The United States, Israel, and Iran agreed in the early hours of April 8, 2026 to a two-week ceasefire shortly before Donald Trump’s ultimatum expired. Delegations are due to meet in Islamabad on April 10, with Pakistan acting as mediator.
According to the article, Washington sent Tehran a 15-point plan through intermediaries in late March. It included Iran renouncing the development of nuclear weapons, transferring its stockpiles of enriched uranium to the IAEA, and a ceasefire to discuss the terms. The US later sent several other settlement options, but none was accepted.
Trump said the United States had achieved, and even exceeded, its military objectives and had moved closer to a long-term peace with Iran and across the Middle East.
Iran’s Supreme National Security Council said Tehran was prepared to use the two weeks for negotiations and could extend the period by mutual consent. Iran’s proposed agreement reportedly calls for lifting sanctions, retaining control over the Strait of Hormuz, withdrawing US troops from the region, ending attacks, unfreezing assets, and passing a binding UN Security Council resolution.
Experts interviewed by Novaya Gazeta Europe say the joint US-Israeli campaign inflicted far greater damage on Iran than the 12-day war in June. In their assessment, strikes hit parts of the nuclear and missile programs, the military-industrial base, aviation, logistics, and much of the air defense network, though some underground infrastructure may have survived.
At the same time, Iran’s political system did not collapse despite the death of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and several top security officials on the first day of the war. Analyst Ruslan Suleymanov argues that power has shifted even further toward the security establishment, above all the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, while supporters of reform and negotiation have been pushed aside.
The experts cited by the paper doubt that a durable peace can be reached within two weeks. The role of Iran and its regional allies, including Hezbollah, also remains unresolved, while Israel continues its operation in Lebanon. In their view, without a new agreement on the scale of the 2015 nuclear deal, the risk of another war will remain high.