After the US-Israel conflict entered its second month, with US President Donald Trump issuing repeated warnings to “blow everything up,” Washington announced a two-week ceasefire that Iran signalled it was willing to accept. Iran’s Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi said Tehran would halt its “defensive operations” if attacks stopped. In a statement issued on behalf of the Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, he added that “if attacks against Iran are halted, our powerful armed forces will cease their defensive operations,” indicating the country’s conditional acceptance of the truce.
“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 to technical limitations,” Araghchi said his statement released shortly after Trump’s announcement.
Statement on behalf of the Supreme National Security Council of the Islamic Republic of Iran: pic.twitter.com/cEtBNCLnWT
The United States and Iran reached the 11th-hour cease-fire deal on Tuesday evening, hours after President Trump threatened to wipe out Iran’s “whole civilization” if it did not allow commercial shipping to pass safely through the Strait of Hormuz.
The agreement was announced by Trump in a post on social media hours after Pakistan, which was working as a mediator between the two sides, urged him to stand down from the 8 p.m. Eastern time deadline he had set for Iran to accede to his demands. The proposal was that each side observe a two-week cease-fire, and that during that time Iran allow oil, gas and other vessels to proceed unmolested through the economically vital waterway.
Meanwhile, Iranian state media has said negotiations with the US will be held in Islamabad to finalise details of an agreement, with the aim of “confirming Iran’s battlefield achievements”.
Talks will begin on Friday 10 April and may be extended, state media reported.
Iran’s supreme security council submitted the 10-point proposal to the United States via Pakistan.
The announcement on state TV was reportedly accompanied by a graphic flashing: “Trump’s humiliating retreat from anti-Iran rhetoric” and “Trump accepts Iran’s terms for ending the war”.
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Key points from Iran’s National Security Council statement
The Prime Minister of Pakistan has informed Iran that the US has accepted Iran’s 10-point plan as the basis for negotiations.
“Accordingly, it was decided at the highest level that Iran will hold negotiations with the American side in Islamabad for two weeks and solely on the basis of these principles.”
“It is emphasised that this does not mean an end to the war and Iran will accept an end to the war only when – in view of Iran’s acceptance of the principles envisaged in the 10-point plan – its details are also finalised in the negotiations.”
The negotiations will begin in Islamabad on Friday, April 11. Iran does not trust the US and will allocate two weeks for these negotiations. This time can be extended by agreement of the parties.
“If the surrender of the enemy in the field becomes a decisive political achievement in the negotiations, we will celebrate this great historical victory together. Otherwise we will fight side by side in the field until all the demands of the Iranian nation are achieved. Our hands are on the trigger, and as soon as the slightest mistake by the enemy is made, it will be responded to with full force.”
These negotiations will begin in Islamabad with complete distrust of the American side, and Iran will allocate two weeks for these negotiations. This time can be extended by agreement of the parties.
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