President Trump announced a two-week ceasefire with Iran before the Tuesday deadline to reopen the Strait of Hormuz.
PENNSYLVANIA, USA — Just an hour before Iran’s deadline to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, President Trump announced a two-week ceasefire deal had been reached.
“We are all relieved that we got two more weeks of possible negotiation, but overall the context still signals instability and confusion,” says Wilkes University Associate Political Science Professor Andreea Maierean.
Part of that confusion comes from President Trump’s Truth Social posts over the weekend and Tuesday morning, saying Iran’s whole civilization will die and threatening to bomb Iran’s power plants and bridges if they don’t open the Strait of Hormuz by Tuesday at 8 p.m.
These are threats, one professor believes, that led both parties to accept the two-week ceasefire deal.
“I think most Americans are very pleased to see that we have a ceasefire agreement that happened, and I think it’s a result of the pressure that President Trump put on Iran,” says Bloomsburg University Political Science Professor Neil Strine.
Although Iran has agreed to the ceasefire, they have not yet agreed to open the Strait of Hormuz permanently. Iranian officials have mentioned they want to charge each ship passing through the Strait of Hormuz $2 million dollars as part of negotiations to end the war.
“The two-million-dollar toll that Iran has at least listed in their ten points, I think, is something that’s still subject to negotiation,” says Dr. Strine.
However, some worry that negotiations may be difficult over the next two weeks, especially given the recent threats the president has made towards the Iranian government.
Dr. Maierean says, “This rhetoric, this very inflammatory rhetoric hardens opponents, so our rivals, Iran in this situation, becomes less willing to compromise.”