President Donald Trump has caved on his latest threat against Iran, abandoning yet another deadline as his ultimatums lose their teeth.
The 79-year-old president had threatened to wipe out a “whole civilization” and bomb Iranian bridges and power plants if Tehran didn’t “fully open, without threat” the Strait of Hormuz by 8 p.m. Eastern.
On Tuesday at 6:32 p.m. ET, less than 90 minutes before the deadline, Trump announced that he would suspend attacks on Iran for two weeks in a “double sided ceasefire.”
Trump said that he agreed to the ceasefire “subject to the Islamic Republic of Iran agreeing to the COMPLETE, IMMEDIATE, and SAFE OPENING of the Strait of Hormuz.” However, it remains unclear how much Iran will loosen its grip on the Strait of Hormuz.
Iran’s foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, said in a statement posted to Truth Social by Trump that Iranian forces would “cease their defensive operations” and that passage through the strait would be permitted with “coordination” from Iranian forces.
“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,” he said.
Trump spun his retreat as a victory saying, “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.”
He continued, “We received a 10 point proposal from Iran, and believe it is a workable basis on which to negotiate.”
The president claimed that “almost all of the various points of past contention have been agreed to,” but that his new two-week deadline was necessary to “allow the Agreement to be finalized and consummated.”
“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,” he concluded his post.
Araghchi claimed that the U.S. had accepted the “general framework” of Iran’s 10-point peace plan. The proposal includes a lifting of all sanctions and a fee of roughly $2 million per ship passing through the Strait of Hormuz, a critical waterway where about 20 percent of the world’s gas and oil supply passes through.
However, the first round of negotiations is not set to take place until Friday, according to Axios’ Global Affairs Correspondent Barak Ravid. White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt confirmed to Fox News that “there are discussions about in person talks, but nothing is final until announced by the President or the White House.”
This marks the fourth time that the commander-in-chief has extended his thus-far unfulfilled deadline threats against Iran.
“A whole civilization will die tonight, never to be brought back again. I don’t want that to happen, but it probably will,” Trump had posted on Truth Social Tuesday morning, less than 12 hours before changing his mind.
The president announced his deadline U-turn just in time for his 7 p.m. dinner at the White House with the U.S. Ambassador to the Republic of India.
Trump’s string of deadline extensions traces back to his March 21 Truth Social post demanding Iran “fully open, without threat” the Strait of Hormuz within 48 hours, or face strikes on power plants.
On March 23, 12 hours before the deadline, he spoke of “very good and productive conversations” and held off his energy grid strikes for five more days.
The president didn’t even make it to the fourth day before extending it on March 26 for 10 more days, to April 6 at 8 p.m., claiming that negotiations were “going very well.”
But on Sunday, he delayed his constantly shifting deadline once more to April 7, while escalating his warning to a much darker note.
“Tuesday will be Power Plant Day, and Bridge Day, all wrapped up in one, in Iran. There will be nothing like it!!!” Trump wrote on Truth Social on Easter Sunday.
“Open the F----n’ Strait, you crazy b-----ds, or you’ll be living in Hell - JUST WATCH!” he raged. “Praise be to Allah. President DONALD J. TRUMP”
