Zürcher Nachrichten - US, Iran agree to 11th-hour truce after Trump apocalyptic threats

After more than a month of blistering attacks by the United States and Israel, Iran said it had agreed to talks with Washington to begin Friday in Pakistan on a path to end the conflict.

Trump said he had spoken to Pakistan's leaders who "requested that I hold off the destructive force being sent tonight to Iran."

"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," Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi confirmed safe passage for two weeks for ships through the Strait of Hormuz, the gateway for one-fifth of the world's oil which Tehran sealed off in retaliation for the war launched on Febraury 28.

"If attacks against Iran are halted, our Powerful Armed Forces will cease their defensive operations," Araghchi said.

Trump said that the United States was "very far along" in negotiating a long-term agreement with Iran, which had submitted a 10-point plan that he said was "workable."

But Iran publicly released points that took maximalist positions including lifting longstanding sanctions, guaranteeing the country's "dominion" over the Strait of Hormuz and removing US forces from the region.

The price of oil quickly fell sharply after Trump's announcement of the ceasefire. Costs at the pump had risen sharply since the war for ordinary Americans, putting heavy political pressure on Trump.

- Threats of possible war crimes -

There was no immediate response from Israel, which had encouraged Trump into the war against Iran, whose ruling Shia clerics support anti-Israel armed groups around the Middle East.

Trump had set a deadline to Iran to open the Strait of Hormuz by 8:00 pm Washington time (midnight GMT), or 3:30 am in Tehran, for Iran.

He had earlier threatened to destroy all power plants and bridges across the country of 90 million people -- a war crime against sites that are primarily of civilian usage.

Trump had also made threats shocking even by his own provocative standards that brought warnings that he was encouraging genocide -- potentially one day leading to war crimes charges against US servicemembers who comply.

"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 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 has forged a close relationship with Trump and is sensitive to developments in neighboring Iran, has put itself forward as a mediator.

"Diplomatic efforts for peaceful settlement of the ongoing war in the Middle East are progressing steadily, strongly and powerfully," Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said as he publicly encouraged Trump to postpone the attacks.

The United States and Israel struck key infrastructure even before Trump's deadline, with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin 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 Tehran, saying it had been targeting a senior Iranian commander.

Iran, run by Shia Muslim clerics, is home to around 100 synagogues for its historic Jewish minority.

Infrastructure attacks reported by Iranian authorities Tuesday 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.

- Death 'not a joke' -

University student Metanat, whose classmate was killed two weeks ago in an attack, told AFP before Trump's suspension of the bombing she felt "terrified and so should everyone else in the country".

The 27-year-old, who declined to give her last name, said as far as Trump's ultimatums were concerned, "some people think they are a joke", but "death is not a joke."

State media published photos purporting to show groups of Iranians forming human chains to protect power plants.

The show of patriotism in the face of attacks came several months after Iran's cleric-run government cracked down violently on mass protests, with rights groups reporting thousands of deaths.

A peace agreement, if realized, would leave in place the Islamic republic despite hopes by Israel and the United States of toppling it.

The United States and Israel said that they attacked Iran to degrade its military capacity. Trump has alleged that Iran was near building an atomic bomb, an assertion not backed by the UN nuclear watchdog and most observers.

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.

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W.Odermatt--NZN