Ceasefire a welcome development, no matter how shaky

April 8, 2026 — 6:06pm

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For a few nerve-racking hours on Wednesday morning it appeared US President Donald Trump and the remnants of the murderous regime in Iran were locked in a mutually destructive pact that would have led to thousands of civilian deaths and accusations of genocide and war crimes on both sides.

Trump has been trying to bully the Iranians into a ceasefire for days but in a turn of phrase that was shocking, even by his low standards, he said, “a whole civilisation will die tonight” unless Iran struck a peace deal before his deadline.

The Iranian response was to urge people to act as human shields at........

© The Sydney Morning Herald