Donald Trump announced Tuesday night that Iran has agreed to a two-week ceasefire and will re-open the Strait of Hormuz, after Tehran submitted a 10-point peace plan to end the war.
Trump posted on Truth Social, ‘I agree to suspend the bombing and attack of Iran for a period of two weeks,’ after earlier sparking doomsday fears when he threatened to wipe out its ‘entire civilization’ if they did not reopen the Strait.
The President said that after talks with Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif he had been assured that Iran will agree ‘to the complete, immediate, and safe opening of the Strait of Hormuz.’
‘This will be a double-sided ceasefire,’ Trump wrote. ‘The reason for doing so is that we have already met and exceeded all military objectives, and are very far along with a definitive agreement concerning long-term peace with Iran.’
Israel also agreed to halt attacks on Iran for two weeks, a senior White House official told Axios, with the ceasefire taking effect once the Strait of Hormuz is re-opened.
Iran accepted the Pakistan-brokered deal after a last-minute Chinese intervention urged Tehran to show flexibility over the war’s economic fallout, three Iranian officials told the New York Times.
US crude oil prices plunged after Trump’s announcement, with West Texas Intermediate contracts falling by more than 15 percent to $95 per barrel after hitting $116 earlier Tuesday.
Iran’s 10-point plan, published by state-run Tasnim news agency, demands the US accept Tehran’s continued control over the Strait, recognize its right to uranium enrichment, lift all sanctions, pay compensation and withdraw all troops from the region.
Trump also posted a statement from Iran’s Minister of Foreign Affairs that announced safe passage through the Strait of Hormuz if certain conditions were met.
‘If attacks against Iran are halted, our Powerful Armed Forces will cease their defensive operations,’ Abbas Araghchi said.
‘For a period of two weeks, safe passage through the Strait of Hormuz will be possible via the coordination with Iran’s Armed Forces.’
Iranian officials said that the ceasefire was approved by the new supreme leader, Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, despite intelligence reports which say he is in a coma.
Iran’s foreign minister Abbas Araghchi confirmed the truce and that ‘safe passage through the Strait of Hormuz will be possible’ during the two-week period.
Trump said that the 10-point proposal ‘is a workable basis on which to negotiate,’ despite saying on Monday that the deal was not ‘good enough.’
Vice President JD Vance, along with Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner and Special Envoy Steve Witkoff have been leading US negotiations to end the war which was launched on February 28 – dubbed Operation Epic Fury.
The deal came after Pakistani PM Sharif posted on X that major breakthroughs had been made between US and Iranian negotiators.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said: ‘There are discussions about face-to-face meetings between the United States and Iran, but nothing is final until it is announced by the President or the White House.’
Trump had warned Tuesday morning that ‘a whole civilization will die tonight, never to be brought back again’ if no deal was reached by his 8pm ET deadline.
Shortly after the ceasefire deal was announced, early alerts for incoming missile fire went out in Tel Aviv, Fox News reported.
It is the fourth extension Trump has offered the Islamic Republic since he first threatened to ‘obliterate’ Iran’s power plants on March 21.
Trump has been fixated on forcing Iran to end its chokehold on the Strait of Hormuz, the strategic waterway off the country’s coast through which a fifth of the world’s oil supply passes.
Iran has bombed multiple vessels that have made the dangerous decision to transit the Strait. As a result, oil prices have skyrocketed and global markets have churned.
The average price for a gallon of regular gas has shot up from $2.98 to $4.14, a 39 percent increase.
The US negotiators have demanded that Iran give up its nuclear enrichment capabilities, cut back its drone and ballistic missile programs, cease its support for proxies across the region and immediately re-open the Strait of Hormuz.
The President has stressed repeatedly that the objectives of the war are to ensure Iran cannot create a nuclear weapon, its proxies cannot meddle with Middle Eastern countries, and Iran’s Navy, drone and ballistic missile capabilities are destroyed.
Iran proposed a 10-point counter-proposal to US negotiators via Pakistani officials on Monday after the US gave Islamabad a 15-point proposal to begin a ceasefire.
The President refused to comment on the 10-point plan earlier on Tuesday, telling Fox News: ‘I can’t comment, because right now we’re in heated negotiations.’
Trump said on Monday at a White House press conference that the plan was a ‘significant step,’ but he added that it is ‘not good enough.’
Sharif had called on both Trump and the Iranian regime to accept the two-week ceasefire before the President finally relented.
‘To allow diplomacy to run its course, I earnestly request President Trump to extend the deadline for two weeks. Pakistan, in all sincerity, requests the Iranian brothers to open Strait of Hormuz for a corresponding period of two weeks as a goodwill gesture,’ Sharif said on Tuesday afternoon.
‘We also urge all warring parties to observe a ceasefire everywhere for two weeks to allow diplomacy to achieve conclusive termination of war, in the interest of long-term peace and stability in the region.’
Even before the deadline expired, airstrikes had already hit two bridges and a train station. American forces also struck military infrastructure on Kharg Island for the second time, a key hub for Iranian oil production.
Israel’s military warned of an increased risk of inbound attacks as Trump’s deadline approached.
Before the announcement, blasts were heard in the Qatari capital Doha, while the UAE said its air defenses were responding to missile threats.
