Trump says US to ‘suspend bombing and attack of Iran’ for two weeks

[0:00] You're watching Al Jazeera. We're bringing you some breaking news that's coming out of the United States. [0:04] These are lines that are coming from the Reuters news agency. [0:08] We understand that Donald Trump is quoted as saying that he has agreed to suspend bombing and attack of Iran for a period of two weeks. [0:17] Now, this is following a request that was made by Pakistan's Prime Minister Shabba Sharif, who had requested an extension of the deadline that Donald Trump had originally set in order for further talks to take place. [0:31] Donald Trump is apparently quoted to have said that this will be a double-sided ceasefire. [0:38] He may well be referring to a request that had been made by the Pakistan Prime Minister to Iran to open the Strait of Hormuz for a corresponding period of two weeks as a goodwill gesture. [0:50] The other lines that we're getting through Reuters saying, we have received a 10-point proposal from Iran. [0:56] We believe it is a workable basis on which to negotiate. [1:00] Almost all of the various points of the past contention have been agreed to between the United States and Iran. [1:07] He then goes on to say, we are very far along with a definitive agreement concerning a long-term peace with Iran. [1:15] I want to go to Osama bin Javed, who's our correspondent, who's joining us here in the studio. [1:21] It was only just a matter of minutes ago that you and I were discussing the possibility of this ceasefire being put into place. [1:27] And there was a lot of speculation it was coming too late. [1:30] You described it as a last-ditch effort by the Pakistan Prime Minister in order to try to get some sort of negotiation. [1:37] It does seem as though, if these lines are to be believed, that it has had a positive response from Donald Trump. [1:44] Well, it does indeed. [1:45] And I think that that is going to be a big sigh of relief collectively from the region and beyond, [1:52] because the alternative was so horrific. [1:54] As you've seen Donald Trump time and again talk to his social media base and then take the rhetoric to a notch where everyone would essentially... [2:05] The level of anxiety around the region was extraordinary in the last few hours. [2:10] And Donald Trump was the only man who could defuse it, because he's the one who lit the fuse in the first place. [2:16] Those words, the first post about using swear words on the opening of the Strait of Hormuz and then saying that he's going to wipe out an entire civilization just gives you an idea of how much was at stake. [2:31] So this is... And again, you have to now acknowledge the role relentlessly that was played by the mediators, [2:39] because as we've been speaking to officials in the last 72 hours, they've been telling us on how uphill this task was in negotiating with both the Iranians and the Americans, [2:50] because they were essentially talking about egos, not regular diplomacy. [2:56] I want to just leave it there for a moment, because I do want to go to Mike Hanna, who's joining us from the White House. [3:00] As I say, Mike, we're just getting these lines now that are coming out. [3:04] Are you able to confirm what we're hearing? [3:07] We cannot confirm as yet. There's been no formal statement out of the White House. [3:11] Obviously, these lines have been coming out from Reuters within the last few minutes. [3:16] We are waiting to hear formally from the White House, the spokesperson, or indeed even the president himself, [3:23] who was due to make a decision at 8 p.m. That's in just over one hour's time. [3:28] But just to look at these points that are coming out of Reuters, very, very important. [3:33] First of all, that President Trump is reported as saying he will suspend the attack on Iran for two weeks. [3:42] That's an absolutely critical issue. [3:43] He says that he believes the 10-point proposal he received from Iran is a workable basis on which to negotiate. [3:53] So it's going past what is an apparent ceasefire here. [3:57] It's going towards the nuts and bolts of a possible negotiated lasting solution. [4:03] We also hear via Reuters President Trump saying that a two-week period will allow agreement to be finalized and consominated. [4:14] He then continues, or is reported to continue, [4:16] we are very far along with a definitive agreement concerning long-term peace with Iran. [4:24] Now, the key word there is definitive. [4:27] All of this coming, as I said, just a little over an hour before that deadline that President Trump had set has expired. [4:35] So we will try and get formal confirmation from the White House. [4:39] Perhaps we're going to get that formal confirmation from the president itself. [4:43] Just to stress, what we are reporting here are lines that are coming out of Reuters reporting, [4:49] how they got these particular points, not clear at this moment. [4:53] But we will definitely find out exactly what the source is or confirm that these are the words of President Trump within minutes, one would hope. [5:03] Mike, for now, thank you very much indeed. [5:05] I want to go to Mohammed Valls joining us from Turkran. [5:08] One of the lines that's coming out, Donald Trump saying that this is going to be what he's calling a double-sided ceasefire. [5:14] We know that Pakistan's prime minister had made a request of Iran to open the Strait of Hormuz for two weeks in order to, as he called it, a goodwill gesture. [5:24] Is there any reaction coming out from Iran? [5:30] Rob, it's too early to talk about a reaction coming out from Iran. [5:35] But even for us journalists, we are still reading these lines by Donald Trump and trying to understand them fully [5:41] because he talked about suspending the bombing and it's not clear, at least to me, whether he's suspending what's already