Pakistan Army Chief Tells Trump US Blockade Is Obstacle to Peace Talks With Iran

 by Dave DeCamp | April 20, 2026 at 1:19 pm ET | Iran, Pakistan

Updated on April 20, 2026, at 9:24 pm EST

Pakistan’s army chief, Field Marshall Asim Munir, has told President Trump by phone that the US blockade on Iranian ports is a major obstacle to resuming talks between the US and Iran in Islamabad, Reuters reported on Monday.

A Pakistani security source told the outlet that Trump told Munir he would consider his advice, but so far, there’s no sign the US intends to ease the blockade, which dramatically escalated on Sunday as US forces in the Gulf of Oman attacked and seized an Iranian cargo ship.

Trump meets with Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif (left) and Field Marshal Asim Munir (right) of Pakistan on September 25, 2025, in the Oval Office (Official White House Photo by Daniel Torok)

The source told Reuters that Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif had spoken to Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian and asked whether he would send a delegation to Islamabad, but Pezeshkian said it would not happen unless the blockade is lifted.

Mohammad-Bagher Ghalibaf, the speaker of Iran’s parliament, who has been involved in talks with the US, also suggested that Tehran won’t negotiate because of the blockade. “Trump, by imposing a siege and violating the ceasefire, seeks to turn this negotiating table— in his own imagination— into a table of surrender or to justify renewed warmongering. We do not accept negotiations under the shadow of threats, and in the past two weeks, we have prepared to reveal new cards on the battlefield,” he said in a post on X.

Esmaeil Baghaei, Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman, said on Monday that Iran currently has no plan for new talks with the US “so far,” suggesting Tehran’s position could change if the US takes action to lift the blockade.

President Trump has been telling a very different story, claiming in a Monday morning interview with Fox News that a deal could be signed “today” and that Vice President JD Vance was on his way to Pakistan, but the vice president remains in Washington as the status of the negotiations is unclear. On Monday night, Axios reported that Vance was expected to leave for Islamabad on Tuesday morning.

The current ceasefire between the US and Iran is due to expire on Wednesday, April 22, unless a deal is reached or the deadline is extended. Trump has also been threatening major attacks on Iran’s power plants and bridges if Tehran doesn’t capitulate to US demands, saying on Sunday that he was ready to “blow up” the “whole country.”  

https://news.antiwar.com/2026/04/20/pakistan-army-chief-tells-trump-us-blockade-is-obstacle-to-peace-talks-with-iran/