OPINION
Finn Hartnett
Wed, April 8, 2026
THE NEW REPUBLIC
Official Iranian accounts are taking a victory lap in the wake of Donald Trump’s ceasefire deal.
After Trump agreed to a two-week ceasefire with Iran on Tuesday evening—one hour before his self-imposed deadline to destroy the country’s “whole civilization”—the details of a 10-point peace plan that the U.S. president called “workable” were revealed.
The peace plan included concessions that some saw as mighty kind to the Islamic regime that Trump has been verbally accosting for years. It includes a provision to lift economic sanctions on the country—not just by the U.S., but worldwide—and a $2 million toll to be imposed by Iran for each ship passing through the Strait of Hormuz. One version of the agreement distributed in Farsi even allows for Iran to continue enriching uranium. It all begs the question of why the hell the U.S. got involved in the expensive and deadly conflict in the first place.
Some of Iran’s foreign embassies took the time to boast about the favorable terms after the peace plan was revealed.
“Say hello to the new world superpower,” the Iranian embassy in South Africa wrote on X.
A screenshot of a tweet(Screenshot)
“Bow down to the Iranian civilization,” the Iranian embassy in India added, along with an AI-generated picture of Trump kneeling in front of a stone wall displaying heroes from Iran’s past.
Screenshot of a tweet(Screenshot)
Even some of Trump’s closest allies, such as war hawk Lindsey Graham and conservative commentator Laura Loomer, took to social media to criticize the deal.
“We didn’t really get anything out of it and the terrorists in Iran are celebrating,” Loomer fumed.
Trump’s mishandling of Iran is one for the history books. After the president was bamboozled by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu into striking a country that American intelligence officials said posed no threat to us, he declared multiple times that the war would be easily won. He also reportedly believed that Iran would not have the military capacity to close the Strait of Hormuz.
'Total victory' or TACO? Trump faces
questions on Iran deal
Danny KEMP
AFP
Wed, April 8, 2026
US President Donald Trump has long taken maximalist negotiating positions
Wed, April 8, 2026
US President Donald Trump has long taken maximalist negotiating positions
Kent Nishimura/AFP
Donald Trump claimed "total" victory after a ceasefire with Iran. But critics say the deal is a fresh example of their maxim that the tough-talking US president always "chickens out."
In the space of 12 nerve-wracking hours, Trump went from warning that a "whole civilization will die" to hailing that agreement as a big day for world peace.
The reality on the ground however showed a still shaky two-week ceasefire with a host of unanswered questions -- not least about whether Trump had ever intended to follow through on his apocalyptic threats.
"President Trump is proving to be an increasingly unpredictable force and unreliable ally," Peter Loge, director of George Washington University's School of Media, told AFP.
The former businessman and author of "Art of the Deal" has a long favored a negotiating style that relies on maximum leverage in order to extract more whoever is on the other side of the table.
Trump insisted his approach, which included a vow to bomb Iran back to the "stone age" by targeting civilian energy plants and bridges, had served its purpose.
"Total and complete victory," the president told AFP in a brief telephone interview after Monday's announcement. "100 percent. No question about it."
The White House also insisted that everything had gone according to plan, saying that Trump had always planned for Operation Epic Fury to last between four and six weeks.
"The success of our military created maximum leverage, allowing President Trump and the team to engage in tough negotiations," Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters
But critics say that Trump has employed the same tactic on everything from tariffs to wars to his threats to annex Greenland, especially as markets start to react unfavorably.
The phenomenon now has its own acronym, which originally began with traders: TACO, or "Trump Always Chickens Out."
- 'Military moron' -
Loge -- who predicted on Tuesday morning that Trump would take a self-declared win on Iran then give "give them two more weeks" -- added: "The only consistent thing President Trump does is declare victory."
The time period of two weeks is also familiar to Trump-watchers who have seen him evoke the interval in a series of previous crises.
Critics led by rival Democrats lashed out at the Republican president, who has flexed his executive muscle in the face of a largely pliant and currently absent Congress.