going on since the beginning of the war entirely [5:51] or he's suspending or he's extending the deadline for that ultimate destruction of the power plants. [5:58] I mean, I think it is the first option. [5:59] So, Iranians are going to read this, maybe read it again and again to see between the lines [6:04] and also to read what is clearly there written and they're going to look at it and probably going to react it in the next hour or so, [6:13] maybe, maybe longer than that, because the Iranians are, again, let's remind everyone and ourselves [6:20] that the Iranians have always been talking about lack of trust. [6:24] They don't trust Donald Trump and they don't, they don't seem to be ready, [6:28] at least from what they have been saying since the beginning of the war, [6:31] they don't seem to be ready to take his words at face value. [6:35] But this is a serious offer tonight and there is a serious deadline. [6:40] There are only maybe a couple of hours before that bombing that he has been threatening to wage on Iran. [6:46] He's going to plunge the country into darkness because it's going to affect the electricity grids in the country, across the country. [6:54] So, this is a serious moment in this war and the Iranians, I suppose, are likely to take it seriously [7:01] and look at it and respond to it before the expiry moment of that deadline. [7:08] It's too early to talk about an official reaction from Iran. [7:11] But just a while ago, before these lines came out, they were talking again and continuously about defiance, [7:20] readiness for peace, but also readiness for war. [7:22] We have seen people taken to the streets and we have seen statements from every single, [7:27] almost every single field commander talking about only the option of war as the only guarantee for the Iranians, [7:34] the only thing they can control and the only thing that they think will serve their purpose. [7:38] They have been talking about the other side being the one that is in desperate need for the ceasefire [7:44] and in desperate need for a deal. [7:46] They think that Donald Trump is stuck in a quagmire because of this war that has been imposed on him [7:52] and imposed on the region in general. [7:56] And he's looking for, he's more desperate for a way out of this war than the Iranians themselves. [8:01] They have lost a lot in this war already. [8:03] And they think they can continue because they believe they have what it takes militarily [8:08] and also the resolve of the nation to suffer any amount of destruction and loss in order to go until the end [8:17] and in order to make sure that this war is not going to end in a final defeat for Iran [8:22] and the situation where it can continue to be bombarded even after a ceasefire. [8:26] We have seen that in Gaza. [8:27] We have seen that in Lebanon. [8:29] And those are strong lessons for Iranians here. [8:32] They believe that Iran should not be subjected to the same kind of fake deals that we see across the Middle East [8:38] when Israel and another party to conflict are involved. [8:43] That's why Iranians are afraid of a situation where the country will be continuously bombarded [8:48] after a ceasefire has been signed. [8:52] Just very briefly, Mohamed, you mentioned, of course, there that it's still very early in the morning. [8:57] You haven't yet had an official response to this announcement that is being reported to have come from Donald Trump. [9:04] We have a Truth Social post that he apparently has posted. [9:08] They're giving more details. [9:09] At the same time, we're getting a line from Reuters saying that Israeli military says it's identified missiles [9:14] being launched from Iran towards Israel. [9:17] This is going to be a dangerous period, isn't it? [9:19] Because until Iran is able to say officially that it agrees with this ceasefire, [9:24] it is very likely that there will still be attacks going from Iran to other countries. [9:31] Well, that's right. [9:32] That's the problem. [9:33] And also, I didn't mention Israel. [9:36] Israel is the factor for many people here. [9:40] Israel is the factor of complication and complexity in this situation. [9:44] It's the elephant in the room. [9:45] It's the party that hasn't been talking about peace. [9:48] Instead, reports suggest that Israelis have been pushing hard, that Trump doesn't agree on a ceasefire with the Iranians. [9:56] And also, about these missiles, we don't have a confirmation about the timing of those missile launches. [10:03] But it's very understandable that the Iranian military is still not fully aware of this. [10:10] And it is not even already an agreement. [10:11] It is an offer, probably, seemingly by President Trump. [10:15] We don't know whether this offer is based on an agreement behind, as we say, behind, like an agreement that we don't know about already by the Iranians there in Islamabad. [10:29] We don't know if this is something that is reciprocated already. [10:32] And we're still waiting for the Iranians to make clear whether they have, a priori, whether they have agreed to it or not. [10:42] So, the military are, understandably, still engaged in this fight. [10:45] And it will take time for this news. [10:48] If the Iranian side is on board for this, it will take time for the military to be informed about it and to be given the right orders to stop the launches. [10:57] But, as I said, the problem is we don't know – President Trump didn't mention Israel in this tweet. [11:03] He didn't mention that these – the three parties in this war are on board, of course. [11:08] And that means the Israelis probably are going to continue also to launch attacks on Iran. [11:14] And that's going to make the situation very complicated for – even for the – for the American president. [11:19] Mohamed, for now, thank you very much indeed. [11:21] We're going to go back.