The Israel-Iran ceasefire: will it hold?
'I very much welcome President Trump's announcement of a cease-fire between Israel and Iran. I urge the two countries to respect it fully. The fighting must stop.
The people of the two countries have already suffered too much. It is my sincere hope that this ceasefire can be replicated in the other conflicts in the region.' These are the remarks of United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres.
Although the institution that Guterres represents has done only little or nothing to help defuse the war, his perspective on the situation underscores the need for forging a global consensus on the greater need for peace in every nook and corner of the world.
But how ironic it is that after agreeing to ceasefire with Iran, Israel has decided to step up attacks on the besieged Gazans. President Trump, in my view, is required to ask Tel Aviv to cease hostilities and belligerence against the Palestinians without any further loss of time in order to give legitimacy to the ceasefire that he has successfully brokered between Iran and its ally, Israel.
Kinza Imran (Karachi)
Copyright Business Recorder, 2025
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