"Trump is a military moron," Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said as he announced the Senate would vote next week on a war powers resolution.
Trump's opponents say the war has left Iran effectively in control of the Strait of Hormuz, with a stranglehold over world energy prices. There's also little evidence he has done more to prevent Iran getting a nuclear bomb, given that the Iranians still possess their store of highly enriched uranium.
And Trump's Republicans are nervous that the Middle East war will hit them in November's midterm elections for control of Congress, given that American families are already finding it harder to pay the bills.
"All of this happens when one man…has unchecked power to wage war," added Schumer.
The criticism grew as the ceasefire appeared to be increasingly fragile, with Iran threatening to torpedo it if Israel did not stop attacks on Lebanon.
"Trump, 'the peace President', should have never started this war alongside Israel, who clearly doesn’t want peace," former ally and congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene said on Thursday.
Nevertheless, Trump loyalists praised the deal.
"It looks like Trump ultimately hits the home run here, takes it to the brink. Iran blinks," said Fox News host and ally Laura Ingraham on her show after the announcement of the deal.
Donald Trump claimed "total" victory after a ceasefire with Iran. But critics say the deal is a fresh example of their maxim that the tough-talking US president always "chickens out."
In the space of 12 nerve-wracking hours, Trump went from warning that a "whole civilization will die" to hailing that agreement as a big day for world peace.
The reality on the ground however showed a still shaky two-week ceasefire with a host of unanswered questions -- not least about whether Trump had ever intended to follow through on his apocalyptic threats.
"President Trump is proving to be an increasingly unpredictable force and unreliable ally," Peter Loge, director of George Washington University's School of Media, told AFP.
The former businessman and author of "Art of the Deal" has a long favored a negotiating style that relies on maximum leverage in order to extract more whoever is on the other side of the table.
Trump insisted his approach, which included a vow to bomb Iran back to the "stone age" by targeting civilian energy plants and bridges, had served its purpose.
"Total and complete victory," the president told AFP in a brief telephone interview after Monday's announcement. "100 percent. No question about it."
The White House also insisted that everything had gone according to plan, saying that Trump had always planned for Operation Epic Fury to last between four and six weeks.
"The success of our military created maximum leverage, allowing President Trump and the team to engage in tough negotiations," Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters
But critics say that Trump has employed the same tactic on everything from tariffs to wars to his threats to annex Greenland, especially as markets start to react unfavorably.
The phenomenon now has its own acronym, which originally began with traders: TACO, or "Trump Always Chickens Out."
- 'Military moron' -
Loge -- who predicted on Tuesday morning that Trump would take a self-declared win on Iran then give "give them two more weeks" -- added: "The only consistent thing President Trump does is declare victory."
The time period of two weeks is also familiar to Trump-watchers who have seen him evoke the interval in a series of previous crises.
Critics led by rival Democrats lashed out at the Republican president, who has flexed his executive muscle in the face of a largely pliant and currently absent Congress.
"Trump is a military moron," Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said as he announced the Senate would vote next week on a war powers resolution.
Trump's opponents say the war has left Iran effectively in control of the Strait of Hormuz, with a stranglehold over world energy prices. There's also little evidence he has done more to prevent Iran getting a nuclear bomb, given that the Iranians still possess their store of highly enriched uranium.
And Trump's Republicans are nervous that the Middle East war will hit them in November's midterm elections for control of Congress, given that American families are already finding it harder to pay the bills.
"All of this happens when one man…has unchecked power to wage war," added Schumer.
The criticism grew as the ceasefire appeared to be increasingly fragile, with Iran threatening to torpedo it if Israel did not stop attacks on Lebanon.
"Trump, 'the peace President', should have never started this war alongside Israel, who clearly doesn’t want peace," former ally and congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene said on Thursday.
Nevertheless, Trump loyalists praised the deal.
"It looks like Trump ultimately hits the home run here, takes it to the brink. Iran blinks," said Fox News host and ally Laura Ingraham on her show after the announcement of the deal.
