At 18:32 Washington time, President Donald Trump said on his social media platform that the US and Iran were “very far along” with a “definitive” peace accord and that he had agreed to a two-week ceasefire to let discussions to continue.
It wasn’t really last minute, but with Trump’s looming deadline of 20:00 EDT (00:00 GMT on Wednesday) to negotiate an agreement or the US would unleash huge strikes against Iranian energy and transportation infrastructure, it was near.
All of this is reliant on Iran ceasing hostilities and fully opening the Strait of Hormuz to commercial maritime traffic, which the regime has stated it will do while maintaining dominion” over the waterway.
The agreement allowed Trump to avoid what appeared to be a perilous choice: either escalate with his vow that a “whole civilization will die tonight” or back down, compromising his legitimacy. The US president may have only won himself a temporary reprieve.
The US and Iran will now negotiate for the next two weeks, gaining time to try to find a permanent settlement. It is expected to be a rocky trip, but after-hours trade saw the price of a barrel of oil fall below $100 for the first time in days, while US stock futures rose. There appears to be a sense of hope that the worst has passed.
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