The United States and Iran have agreed to a two-week ceasefire, a dramatic reversal from earlier threats of total military action, less than two hours before President Donald Trump’s deadline for Tehran to reopen the strategic Strait of Hormuz.
Trump announced the ceasefire late Tuesday, following mediation efforts by Pakistan’s military chief, Field Marshal Asim Munir, and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, who invited U.S. and Iranian delegations to meet in Islamabad on Friday.
The agreement requires Iran to pause its blockade of oil and gas shipments through the strait, a vital corridor that handles roughly one-fifth of global oil exports. Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said Tehran would halt counter-attacks and provide safe passage through the waterway “if attacks against it stop.”
Israel expressed support for the temporary pause in strikes, though the truce does not extend to Lebanon. Meanwhile, Sharif had indicated the agreement included Israel’s cessation in Lebanon, highlighting lingering uncertainties.
“This will be a double-sided CEASEFIRE! 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, and PEACE in the Middle East,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.
Iran’s Supreme National Security Council described the deal as a victory over the U.S., claiming that Trump accepted Iran’s conditions for ending hostilities. Speaking to AFP, Trump said: “Total and complete victory. 100 percent. No question about it.” He later added on Truth Social: “A big day for World Peace! Iran wants it to happen, they’ve had enough! Likewise, so has everyone else!”
The six-week war has claimed more than 5,000 lives, including over 1,600 civilians in Iran, according to government and human rights sources. Analysts remain cautious about whether the ceasefire will hold, calling it a “trust-building exercise” as both sides prepare for further negotiations.
Lebanese state news reported that Israeli strikes continued across southern Lebanon, including an airstrike near a hospital in Tyre that killed four people, while Israel’s military issued repeated warnings to the city’s residents.
