Politics

Donald Trump unilaterally announced an extension of the two-week ceasefire with Iran on Tuesday amid frantic efforts to bring the two sides back to the negotiating table.

Hours after announcing that he “expected to be bombing”, the US president adopted a starkly different tone in a post on his Truth Social platform, saying he would extend the ceasefire until Iranian negotiators submitted a proposal for peace.

“Based on the fact that the Government of Iran is seriously fractured, not unexpectedly so and, upon the request of Field Marshal Asim Munir, and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, of Pakistan, we have been asked to hold our Attack on the Country of Iran until such time as their leaders and representatives can come up with a unified proposal,” he wrote.

“I have therefore directed our Military to continue the Blockade and, in all other respects, remain ready and able, and will therefore extend the Ceasefire until such time as their proposal is submitted, and discussions are concluded, one way or the other.”

The declaration came in a topsy-turvy day in which an expected trip to Islamabad by JD Vance, the vice-president, had been put on hold and Trump ramped up his bellicose rhetoric, saying the US military was “raring to go”.

In other words, another TACO Tuesday.