Summary:
-
President Trump announces suspension of U.S. bombing against Iran for two weeks, conditioned on Strait of Hormuz reopening.
-
Pakistan brokers deal, extending ceasefire deadline. Israel agrees to ceasefire, all U.S. strikes paused.
-
Trump’s extreme threat earlier in the day starkly contrasts with agreement on key issues and upcoming peace talks.
President Donald Trump announced Tuesday evening that the United States will suspend its bombing and military attacks against Iran for two weeks, a dramatic reversal that came less than two hours before his own deadline for escalating strikes.
The announcement, posted to Truth Social at 6:32 p.m. ET, is conditional on Iran agreeing to the complete and immediate reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, the critical Persian Gulf waterway through which roughly 20 percent of the world’s oil supply flows. Iran’s Supreme National Security Council confirmed it accepted the proposal shortly after, and Iran’s foreign minister said the country’s armed forces would facilitate safe passage through the strait for the duration of the ceasefire window.
The deal was brokered by Pakistan. Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, acting as an intermediary between the two warring nations, called on Trump to extend the deadline by two weeks to allow diplomacy to run its course. Trump credited those conversations directly in his post, naming both Sharif and Field Marshal Asim Munir.
Israel has also agreed to the ceasefire and will suspend its strikes, according to a White House official. A Defense official confirmed that the ceasefire is now in effect and all U.S. strikes have been paused.
The reversal is a stark contrast to where the day began. Earlier Tuesday morning, Trump posted on Truth Social that “a whole civilization will die tonight, never to be brought back again” if Iran did not reopen the strait by 8 p.m. ET. That threat, his most extreme public rhetoric to date in the conflict, included a vow to launch attacks on Iran’s infrastructure and sparked fierce condemnation from Democrats, who called such strikes on civilian infrastructure potential war crimes. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries called Trump “completely unhinged” in a joint statement with Democratic leadership.
ADVERTISEMENT
In announcing the pause, Trump said the U.S. and Iran have already agreed on the vast majority of key issues and that a 10-point proposal submitted by Iran represents “a workable basis on which to negotiate.” The U.S. and Iran are expected to hold formal peace talks Friday in Islamabad, with Vice President JD Vance likely to lead the American delegation.
Iran’s Supreme National Security Council responded by declaring victory and posting a lengthy statement on Iranian state media laying out details of its 10-point plan, including unverified claims about U.S. concessions. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in-person talks are under discussion but that “nothing is final until announced by the President or the White House.”
The two-week window is a direct echo of a proposal Pakistan had been quietly circulating for days. One of those proposals involved a 45-day ceasefire delivered by Pakistan to both U.S. and Iranian officials, though the version Trump ultimately accepted is the compressed two-week framework.
What happens at the end of those 14 days remains the central open question. Iran has consistently demanded a permanent end to the war, not a temporary pause, and has publicly rejected previous ceasefire proposals from intermediaries.
For now, the bombs have stopped.
