U.S. President Donald Trump announced late Tuesday that he is backing down from his threats to launch devastating strikes on Iran, attempting to deescalate the conflict less than two hours before the deadline he set for Tehran to yield or else a “whole civilisation will die tonight.”
Trump said he was postponing his threatened attacks on Iranian bridges, power plants, and other civilian targets in exchange for Tehran agreeing to a two-week cease-fire and the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, the critical waterway through which a fifth of the world’s oil is transported during peacetime. He also stated that Iran has provided a “workable” 10-point peace plan to assist stop the war between the United States and Israel, which began on February 28.
Iran’s Supreme National Security Council said it has accepted a two-week ceasefire in the war and that it would negotiate with the United States in Islamabad beginning Friday. “It is emphasized that this does not signify the termination of the war,” the council’s statement said.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said passage through the Strait of Hormuz would be allowed for the next two weeks under Iranian military management. It wasn’t immediately clear whether that meant Iran would loosen its chokehold on the waterway crucial to global energy supplies.
In a post on his social media site, Trump said that provided Iran agreed “to the COMPLETE, IMMEDIATE, and SAFE OPENING of the Strait of Hormuz” he would “suspend the bombing and attack of Iran for a period of two weeks.”
Since the war began on Feb. 28, Trump has repeatedly backed off of deadlines just before they expire.
In doing so again Tuesday, Trump said he had come to the decision “based on conversations” with Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Gen. Asim Munir, Pakistan’s powerful army chief. Sharif, in a post on X hours earlier, urged Trump to extend his deadline by two weeks to allow diplomacy to advance. He used the same post to ask Iran to open the strait for two weeks.
The president said in his social media post that Iran has presented “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,” Trump said.
