APPLENEWS - STORY ADD
Iran live updates: Tehran has 'no plans' for new round of talks, spokesperson says
The two-week ceasefire announced earlier this month will expire on April 22.
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 earlier this month failed to reach a peace deal. The original ceasefire is set to expire on April 22.
Trump said on Sunday that U.S. negotiators would return to Islamabad on Monday for a new round of talks. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Vice President JD Vance would accompany special envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, the president's son-in-law, to Islamabad.
But Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesperson said Monday that Tehran has "no plans" to participate.
Key Headlines
Netanyahu 'stunned' by photo of soldier destroying Jesus statue
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu posted a statement to social media on Monday addressing the incident in which an Israeli soldier was photographed taking a sledgehammer to the face of a torn down statue of Jesus Christ in southern Lebanon.
Netanyahu said he was "stunned and saddened to learn that an IDF soldier damaged a Catholic religious icon in southern Lebanon."
"I condemn the act in the strongest terms. Military authorities are conducting a criminal probe of the matter and will take appropriately harsh disciplinary action against the offender," Netanyahu added.
-ABC News' Jordana Miller and Victoria Beaule
Iran not willing to give up enriched uranium, spokesperson says
Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei said in a Monday press conference that the transferral of the country's enriched uranium stockpiles abroad as part of any future peace deal "is not on the Islamic Republic's agenda."
Baghaei said Tehran is reviewing a U.S. proposal conveyed by Pakistan's army chief during a recent visit, but rejected media speculation about the details of the offer.
"The country's definitive position is to preserve nuclear achievements within Iran's territory and the claims made in this regard are completely denied," Baghaei said.
Discussing continued disruption to shipping in the Strait of Hormuz, Baghaei also said that the "normalization of traffic is not possible," citing what he said were "repeated violations of the ceasefire and threats to Iranian ports and ships by the U.S."
-ABC News' Somayeh Malekian
Iran to respond to US 'aggression' against cargo vessel, military says
The spokesperson for Iran's Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters -- the country's top joint military command -- said in a statement on Monday that Iran would respond to the U.S. "aggression" against an Iranian merchant vessel in the Gulf of Oman, Iranian state television reported on Telegram.
Iranian forces will take "necessary action" in response to the American seizure of the M/V Touska on Sunday, the spokesperson said.
-ABC News' Somayeh Malekian
China concerned by US seizure of Iranian vessel, official says
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun on Monday expressed concern over the U.S. disabling and seizing the Iran-flagged M/V Touska cargo vessel on Sunday.
Guo said at a press conference that the "relevant parties" should take a "responsible attitude," while reiterating that the Strait of Hormuz is an "international strait" and that "unimpeded passage" is a "common interest of the international community."
The Touska's most recent port may have been Klang, Malaysia, but before that it departed from Zhuhai in southern China.
-ABC News' Karson Yiu