Iran’s Supreme National Security Council said Wednesday it has accepted a two-week ceasefire in the war. Its statement said 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 statement said. “Our hands remain upon the trigger, and should the slightest error be committed by the enemy, it shall be met with full force.”
U.S. President Donald Trump said late Tuesday he’s pulling back on his threats to widen attacks on Iran, including an array of bridges, power plants and other civilian targets — subject to Iran being ready for a two-week ceasefire and to reopen the Strait of Hormuz.
Trump’s latest threat over the Iran war hit a new extreme earlier Tuesday when he warned, “A whole civilization will die tonight, never to be brought back again,” if Iran fails to make a deal that includes reopening the vital Strait of Hormuz.
The Republican president’s earlier comments were swiftly met with condemnation from Democrats, some “Make America Great Again” supporters who have since broken with Trump, and the first American pope.
Trump says talks with Pakistani officials helped lead to his decision to delay bombing campaign
In his social media post, Trump said he decided to delay an expansion of U.S. strikes “based on conversations” with Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Gen. Asim Munir, Pakistan’s powerful army chief.
READ MORE: Pakistan urges Trump to extend Iran deadline
Sharif, in a post on the social platform X earlier Tuesday, urged Trump to extend his deadline by two weeks to allow diplomacy to advance. Pakistan has been leading negotiations.
Sharif used the same post to ask Iran to open the Strait of Hormuz for two weeks.
Iran’s explanation of its 10-point plan says Strait of Hormuz would be subject to ‘regulated passage’
Iran’s explanation of the 10-point plan included its claim that the Strait of Hormuz would be subject to “regulated passage … under the coordination of the Armed Forces of Iran.”
It added that it would be “thereby conferring upon Iran a unique economic and geopolitical standing.” It would also receive full sanctions relief.
These terms would represent an extraordinary step down by the U.S. after 47 years of hostilities with Iran, starting from the 1979 Islamic Revolution.
It isn’t clear if Iran will loosen its chokehold on the waterway that’s crucial to global energy supplies
Iran’s foreign minister says that ships would be allowed to pass through the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow mouth of the Persian Gulf, over the next two weeks under coordination from Iran’s military.
About a fifth of the world’s oil transits the strait in peacetime.
Araghchi wrote in a statement that: “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.”
Before the war, there were no “technical limitations.” Over 100 ships a day passed through the water in Iranian and Omani territorial waters in a decades-old traffic system.
But any step-down in troop levels in the region likely would anger the Gulf Arab states that have suffered through weeks of war.
Also not clear: What Iran means in referencing ‘withdrawal’ of U.S. combat forces
In question is another point messaged by the Iranians — “the withdrawal of United States combat forces from all bases and points of deployment within the region.”
The U.S. has maintained a network of military bases through the Persian Gulf for decades after the 1991 Gulf War with Iraq.
The bases have served as the region’s chief security guarantor and provided protection for the energy-rich Gulf Arab states.
Iran did not define, however, what it meant by “combat forces,” potentially giving wiggle room for those bases to remain.
But any step-down in troop levels in the region likely would anger the Gulf Arab states that have suffered through weeks of war.
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