'Talks were almost dead': Pakistan's last-ditch effort to secure Iran war truce
By Asif Shahzad, Alexander Cornwell and Ariba Shahid
Ryan Mancini
By Asif Shahzad, Alexander Cornwell and Ariba Shahid
REUTERS
Wed, April 8, 2026
FILE PHOTO: Pakistan's Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif looks on during a business and investment conference, during his official visit in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, October 6, 2025. REUTERS/Hasnoor Hussain/Pool/File Photo
ISLAMABAD/TEL AVIV, April 8 (Reuters) - Mediation efforts to halt the war in Iran were hours from collapse when Pakistan mounted an overnight diplomatic push to secure a temporary ceasefire and bring Washington and Tehran into direct negotiations, four Pakistani sources told Reuters.
The effort nearly unravelled after an Iranian strike on a Saudi petrochemical facility triggered fury in Riyadh and threatened to derail weeks of back-channel diplomacy, the sources - with direct knowledge of the talks - said.
With a deadline set by U.S. President Donald Trump looming, Pakistani officials mounted a last-ditch attempt to pass messages between Tehran and Washington, after Trump warned that continued fighting that night could wipe out "a whole civilization."
Pakistan's effort involved direct contact with top officials across all sides, including Trump, Vice President JD Vance and U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff, as well as Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi and senior Revolutionary Guards commander Ahmad Vahidi, one of the sources said.
After what a second source described as several "intense, breathless" hours during which "the talks were almost dead", Iran agreed to a temporary ceasefire without preconditions and to enter negotiations.
"In the evening, Iran was on thin ice after the attacks on KSA (Saudi Arabia) but they knew there would be no extension to the deadline," the first source said.
Pakistan's military and civilian leadership remained engaged through the night, speaking to senior U.S. and Iranian, Saudi and other officials until Trump announced the breakthrough.
Minutes before Trump posted the announcement, he was on the phone with Pakistan's army chief, Field Marshal Asim Munir, the source said.
ASSURANCES ON ISRAEL
While Pakistan conveyed its "strongest ever anger" to Iran over the strike on Saudi Arabia, with whom Islamabad has a mutual defence pact that could drag it into the war, it simultaneously sought assurances from Washington that it would rein in Israeli strikes on Iran.
Iranian officials said they had launched the strike on the petrochemical complex in Jubail after an Israeli attack on an Iranian petrochemical facility, the second source said. Tehran could not enter negotiations if such strikes continued, they added.
Pakistan then told Washington that Israeli actions were jeopardising its peace efforts and that Islamabad might not be able to persuade Iran to come to the table, the source said.
Only after receiving an assurance that Israel would hold back, was Pakistan able to persuade Tehran to agree to a temporary ceasefire without preconditions.
Two Israeli sources said Israel had opposed a deal with Iran, believing more could be achieved militarily, although it ultimately decided to support any decision taken by Trump.
An Israeli official said Washington had coordinated with Israel and the truce did not include any commitment to permanently end the war, compensate Iran or lift sanctions.
The official added that in any negotiations with Tehran, the United States would insist Iran hand over its nuclear material, halt uranium enrichment and remove the threat posed by its ballistic missile programme.
The Israeli prime minister's office did not respond to a request for comment.
NO ONE SLEPT
Around midnight (1900 GMT), Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif urged all parties to observe a ceasefire to allow the peace process to begin.
The request was a coordinated move to lock in the ceasefire and came after both sides had already agreed in principle, the first source said.
"We wouldn't have made the request if the answer was going to be negative," the source said.
The late-night conversations included repeated exchanges over a 15-point U.S. proposal and two core questions: what would the ceasefire look like and the parameters for the talks, a diplomat from the Middle East who has been in contact with both sides said.
Iran proposed recognition of its sovereignty over the international waterway at the centre of much of the conflict - the Strait of Hormuz - a demand likely to be unacceptable to Washington, the diplomat said.
Tehran was also asking for the right to pursue nuclear energy and strike bilateral defence deals with regional states, as mediators tried to steer talks away from issues that could cause immediate clashes, the diplomat added.
