Trump ordered a pause to his "Project Freedom" maritime mission.
President Donald Trump announced "major combat operations" against Iran on Feb. 28, with massive joint U.S.-Israeli strikes targeting military, government and infrastructure sites.
Following the announcement of a two-week ceasefire, initial U.S.-Iran talks in Pakistan in April failed to reach a peace deal.
Trump later announced the open-ended extension of the ceasefire and the continuation of a U.S. blockade until negotiations are concluded "one way or the other."
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baqaei criticized negotiations with the U.S. in a new post on X.
"The concept of 'negotiations' requires, at the very least, a genuine attempt to engage in discussions with a view to resolving the dispute," Baqaei said.
Adding, "It needs 'good faith', then, meaning that 'negotiations' is not 'disputation'; nor is it 'dictation', 'deception', 'extortion' or 'coercion.'"
U.S. Central Command said 52 commercial vessels have been turned around by the U.S. naval blockade of Iranian ports.
President Donald Trump said combat operations in Iran are not over and the U.S. "could go in for two more weeks" to get "every single target," in an interview on Tuesday.
Trump was asked whether the combat operations in Iran are over, to which he responded, "no, I didn’t say that."
The comments from Trump were taped around 3 p.m., according to the president’s schedule; the same time that Secretary of State Marco Rubio was at the White House podium saying the exact opposite.
Rubio said the "operation is over," later doubling down and insisting that “Operation Epic Fury is concluded. We achieved the objectives of that operation.”
Trump had also submitted a letter to Congress last week claiming that the "hostilities that began on February 28, 2026, have terminated," something that Rubio cited when arguing that the military operation was over.
-ABC News' Michelle Stoddart and Emily Chang
President Donald Trump said in a post to social media on Wednesday that the U.S. could resume attacks on Iran if Tehran fails to agree to a deal to end the war.
"Assuming Iran agrees to give what has been agreed to, which is, perhaps, a big assumption, the already legendary Epic Fury will be at an end, and the highly effective Blockade will allow the Hormuz Strait to be OPEN TO ALL, including Iran," Trump wrote.
"If they don't agree, the bombing starts, and it will be, sadly, at a much higher level and intensity than it was before," the president added.
