Iran said it has not yet sent a delegation for new peace talks with the United States, as the temporary ceasefire which paused the Middle East war was set to expire.
Iran and the US have accused each other of breaching the two-week truce that is set to end by tomorrow, as uncertainty grows over a push to stop the war from resuming.
During initial talks in Pakistan earlier this month, the highest-level discussions between the foes since the founding of the Islamic republic in 1979, analysts pointed to the seniority of the delegations as an indicator of a willingness to strike a deal.
But those talks collapsed without an agreement, with Iran since closing the Strait of Hormuz again and US President Donald Trump announcing a blockade of Iranian ports.
"So far, no delegation from Iran has departed for Islamabad, Pakistan; whether it is the main or subsidiary delegation; primary or secondary," Iranian state TV said, dismissing reports suggesting otherwise.
Mr Trump has accused Iran of firing on ships in the crucial trade route it has choked, while Tehran says the US blockade and seizure of a ship violated the ceasefire deal.
Iranian officials say they feel the Trump administration has not acted in good faith in negotiations and refused to back down from what it called excessive demands.
Iran says will show 'new cards' on battlefield if conflict resumes
Its parliament speaker said the country would not accept talks "under the shadow of threats" from the US leader and would "show new cards on the battlefield" if conflict resumed.
But residents in the Iranian capital who spoke to Paris-based AFP journalists say life has only got worse, squeezed by the government and the war's impact.
"This cursed ceasefire has broken us. There is no light at the end of the tunnel," said Saghar, 39. "The situation is terrible. I don't know anyone around me who is doing well."
Mr Trump told PBS News that Iran was "supposed to be there" at the talks in Pakistan.
"We agreed to be there," he said, warning that if the ceasefire expired "then lots of bombs start going off".
He separately told Bloomberg News it was "highly unlikely" he would extend the two-week truce.
Based on its start time, the truce theoretically expires overnight tonight, Tehran time, although in his comments to Bloomberg, Trump said the end was a day later, tomorrow evening Washington time.
Iran's Revolutionary Guards warned of targeting any vessel attempting to pass through the Strait of Hormuz without permission.
The channel in peacetime sees around 120 daily transits, according to Lloyd's List, a shipping industry intelligence site.
The site reported that more than 20 Iranian so-called "shadow vessels" had transited past the US blockade.
In one of a series of posts on his Truth Social platform, Mr Trump insisted that the blockade was "absolutely destroying" Iran and said it will not end "until there is a 'DEAL'," in which the United States is pressing for Iranian concessions on its contested nuclear programme.
Iranian 'mosquito fleet' may keep Strait of Hormuz closed
Iran's "mosquito fleet", a guerrilla force working on water using speed boats and small craft, could keep the Strait of Hormuz closed for weeks or months, according to a former Head of the Royal Navy Strategic Studies Centre.
Speaking on RTÉ’s Morning Ireland, Kevin Rowlands explained: "It's a guerrilla force operating on water or near the water and having a maritime effect.
"It's a combination of asymmetric capabilities, small craft. They may use missiles, they may use guns, they may use mines. They use them pretty effectively by just overwhelming and confusing those they're fighting against."
Mr Rowlands, who is Editor of the Royal United Services Institute Journal, said that while the US and Israel have overwhelming military superiority, "that’s designed mainly to fight against peer competitors, so fight against the same kind of threat that they would pose themselves".
He explained that the mosquito fleet uses lots of different kinds of fast attack craft, effectively speedboats that can nip out from behind an island or hide behind other shipping.
"They have small sort of corvette size, very small, what you may think looks a bit like a warship, but very small. They have some of those. They even have people moving around on jet skis," he said.
"It's a range of small, difficult to detect, difficult to engage craft, and they could have easily double figures of these things, or perhaps into three figures," he said.
"I think this could be sustained for definitely weeks, probably months, and maybe even longer," he added.
Read more:
Lebanon sees its chance - but it is fraught with danger
Bereaved Israeli and Palestinian fathers campaign for peace
Questions remain about realities of Middle East ceasefire
Second round of Israel-Lebanon talks to be held on Thursday
Hezbollah announced that it will hold mass funerals in south Lebanon today for 44 fighters killed during more than six weeks of war with Israel.
Israel has conducted attacks across Lebanon and invaded the country's south after Hezbollah entered the Middle East war in support of Iran on 2 March.
The burials come after Israel and Lebanon entered into a ten-day ceasefire last Friday announced by US President Donald Trump.
An Arabic-language spokesperson for Israel's military yesterday warned Lebanese residents of the country's south not to return to the homes it had earlier urged them to evacuate, saying it considered Hezbollah activities in the area to be ceasefire violations.
Israel and Lebanon are still engaged in talks under US mediation to prolong the current truce, with the US saying last night that it would host a second round of negotiations on Thursday.
"We will continue to facilitate direct, good-faith discussions between the two governments," an official said.
The two-week ceasefire between the US and Iran looms in the background of talks, with the truce set to expire overnight tonight with no new deal yet struck.