Talks will start on Saturday and the U.S. delegation will be led by Vance, with Witkoff and Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner also part of the team, the White House said in an announcement that followed hours of speculation on what Trump would decide.
Iran has indicated it would turn over its stocks of enriched uranium, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters as she made the announcement about talks.
Two Pakistani sources said the Iranian delegation would be led by Araqchi and parliament speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf.
A third Pakistani source said the hardest part of the process was convincing Iran to accept a truce without preconditions.
"Until the last hours, Iran acted as a hardliner. The Iranians were not ready to budge without first putting their demands forward. We told them the demands can wait for the talks to happen," the source said.
By the time Trump announced the ceasefire and Sharif extended invitations to delegations from both countries, the sun was nearly rising over Islamabad.
"We have been working throughout the night," Sharif said at a cabinet meeting on Wednesday. "... if we turn it into a book it will serve as a big lesson for this nation and for generations to come, about how not to give up in a hopeless situation."
(Reporting by Asif Shahzad and Saad Sayeed in Islamabad, Ariba Shahid in Karachi, Alexander Cornwell in Tel Aviv, Humeyra Pamuk in Budapest, Mubasher Bukhari in Lahore, Timour Azhari in Dubai and Ethan Wang in Beijing; Writing by Saad Sayeed; Editing by Ros Russell)
Trump says US will be ‘hangin’ around’ Strait of Hormuz: ‘Big money’ to be made
Wed, April 8, 2026
FILE PHOTO: Pakistan's Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif looks on during a business and investment conference, during his official visit in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, October 6, 2025. REUTERS/Hasnoor Hussain/Pool/File Photo
ISLAMABAD/TEL AVIV, April 8 (Reuters) - Mediation efforts to halt the war in Iran were hours from collapse when Pakistan mounted an overnight diplomatic push to secure a temporary ceasefire and bring Washington and Tehran into direct negotiations, four Pakistani sources told Reuters.
The effort nearly unravelled after an Iranian strike on a Saudi petrochemical facility triggered fury in Riyadh and threatened to derail weeks of back-channel diplomacy, the sources - with direct knowledge of the talks - said.
With a deadline set by U.S. President Donald Trump looming, Pakistani officials mounted a last-ditch attempt to pass messages between Tehran and Washington, after Trump warned that continued fighting that night could wipe out "a whole civilization."
Pakistan's effort involved direct contact with top officials across all sides, including Trump, Vice President JD Vance and U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff, as well as Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi and senior Revolutionary Guards commander Ahmad Vahidi, one of the sources said.
After what a second source described as several "intense, breathless" hours during which "the talks were almost dead", Iran agreed to a temporary ceasefire without preconditions and to enter negotiations.
"In the evening, Iran was on thin ice after the attacks on KSA (Saudi Arabia) but they knew there would be no extension to the deadline," the first source said.
Pakistan's military and civilian leadership remained engaged through the night, speaking to senior U.S. and Iranian, Saudi and other officials until Trump announced the breakthrough.
Minutes before Trump posted the announcement, he was on the phone with Pakistan's army chief, Field Marshal Asim Munir, the source said.
ASSURANCES ON ISRAEL
While Pakistan conveyed its "strongest ever anger" to Iran over the strike on Saudi Arabia, with whom Islamabad has a mutual defence pact that could drag it into the war, it simultaneously sought assurances from Washington that it would rein in Israeli strikes on Iran.
Iranian officials said they had launched the strike on the petrochemical complex in Jubail after an Israeli attack on an Iranian petrochemical facility, the second source said. Tehran could not enter negotiations if such strikes continued, they added.
Pakistan then told Washington that Israeli actions were jeopardising its peace efforts and that Islamabad might not be able to persuade Iran to come to the table, the source said.
Only after receiving an assurance that Israel would hold back, was Pakistan able to persuade Tehran to agree to a temporary ceasefire without preconditions.
