The announcement came less than two hours before Trump’s 8 pm deadline to take out ‘the entire country’ of Iran if the regime did not agree to open the strait
President Donald Trump announced that the United States will suspend its military campaign against the Iranian regime for two weeks as long as Tehran agrees to allow commercial vessels to pass through the Strait of Hormuz.
“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,” Trump wrote in a Truth Social post on Tuesday evening. “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.”
Iranian negotiators, Trump added, presented the U.S. team with a “10 point” counterproposal that the president deemed a “workable basis on which to negotiate.”
“Almost all of the various points of past contention have been agreed to between the United States and Iran, but a two week period will allow the Agreement to be finalized and consummated,” the president continued, saying the “Longterm problem” is “close to resolution.”
Trump’s announcement came less than two hours before the 8 p.m. deadline he set for Iran’s leaders to accept his 15-point peace plan, which requires that the Islamic Republic fully reopen the strait and dismantle its nuclear program. Israel has also agreed to put its military campaign against the regime on hold for two weeks, CNN reported.
Iranian foreign minister Abbas Araghchi responded to Trump’s announcement in a post on X, saying, “If attacks against Iran are halted, our Powerful Armed Forces will cease their defensive operations.”
“For a period of two weeks, safe passage through the Strait of Hormuz will be possible via coordination with Iran’s Armed Forces and with due consideration of technical limitations,” Araghchi continued.
Trump’s post follows a last-minute diplomatic bid from Pakistani prime minister Shehbaz Sharif, who attempted to convince Trump that Tehran is moving closer to accepting his terms.
“Diplomatic efforts for peaceful settlement of the ongoing war in the Middle East are progressing steadily, strongly and powerfully with the potential to lead to substantive results in near future,” Sharif wrote on X less than four hours before Trump announced the temporary ceasefire. “To allow diplomacy to run its course, I earnestly request President Trump to extend the deadline for two weeks.”
Sharif implored his “Iranian brothers to open [the] Strait of Hormuz for a corresponding period of two weeks as a goodwill gesture.”
Sharif’s diplomatic bid was meant to keep Trump from making good on his threat to take out “the entire country” of Iran in “just one night” if the regime would not meet his terms. The president affirmed that position on Tuesday morning, writing on Truth Social that “a whole civilization will die tonight, never to be brought back again” unless Tehran capitulated.
While a final deal may still be difficult to strike given the Islamic Republic’s demand for continued uranium enrichment, it appears that Tehran is moving closer to Trump’s position after a series of U.S. and Israeli strikes targeted the country’s military infrastructure.
U.S. forces bombed dozens of Iranian weapons depots and air defense facilities on Kharg Island overnight, while Israel stepped up its own operations against bridges used to transport military equipment in Tehran, Karaj, Tabriz, Kashan, and Qom.
Iran is reportedly seeking guarantees in a final deal that the United States will not resume military operations at a later date. Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei said on Monday that the terms of Trump’s deal are “incompatible with ultimatums and threats to commit war crimes.”
“Iran,” Baghaei added, “does not hesitate to clearly express what it considers its legitimate demands and doing so should not be interpreted as a sign of compromise, but rather as a reflection of its confidence in defending its positions.”
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