Trump Extends the Ceasefire—But For How Long?
News Desk
Islamabad: On Tuesday afternoon in Washington, President Donald Trump held a very important meeting with his national security team at the White House, the purpose of which was to decide what the next step should be regarding Iran.
On the one hand, the ceasefire deadline was approaching and on the other hand, Vice President J D Vance’s plane was waiting at Andrews Air Base so that he could leave for Pakistan for the next round of talks.
But the US administration was facing a strange problem and that was complete silence from the Iranians.
The American broadcaster ‘CNN’ quoted three officials familiar with the matter as saying that the US had sent Iran some basic points of the agreement a few days ago that needed to be agreed upon before the talks could begin, but despite the passage of several days, there was no response from Tehran, which raised doubts about how useful Vance’s visit to Pakistan would be.
According to the report, when President Trump met with Vice President J D Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Defense Secretary Pat Hegseth and CIA Director John Ratcliffe at the White House, there was still no message from Iran.
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Pakistani mediators on Tuesday raced to include Iran in the talks while convincing Trump to extend the ceasefire.
The report claimed that US officials had also asked Pakistan’s main mediator, Field Marshal Asim Munir, to get some kind of response from the Iranians before J D Vance’s departure.
According to the report, Trump’s close advisers believe that the main reason for this silence is the differences within the Iranian leadership and reports from Pakistani mediators also indicate the same.
On the other hand, the tone of Iranian officials seems to have changed. Mehdi Mohammadi, an adviser to the speaker of the Iranian parliament, has said that Trump’s extension of the ceasefire is meaningless, the losing side cannot meet its terms, and the continuation of the blockade is no different from bombing, which can only be responded to with military action.
CNN claimed that the Americans feel that there is a disagreement among the Iranians on how much authority to give negotiators regarding uranium enrichment and its stockpiling, which is the biggest dispute in the peace talks.
The report also said that there is confusion about whether the new Supreme Leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, is giving clear instructions to his subordinates or they are just having to work on guesswork.
Rather than resuming attacks on Iran, President Trump chose to extend the two-week ceasefire shortly before it was due to expire, but this time he did not mention a final date.
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According to CNN, Trump still wants a diplomatic solution to the war because he is reluctant to restart an unpopular war that he has already claimed the United States has won.
However, the stalemate in the talks shows the difficulties that Trump is having in fulfilling his many conditions.
Iran is demanding that the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz be lifted before a new round of talks, while Trump has responded categorically that we will not open this route until there is a final agreement.
He had said in an interview with the American news channel ‘CNBC’ that we will not open the Strait of Hormuz until we have a final deal.
Finally, Trump announced that the ceasefire would remain in place until Iran’s proposal is presented and the talks reach a conclusion.
President Trump’s advisers have privately warned him that easing pressure could drag out the talks so Iran can reactivate its wartime missile systems.
The two countries are still at odds over uranium enrichment, sanctions relief and other key issues. Trump does not want a deal that could be described as weak like the Obama-era nuclear deal, but is hoping to use his negotiating skills to get a “better deal.”
Trump says the Iranians have no choice but to take advantage of the leeway, saying we have taken out their navy, their air force and their leaders, although that has made things a little more complicated. All eyes are now on whether Iran takes advantage of the leeway to come up with a concrete proposal.
