President Donald Trump had warned the world that an entire civilization might be wiped out of existence on the night of Tuesday, April 7, 2026. This ominous news came after he set a deadline for Iran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz or face strikes on its power plants, bridges, and civilian infrastructure. However, the world was only able to experience such horrors in its imagination as, two hours before that deadline expired, a ceasefire was announced.

On February 28, the U.S. and Israeli forces launched coordinated attacks on Iran, triggering 40 days of strikes, missile exchanges, regional escalation, and a near-complete closure of the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow channel through which roughly a fifth of the world’s oil ordinarily flows. The monumental economic consequences spread quickly, resulting in energy prices climbing and shipping routes getting disrupted. The disruption to jet fuel supplies was compared by airline industry groups to the aftermath of September 11.

The ceasefire, brokered by Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and the country’s army chief General Asim Munir, came with the condition that Iran would reopen the Strait for a two-week period. In exchange, the U.S. would suspend its bombing campaign. In his social media post announcing the postponement of strikes, Trump wrote: “We received a 10-point proposal from Iran, and believe it is a workable basis on which to negotiate.”  Iran’s Supreme National Security Council confirmed the ceasefire and said the two weeks would be used to finalize a peace deal.

However, global observers reel over in confusion as what exactly Iran had proposed, and what the United States had agreed to, were shrouded in layers of disagreement and contradictions. In late March, Iran had received a 15-point plan drafted by the U.S. and delivered through Pakistani intermediaries. An unnamed high-ranking diplomatic source told Al Jazeera that Tehran described it as “extremely maximalist and unreasonable,” adding: “It is not beautiful, even on paper.”  That U.S. framework included a 30-day ceasefire, the dismantling of Iran’s nuclear facilities, limits on Iranian missiles, and the reopening of the strait, in exchange for the removal of all sanctions.

Iran rejected it and put forward its own 10-point counterproposal. According to a summary released by Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, the plan included the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz under the coordination of Iran’s own armed forces, the establishment of a secure transit protocol, compensation for damages suffered during the war, the lifting of all sanctions, the release of frozen assets, and a binding UN resolution to underpin any final peace arrangement.  Some versions distributed by Iranian state media, including a post from Iran’s embassy in India on its verified social media account, also included a demand for the acceptance of Iran’s right to enrich uranium.

On Monday, 7th April, Trump called the proposal significant but “not good enough,” adding: “If they don’t make a deal, they will have no bridges and no power plants.” Less than 24 hours later, he was calling it a workable basis for negotiation and announcing a ceasefire.

The confusion deepened in the hours that followed. Vice President JD Vance dismissed the publicly released version of the 10-point plan as little more than a “random yahoo in Iran submitting it to public access television,” while Trump took to Truth Social to insist there is “only one group of meaningful points that are acceptable to the United States,” adding that those would be discussed behind closed doors in Islamabad.

The worst was yet to come. Even the media drank of the cup of confusion. On Wednesday, Trump accused The New York Times and CNN of spreading a “totally fake” version of the 10-point plan.

“The Failing New York Times and Fake News CNN each reported a totally FAKE TEN POINT PLAN on the Iran negotiations which was meant to discredit the people involved in the peace process. All ten points were a made up HOAX.”. He wrote on his Truth Social handle.

CNN responded, saying that the statement it reported had been obtained directly from Iranian officials and distributed on multiple Iranian state media outlets. VP Vance noted that at least one earlier proposal appeared to have been drafted using an AI chatbot and was never seriously considered by the administration.

The ceasefire itself, meanwhile, began under conditions that raised immediate questions about its viability. On the first full day of the truce, Iran allowed only 12 cargo tankers to pass through the strait, against a pre-conflict daily average of more than 100 vessels. Iran’s Revolutionary Guard took a central role in managing ship movements, requiring vessels to coordinate passage directly with its naval forces. To aggravate the situation, Iran was reported to be charging transit tolls that could reach as high as $2 million per large tanker, with payments arranged in Chinese yuan or cryptocurrency. U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio described such tolls as both illegal and dangerous.

Iran framed the arrangement differently. Iran’s foreign minister Abbas Araghchi said the strait would remain open “via coordination with Iran’s Armed Forces,” and Iran’s explanation of its position added that this arrangement would confer upon Tehran “a unique economic and geopolitical standing.” 

Another point of divergence was over nuclear enrichment. Iran’s Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf accused the U.S. of violating three elements of the 10-point plan, including what he described as Washington’s denial of Iran’s right to uranium enrichment. Trump, in a separate post, stated there would be “no enrichment of Uranium,” and that the U.S. would work with Iran to remove all nuclear material. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt confirmed the administration would reject any deal that allowed enrichment. For Iran, nuclear enrichment has always been framed as a matter of sovereign right, not a bargaining chip. For the Trump administration and Israel, it is a red line.

JD Vance, U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff, and Jared Kushner were confirmed to travel to Pakistan for the opening round of negotiations. Whether Vance would attend in person remained in question, with Trump citing security concerns. The talks were set to begin on Saturday, April 11, under Pakistani mediation, with both the Iranian 10-point and the American 15-point frameworks