Good morning. After a dizzying day of diplomatic moves, the U.S., Israel and Iran agreed to a two-week ceasefire – more on that below, along with Hungary’s presidential election and Canada’s next steps in space. But first:
Today’s headlines
- Residents of Israel’s battered north want war against Hezbollah – with or without peace in Iran
- The U.S. expects “separate protocols” with Canada and Mexico around the USMCA and for trade talks to continue past July 1
- The Alberta NDP demands the Justice Minister be fired over his ties to Sam Mraiche
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An Iranian resident in his damaged home after U.S.-Israeli air strikes on Tehran yesterday.-/AFP/Getty Images
Middle East
A last-minute off-ramp
Around 8 a.m. Eastern time yesterday, 12 hours before the deadline he imposed on Iran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, Donald Trump threatened to wipe out the entire country altogether.
“A whole civilization will die tonight, never to be brought back again. I don’t want that to happen, but it probably will,” the U.S. President posted online. Then he hedged slightly, suggesting that “maybe something revolutionarily wonderful can happen, WHO KNOWS? We will find out tonight.”
And we did – on Truth Social, of course. Just past 6:30 p.m. ET last night, Trump abruptly announced a two-week ceasefire with Iran. He said he would suspend all U.S. military strikes if Tehran paused its blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, buying both sides more time to hammer out a peace deal. Iran agreed to halt its attacks, as well, and allow safe passage of ships through the strait under Iranian watch. Israel will also abide by the ceasefire, suspending its bombing campaign in Iran, though it continued attacking Lebanon this morning.
Trump said Iran had presented a 10-point proposal that was a “workable basis” for negotiations and that he expected an agreement to be “finalized and consummated” over the next two weeks. Tehran issued a statement that talks between the two countries would begin on Friday in Islamabad. That isn’t a surprising location: Pakistan has worked hard to position itself as a peace broker in this conflict, and spent much of yesterday engaged in frantic diplomatic efforts to reach some sort of deal.
A U.S. military aircraft at a British base in Gloucestershire yesterday.Toby Melville/Reuters
But Trump has also shown that he’s very willing to back down from his maximalist threats – this is the fourth time that he’s extended his deadline for Tehran to cut a deal. On March 21, Trump promised that America would “hit and obliterate” Iran’s power plants unless it opened the strait “within 48 HOURS from this exact point in time.” Just before the clock ran out, however, he said there’d been “very good and productive conversations” between the countries and postponed his strikes for five days. On March 26, he doled out another 10 days, moving the cutoff to April 6.
His social-media activity ahead of Monday’s deadline amped up the rhetoric: Iran would be blasted “back to the Stone Ages!!!” and “all Hell will reign down on them” if no deal materialized. Then, on Easter Sunday, Trump added 24 more hours and an extraordinary warning that’s still worth quoting in full: “Tuesday will be Power Plant Day, and Bridge Day, all wrapped up in one, in Iran. There will be nothing like it!!! Open the Fuckin’ Strait, you crazy bastards, or you’ll be living in Hell – JUST WATCH.”
It’s unclear whether this shaky ceasefire will hold: Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates reported drone and missile attacks early this morning. And it’s unclear whether Trump will face any consequences for yesterday’s threat to eliminate Iranian civilization – incendiary rhetoric that UN rights chief Volker Türk decried as “a war crime.” More than a quarter of congressional Democrats called for Trump’s removal from office yesterday, either through impeachment or the 25th Amendment, though the chances of that happening are pretty much nil.
But for now, Trump seems to be sticking with his two-week ceasefire. The deadline to end his war in Iran moves forward to April 21 – unless the President changes his mind again.
The Shot
‘It’s time to pack our suitcases and go home.’
A crescent Earth, seen from the Orion spacecraft, sets behind the moon on Monday.The Associated Press
As the Artemis II crew make their long journey back to Earth, Canada’s space program is looking to stay relevant after astronaut Jeremy Hansen wraps up his historic flight. Read more here about what’s next.
The Wrap
What else we’re following
At home: The lawyer representing Sturgeon Lake Cree Nation argued that Alberta separatists have no right to petition for the breakup of Canada.
Abroad: U.S. Vice-President JD Vance accused the EU of “foreign election interference” as he stumped for Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán in Budapest ahead of Sunday’s vote.
Scrapped: Organizers cancelled the Wireless music festival after Britain barred Kanye West from entering the country because of his past antisemitic remarks.
Added: Céline Dion has put six more shows on the calendar for her comeback tour in Paris this September.
Grudge: Swedish curler Oskar Eriksson won’t let go of his Olympic feud with Team Canada.
Guard: Canada’s Wonderland will require all kids under 16 to have a chaperone when the amusement park reopens for the season next month.