Turned around after 449 minutes: “Waiting for the go-ahead”
Published 00.13
Donald Trump said he “expects to bomb” Iran again when the ceasefire ends.
449 minutes later, the message was different.
And there is a concrete reason, according to Axios.
Quick version
- Donald Trump first announced that he did not intend to extend the ceasefire with Iran and threatened new attacks when the ceasefire ends.
- Later, the president changed his mind and decided to extend the ceasefire at the request of Pakistan's leader and pending a joint proposal from Iran's divided leadership.
- Trump's decision to wait is motivated by the fact that both American and
Pakistani mediators are waiting for word from Iran's supreme leader,
Mojtaba Khamenei, about being able to proceed with new negotiations,
according to sources.
There was a lot of speculation during the day.
First came a revised message from Tehran that the Iranian delegation would not travel to Islamabad for new negotiations.
Then it was announced that JD Vance had postponed his trip there and instead participated in meetings with Trump and the president's national security adviser at the White House in the afternoon.
The message: Will not extend
At the same time, the clock continued to tick down towards Trump's announced deadline for the ceasefire on Wednesday evening.
Given the time difference and the long flight between Washington and Islamabad, there was not much time left to play with whether there would be time to negotiate at all.
And in an interview with CNBC that the channel published on its website at 4:40 p.m. Swedish time, Trump stated that he was not interested in extending the ceasefire.
– Well, I don't want to do that, he said.
He threatened Iran with new attacks if they did not agree to a deal and said that he "expects to bomb" when the ceasefire ends.
The new message: Extend
But then everything turned around in 449 minutes.
At 10:09 p.m. Swedish time, President Trump announced that he was extending the ceasefire in the war against Iran.
On Tuesday evening, Trump's announcement of an extended ceasefire came.
“Given that the Iranian government is deeply divided, which is not unexpected, and at the request of Pakistan’s Field Marshal Asim Munir and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, we have been asked to hold off on our attack on Iran until the country’s leaders and representatives can agree on a joint proposal,” he wrote on Truth Social.
“I have therefore ordered the military to continue the blockade and otherwise stand ready. The ceasefire is therefore extended until such a proposal is presented and the discussions are concluded, one way or another.”
The reason for the turnaround
Trump’s turnaround is said to be largely due to Iran’s newly installed Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei, writes Axios.
The Iranian delegation is waiting for Khamenei, who has not been seen in public since the war began and is said to have suffered a disfigurement in his face and lost a leg in the bomb attack that killed the former ayatollah, to give the green light for new negotiations.
"One reason for Trump's decision is that American and Pakistani mediators are waiting for a statement from Iran's Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei about the latest proposal, as well as clear instructions for the country's negotiators," writes Axios, citing sources close to the mediators in Pakistan and an Israeli source with insight into the talks.
Disagreement at the top
- The Iranian negotiators say they are waiting for the go-ahead from the supreme leader, a source told the site.
The statement is expected on Wednesday.
Axios states that the Iranian leadership in recent days "has been in an intense debate about how to approach new talks with the United States."
According to the news site, the civilian leaders – including Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf and Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi – are in favor of continuing negotiations, extending the ceasefire and reaching a settlement with the US government.
According to the news site, civilian leaders – including Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf and Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi – are in favor of continuing negotiations, extending the ceasefire and reaching a settlement with the US government.
But the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and its commander Ahmad Vahidi are against negotiations as long as the US blockade of the Strait of Hormuz remains, according to Axios.
