Donald Trump extended a temporary ceasefire with Iran on Tuesday, announcing in Washington that he had ordered the US military to hold off striking Iranian infrastructure after claiming the 'Government of Iran is seriously fractured.'
The US president said he had acted following a direct request from Pakistan's army chief and prime minister, even as he maintained that American forces remained poised to attack.
The climbdown came after days of increasingly bellicose rhetoric from Donald Trump over Iran and its leadership. The US had already imposed a blockade and carried out major strikes against Iranian forces, and a two‑week truce was due to expire within hours. Trump had earlier warned Iran that the 'whole country is going to get blown up' if its leaders did not accept US terms, framing the confrontation as a test of American resolve in the Gulf and beyond.
The new pause was laid out in a statement on Trump's social media platform, Truth Social, where he attempted to explain why, after promising no more extensions, he had just granted one.
In his post, he wrote that 'the Government of Iran is seriously fractured, not unexpectedly so' and that Pakistan's Field Marshal Asim Munir and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif had asked Washington to hold off on a planned attack on Iran 'until such time as their leaders and representatives can come up with a unified proposal.'
Trump said he had instructed the US military to maintain the blockade and stay 'ready and able,' but to avoid launching strikes while diplomatic talks were still possible. The ceasefire, he said, would be extended until Iran submitted a proposal and negotiations concluded 'one way or the other.'
The timing of Donald Trump's reversal was striking. Only hours before the Truth Social statement, the president had suggested he was running out of patience with Iran and had little appetite for prolonging any ceasefire.
In an interview with CNBC, he dismissed the idea of another extension, saying, 'I don't want to do that. We don't have that much time.'
In that same interview, Trump painted a picture of overwhelming US dominance. He boasted that American forces had 'taken out their navy, we've taken out their air force, we've taken out their leaders,' and insisted Tehran effectively had no room to manoeuvre.
In his telling, Iran 'had no choice' but to strike a deal with Washington, and the United States was 'going to end up with a great deal.'
Source: International Business Times UK
