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Iran ‘prepared to reveal new cards on the battlefield’ if ceasefire ends: Parliament speaker

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by Max Rego - 04/20/26 7:08 PM ET

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by Max Rego - 04/20/26 7:08 PM ET

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Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf on Monday accused President Trump of violating the ceasefire between the U.S. and Iran and said his country’s armed forces are “prepared to reveal new cards” if fighting resumes.

“Trump, by imposing a siege and violating the ceasefire, seeks to turn this negotiating table— in his own imagination— into a table of surrender or to justify renewed warmongering,” Qalibaf wrote on the social platform X. “We do not accept negotiations under the shadow of threats, and in the past two weeks, we have prepared to reveal new cards on the battlefield.”

Qalibaf and Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi are leading the Islamic Republic’s negotiations with the U.S., which Trump said Sunday will resume this week in Islamabad, Pakistan.

On Sunday, the U.S. Navy intercepted an Iranian-flagged cargo ship attempting to bypass its blockade of the Strait of Hormuz and sail toward a port in Iran. Esmaeil Baqaei, a spokesperson for the Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, told reporters Monday that the move was a violation of the two-week ceasefire, which began on April 8 and lapses this week.

Trump, during a phone interview with Bloomberg, said that the truce ends on “Wednesday evening Washington time.” He also said he is “highly unlikely” to extend it further without a peace deal.

To secure that deal, Trump is sending Vice President Vance to Islamabad. The White House said Monday that Vance will arrive in Pakistan on Wednesday, and he is expected to be joined by U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, the president’s son-in-law.

“I sent my A-Team,” Trump told PBS News on Monday, referring to the trio that previously led talks with Iranian officials earlier this month. Those talks came and went with Vance touting “progress” but without a deal to end hostilities and curb Tehran’s nuclear program.

Also Monday, the president denied that he is under “pressure” to reach a deal with Iran before the ceasefire ends. He wrote on his Truth Social platform that he is “under no pressure whatsoever, although, it will all happen, relatively quickly!”

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