AGENCIES

Politicians in the United States have largely welcomed the truce with Iran, with some of President Donald Trump’s Republican allies voicing scepticism about a possible deal, as Democrats renewed calls for accountability over an “illegal war”.

“I’m glad Trump backed off and is desperately searching for any sort of exit ramp from his ridiculous bluster,” Chuck Schumer, the Senate Democratic leader, said on Tuesday night.

Earlier, Schumer called Trump an “extremely sick person” who was waging a “wanton war of choice”.

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a progressive Congresswoman from New York, said the two-week agreement “changes nothing”. “The President has threatened a genocide against the Iranian people, and is continuing to leverage that threat,” she said on social media, calling again for his removal from office.

Hakeem Jeffries, the House minority leader, called Trump’s behavior “unhinged, unpresidential and unconscionable” in a Tuesday evening interview on CNN.

“The American people strongly oppose this reckless war of choice,” he said. “He’s plunged America into this war without any plan, any objective and any exit strategy.”

Democrats will demand that Speaker Mike Johnson immediately reconvene the House to move a war powers resolution to bring a permanent end to this conflict, Jeffries said.

While Congressional Republicans had been publicly muted in response to Trump’s earlier threats, many cheered the president’s acceptance a short-term ceasefire, casting the move as shrewd and tactical, reports The Guardian online.

“Excellent news,” Senator Rick Scott of Florida said. Senator Lindsey Graham, one of the chamber’s loudest and most aggressive Iran hawks, said on Tuesday evening he shared the hope that “we can end the reign of terror of the Iranian regime through diplomacy”.

But he added: “We must remember that the strait of Hormuz was attacked by Iran after the start of the war, destroying freedom of navigation. Going forward, it is imperative Iran is not rewarded for this hostile act against the world.”

Analysts suggest that while the ceasefire may temporarily ease tensions, the shadow of Trump’s threats — including his warnings about the potential obliteration of a civilisation — could have long-lasting diplomatic repercussions.