Just hours before President Donald Trump’s deadline, a proposal to pause the fighting between the U.S. and Iran has emerged.
Pakistan’s prime minister, Shehbaz Sharif, said negotiations are “progressing steadily, strongly and powerfully” and could produce results soon. He urged Trump to extend his 8 p.m. deadline by two weeks to allow diplomacy to continue.
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Sharif also called on Iran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz for the same two-week period as a goodwill gesture and urged all sides to observe a temporary ceasefire.
The White House acknowledged the proposal, with press secretary Karoline Leavitt saying, “The president has been made aware of the proposal, and a response will come.”
Trump had warned that “a whole civilization will die tonight” if an agreement is not reached by his deadline. He has not clarified what he meant by that threat, but has previously said the U.S. would target bridges and power plants if Iran does not reopen the Strait of Hormuz.
Iran has accused Trump of threatening “war crimes,” and vowed to retaliate if the U.S. follows through, saying potential strikes could target not only military sites but also civilian infrastructure in the region.
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Any escalation could also be felt at home, as Americans face global uncertainty and the prospect of higher fuel prices. The Energy Information Administration, the statistical and analytical arm of the U.S. Department of Energy, has acknowledged the uncharted territory of a prolonged closure of the Strait of Hormuz.
“Just as we had never before seen the strait close, we’ve never seen it reopen,” said Tristan Abbey, administrator of the Energy Information Administration. “What exactly that looks like remains to be seen. Full restoration of flows will take months. Our modeling indicates that fuel prices will continue to rise until these variables resolve.”
The average price for a gallon of regular unleaded gasoline is $4.14 as of Tuesday, according to AAA. That’s about 70 cents higher than a month ago.
