Trump says he will extend Iran ceasefire until negotiations conclude
Newshour
BBC
4.2 • 1.1K Ratings
🗓️ 21 April 2026
⏱️ 48 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
There's still no sign that either the US or Iran are sending negotiating teams to Pakistan for a new round of negotiations. President Trump has announced an extension to the ceasefire with Iran until talks come to a conclusion. In a social media post, he said the US blockade of Iranian ports would continue until Tehran presented what he called a "unified proposal".
Also in the programme: Hungary's LGBTQ community welcomes a likely end to years of repression. And why has the boss of a big US tech company been branded a global supervillain by his critics?
(Photo: Pakistani security officials stand guard on a road leading to the Red Zone, where most diplomatic missions and government offices are located, including the venue for the expected second round of US-Iran peace talks, in Islamabad, Pakistan, 21 April 2026.Credit: SOHAIL SHAHZAD/EPA/Shutterstock)
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | BBC Sounds, Music, Radio, podcasts. |
| 0:09.8 | Hello and welcome to the programme. This is News Hour from the BBC World Service. I'm Paul Henley. We're coming to you live from London. |
| 0:17.8 | President Trump has accused Iran of numerous violations of the ceasefire in the war with the US, |
| 0:24.0 | which is now due to expire tomorrow. |
| 0:26.3 | Excuse me, it's unclear whether further peace talks planned for Pakistan will take place. |
| 0:31.8 | Tehran hasn't confirmed whether it's sending a delegation. |
| 0:34.9 | America's lead negotiator, Vice President J.D. Vance, is still on the ground |
| 0:39.1 | in Washington. In a phone interview with the U.S. News Network CNBC this morning, President Trump |
| 0:45.3 | said he believed the U.S. was in a very strong negotiating position with Iran. |
| 0:49.9 | What I think is that we're going to end up with a great deal. I think it's got, I think they |
| 0:54.1 | have no choice. We've taken out their Navy. We've taken out their Air Force. We've taken out their leaders, frankly, which does complicate things in one way. But these leaders are much more rational. It is regime change, no matter what you want to call it. And later in the day, the Iranian ambassador to the UN, Amir Saeed Iravani, said he thought |
| 1:13.7 | the U.S. could lift the blockade on Iranian ports. We have received some sign that they are ready |
| 1:21.1 | to break it. And as soon as they broke this blockade, I think that the next round of the negotiation will take place in Estab. |
| 1:30.3 | No one disputes the urgency of these peace talks. |
| 1:33.7 | When the current ceasefire actually expires, though, is on a long list of things neither side can agree on. |
| 1:40.4 | The Iranian site midnight tonight, their time, President Trump seems to have changed his original statement and is now saying tomorrow is the expiry time. I'm joined on the line from Washington by the BBC State Department correspondent Tom Bateman. Welcome Tom. I understand Donald Trump is due to speak again about now. I hesitate to ask anyone to predict what he'll say, but any sense of it. |
| 2:03.1 | Yeah, I mean, he's due to speak at an event at the White House, not directly related to Iran, |
| 2:08.6 | but of course, I imagine we'll get some words from him. That's looking a bit delayed by a few |
| 2:13.6 | minutes at the very least. I'm not sure that's totally imminent. But in the meantime, it is clear now that from the White House that J.D. Vance is |
| 2:21.6 | vice president is at the very least pausing, but looks like, postponing the trip to Pakistan, |
| 2:29.8 | meaning that there is no breakthrough on this issue of these talks taking place. And we'd seen |
| 2:36.0 | this sort of back and forth over the last 24 to 48 hours, over whether or not Mr. Vance would get |
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