Iran war ceasefire not ‘open-ended’- Trump willing to give 3-5 days to Tehran, reveals report

Donald Trump has set a three-to-five-day window for Iran to unite behind a counter-offer and re-engage in nuclear talks, US officials say, after a second round of negotiations in Pakistan collapsed and Vice President JD Vance's trip to Islamabad was called off, Axios reported quoting three US officials.

"Trump is willing to give another three to five days of ceasefire to allow the Iranians to get their shit together," one US source briefed on the matter said. "It is not going to be open-ended."

The stark assessment reflects growing frustration inside the White House at what officials describe as an Iran that is simultaneously incapable of saying yes and unwilling to say no — leaving Washington in the deeply uncomfortable position of negotiating with a government that may not have anyone empowered to conclude a deal.

"We saw that there is an absolute fracture inside Iran between the negotiators and the military — with neither side having access to the supreme leader, who is not responsive," a US official said.

The fracture first became apparent to US officials after the initial round of Islamabad talks, when it emerged that IRGC commander General Ahmad Vahidi and his deputies had quietly rejected much of what Iran's own negotiators had discussed at the table.

What had been a behind-the-scenes disagreement then broke into the open last Friday, when Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi announced the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz — only for the IRGC to refuse to implement the decision and begin publicly attacking him.

His replacement, Mohammad Bagher Zolghadr, whose role is to coordinate between the IRGC, the civilian leadership, and the supreme leader, has not proved effective in that capacity, according to a US official. The result is a vacuum at precisely the moment Iran most needs coherent leadership.

Vance had packed his bags for Islamabad to lead a second round of peace talks. White House envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner had been set to fly from Miami to Pakistan to join him.

On Monday evening, Iranian intermediaries appeared to give Pakistani mediators the green light for the talks to proceed. By Tuesday morning, that signal had vanished — replaced by a demand that the US lift its naval blockade before any negotiations could begin.

Air Force Two sat on the tarmac at Joint Base Andrews for hours, ready to depart, until it became clear the trip was not going to happen. Witkoff and Kushner, already airborne from Miami, redirected to Washington instead.

"The degree of the fracture became clear in the last few days, and the question was: does it make any sense to go to Islamabad like that?" a US official said. "So the decision was to give the diplomatic efforts a little bit more time."

Going into the meeting, some of Trump's own advisers were uncertain which way he would lean — a massive strike on Iran's energy infrastructure, or more time for diplomacy. He chose the latter.

The decision, according to multiple US officials and Trump associates, reflects a president who believes the US has already achieved what it set out to accomplish militarily and is now focused on an exit. "It certainly looks like Trump doesn't want to use military force anymore and has made a decision to end the war," one US source close to Trump said.

In a Truth Social post on Tuesday night, he made his position plain. "Iran doesn't want the Strait of Hormuz closed, they want it open so they can make $500 Million Dollars a day," he wrote. "They only say they want it closed because I have it totally BLOCKADED (CLOSED!), so they merely want to save face."

He added: "People approached me four days ago, saying, 'Sir, Iran wants to open up the Strait, immediately.' But if we do that, there can never be a Deal with Iran, unless we blow up the rest of their Country, their leaders included!"

If Pakistani mediators cannot secure Iranian participation within Trump's self-imposed window, the military option — strikes on Iran's energy infrastructure — returns to active consideration.