The two-week ceasefire agreed to by the US and Iran also marks yet another occasion on which Donald Trump’s threats to escalate the war have been put on hold.
21 March: The first date on which Trump gave Tehran a deadline to reopen the Strait of Hormuz. A failure to do so within 48 hours, he said, would result in US strikes to “obliterate their various POWER PLANTS”.
23 March: Citing “VERY GOOD AND PRODUCTIVE CONVERSATIONS” with the Iranian regime, Trump announced a five-day pause on attacks against the country’s power plants and energy infrastructure.
26 March: The five-day pause was extended for an extra 10 days, to make room for ongoing talks that are “going very well”.
4 April: Trump issues a reminder to Tehran about his deadline, writing on Truth Social that “all hell” will rain down on them (he actually said “reign”) should the Strait of Hormuz not be fully reopened.
5 April: The deadline received a minor extension, taking us up to 1am UK time this morning.
6 April: Trump explained the latest delay at a White House news conference, saying such attacks the day after Easter would be “inappropriate”. “I want to be a nice person,” he said.
7 April: With around 90 minutes left on the clock, Trump announces he’s suspending attacks on Iran for two weeks as part of a conditional ceasefire that would see the Strait of Hormuz reopened, and the two sides discuss a 10-point peace proposal submitted by Tehran.
He later declares: “A big day for World Peace!”
