US President Donald Trump has agreed to suspend his plans to attack Iran’s infrastructure and power plants for another two weeks after he received a 10-point proposal from Iran.
This comes after Trump had issued a deadline for Iran to agree to a ceasefire deal and reopen the Strait of Hormuz, where he had warned “A whole civilization (sic) will die tonight, never to be brought back again. I don’t want that to happen, but it probably will.”
While Iran had severed all communication with the US following this threat, a “double ceasefire” has now occurred.
Trump revealed on his Truth Social platform that he is willing to negotiate, writing, “Based on conversations with Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Field Marshal Asim Munir, of Pakistan, and wherein they requested that I hold off the destructive force being sent tonight to Iran, and subject to the Islamic Republic of Iran agreeing to the COMPLETE, IMMEDIATE, and SAFE OPENING of the Strait of Hormuz, I agree to suspend the bombing and attack of Iran for a period of two weeks.”
“This will be a double sided CEASEFIRE! The reason for doing so is that we have already met and exceeded all Military objectives, and are very far along with a definitive Agreement concerning Longterm PEACE with Iran, and PEACE in the Middle East. We received a 10 point proposal from Iran, and believe it is a workable basis on which to negotiate.”
Iran’s foreign minister, Seyed Abbas Araghchi, wrote about the new ceasefire on X: “If attacks against Iran are halted, our Powerful Armed Forces will cease their defensive operations.”
He said safe passage through the Strait of Hormuz would be possible for two weeks “via coordination with Iran’s Armed Forces and with due consideration of technical limitations”.
Iran’s Supreme National Security Council released a statement where they claimed victory, saying the country would enter talks with the US “to consolidate Iran’s victory on the battlefield into political negotiations”.
“This does not mean the war has ended,” they said in the statement. “Iran will only accept the end of the war once the details of its 10-article plan are finalized in negotiations.”
Regarding Trump’s initial deadline, Pakistan’s prime minister Shehbaz Sharif, a key mediator in the Middle East conflict, had urged Trump to extend his deadline by two weeks and requested Iran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz “for a corresponding period of two weeks as a goodwill gesture.”
Source: Sydney Morning Herald
