08/04/2026
Iran ceasefire deal gives Trump a way out of war - but at a high cost
In the end, cooler heads prevailed â at least for now.
At 18:32 Washington time, President Donald Trump posted on his social media website that the US and Iran were "very far along" with a "definitive" peace agreement and that he had agreed to a two-week ceasefire to allow negotiations to proceed.
It wasn't exactly the last minute, but with Trump's looming 20:00 EDT (00:00 GMT on Wednesday) deadline to reach a deal or the US would launch massive strikes against Iranian energy and transportation infrastructure, it came pretty close.
All of this is contingent on Iran also suspending hostilities and fully opening the Strait of Hormuz to commercial shipping traffic, which the regime says it will do, while insisting it still exerts "dominion" over the waterway.
The deal allowed Trump to extricate himself from what was shaping up to be a treacherous choice â either escalating with his promise that a "whole civilisation will die tonight" or backing down and undermining his credibility. The US president may have only bought himself a temporary reprieve, however.
The US and Iranians now will engage in negotiations over the next two weeks, buying some time to try to reach a permanent settlement. It is likely to be a bumpy ride, but in after-hours trading, the price of a barrel of oil dropped below the $100 mark for the first time in days and US stock futures soared. There appears to be a sense of optimism that the worst is over.
trump iran war,iran ceasefire,trump ceasefire,iran ceasefire rejection,iran israel ceasefire,iran rejects ceasefire,trump iran threats,trump iran deadline,trump iran,iran war,war in iran,trump truth social post,islamic republic of iran,ceasefire analysis,5 day ceasefire,ceasefire,ada taruhan besar trump,ceasefire news,iran counterattack,president donald trump,president trump,iran retaliation,trump latest news,south pars gas field attack,mideast war
