Trump Extends Israel-Lebanon Ceasefire as Hormuz Blockade Enters Week 8 of Iran War

President Donald Trump has intensified America’s economic war on Iran by ordering U.S. forces to “shoot and kill” Iranian small boats in the Strait of Hormuz, even as Tehran dispatches senior diplomats to Pakistan amid faltering ceasefire negotiations. The moves come eight weeks into a conflict that the administration once promised would conclude in four to six weeks, raising fresh questions about Washington’s strategy of combining military pressure with selective diplomacy that leaves key regional players on the sidelines.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi is expected to arrive in Islamabad late Friday or Saturday with a high-level delegation, according to Iranian and Pakistani sources. The visit follows a senior-level phone call between the two governments focused on the crumbling ceasefire framework. It remains unclear whether the trip will produce a breakthrough or simply reflect Iran’s attempt to break its growing isolation. The White House declined immediate comment.

At the center of the impasse is America’s naval blockade of Iranian ports and the Strait of Hormuz, which Trump personally ordered tightened. The president claimed this week that Iran is “collapsing financially,” losing $500 million a day and unable to pay its military and police. U.S. officials say the Navy maintains “total control” of the waterway and has seized tankers and redirected vessels bound for Iran. Tehran has denounced the blockade as “piracy” and responded by closing the strait to foreign shipping while capturing several vessels of its own. Iran’s First Vice President Mohammad Reza Aref warned that “security of the Strait of Hormuz is not free,” signaling that Tehran will not accept economic strangulation while being asked to guarantee safe passage for others.

The confrontation has already sent global oil prices soaring above $106 a barrel, hitting American consumers with higher gas prices at a moment when Trump is demanding patience from the public. When NOTUS reporter Jasmine Wright asked the president what he would tell Americans worried about the open-ended timeline, Trump lashed out. “You’re such a disgrace,” he told the journalist. “Did you hear what I just said? How many years was Vietnam?” Wright noted that the administration had already passed its self-imposed six-week deadline. Trump insisted the U.S. had achieved its main military objectives within the first month and was now “sitting back and seeing what deal” emerges, while warning he remained ready to “finish it up militarily.”

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Dan Caine provided updated briefings on the paused operation, now known as Operation Epic Fury, which featured an unprecedented pace of roughly 1,000 sorties per day in its opening phase. The intensity of that air campaign, one of the heaviest of the 21st century, decimated much of Iran’s conventional military capacity early on, according to U.S. accounts. Yet the political endgame remains elusive.

Uncertainty still surrounds Iran’s leadership following the killing of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei on the first day of the war, February 28. Trump has repeatedly suggested deep divisions between “hardliners” and “moderates.” In a rare joint statement, President Masoud Pezeshkian and Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf rejected that narrative. “In Iran there are no ‘hardliners’ or ‘moderates.’ We are all Iranians and revolutionaries,” they said, projecting unity in the face of external pressure.

In a related diplomatic track, Trump announced Thursday that Israel and Lebanon have agreed to extend their ceasefire for another three weeks. The announcement followed Oval Office talks with Israel’s ambassador Yechiel Leiter and Lebanon’s ambassador Nada Moawad. Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio also attended. Hezbollah, the Iran-aligned group at the heart of the fighting, was pointedly excluded. The organization has maintained it retains “the right to resist” Israeli occupation forces in southern Lebanon. Trump nevertheless expressed optimism, writing on Truth Social that there is “a great chance” for a broader peace deal this year and that he looks forward to hosting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Lebanese President Joseph Aoun.

Critics argue the pattern repeats a familiar Washington approach: maximum pressure on adversaries coupled with negotiations that sideline the very actors necessary for any durable agreement. The Hormuz blockade is effectively an act of economic warfare that risks broader regional conflagration while ordinary Iranians face mounting hardship and global energy markets remain volatile. Trump’s own words suggest he believes the combination of military strikes, naval enforcement, and selective diplomacy will force Tehran to accept terms favorable to the United States and Israel. Whether that calculation holds as the conflict enters its third month will determine if these high-stakes talks produce peace or simply prolong another Middle East war.