For all the fanfare that initially surrounded the US-Iran ceasefire, it is clear that much work still needs to be done if the conflict is to be resolved. Having threatened to destroy Iran’s “whole civilisation”, Trump may have breathed a sigh of relief after the announcement of a two-week ceasefire shortly before the deadline he had given the Iranians was due to expire.
"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 long-term peace with Iran, and PEACE in the Middle East,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “We received a 10-point proposal from Iran, and believe it is a workable basis on which to negotiate.”
One of the US president’s key conditions for halting hostilities was the requirement that Tehran reopen the Strait of Hormuz, the vital waterway through which around 20% of the world’s energy needs passes in more peaceful times. Iran agreed to the demand—with conditions—as part of a 10-point peace plan aimed at ending the month-long war, which has seen the US and Israel pummel military and civilian infrastructure in Iran, killing at least 2,000 people. Iran fought back, launching strikes on US and Israeli bases and assets across the region. It also effectively closed the Strait by threatening commercial shipping.
Positive outlook
While Iran has suggested that, in future, it will assume responsibility for administering the Strait of Hormuz, which it claims is Iranian sovereign territory, and impose entry tolls on international shipping using the waterway, Trump has remained positive about the outcome of the ceasefire talks. He said that “almost all of the various points of past contention have been agreed to between the United States and Iran,” and insisted that the two-week ceasefire period “will allow the Agreement to be finalised and consummated.”
Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif is credited with having played a key role in brokering the ceasefire, having urged Trump to extend the deadline for Iran by two weeks via a post on X. Sharif wrote that “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.”
