Pakistan Urges Trump to Extend Iran Deal Deadline 2 Weeks
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- Shehbaz Sharif posted on X hours before Trump's deadline, asking for a two-week extension and calling on Iran to fully open the Strait of Hormuz "as a goodwill gesture" alongside a two-week ceasefire by all warring parties.
- White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told Axios Trump was aware of Pakistan's proposal and a response would come; a senior Iranian official told Reuters Tehran is positively reviewing the request.
- Trump escalated rhetoric on Truth Social as the deadline loomed, writing the US would destroy Iranian "civilization" if Tehran does not fully open Hormuz and submit to his terms — a threat legal experts call a potential war crime.
- Iran has brought maritime traffic through the Strait of Hormuz — which normally carries one-fifth of the world's oil and LNG — to a near-total halt in retaliation for US-Israeli attacks that began February 28.
- Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps declared "self-restraint is over" and warned its response would "extend beyond the region" if the US military crosses its red lines, vowing to disrupt oil and gas supplies for years.
- Israel struck railways and bridges across Iran while Iranian forces launched attacks against targets in Bahrain, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates as the diplomatic push intensified.
- Yale Law's Oona Hathaway said Trump's "civilization" post would be "exhibit A in future war crimes trials" and that while accountability may take decades, "there is no statute of limitations on war crimes."
Why it matters: With Trump's deadline expiring within hours, the two-week extension Pakistan is requesting would either open a narrow diplomatic window or collapse into wider regional war — Iran's IRGC has already warned of retaliation "beyond the region" while Israel continues hitting Iranian railways and bridges, and the Strait of Hormuz remains shut to the roughly 20% of global oil and LNG that normally transits it.
