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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
- Trump says 'unlikely' he'll extend ceasefire if deal not reached by deadline
- Trump says Israel 'never talked' him into war with Iran
- Iran to respond to US 'aggression' against cargo vessel, military says
- Iran has 'no plans' for new round of talks, spokesperson says
- Marines from USS Tripoli seized Iranian vessel, CENTCOM says
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
Iran has 'no plans' for new round of talks, spokesperson says
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei said Monday that Iran has not yet made any decision regarding a potential new round of peace talks with the U.S. in Islamabad.
"As of now that I am here, we have no plans for the next round of negotiations," Baghaei said in a press conference, as quoted by Iran's semi-official Tasnim News Agency.
Referring to the possible continuation of talks in Pakistan, Baghaei said, "We have clearly announced the red lines and unacceptable items from the beginning, and insisting on them will not change our principled positions."
Baghaei told reporters that the U.S. and Israel are to blame for the ongoing disruption in the Strait of Hormuz.
"The international community must hold these two actors accountable for making the region insecure," Baghaei said, adding that U.S. conduct "has shown that it is not serious about pursuing the diplomatic process."
Baghaei cited ongoing Israeli strikes in Lebanon, the U.S. blockade of Iranian ports and Sunday's seizure of an Iranian cargo vessel as "clear examples" of "aggressive acts."
Baghaei added that the repeated U.S.-Israeli strikes on Iran over the past nine months have undermined Tehran's trust in American diplomacy.
-ABC News' Somayeh Malekian
Marines from USS Tripoli seized Iranian vessel, CENTCOM says
U.S. Central Command posted a video of the seizure of the Iran-flagged M/V Touska container ship, which it said was seized by helicopter-borne Marines on Sunday.
CENTCOM said the vessel was first disabled by fire from the guided-missile destroyer USS Spruance after the M/V Touska "failed to comply with repeated warnings from U.S. forces over a six-hour period."
The Marines that seized the Iranian vessel were operating from the amphibious assault ship USS Tripoli, CENTCOM said.
-ABC News' Camilla Alcini
Iran vows to retaliate after US seizes Iranian cargo ship: State media
The Iranian Military Headquarters said that the U.S. has broken the ceasefire after President Donald Trump announced that the U.S. Navy had attacked and seized an Iranian-flagged cargo ship in the Gulf of Oman.
The Iranian military claimed the move "violated the ceasefire and maritime piracy," according to the statement published on the Iranian state news outlet FARS.
"The aggressor America violated the ceasefire and maritime piracy by firing at an Iranian merchant ship in the waters of the Sea of Oman, disabling its navigation system, and landing a number of its terrorist marines on the deck of the vessel," the statement read.
The Iranian military said it would "soon respond and retaliate against this armed piracy by the US military."