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US President Donald Trump said that the announced ceasefire agreed with Iran in order to open diplomatic engagements to achieve a complete solution to the hostilities in West Asia was done "as a favour to Pakistan", which has been acting as a mediator in the talks between Washinagton and Tehran, while also claiming that other nations also requested the truce.
Addressing the press aboard Air Force One en route to Anchorage from his two-day "high-stakes" visit from China, Trump suggested that broader international pressure had influenced the decision to pause hostilities. "We really did the ceasefire at the request of other nations. I wouldn't have really been in favour of it, but we did it as a favour to Pakistan. They are terrific, the Field Marshal and the Prime Minister. I mean, President Xi and I agree on many things," he said. Trump further dismissed asking any "favours" from Chinese President Xi Jinping to pressure Iran in order to open the strategic waterway, the Strait of Hormuz. He further stated that the United States may need to carry out "a little cleanup work" following what he described as a month-long ceasefire. "I'm not asking for any favours because when you ask for favours, you have to do favours in return. We don't need favours. We've wiped out their [Iran's] armed forces essentially. We may have to do a little cleanup work because we had a little month-long ceasefire, but we have a blockade that's so effective; that's why we did the ceasefire," the US President added. Trump, later, however, suggested Beijing could play a role in pressuring Iran over the Strait of Hormuz. "He [Xi Jinping] can ask them to put pressure because I don't need favours. I think he will. I think automatically he'd like to see it [Hormuz] opened up. He gets about 40 per cent of his energy, or his oil, from the Strait. We get none," the US President added. The ceasefire between Washington and Tehran was announced on April 7 after a month-long period of hostility in the region following US-Israeli joint strikes on Iran on February 28. Pakistan has been acting as a mediator between the two sides to find a complete solution to the hostilities in the region. However, Pakistan appears to be running with the hare and hunting with the hound as it tries to continuously pitch itself as a mediator in the ongoing West Asia conflict. Pakistan's template of playing both sides of the fence appears to have drawn distrust within the US administration, as Trump rejected the Iranian response to his peace overture. The Iranian response was conveyed to DC by the Pakistani side. According to a CNN report, some people close to Trump have raised concerns over Pakistan's role as a mediator between Washington and Tehran. CNN reported that the US administration is questioning whether the Pakistani side has been conveying President Trump's 'displeasure' on the state of the peace process. It further reported that some officials also believe Pakistan has been sharing a more positive version of the Iranian position with the US than the reality. (ANI)
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