By Kaitlan Collins, Kevin Liptak, Kristen Holmes, Alayna Treene, CNN
(CNN) — President Donald Trump huddled with his national security team Tuesday afternoon at the White House facing a major decision: what to do next with Iran.
His ceasefire deadline was nearing its end, and Air Force Two was sitting on the tarmac at Joint Base Andrews ahead of Vice President JD Vance’s scheduled departure to Pakistan for the next round of talks. But the administration was dealing with a conundrum: virtual silence from the Iranians.
In the days prior, the US had sent Iran a list of broad deal points that they wanted the Iranians to agree to in advance of the next round of talks. But days had gone by without the US getting a response, raising suspicions about how much Vance and others could achieve by heading to Pakistan for planned in-person talks, according to three officials familiar with the matter.
As Trump met with Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Dan Caine and CIA Director John Ratcliffe at the White House Tuesday, the administration had still heard nothing from the Iranians. Officials had urged the top mediator from Pakistan, Field Marshal Asim Munir, to get at least some kind of response before Vance boarded Air Force Two.
Still, hours later, there was nothing.
At the White House, Trump’s top aides believe a main reason they didn’t hear back was fractures within the current Iranian leadership, their understanding based partly on dispatches from the Pakistani intermediaries, according to the three officials. The administration’s sense is that the Iranians don’t have consensus on their position or how much to empower the negotiators on uranium enrichment and the country’s current stockpile of enriched uranium — a major sticking point in the peace talks.
Part of that complicating factor, the US believes, is whether the new Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei is giving his subordinates clear directions — or if they’re simply having to guess what he wants without specific instruction.
US officials believe his efforts to remain hidden have disrupted internal Iranian government discussions.
Despite those significant hurdles, one official said there is still a chance U.S. and Iranian negotiators meet soon. But if and when that happens is far from certain.
Rather than resume military strikes, President Donald Trump opted to extend a two-week ceasefire with Iran soon before it was set to expire. This time, he did not specify an end date. Trump, who called Iranian government officials “seriously fractured” in an afternoon Truth Social post extending the ceasefire, remains eager for a diplomatic solution to the war, wary of reviving an unpopular conflict he’s claimed the US already won.
Yet the negotiations’ collapse, for now, underscores the difficulties Trump continues to face as he seeks a deal that meets his numerous demands.
Iran has publicly insisted that Trump lift his blockade on ships entering or exiting Iranian ports in the Strait of Hormuz before Tehran will engage in a new round of talks. Trump has resisted the demand. “We’re not going to open the strait until we have a final deal,” he said on CNBC on Tuesday morning.
In an afternoon meeting, Trump and the rest of the group determined to extend the ceasefire that Pakistani mediators said would expire in just hours, though Trump had suggested he believed would run until Wednesday evening in Washington. Doing so, in theory, could allow Iran more time to coalesce around a single position with sign-off from Khamenei, though officials said there was little guarantee.
Officials said a trip could be arranged quickly if they receive indications that Iran is prepared to come back to the table. Both the US and Tehran stand to suffer economically as long as the strait remains effectively clos