Pakistan proposes 2-week Iran ceasefire ahead of Trump deadline

Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Tuesday called on President Trump and the Iranian regime to agree to a two-week ceasefire to give time for peace talks.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told : “The President has been made aware of the proposal, and a response will come.” Why it matters: Sharif’s statement comes less than five hours before Trump’s deadline to either get a deal or launch a massive bombing campaign on Iranian infrastructure. Pakistan has been the primary mediator between the U.S. and Iran over the last several weeks.

• This proposal could give both sides a temporary off-ramp.
• A senior Iranian official told Reuters that Tehran was “positively reviewing” the Pakistani proposal.

What he’s saying: “Diplomatic efforts for peaceful settlement of the ongoing war in the Middle East are progressing steadily, strongly and powerfully with the potential to lead to substantive results in near future,” Sharif wrote on X.

• “To allow diplomacy to run its course, I earnestly request President Trump to extend the deadline for two weeks. Pakistan, in all sincerity, requests the Iranian brothers to open Strait of Hormuz for a corresponding period of two weeks as a goodwill gesture.”
• “We also urge all warring parties to observe a ceasefire everywhere for two weeks to allow diplomacy to achieve conclusive termination of war, in the interest of long-term peace and stability in the region.”