

Ahmed reported from Islamabad, and Bynum reported from Savannah, Georgia. Associated Press journalists Jon Gambrell in Dubai, United Arab Emirates; David Rising in Bangkok; Melanie Lidman in Tel Aviv, Israel; Josef Federman in Jerusalem; Joshua Boak and Matthew Lee in Washington; and Giovanna Dell'Orto in Minneapolis contributed to this report.

A woman talks on her cellphone as she walks past a billboard showing Rais Ali Delvari, a national hero in an early 1900 uprising against British forces in southern Iran in the Persian Gulf, right, and the late Revolutionary Guard's navy chief Alireza Tangsiri, who was killed in the U.S.-Israeli strike in late March 2026, commanding the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, on a building at a square in downtown Tehran, Iran, Monday, April 20, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

A man on his scooter passes next to an Iranian flag placed in front of a destroyed building, following a ceasefire between Hezbollah and Israel, in Dahiyeh, Beirut's southern suburbs, Lebanon, Monday, April 20, 2026. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)

A man on his scooter passes next to an Iranian flag placed in front of a destroyed building, following a ceasefire between Hezbollah and Israel, in Dahiyeh, Beirut's southern suburbs, Lebanon, Monday, April 20, 2026. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)

A U.S. Air Force Boeing C-32 plane approaches landing at Nur Khan airbase ahead of second round of negotiations between the U.S. and Iran, in Rawalpindi, Pakistan, Monday, April 20, 2026. (AP Photo/Ehsan Shahzad)

Women share a moment as they look at a smartphone at the main gate of the Tehran University as a banner shows portraits of the late Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, right, and the late revolutionary founder Ayatollah Khomeini in Tehran, Iran, Sunday, April 19, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

Displaced people cross a destroyed bridge as they return to their villages, following a ceasefire between Hezbollah and Israel, in Tayr Felsay village, southern Lebanon, Sunday, April 19, 2026. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)

A U.S. Air Force Boeing C-17 Globemaster III transport aircraft prepares to land at Nur Khan airbase, ahead of second round of negotiations between the U.S. and Iran, in Rawalpindi, Pakistan, Monday, April 20, 2026. (AP Photo/Ehsan Shahzad)

A muslim walks outside a mosque where a commemorative religious event in honor of late Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei is taking place, organized by the Shiite Muslim Community of Greece in Athens, on Sunday, April 19, 2026. (AP Photo/Yorgos Karahalis)

An army soldier, left, walks as police officer drives motorcycle on an empty road ahead of second round of negotiations between the U.S. and Iran, in Islamabad, Pakistan, Monday, April 20, 2026. (AP Photo/Anjum Naveed)

An explosion involving unexploded ordnance killed one student and injured 24 others during a school trip in northern Israel on Monday, officials said. Elsewhere, Saudi forces responded to a drone and cruise missile attack on the kingdom launched from Yemen, according to state-run media, while Iran-backed Houthi rebels said airstrikes on two districts in the Yemeni capital, Sanaa, and in the country’s north killed 10 people and wounded 19 others.

Here is the latest news from the Middle East on Monday. Read our full coverage here.

An unexploded munition detonated during a school trip along Israel’s northern border with Lebanon on Monday, killing a teenage boy and injuring 24 others, Israeli authorities and rescue workers said.

The Israeli military said the munition was believed to belong to the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah. An initial examination of the scene indicated it had been left in the area, the military said.

Local officials said the students were on an annual school trip. Defense Minister Israel Katz said the circumstances of the explosion were under investigation.

Israel’s Magen David Adom rescue service said two people were seriously injured.

Saudi state-run media say their forces have responded to attacks on the Kingdom, but didn't give further details.

The report came after the country’s Houthi-run Health Ministry and the Houthi-controlled SABA news agency said airstrikes on Yemen's capital, Sanaa, and in the northern province of al-Jawf killed 10 people and wounded 19 others.

Health Ministry spokesman Anees al-Asbahi said a strike on a salt factory in Sanaa's Hamadan district killed a man and wounded eight people. A separate strike on a house wounded three people, he said.

