LIVE | Pakistan has not yet received a response from Iran on its participation in talks with the U.S.

The information minister of Pakistan, the country acting as mediator, said Tuesday that he has not yet received an official response from Iran on whether it will send a delegation for a second round of talks with the United States.

"Formal response from Iranian side about confirmation of delegation to attend Islamabad Peace Talks is still awaited," Minister Attaullah Tarar posted on X.
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​"Decision from Iran to attend the talks before the end of two weeks ceasefire is critical," he added. 

Iranian authorities executed a man on Tuesday charged with helping set fire to a major mosque in Tehran during protests in January, the judiciary said.

Amir Ali Mirjafari was charged with allegedly setting fire to the Grand Mosque of Gholhak and of collaborating with the Israeli intelligence agency Mossad, the Mizan agency said.

He is the eighth person executed in just over a month in connection with the January demonstrations.

Various human rights organizations accuse the Islamic Republic of using the death penalty to instill fear in society and of intensifying executions of political prisoners in the context of the conflict in the Middle East.

Stocks on Wall Street rose slightly Tuesday morning as markets awaited an extension of the ceasefire between the U.S. and Iran.

After the previous day's rally due to the temporary closure of the Strait of Hormuz by the Iranian regime, oil prices retreated. The two-week ceasefire is due to expire on Wednesday.

Within minutes of the open, the Dow Jones was up 0.5%, the S&P 500 was up 0.1% and the Nasdaq was also gaining 0.1%.

President Trump said Tuesday that the United States is in a strong position to hold talks with the Iranian regime, as his envoys prepare to hold a possible round of negotiations in Pakistan.

"What I think is that we’re going to end up with a great deal. I think they have no choice… We’re in a very strong negotiating position to do what other Presidents should’ve done during a 47-year period — we’ve had 47 years with these bloodthirsty people," the president told CNBC.

According to the White House, the two-week temporary ceasefire between the U.S. and the Iranian regime was due to expire Wednesday night in Washington. However, in his interview with CNBC, Trump did not make clear whether he would extend the truce in case there was no progress in Islamabad.

"Iran can get themselves on a very good footing if they make a deal," he said.

When asked if he would make good on his earlier threats to bomb Iran's bridges and power plants the president replied, "it's not my choice but it will also hurt them."

President Donald Trump said Tuesday that U.S. forces intercepted a ship carrying "a gift from China" to Iran.

The move from China "wasn't very nice," Trump told CNBC.

"I was a little surprised," he added, noting that he thought he had an "understanding" with Chinese President Xi Jinping. A week ago, Trump announced that Xi had assured him there would be no Chinese arms shipments to Iran, a close partner of Beijing for years.

The Iranian state-sponsored media said Tuesday that no Iranian delegation has left for Pakistan to hold a second round of negotiations with the United States.

"At the moment no Iranian delegation has left for Islamabad, Pakistan; either the main delegation or the secondary delegation," it reported.

The head of the U.N. maritime body called Tuesday for help for thousands of seafarers trapped in the Strait of Hormuz as war in the Middle East paralyzes this vital shipping lane.

About 20,000 seafarers and 2,000 ships have been stranded in the area since the Feb. 28 U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iran that triggered the war, according to the International Maritime Organization.

Oil prices declined after a Monday of strong gains and are once again moving away from $100 a barrel. At the opening of the European stock markets, a barrel of Brent was trading at $95.09 a barrel, compared with $88.92 for WTI.

Asian stock markets also closed in positive territory, especially the South Korean Kospi, which reached a new record high.

Donald Trump warned that getting uranium from Iran will be a "long" and "difficult" process following last year's U.S. strikes on Tehran's nuclear facilities.
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​"Operation Midnight Hammer [in 2025] was a complete and total obliteration of the Nuclear Dust sites in Iran," Trump wrote on Truth Social, referring to uranium enrichment plants. "Therefore, digging it out will be a long and difficult process."