With a ceasefire set to expire Wednesday and no peace talks on the calendar, the U.S.-Iran standoff is entering a critical stretch.
President Trump said Monday he was "under no pressure whatsoever" to reach a deal with Tehran, even as Iran announced it would not send representatives to planned talks in Pakistan. The meeting had been expected to include Vice President JD Vance among the top three American negotiators. Iran's refusal leaves the two sides without a formal channel for negotiation, seven weeks into a war that began February 28 when the U.S. and Israel launched strikes on Iran.
The standoff in the Strait of Hormuz has grown sharper. Over the weekend, U.S. forces fired on and then seized an Iranian vessel, while Tehran has refused to engage diplomatically despite an ongoing American blockade of its ports and exports. Global oil prices rose in response to the uncertainty over when the strait might reopen, and U.S. stocks came under pressure.
Trump addressed Iran's nuclear program late Monday, describing the recovery of uranium in the aftermath of U.S. strikes on Tehran's nuclear sites as a "long" and "difficult" process. He called Operation Midnight Hammer "a complete and total obliteration" of Iran's nuclear infrastructure, but his own framing suggested the consequences of those strikes remain unresolved.
Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega, who had largely stayed quiet since the war's start, broke sharply from that tone Monday. Speaking at an event in Managua broadcast by state media, the 80-year-old accused Trump of mental instability. "The war being waged in the way the current U.S. president is waging it is typical of someone who has lost their mind and thinks they can do whatever they want, any kind of cruelty," Ortega said. He also criticized Trump for posting an AI-generated image to Truth Social depicting himself as Jesus Christ performing healings. Ortega's government has been sanctioned by Washington, which has labeled it a dictatorship. His comments came the same day the U.S. sanctioned two of Ortega's children over their involvement in the gold industry.
Wednesday's ceasefire expiration now stands as the nearest concrete deadline in a conflict with no diplomatic resolution in sight.