Two Israeli sources said Israel had opposed a deal with Iran, believing more could be achieved militarily, although it ultimately decided to support any decision taken by Trump.
An Israeli official said Washington had coordinated with Israel and the truce did not include any commitment to permanently end the war, compensate Iran or lift sanctions.
The official added that in any negotiations with Tehran, the United States would insist Iran hand over its nuclear material, halt uranium enrichment and remove the threat posed by its ballistic missile programme.
The Israeli prime minister's office did not respond to a request for comment.
NO ONE SLEPT
Around midnight (1900 GMT), Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif urged all parties to observe a ceasefire to allow the peace process to begin.
The request was a coordinated move to lock in the ceasefire and came after both sides had already agreed in principle, the first source said.
"We wouldn't have made the request if the answer was going to be negative," the source said.
The late-night conversations included repeated exchanges over a 15-point U.S. proposal and two core questions: what would the ceasefire look like and the parameters for the talks, a diplomat from the Middle East who has been in contact with both sides said.
Iran proposed recognition of its sovereignty over the international waterway at the centre of much of the conflict - the Strait of Hormuz - a demand likely to be unacceptable to Washington, the diplomat said.
Tehran was also asking for the right to pursue nuclear energy and strike bilateral defence deals with regional states, as mediators tried to steer talks away from issues that could cause immediate clashes, the diplomat added.
Talks will start on Saturday and the U.S. delegation will be led by Vance, with Witkoff and Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner also part of the team, the White House said in an announcement that followed hours of speculation on what Trump would decide.
Iran has indicated it would turn over its stocks of enriched uranium, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters as she made the announcement about talks.
Two Pakistani sources said the Iranian delegation would be led by Araqchi and parliament speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf.
A third Pakistani source said the hardest part of the process was convincing Iran to accept a truce without preconditions.
"Until the last hours, Iran acted as a hardliner. The Iranians were not ready to budge without first putting their demands forward. We told them the demands can wait for the talks to happen," the source said.
By the time Trump announced the ceasefire and Sharif extended invitations to delegations from both countries, the sun was nearly rising over Islamabad.
"We have been working throughout the night," Sharif said at a cabinet meeting on Wednesday. "... if we turn it into a book it will serve as a big lesson for this nation and for generations to come, about how not to give up in a hopeless situation."
(Reporting by Asif Shahzad and Saad Sayeed in Islamabad, Ariba Shahid in Karachi, Alexander Cornwell in Tel Aviv, Humeyra Pamuk in Budapest, Mubasher Bukhari in Lahore, Timour Azhari in Dubai and Ethan Wang in Beijing; Writing by Saad Sayeed; Editing by Ros Russell)
Trump says US will be ‘hangin’ around’ Strait of Hormuz: ‘Big money’ to be made
Ryan Mancini
AP
Wed, April 8, 2026
President Trump on Wednesday declared “big money” is to be made by the U.S. “hangin’ around” the Strait of Hormuz following a two-week ceasefire agreement reached between the U.S. and Iran.
Trump wrote on Truth Social that it was a “big day for World Peace” and that “Iran wants it to happen, they’ve had enough!”
“Likewise, so has everyone else!” the president continued. “The United States of America will be helping with the traffic buildup in the Strait of Hormuz. There will be lots of positive action! Big money will be made. Iran can start the reconstruction process.”
He added, “We’ll be loading up with supplies of all kinds, and just ‘hangin’ around’ in order to make sure that everything goes well.”
Trump said he felt confident that all goes well, writing, “Just like we are experiencing in the U.S., this could be the Golden Age of the Middle East!!!”
The U.S., Israel and Iran reached an eleventh-hour deal to pause strikes and allow Iran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz. This was a component of a 10-point peace plan by Tehran, which the president said was “workable,” though Trump later accused the plan of being fraudulent after a Farsi version of Iran’s deal said the country could continue its uranium enrichment.
It is unclear exactly when the ceasefire will start.
