US President Donald Trump on Friday said he agreed to a ceasefire with Iran as a "favour" to Pakistan and ruled out any further bombing of the Persian Gulf nation, with which it has been at odds for several decades.
The US and Israel's war on Iran started on February 28, and attacks have been paused since April 8, when the warring sides agreed to a ceasefire brokered by Pakistan.
“We did the ceasefire as a request from another nation. I would have really benefited from it, but we did it as a favour to Pakistan. They are terrific people, the Field Marshal and the Prime Minister,” Trump told reporters on Air Force One while returning from China to the US.
Trump reiterated his resolve not to allow Iran to acquire nuclear weapons and to make them give up the enriched uranium Tehran has accumulated over the years.
He said the Iranian negotiators were claiming that their nuclear facilities were damaged in the American air strikes and that they were not in a position to retrieve the nuclear fuel.
“They came up with a terrible secret. They said that they can't remove it because they don't have the technology to remove it. They don't have the time and the practice,” Trump said in response to questions on Iran.
Trump said Chinese President Xi Jinping was also in favour of opening up the Strait of Hormuz, which is a key trade route for 20 per cent of the global oil supplies.
US Vice President J D Vance-led a team of negotiators for the first-ever direct face-to-face talks with Iranian leaders in Islamabad on April 11-12, which got the warring nations into prolonged negotiations to end the decades-long hostilities.
The US has been insisting that Iran give a clear commitment to end its uranium enrichment programme in exchange for the lifting of sanctions and the release of billions in frozen Iranian funds.
Published on May 15, 2026