Trump extends ceasefire, says giving Iran time to negotiate
WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump extended the US ceasefire with Iran to allow more time for peace talks, with Tehran silent on the decision early Wednesday.
Trump indefinitely pushed back the end of the two-week truce, crediting a request from mediator Pakistan and stressing the need to give Iran’s “fractured” leadership time to form a proposal. But he said the US blockade of Iran’s ports — a sticking point for Tehran — would continue.
In a Truth social post on Tuesday, the US president accused Iran of wanting to keep the Strait of Hormuz open “so they can make $500 Million Dollars a day,” which he said the Gulf nation would risk losing if it remains closed.
Trump insisted in the post that keeping a US blockade of the strait, a critical waterway for about a fifth of the world’s oil and natural gas exports, is vital for forging a deal with Iran.
“People approached me four days ago, saying, ‘Sir, Iran wants to open up the Strait, immediately.’ But if we do that, there can never be a Deal with Iran, unless we blow up the rest of their Country, their leaders included!,” Trump said in the post.
In an earlier social media post, Trump indicated that he had no desire to extend the ceasefire and had warned of a resumption of bombing when it expired.
“I have… directed our Military to continue the Blockade and, in all other respects, remain ready and able, and will therefore extend the Ceasefire until such time as their (Iran’s) proposal is submitted,” Trump wrote on social media.
Ahead of Trump’s eleventh-hour intervention, it had been unclear when the original ceasefire would expire, with Pakistan indicating it would end at 2350 GMT Tuesday.
This moment came and went with no reports of new military activity by Iran, which had said the ceasefire would end at 0000 GMT. Iran are yet to respond to Trump’s ceasefire extension.
The fate of peace talks hosted by Pakistan was left hanging in the balance following Trump’s announcement.
A White House official confirmed that Vice President JD Vance would not travel to Pakistan for talks as previously planned, pending the submission of an Iranian proposal.
In Islamabad, heavily armed police and soldiers secured the city’s government quarter on Tuesday, which was virtually shut down even as no Iranian-US meeting was fixed.
Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif thanked Trump for extending the ceasefire., with UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres also welcoming it.
AFP