The temporary ceasefire comes after Trump, in the days leading up to Tuesday, gave Iran an 8 p.m. EDT deadline for the regime to come to a deal. The president threatened that Iran’s “whole civilization will die tonight, never to be brought back again” unless “maybe something revolutionarily wonderful can happen.”
The ominous warning drew backlash from lawmakers, who raised concerns about a potential war crime and leading others to call for the invocation of the 25th Amendment to remove Trump from office.
Missile alerts rang across Gulf partners and Israel in the hours after the deal was reached. Iranian state television reported that an oil refinery on Lavan Island, one of the country’s offshore terminals to export oil and gas, was under attack.
Pakistan, which mediated between the U.S. and Iran, and other nations involved in Israel’s invasion of Lebanon to fight Hezbollah militants said they would pause their actions. Israel said it will continue with its military operation in Lebanon.
The peace plan also allows Iran and Oman to charge ships traveling through the Strait of Hormuz, a regional officer told The Associated Press. Funds raised from these fees will go toward Iran’s reconstruction following a month of U.S. and Israeli bombardments.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio late last month warned against Iran possibly setting up a “tolling system” for vessels moving through the strait. He said that if this took place after the U.S. met its objectives, it would be “illegal” and “dangerous for the world.”
Iran shut down the strait following the start of the conflict on Feb. 28. The strait’s closure led to gas and oil prices rising across the globe. The national average for gas in the U.S. sits at $4.20 per gallon on Wednesday, according to AAA.
The Associated Press contributed.
Wed, April 8, 2026
President Trump on Wednesday declared “big money” is to be made by the U.S. “hangin’ around” the Strait of Hormuz following a two-week ceasefire agreement reached between the U.S. and Iran.
Trump wrote on Truth Social that it was a “big day for World Peace” and that “Iran wants it to happen, they’ve had enough!”
“Likewise, so has everyone else!” the president continued. “The United States of America will be helping with the traffic buildup in the Strait of Hormuz. There will be lots of positive action! Big money will be made. Iran can start the reconstruction process.”
He added, “We’ll be loading up with supplies of all kinds, and just ‘hangin’ around’ in order to make sure that everything goes well.”
Trump said he felt confident that all goes well, writing, “Just like we are experiencing in the U.S., this could be the Golden Age of the Middle East!!!”
The U.S., Israel and Iran reached an eleventh-hour deal to pause strikes and allow Iran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz. This was a component of a 10-point peace plan by Tehran, which the president said was “workable,” though Trump later accused the plan of being fraudulent after a Farsi version of Iran’s deal said the country could continue its uranium enrichment.
It is unclear exactly when the ceasefire will start.
The temporary ceasefire comes after Trump, in the days leading up to Tuesday, gave Iran an 8 p.m. EDT deadline for the regime to come to a deal. The president threatened that Iran’s “whole civilization will die tonight, never to be brought back again” unless “maybe something revolutionarily wonderful can happen.”
The ominous warning drew backlash from lawmakers, who raised concerns about a potential war crime and leading others to call for the invocation of the 25th Amendment to remove Trump from office.
Missile alerts rang across Gulf partners and Israel in the hours after the deal was reached. Iranian state television reported that an oil refinery on Lavan Island, one of the country’s offshore terminals to export oil and gas, was under attack.
Pakistan, which mediated between the U.S. and Iran, and other nations involved in Israel’s invasion of Lebanon to fight Hezbollah militants said they would pause their actions. Israel said it will continue with its military operation in Lebanon.
The peace plan also allows Iran and Oman to charge ships traveling through the Strait of Hormuz, a regional officer told The Associated Press. Funds raised from these fees will go toward Iran’s reconstruction following a month of U.S. and Israeli bombardments.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio late last month warned against Iran possibly setting up a “tolling system” for vessels moving through the strait. He said that if this took place after the U.S. met its objectives, it would be “illegal” and “dangerous for the world.”
Iran shut down the strait following the start of the conflict on Feb. 28. The strait’s closure led to gas and oil prices rising across the globe. The national average for gas in the U.S. sits at $4.20 per gallon on Wednesday, according to AAA.
The Associated Press contributed.
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