U.S.-Iran talks are uncertain as ceasefire is set to expire

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World U.S.-Iran talks are uncertain as ceasefire is set to expire April 20, 20264:14 PM ET Heard on All Things Considered By Kat Lonsdorf U.S.-Iran talks are uncertain as ceasefire is set to expire Listen &middot; 3:57 3:57 Transcript Toggle more options Download Embed Embed "> <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/nx-s1-5791630/nx-s1-9737432" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player"> Transcript As the clock ticks down on the ceasefire, Iran says it may not attend fresh talks with the U.S. That's as a temporary ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon appears to be holding. Sponsor Message SCOTT DETROW, HOST: Two tenuous ceasefires are hovering over life in the Middle East right now. In Iran, the U.S. and Iran are both giving mixed signals, negotiating and also trading fire ahead of a ceasefire set to expire in the coming days. At the same time, a temporary ceasefire in Lebanon between Israel and Hezbollah is still holding. NPR's Kat Lonsdorf is reporting on all of it from Tyre in southern Lebanon. Hey, Kat. KAT LONSDORF, BYLINE: Hey, Scott. DETROW: So there's a lot to talk about here. Let's start with where things stand with the U.S. and Iran. What is the possibility of further talks between the two right now? LONSDORF: Yeah, there's been a lot of back-and-forth about who might attend possible talks between the U.S. and Iran and Islamabad and Pakistan. President Trump said he is sending a delegation to the talks, but as of now, Iran has not confirmed that it will be participating, even with that commitment from the U.S. And these talks are crucial for furthering this ceasefire between the U.S., Israel and Iran, which was only supposed to last for two weeks and is set to run out on Wednesday here, local time. DETROW: And we've seen a lot of activity leading up to that moment. We've seen it playing out, especially in the Strait of Hormuz in recent days as Iran exerted control of it again, the U.S. continuing its blockade on Iranian ports. So what is the latest of all of that? LONSDORF: Basically, the U.S. is blocking the transit of Iranian cargo ships in international waters around Iran as Iran is blocking most ships from passing through the strait. Over the weekend, Iran's military fired at several ships in the strait, and then yesterday, the U.S. stopped and seized an Iranian-flagged vessel in the Arabian Sea. CENTCOM says the commercial ship failed to comply with repeated U.S. warnings over a six-hour period as it sailed in the sea toward Iran. President Trump says the U.S. Marines now have custody of that vessel. Iran has vowed retaliation for that. DETROW: And then there's the state of things in Lebanon, where you are right now. The temporary ceasefire there is intertwined with the ceasefire between the U.S. and Israel and Iran. LONSDORF: Yeah, it's all pretty complicated with these two wars happening concurrently and separate rounds of peace talks also happening concurrently, yet they are really closely interlinked. You know, Iran had said it wouldn't continue peace talks with the U.S. unless a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon was in place. So last week, President Trump helped make that happen. And now we're on Day 4 of a 10-day ceasefire here. And despite some instances of violence, that ceasefire agreement does seem to be holding. And it does seem like further talks between Israel and Lebanon will be happening, too. The State Department says there will be a second round of ambassador-level talks in Washington later this week. DETROW: Tell me more about what you're seeing and hearing and reporting in southern Lebanon. LONSDORF: Yeah, so I'm in Tyre. That's a southern city on the Mediterranean Sea that's been heavily bombarded by Israeli strikes during the last few weeks. You know, this time last week, it would have been really pretty dangerous to be here. And now, despite, you know, the heavy destruction throughout the city, things are calm. People are cautiously out and walking around, a few restaurants are operating, that kind of thing. But people here do very much feel like if the ceasefire between the U.S., Israel and Iran falls through, this one almost certainly will as well. I spoke to 64-year-old Muhammad Wayzani earlier today. He was standing next to a pile of rubble that had been an apartment building here in Tyre right on the sea. He said his 30-year-old nephew was killed here by an Israeli strike in the last minutes before the ceasefire went into effect just a few days ago. We asked the Israeli military about that specific strike and haven't gotten a response yet. But when I asked Wayzani what he thinks about the ceasefire, here's what he told me. MUHAMMAD WAYZANI: (Non-English language spoken). LONSDORF: He said he's nervous and doesn't think it will last. It could be that these few days are the calm ones before it all starts up again. DETROW: That is NPR's Kat Lonsdorf in Tyre in southern Lebanon. Kat, thank you so much for your reporting. LONSDORF: Thanks, Scott. Copyright &copy; 2026 NPR. All rights reserved. Visit our website terms of use and permissions pages at www.npr.org for further information. Accuracy and availability of NPR transcripts may vary. Transcript text may be revised to correct errors or match updates to audio. Audio on npr.org may be edited after its original broadcast or publication. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.