In a surprising development, US President Donald Trump announced in the early hours of Wednesday morning a two-week ceasefire with Iran, contingent upon the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz to navigation. Trump’s announcement came shortly before the expiration of the deadline he had set for striking Iranian infrastructure and power plants, threatening to “obliterate Iranian civilization” unless Iran agreed to a deal. Despite this, Washington had previously set April 9th ​​as the deadline for ending the war, a date Israel deemed insufficient at the time, requiring additional weeks. So, has the US strategy of diplomacy under military pressure succeeded in achieving its objectives?

Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform: “Subject to the Islamic Republic of Iran agreeing to the full, immediate, and safe opening of the Strait of Hormuz, I agree to suspend attacks on Iran for a period of two weeks.” Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said that safe passage through the Strait of Hormuz “will be possible within two weeks in coordination with the Iranian armed forces, and taking into account technical constraints,” adding that Iran “will cease all its defensive operations if the attacks against it cease.” The Iranian Supreme National Security Council announced its acceptance of the ceasefire and that it would begin negotiations with the United States in Islamabad starting Saturday 11.

It appears that Washington must balance the interests of the United States in general, and the future of this administration in particular, with helping Israel achieve its objectives in the region, especially after 41 days of attrition warfare and losses, which have negatively impacted the American economy, Trump’s popularity, and US alliances in the Middle East.

It appears that Washington must balance the interests of the United States in general, and the future of this administration in particular, with helping Israel achieve its objectives in the region, especially after 41 days of attrition warfare and losses, which have negatively impacted the American economy, Trump’s popularity, and US alliances in the Middle East.

In a previous article titled “America and Israel’s War on Iran: A Calculation of Profit and Loss,” I addressed the question of the extent to which the United States and Israel achieved their objectives in launching the war against Iran, a point that aligns with the conclusions reached in the Israeli press yesterday. The newspaper Maariv asserted that Israel and the United States lost this war, with Iran emerging victorious. The paper pointed to the Iranians’ success in imposing an agreement on the United States, an agreement they largely drafted before it was promoted by the Pakistanis and Turks, after the Iranians rejected the agreement proposed by the United States. The Israeli newspaper also emphasized that Iran fired the final shot in this battle and remained steadfast after 41 days of the joint American-Israeli aggression. The newspaper argued........

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