WASHINGTON – In a Wednesday press briefing at the White House, Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt pushed back against recent speculation that the current US-Iran ceasefire would be extended beyond its scheduled expiration, stating that a ceasefire extension is “not true at this moment.”
The current two-week truce, which has paused active conflict for weeks between the two sides, is scheduled to expire next week, with no current extension locked in place. Despite this lack of extension, Leavitt noted that the Trump administration remains upbeat about ongoing diplomatic efforts to reach a permanent deal that would bring the weeks-long conflict to a close. “We feel good about the prospects of a deal,” Leavitt told reporters during the briefing.
When pressed for details on when negotiations between the United States and Iran will restart, Leavitt declined to confirm a specific timeline. She did confirm that any future talks would be held in Pakistan, where negotiations stalled over the weekend, keeping the diplomatic site consistent with earlier rounds of discussions.
The latest remarks from the White House follow a series of comments from US President Donald Trump this week that have framed the conflict as nearing an end. On Tuesday, Trump told reporters that new US-Iran talks “could be happening over the next two days” in Pakistan. Early Wednesday, he added that the US-led conflict against Iran – conducted in partnership with Israel – is “very close to being over,” though he offered no specific, clear timeline for when a final deal would be reached or the conflict would formally end.
The current uncertainty around the ceasefire extension comes amid broader regional tensions, with parallel diplomatic efforts ongoing between Israel and Lebanon over Hezbollah disarmament, and public divides among US political and cultural stakeholders over the terms of any potential final deal. Even as the truce approaches its expiration date, the Trump administration has signaled it continues to prioritize diplomatic resolution over a resumption of large-scale active conflict.