By Ephrem Murindabigwi
The US President Donald Trump and Iran’s leadership have each framed a last-minute ceasefire agreement as a strategic win, despite days of escalating threats that had brought the region to the brink of wider conflict. Trump highlighted progress on a proposed 15-point framework, while Iran’s president insisted the deal upholds Tehran’s key demands. The agreement follows stark warnings from Washington of catastrophic consequences if Iran refused to comply, alongside retaliatory threats from Tehran and its allies—underscoring the fragile and contested nature of the ceasefire even as it takes hold.
Donald Trump and Iran’s leadership have each framed a last-minute ceasefire agreement as a strategic win, despite days of escalating threats that had brought the region to the brink of wider conflict. Trump highlighted progress on a proposed 15-point framework, while Iran’s president insisted the deal upholds Tehran’s key demands. The agreement follows stark warnings from Washington of catastrophic consequences if Iran refused to comply, alongside retaliatory threats from Tehran and its allies—underscoring the fragile and contested nature of the ceasefire even as it takes hold.
Donald Trump and Iran’s leadership have both described the last-minute ceasefire as a win for their respective nations. Trump stated that much of a proposed 15-point framework had been accepted. Iran’s president emphasized that the agreement reflects the core principles his country had been seeking. This ceasefire agreement comes after Trump had said “a whole civilisation will die’ if Iran ignores demands.
Yesterday he warned that Iran’s “whole civilisation will die tonight” if Tehran did not observe his demands. The world was waiting to see if the president would fulfill his latest threat to order the mass destruction of Iranian power plants and bridges in the absence of a deal by 8pm EDT (1am BST). News is now dominated by the agreement which has been reached.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards indicated that they were also prepared to heighten the war with a threat to hit back “beyond the region” and “to deprive the US and its allies of oil and gas in the region for years”. This was interpreted as to mean that Iran would target oil and gas production infrastructures in the Gulf and elsewhere.
Has Iran accepted the deal because of Trump’s threat?
According to news circulating, the country has not agreed upon the ceasefire just because of the threat. The Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi posted on X said “If attacks against Iran are halted, our Powerful Armed Forces will cease their defensive operations.”
Today, pro-Iran armed groups operating in Iraq also announced a two-week cessation of their raids on “enemy bases” in the region.
Israel endorsed the Pakistani-brokered ceasefire with Iran. However, the Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stated this ceasefire would not involve its fighting with the Lebanese-armed group Hezbollah, or Israel’s invasion of southern Lebanon. Netanyahu’s statement contradicts Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s claims. Sharif had previously announced that the ceasefire involved a halt to Israel’s attacks on Lebanon.
On Wednesday morning, the Israeli army carried on its strikes in the country, delivering a new evacuation order for a building near the southern city of Tyre. Lebanon was dragged into the US and Israel’s war on Iran on March 2 after Tehran-aligned Hezbollah began attacks on Israel.
Hezbollah justified the attacks as a retaliation for Israel’s assassination of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on the first day of the war, on February 28. Israel’s near-daily violations of a ceasefire to which she consented in Lebanon in November 2024 also formed part of the group’s justification to attack Israel.
The Pakistani PM Sharif said “I warmly welcome the sagacious gesture and extend deepest gratitude to the leadership of both the countries and invite their delegations to Islamabad on Friday, 10th April 2026, to further negotiate for a conclusive agreement to settle all disputes.”
Trita Parsi is Iran expert. This expert, according to Al Jazeera, said that the potential talks in Islamabad could fail, “but the terrain has shifted”. “Trump’s failed use of force has blunted the credibility of American military threats, introducing a new dynamic into US-Iran diplomacy,” he said. Washington can still rattle its sabre. But after a failed war, such threats ring hollow. The United States is no longer in a position to dictate terms; any agreement will have to rest on genuine compromise.”
Various personalities have always cautioned the US against engaging in wars, if it seeks to maintain its global standing. This piece-Will Israel and the United States heed Russia and China’s call?– addresses reasons likely to have prompted the parties in the war to feel the necessity for a ceasefire and potentially the end of the war. There are people who argue that when the US’ economy is being battered by a war, it is forced to halt the war. They additionally affirm that this war in damaging the country’s economy.