President Donald Trump said on Tuesday that the United States had won a “total and complete victory” after striking a two-week ceasefire deal with Iran, projecting confidence that the truce could lead to a broader agreement even as major questions remained unresolved.
Trump Claims Victory And Signals Uncertainty
In a brief phone call, Trump told AFP when asked whether he was claiming victory, “Total and complete victory. 100 percent. No question about it.” He also said Iran had delivered a 10-point proposal that he described as a “workable basis on which to negotiate.”
Asked about his earlier threats to destroy Iran’s civilian power plants and bridges if diplomacy collapsed, Trump declined to spell out what would come next. “You’re going to have to see,” he said, according to AFP.
Hormuz Reopening Remains A Central Test
The ceasefire was reached after more than a month of attacks involving the United States and Israel, and Reuters and other outlets reported that Pakistan played a central mediating role in securing the pause.
Trump insisted there was a meaningful framework for a longer-term settlement despite lingering uncertainty over how and when the Strait of Hormuz would fully reopen to oil traffic. “We have a 15-point transaction, of which most of those things have been agreed on. We’ll see what happens. We’ll see if it gets there,” he said. The Strait’s status remains central because the waterway handles a large share of the world’s seaborne oil trade, and the ceasefire was tied in part to Tehran’s agreement to reopen it.
China’s Involvement In Nudging Iran
Another unresolved issue is Iran’s stockpile of enriched uranium, a central concern in a war Trump said was partly aimed at ensuring Tehran could never build a nuclear weapon. Trump said any final peace arrangement would address the nuclear material, telling AFP, “That will be perfectly taken care of, or I wouldn’t have settled,” though he gave no specifics. He also suggested China may have helped push Iran toward talks, saying, “I hear yes,” when asked whether Beijing had been involved.
Trump is due to travel to Beijing in mid-May for a summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping, a meeting that had originally been planned for early April before Trump postponed it, saying he needed to remain in Washington to oversee the Iran war.
Image via Shutterstock/ noamgalai
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