(Al Jazeera Media Network) Iran and the United States have both claimed victory in their conflict as they both accepted a two-week ceasefire just before US President Donald Trump’s apocalyptic deadline to obliterate Iranian “civilisation” if Tehran did not agree to a deal.
At least 2,076 people have died in US-Israel strikes on Iran that began on February 28, and thousands of others have been killed across the region. The war has disrupted global energy supplies, stranding oil tankers and causing prices to shoot up in what’s being called the biggest shock to the industry in history.
Trump, in a Tuesday post on Truth Social, said the US would suspend bombing Iran after receiving a 10-point ceasefire proposal that he said was “workable”. The US president added that “almost all of the various points of past contention have been agreed to.”
Iran also said it will allow ships to begin to move through the Strait of Hormuz, even as some in the country have angrily denounced their government’s bowing to pressure.
Both sides are expected to continue Pakistan-mediated talks in Islamabad from Friday.
But despite the formal bluster, both the US and Iran appear to have shifted from some of their earlier stated red lines to agree to Tuesday’s deal. Those sticking points could reemerge to complicate the upcoming talks, analysts say.
The US agreed to suspend bombing Iran for two weeks.
The US president did not immediately confirm if US negotiators would be in Islamabad.
“For Trump, the big achievement is to have Iran agree to negotiate after his escalating threats,” Chris Featherstone, a political scientist at the University of York, told Al Jazeera.
“He is presenting this as a success, but he will need to achieve some form of concession from Iran to be able to present this as a success in the longer term,” he said.
Meanwhile, Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said that Iran would also cease “defensive operations” if attacks on the country are halted, and that Iran’s armed forces would allow safe passage through the Strait of Hormuz.
Many in Iran, however, have expressed anger and fault Tehran for responding to a ceasefire deal, as distrust for the US has soared in the country, say analysts.
“The pessimism in Iran is probably more than in any other place because we’ve been attacked two times in the middle of negotiations,” Foad Izadi, a professor at the University of Tehran, told Al Jazeera.
He was referring to the US’s bombing of Iran during last June’s 12-day war alongside Israel, and the US-Israeli strikes on February 28th. Both escalations came as negotiations were ongoing.
The US had earlier, on March 25, issued a 15-point plan of demands.
It was sent to Iran through Pakistan at a time when Tehran denied any talks were happening.
The official framework was not fully published, but Iran rejected the plan and called it “excessive”.
Some of its main elements, as reported by US media, are:
- A 30-day ceasefire would halt the war.
- The Strait of Hormuz would immediately be opened by Tehran for safe passage.
- Iran would decommission its nuclear facilities at Fordow, Natanz, and Isfahan, in compliance with US and Israeli goals to end Tehran’s nuclear capabilities.
- Iran would permanently commit to not pursuing or developing nuclear weapons and would totally stop any uranium enrichment, even for civilian purposes.
- All of Iran’s existing stockpiles would be handed to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), and the agency would be allowed to monitor its nuclear infrastructure.
- Iran would stop the arming and funding of regional proxies such as Hezbollah.
- The number of ballistic missiles owned by Iran would be strictly limited and would only be for self-defence.
- The US would, in return, lift all sanctions imposed on Iran, including the “snapback” United Nations mechanism that allows the reimposition of previously lifted sanctions on Iran.
- Washington would also provide support for electricity at Iran’s Bushehr nuclear power plant.
Iran also proposed a 10-point plan in response to the US’s outline.
On Monday, as the war entered its 38th day, and after Trump issued threats to blow up Iran’s power and energy plants in violation of international law, the US president acknowledged that Tehran had delivered this 10-point plan to the White House via Pakistani mediators.
Trump said after its presentation that the plan was a “significant step”, but “not good enough”.
In his ceasefire announcement on Tuesday, however, Trump said that Iran’s proposal was “workable” as the basis for a final agreement.
Analysts point out the plan contains some controversial points that Washington – and Israel – will likely balk at in the course of the talks.
Iran’s key asks include:
- Fundamental commitment to non-aggression from the US.
- Controlled passage through the Strait of Hormuz in co-ordination with the Iranian armed forces, which would mean that Iran retains its leverage over the waterway.
- Acceptance of Iran’s nuclear enrichment program.
- The lifting of all primary and secondary sanctions and resolutions against Iran.
- The end of all resolutions against Iran at the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
- The end of all resolutions against Iran by the United Nations Security Council (UNSC).
- The withdrawal of US combat forces from all bases in the region.
- Full compensation for damages suffered by Iran during the war – to be secured through payments to Iran by ships passing through the Strait of Hormuz.
- The release of all Iranian assets and properties frozen abroad.
- The ratification of all these matters in a binding UNSC resolution.
Iranian authorities had earlier vowed not to negotiate with the US at all, and to only end the war when Tehran was ready and assured that the US and Israel were successfully deterred from hitting the country again.
However, Iranian authorities later on yielded to pressure from Pakistani mediators — and reportedly, to pressure from China — to negotiate.
They also accepted a two-week ceasefire as opposed to an immediate and permanent cessation.
