Trump agrees to suspend attacks on Iran for two weeks
· RTE.ieUS President Donald Trump said he was suspending bombing of Iran for two weeks but that Iran must reopen the key Strait of Hormuz, barely an hour before his deadline to destroy the country was set to expire.
After more than five weeks of attacks on Iran by the US and Israel, Mr Trump said he had accepted a proposal mediated by Pakistan to extend his deadline but he again pushed on the Strait of Hormuz, the waterway vital for the world's oil.
President Trump said he had spoken to Pakistan's leaders who "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," Mr Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform.
"The reason for doing so is that we have already met and exceeded all Military objectives, and are very far along with a definitive Agreement concerning Longterm PEACE with Iran, and PEACE in the Middle East," Mr Trump wrote.
He said that Iran had sent a ten-point plan to the United States that he called "workable" for negotiations.
The price of oil quickly fell sharply on Mr Trump's remarks. Oil costs had soared since the war, putting heavy political pressure on President Trump.
In response, Iran's Supreme Security Council said negotiations with the United States would begin on 10 April in Islamabad after it submitted the ten-point proposal to the US via Pakistan, Iranian state media reported, adding that talks do not signal the end of the war.
Iran said the talks, which may last up to 15 days and could be extended by agreement, aim to finalise details of the proposal, which includes provisions on transit through the Strait of Hormuz, sanctions relief and withdrawal of US combat forces from regional bases.
A statement from Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi added that Iran would halt its attacks if attacks against it stop and that safe transit through the Strait of Hormuz would be possible for two weeks in coordination with Iranian armed forces.
Meanwhile, the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the country supported Mr Trump's decision to suspend attacks against Iran for two weeks but said the ceasefire does not include Lebanon, Israeli media reported.
Earlier, Pakistan said that the United States, Iran and their allies had agreed to a ceasefire "everywhere," including Lebanon, following mediation by Islamabad.
Mr Trump had set a deadline of 8pm Washington time (1am Irish time), or 3.30am in Iran, after an earlier extension in a threat to destroy all power plants and bridges across the country of 90 million people.
President Trump had earlier warned Iran that "a whole civilisation will die tonight" if his demands were not met.
"A whole civilisation will die tonight, never to be brought back again. I don't want that to happen, but it probably will," Mr Trump had written.
The rhetoric was an escalation from a profanity-laden post two days earlier, on Easter Sunday.
Pope Leo XIV said that "this threat against all the people of Iran" was "truly unacceptable".
Pakistani mediation
Pakistan, which is playing a key mediating role in the Middle East conflict, said it had proposed the two-week extension of Mr Trump's deadline and that Iran should also reopen the Strait of Hormuz for the same period as a "goodwill gesture".
"Diplomatic efforts for peaceful settlement of the ongoing war in the Middle East are progressing steadily, strongly and powerfully with the potential to lead to substantive results in near future," Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said.
"I am pleased to announce that the Islamic Republic of Iran and the United States of America, along with their allies, have agreed to an immediate ceasefire everywhere including Lebanon and elsewhere, EFFECTIVE IMMEDIATELY," Mr Sharif posted on X.
The United States and Israel struck key infrastructure even before Mr Trump's deadline, with Mr Netanyahu confirming attacks on railways and bridges he said were "used by the Revolutionary Guards".
The Israeli military also offered a rare statement of regret after it acknowledged damaging a synagogue in Iran, saying it had been targeting a senior Iranian commander.
Infrastructure attacks reported by Iranian authorities yesterday included a US-Israeli strike on a bridge outside the city of Qom and another on a rail bridge in central Iran that killed two people.
Read more: Pakistan puts forward proposal for Iran ceasefire
Previously, Mr Trump alleged that Iran was near building an atomic bomb, an assertion not backed by the UN nuclear watchdog and most observers.
At the UN Security Council, Russia and China vetoed a resolution on reopening the Strait of Hormuz, a text already diluted to remove the green light Gulf states had sought to use force to protect the key shipping lane.
Apart from the infrastructure attacks, strikes were reported on Kharg island, a critical hub for the Iranian oil industry, according to Iran's Mehr news agency, although US media said the attacks were against military targets.
Iran has responded to the war by striking Gulf Arab states that host US troops. Israel in turn has launched a major offensive into Lebanon, vowing to control land from which Iranian-linked Hezbollah has fired rockets.
Israel's military issued two warnings in quick succession early this morning that Iran had fired missiles toward it, moments after Mr Trump's announcement.