President Donald Trump pulled back from his threat to annihilate Iran on Tuesday, saying negotiations between the United States and Tehran would continue on how to end the war and reopen the Strait of Hormuz.
“Based on conversations with Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Field Marshal Asim Munir, of Pakistan, and wherein they requested that I hold off the destructive force being sent tonight to Iran, and subject to the Islamic Republic of Iran agreeing to the COMPLETE, IMMEDIATE, and SAFE OPENING of the Strait of Hormuz, I agree to suspend the bombing and attack of Iran for a period of two weeks,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.
The president claimed to have received a new 10 point proposal from Iran, which he characterized as a “workable basis on which” the two countries can continue negotiations.
“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,” he said. “On behalf of the United States of America, as President, and also representing the Countries of the Middle East, it is an Honor to have this Longterm problem close to resolution.”
White House officials did immediately answer questions about the Iran’s proposal itself, nor reports that the country had launched new strikes aimed at Tel Aviv, Israel shortly after Trump’s announcement, even though both Iran and Israel had reportedly also agreed to the ceasefire timeline. The New York Times reported Tuesday that China assisted Pakistan in advancing the negotiations.
Earlier on Tuesday, Trump wrote on Truth Social that Iran’s “whole civilization will die tonight, never to be brought back again” if Tehran refused to make a deal. The president had already given Iran until 8 p.m. EST on Tuesday to make a deal or the U.S. would bomb its energy grid and other vital infrastructure.
“I don’t want that to happen, but it probably will,” he added. “However, now that we have Complete and Total Regime Change, where different, smarter, and less radicalized minds prevail, maybe something revolutionarily wonderful can happen, WHO KNOWS?”
But hours before the deadline, Sharif asked Trump to “extend the deadline for two weeks” for peace talks to continue.
“Pakistan, in all sincerity, requests the Iranian brothers to open Strait of Hormuz for a corresponding period of two weeks as a goodwill gesture,” Sharif also wrote on X.
Tehran initially responded to Trump’s threats of civilizational erasure by alerting America’s Middle Eastern intermediaries that they were closing off communications with D.C. Although there are competing reports that negotiations were still ongoing even after Trump’s social media post.
“Iran will not stand idle in the face of such egregious war crimes. It will exercise, without hesitation, its inherent right of self-defense and will take immediate and proportionate reciprocal measures,” said Iran’s envoy to the United Nations Amir-Saeid Iravani, during a Security Council session on the Strait of Hormuz.
Even before Trump’s 8 p.m. deadline, the U.S. escalated its attacks on Iran, launching a new wave of some 90 strikes against targets on Kharg Island in the Strait of Hormuz overnight into Tuesday morning.
The U.S. had not targeted Kharg since March 13, when the Trump administration claimed it had wiped out Iran’s military facilities, most specifically its aquatic mine depots and fleet of mine laying ships. It remains unclear as to what specifically the U.S. struck Tuesday morning, as U.S. officials maintained that targets did not include any of the oil infrastructure.
WHAT COULD TRUMP’S THREAT TO DESTROY IRAN’S ‘WHOLE CIVILIZATION’ ENTAIL?
Trump’s Tuesday announcement marks the fifth time the president has extended the negotiating window with Iran. On March 21, he issued a 48 hour ultimatum for Tehran to open the Strait of Hormuz. Trump added five days onto that timeline on March 23, before extending it 10 days to April 6 on March 26 and eventually settling on April 7 at 8:00pm ET this past weekend.