The strike in al-Jawf targeted a government complex and a house, killing nine people including five children and wounding seven others, according to SABA. No details were provided about when the strikes occurred.

The rebels' media center blamed Saudi Arabia for the strikes on Sanaa, which came as the Houthis continued to fire missiles and drones toward the kingdom’s airports.

Saudi Arabia's General Authority of Civil Aviation didn't say Monday when King Khalid Airport in the capital of Riyadh will resume operations.

Houthi rebels have attacked the airport multiple times in recent days, killing at least 14 people and wounding at least 320 others.

Saudi authorities opened an investigation into an air defense failure to respond to Houthi missiles that hit the King Khalid Airport, one of the most secure areas in the kingdom.

Two regional officials said on Monday an initial probe showed that the Houthis first fired multiple drones to pave the way for a mix of cruise and ballistic missiles to reach the airport. Both officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they're not authorized to speak to the media.

One of the officials said the probe also seeks to answer why there wasn't early warning of the attack since the Houthi missiles and drones traveled over 1,000 kilometers to reach Riyadh.

__ By Samy Magdy in Cairo

Iran’s Foreign Ministry on Monday repeated the country's readiness to help settle the conflict between Houthi rebels and Saudi Arabia through diplomatic means.

Ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei said Iran was deeply concerned about the situation and announced readiness to mediate talks between the two sides “many times.”

Baghaei said the war only serves Israeli interests and that Iran doesn't accept the continuation of conflict between two Islamic nations.

India's Foreign Ministry said Monday two Indian seafarers are missing after a drone struck the MT Petro Dolphin in the Strait of Hormuz area. The commercial tanker had 11 Indian sailors on board when it was hit Sunday, the ministry said.

A second vessel, the Marshall Islands-flagged MT Valthera, was struck by an unknown projectile, sparking a fire on board, but all 11 Indian sailors on the tanker were safe, the ministry said.

Funerals were held on Monday for five people killed in two separate Israeli strikes on the Gaza Strip.

The first attack on Sunday evening killed three people, according to Nasser Hospital officials, at a spot where people gather to charge phones and other batteries in the Musawi area of Khan Younis.

A second attack early Monday in Rafah killed two others near the territory’s biggest bream fisheries.

The Israeli military said it targeted several Palestinian Islamic Jihad militants in the first strike and several Hamas militants in the second.

Iran on Monday hanged a man convicted on charges of belonging to the Jaish al-Adl militant group and helping support attacks on security forces, official Mizan news agency reported.

Mizan, affiliated with Iran's judiciary, identified the man as Omar Dorostaran, saying he provided logistical support to armed teams, including arranging safe houses, moving members and supplying weapons and ammunition.

The judiciary accused Dorostaran of supporting attacks on police and Revolutionary Guard facilities in Rask, as well as attacks on military sites in the southeastern port city of Chabahar in April 2024.

Jaish al-Adl, or the Army of Justice, is a Sunni militant group that emerged in 2012 and has repeatedly targeted Iranian security forces in southeastern Iran.

The European Union's foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said Monday a new support mission to Lebanon will help train the country's army and security forces “to strengthen territorial control, border security, and internal security.”

She told a meeting of foreign ministers in Luxembourg the new mission would strengthen EU support of Lebanese efforts to restore the government’s full sovereignty and build stability. She described the mission as “a major update of our security ties.”

The mission follows long-serving U.N. peacekeepers leaving at the end of the year.

This report will be updated throughout the day as new developments emerge.

Supporters of Yemen's Houthi rebels shout slogans during a rally in support of the group, in Sanaa, Yemen, Friday, Oct. 9, 2026. Writing on posters reads in Arabic, "God is great, death to America, death to Israel, Curse the Jews, Victory to Islam." (AP Photo/Osamah Abdulrahman)

Schoolboys ride in the back of a police pickup truck after classes in Aden, Yemen, Sunday, Oct. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Abdulnasser Alseddik)

A displaced Yemeni family sits beside a makeshift shelter along a roadside in Aden, Yemen, Sunday, Oct. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Abdulnasser Alseddik)