International
oi-Prakash KL
US President Donald Trump has said he agreed to a ceasefire with Iran as a “favour” to Pakistan, claiming he would not otherwise have supported the move.
Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One while returning to the United States from China, Trump said the ceasefire had been arranged at the request of Islamabad.
US President Donald Trump stated the ceasefire with Iran was a favour to Pakistan, requested by Islamabad, and claimed China’s Xi Jinping agrees on blocking Iran’s nuclear weapons and keeping the Strait of Hormuz open.
“We did the ceasefire as a request from another nation. I wouldn’t have been in favour of it, but we did it as a favour to Pakistan. They are terrific people, the Field Marshal and the Prime Minister,” he said.
Trump reiterated that he remained firmly opposed to Iran obtaining nuclear weapons and insisted Tehran must relinquish its stockpile of enriched uranium.
The US president also dismissed Iran’s latest peace proposal, saying he rejected it after reading only the opening line because it failed to provide adequate assurances over the future of the country’s nuclear programme.
“Well, I looked at it, and if I don’t like the first sentence, I just throw it away,” Trump remarked.
The conflict involving the US and Israel against Iran reportedly began on 28 February before being paused under a ceasefire on 8 April, with Pakistan said to have played a mediating role.
On 11 and 12 April, US Vice President JD Vance led a delegation to Islamabad for direct discussions with Iranian officials in what observers described as an unusual diplomatic opening.
Trump further claimed Iranian negotiators had admitted the country lacked the capability to remove nuclear fuel from damaged facilities following US strikes.
“They came up with a terrible secret. They said that they can’t remove it because they don’t have the technology to remove it. They don’t have the time and the practice,” he said.
The Republican leader had travelled to China amid criticism that the prolonged conflict with Iran had weakened his international standing, though the visit concluded without any major breakthrough on the crisis.
During talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping at Zhongnanhai Garden in Beijing on Friday, Trump said both sides shared similar concerns over Iran’s nuclear ambitions.
“We did discuss Iran. We feel very similar about how we want it to end. We don’t want them to have a nuclear weapon. We want the straits open,” he said, in an apparent reference to the Strait of Hormuz.
“We want them to get it ended because it’s a crazy thing there, a little bit crazy. And it’s no good, it can’t happen,” he added.
Despite previously urging Beijing to help persuade Iran to keep the Strait of Hormuz open, Trump later insisted the United States did not require China’s assistance.
