Iran has rejected reports of any move to extend its ceasefire arrangement with the United States, insisting that, from Tehran’s perspective, the ceasefire never formally began.
A senior Iranian official told Reuters on Wednesday that there had been no discussions between Tehran and Washington over extending the ceasefire, directly contradicting reports attributed to Pakistani sources that the truce had been extended.
“From Iran’s perspective, there is no start date for the ceasefire, so there is nothing to extend,” the official said.
The declaration throws fresh uncertainty over efforts to prevent a renewed escalation between the two countries, with Tehran maintaining that Washington must first return to the terms of an interim agreement before meaningful progress can be made.
The Iranian official accused the United States of violating the interim pact within 48 hours of its signing and subsequently withdrawing from the agreement days later. Tehran therefore does not recognise the arrangement as an active ceasefire that can simply be renewed or extended.
The dispute is not merely over terminology. At its core is a fundamental disagreement over whether the previous agreement remains a valid framework for negotiations.
While reports from Pakistani sources had suggested that an extension was possible, the Iranian position leaves little room for such an interpretation. Tehran says the priority is for Washington to return to the previous agreement and provide a clear timeline for fulfilling its commitments, rather than negotiate an extension of what Iran considers a collapsed arrangement.
The development comes as diplomatic efforts continue indirectly through mediators, including Pakistan and Qatar. Direct engagement between Iran and the United States remains frozen, according to Reuters.
Iran has also linked any diplomatic progress to issues including the lifting of sanctions and the unfreezing of Iranian assets, while maintaining a hard-line position over the terms of any renewed understanding with Washington.
The conflicting accounts highlight the fragility of the current diplomatic track: while mediators appear to be working toward preserving a pause in hostilities, Tehran insists that there is no ceasefire to extend in the first place.
For now, the Iranian position amounts to a blunt message to Washington and its mediators: the clock cannot be restarted on an agreement Tehran says the United States already broke.