Virendra Pandit
New Delhi: After threatening Iran with a 48-hour deadline to reopen the Strait of Hormuz for all shipping…or else…,President Donald Trump, once again, ‘chickened out’ on Monday as he announced a five-day ‘ceasefire’ in the US-Israel war on Iran on the 24th day of the ongoing conflict in West Asia.
Tehran, however, ridiculed his ‘offer.’ An Iranian pamphlet commented: “Say goodbye to electricity.”
Only on March 20, Trump had bragged of “success”, and rejected a ceasefire in the Iran war.
The Financial Times Columnist Robert Armstrong had, in mid-2025, coined a unique phrase, TACO (Trump Always Chickens Out!), to underline the US President’s rhetoric, threats, and retractions. This was how he described a recurring pattern in Trump’s trade strategy, specifically referring to his habit of threatening tariffs and then backing off.
Known for his flip-flops, he announced a ‘winding down’ of the war on Saturday, a 48-hour deadline on Sunday, and a five-day ‘ceasefire’ on Monday, before even the deadline expired. Clearly, few trusted him.
On Monday, Trump indicated that Washington and Tehran have begun what he described as “very good and productive conversations” aimed at a full resolution of the escalating conflict in the Middle East. He said he had ordered the postponement of any planned strikes on Iranian power plants and energy infrastructure for five days to allow the talks to continue.
The move marks the first public hint of possible de-escalation since the war, which started on February 28, entered its fourth week. Responding to Trump’s latest post, Iranian state media said that the US President “backed down” fearing potential Iran reprisal, according to media reports.
In a statement released on his social media platform, Trump wrote: “I am pleased to report that the United States of America and the country of Iran have had, over the last two days, very good and productive conversations regarding a complete and total resolution of our hostilities in the Middle East. Based on the tenor and tone of these in-depth, detailed and constructive conversations, which will continue throughout the week, I have instructed the Department of Defense to postpone any and all military strikes against Iranian power plants and energy. infrastructure for a five-day period, subject to the success of the ongoing meetings and discussions.”
The caveat was that the pause is temporary and entirely dependent on progress at the negotiating table.
There was no indication from Tehran that it had accepted any terms, nor any confirmation that formal talks were actually underway.
On the contrary, Tehran reportedly planned to levy heavy taxes on select foreign ships crossing the Strait of Hormuz, thus challenging the US threat of the 48-hour deadline.
Trump’s announcement came only hours after Iran had issued fresh and explicit threats in response to an earlier American ultimatum. On Monday, Iranian officials warned they would lay drifting naval mines across the Gulf and strike power stations across the region if their territory came under further attack, the media reported.
They released maps highlighting potential targets, including Israel’s two largest electricity plants and facilities in Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar and Kuwait.
One accompanying graphic carried the stark headline: “Say goodbye to electricity.”
The rhetoric followed a midnight deadline set by Trump for Iran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz or face the “obliteration” of its power infrastructure.
Tehran gave no sign of compliance. Instead, it has already restricted tanker traffic through the narrow waterway — a chokepoint for roughly one-fifth of global oil shipments — and launched retaliatory strikes on energy sites and US diplomatic missions and security posts across the Gulf, as well as targets inside Israel.
Comments are closed.