US and Iran agree to 2-week ceasefire as Trump seizes diplomatic offramp instead of escalation

TEHRAN, Iran, April 8 ------ U.S. President Donald Trump pulled back on his threats to launch devastating strikes on Iran, swerving to de-escalate the war less than two hours before the deadline he set for Tehran to capitulate or else a “whole civilization will die.”

Trump said he was holding off on his threatened attacks on Iranian bridges, power plants, and other civilian targets, subject to Tehran agreeing to a two-week ceasefire and reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, the waterway through which a fifth of the world’s oil is shipped during peacetime. He also said Iran has proposed a “workable” 10-point peace plan that could help end the war launched by the U.S. and Israel in February.

Iran’s Supreme National Security Council said it has accepted a two-week ceasefire and that it would negotiate with the United States in Islamabad beginning Friday. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said passage through the strait 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.

In a post on his social media site, Trump said that he would suspend attacks on Iran for two weeks, provided Tehran agreed “to the COMPLETE, IMMEDIATE, and SAFE OPENING" of the strait. Even as the ceasefire was announced, missile alerts continued in the United Arab Emirates and Israel early Wednesday, hinting at the chaos surrounding the diplomatic moves.

Since the war began, Trump has repeatedly backed off deadlines just before they expire. In doing so again on 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.

Earlier Trump threats raised alarms

Trump’s expansive threat Tuesday did not seem to account for potential harm to civilians, prompting Democrats in Congress, some United Nations officials, and scholars in military law to say such strikes would violate international law.

Tehran’s representative at the U.N., Amir-Saeid Iravani, said the threats “constitute incitement to war crimes and potentially genocide” and that Iran would "take immediate and proportionate reciprocal measures” if Trump launches devastating strikes. The U.S. and Israel have battered Iran with attacks targeting its military capabilities, leadership, and nuclear program. Iran has responded with a stream of strikes on Israel and Gulf Arab neighbors, causing regional chaos and outsized economic and political shock.

Late Tuesday, Pakistan's prime minister urged Trump to extend his deadline by two weeks to allow diplomacy to advance. In a post on X, Shehbaz Sharif, whose country has been leading negotiations, also asked Iran to open up for two weeks the Strait of Hormuz. Before the deadline, airstrikes hit two bridges and a train station, and the U.S. hit military infrastructure on Kharg Island, a key hub for Iranian oil production.

Source: mb.com.ph