Donald Trump, who had threatened to destroy the Islamic Republic at the end of his ultimatum, believed that the agreement reached was a “total and complete victory” for the United States.
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The United States and Iran have agreed to a two-week ceasefire in exchange for a reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, just over an hour before Donald Trump’s ultimatum expired, where he threatened to destroy the Islamic Republic. After more than five weeks of Israeli-American strikes on Iran, Tehran announced on Wednesday, April 8, at dawn that talks would begin on Friday with Washington. They will take place in Pakistan, the mediator in the Middle East war.
“Following discussions with Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Marshal Asim Munir of Pakistan, during which they asked me to suspend the military intervention planned for tonight against Iran, provided that the Islamic Republic of Iran accepts the TOTAL, IMMEDIATE and SECURE opening of the Strait of Hormuz, I agree to suspend bombings and attacks against Iran for a period of two weeks”, wrote the American president on his Truth Social platform.
This was the last in a series of ultimatums issued by Donald Trump to Iran, repeatedly pushed back. Tehran had until 2 a.m. to reopen the strategic maritime passage, through which a fifth of the world’s oil flowed before the war. Later, Donald Trump considered the agreement on Iran to be a “total and complete victory”, adding that, according to him, China had encouraged Iran to negotiate.
“It will be a mutual ceasefire!” added Donald Trump, who said the United States “have already achieved and exceeded all [their] military objectives” since the start of the American-Israeli strikes on February 28. He also mentioned “very advanced discussions” for a “long-term peace” agreement with Iran. Tehran presented a ten-point proposal “which constitutes a viable basis for negotiation”. Iranian leaders confirmed that they agreed to reopen the Strait of Hormuz “for a period of two weeks” “if attacks on Iran cease”, wrote Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi.
“It has been decided at the highest level that Iran will engage, for a period of two weeks (…), in negotiations with the American party in Islamabad”, added the Iranian Supreme National Security Council. “It is clear that this does not mean the end of the war, and Iran will only accept the cessation of hostilities once” negotiations have concluded, he added, stressing that these two weeks could be extended “in agreement with both parties”.
Israel said it supported Donald Trump’s decision to suspend strikes against Iran, but assured that the truce did not include Lebanon. This statement contradicted an earlier announcement made by Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, who stated that the ceasefire applied “everywhere, including Lebanon and elsewhere”.
The announcement of an agreement between Washington and Tehran was extremely well received in the markets: oil prices quickly dropped by over 15%, slipping below $100 (85 euros) per barrel, and the Tokyo and Seoul stock exchanges soared by 4% and 6% respectively at the opening.
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