WASHINGTON — The United States is still awaiting a green light from Iran for peace talks to take place before a ceasefire expires on Wednesday, with the sides deadlocked on issues including access to the Strait of Hormuz.

U.S. Vice President JD Vance was primed to fly to Pakistan on Tuesday but his trip was put on hold as Iran failed to respond to American negotiating positions, The New York Times reported, citing an unnamed U.S. official. Earlier, President Donald Trump said Tehran had “no choice” but to send a delegation. The U.S. is in a strong negotiating position, he told CNBC, and is “ready to go” with fresh bombing raids if a breakthrough isn’t reached.

As of midday Tuesday afternoon, Vance had yet to depart Washington. The vice president was attending additional policy meetings on Iran at the White House, according to an official.

Iran has yet to agree to take part in discussions with Trump’s ceasefire deadline fast approaching, raising the risk of a resumption of fighting in a seven-week war that has killed thousands of people and triggered a growing energy supply crisis.

Equities wiped out an advance as uncertainty built about whether talks would occur. Oil traded to session highs following the Times report, before retreating.

Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, who led Iran’s delegation during the first round of talks earlier this month, said his country would not “accept negotiations under the shadow of threats.” State-run TV on Tuesday said any talks would first require a change in the U.S. position.

Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, who also attended the first round of talks, on Tuesday posted on social media that “blockading Iranian ports is an act of war and thus a violation of the ceasefire,” warning that “Iran knows how to neutralize restrictions, how to defend its interests, and how to resist bullying.”

Trump said he’s “going to end up with a great deal” and that a U.S. naval blockade on Iranian ports would stay in place until an agreement. He doesn’t want to extend the ceasefire with Iran, which is due to expire late Wednesday U.S. time, he told CNBC.

The U.S. president has threatened strikes on Iran’s power infrastructure if diplomacy fails.

Ghalibaf has said the Strait of Hormuz — through which about a fifth of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas exports flowed before the war — will remain closed to most commercial traffic for now, as it has since just after the start of the war on Feb. 28.

Iran said last week it would reopen the waterway, only to reverse the decision hours later as the U.S. blockade on its own ships persisted. The U.S. then intercepted and seized an Iranian-flagged cargo vessel on Sunday.

Referring to the U.S. capture of an unspecified ship, Trump said it “had some things on it, which wasn’t very nice, a gift from China, perhaps.” He added that this had come as a surprise due to what he called an “understanding” with Chinese President Xi Jinping. Trump didn’t provide further details on the incident.

Trump said earlier this month that Xi told him Beijing isn’t providing weapons to Iran. He’s threatened 50% tariffs on goods from countries who do, which could upend the U.S.-China trade relationship if he follows through.

A pause in hostilities has mostly held for two weeks after a month of fighting, during which the U.S. and Israel bombed Iran while the Islamic Republic fired missiles and drones across the Persian Gulf, hitting key energy infrastructure. Israel has also largely paused attacks on the Iran-backed Hezbollah group in Lebanon since a truce was agreed last week.

The conflict has hurt Trump politically and lead to fears of an inflation crisis and slower economic growth across the world.

Iranian officials have stopped short of ruling out participation in the talks in Pakistan. It’s possible the sides reach a preliminary agreement to reopen Hormuz and end the U.S. blockade, while leaving longer-term issues related to Iran’s nuclear and missile program to be resolved in later talks.

In addition to the talks, traders are keeping a close eye on whether oil flows via Hormuz pick up. Prices don’t yet reflect the scale of the supply disruption caused by the Hormuz closure, analysts said, a situation that will only worsen the longer a deal remains elusive.

Frederic Lasserre, head of analysis at trader Gunvor Group, said if the war persists for another month, oil markets will hit tank bottoms — a phrase that means markets run out of stockpiles.

Beyond Hormuz, another fraught issue is Iran’s nuclear program. Trump has demanded that Iran abandon ambitions for a nuclear weapon and hand over stockpiles of enriched uranium. Tehran has balked at giving up its uranium and has said its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes.

Trump and advisers see his varying comments about what might happen if the ceasefire deadline lapses as creating strategic ambiguity that the U.S. could exploit in talks, said a White House official, who requested anonymity to describe internal thinking.

Yet that uncertainty could create misunderstandings with Iranian negotiators, who are also grappling with internal divisions among the country’s leaders.

Conservative elements within the Iranian government and military leadership, including those at the top of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, have taken the continuation of the U.S. blockade as a further signal that Trump can’t be trusted, according to U.S. and Iranian officials.

The IRGC’s leader, Ahmad Vahidi, is pushing for a tough negotiating stance, people familiar with the dynamics said.

There is a divide between the likes of Vahidi and less ideological figures, such as President Masoud Pezeshkian and Araghchi, who are more inclined to reach an accord with Washington, said the U.S. and Iranian officials, asking not to be named because of the sensitivity of the matter.

Trump is also facing pressure at home to end the war, with polls showing most Americans disapprove of the conflict. The president campaigned on keeping the U.S. out of foreign entanglements and lowering consumer prices, two pledges strained by his decision to start the war.

He has sought to assuage those worries, insisting that fuel prices will fall quickly once the war ends and that the U.S. is not embroiled in a years-long conflict. U.S. gasoline prices have risen above $4 a gallon on average, the highest level in almost four years.

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(With assistance from Meghashyam Mali, Elaine To, Thomas Hall, Jon Herskovitz, Arsalan Shahla, Courtney Subramanian and Devika Krishna Kumar.)

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