Trump agrees to 2-week ceasefire with Iran, delaying threat of large-scale bombing campaign

President Trump said Tuesday he had agreed to a “double ceasefire” with Iran, less than two hours before its deadline Iran would either have to strike a deal with the United States or face massive strikes on its power plants.

“I agree to suspend bombing and attacks against Iran for a period of two weeks,” the president wrote on Truth Social, saying the United States has “already met and exceeded all military objectives.”

He said the ceasefire, which he accepted at Pakistan’s request, was “subject to the Islamic Republic of Iran agreeing to the FULL, IMMEDIATE and SAFE OPENING of the Strait of Hormuz.”

Iranian Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi confirmed that Iran had accepted halt “defensive operations,” likely referring to drone and missile strikes against U.S. allies in the region, if the United States stops attacking Iran. Araghchi also said Iran’s armed forces would coordinate to enable “safe passage through the Strait of Hormuz.”

Israel also agreed to the ceasefire proposal, a White House official told CBS News. But Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office announced Tuesday evening that while Israel supports the two-week ceasefire between the United States and Iran, the agreement does not cover fighting between the Israeli military and Hezbollah, Iran’s proxy based in Lebanon.

The United States and Israel jointly launched war against Iran, striking thousands of targets in the country starting on February 28. Iran responded with strikes against Israel and several U.S. allied countries in the Gulf region.

Oil futures fell on news of a ceasefire, with the US benchmark West Texas Intermediate falling more than 13% to below $92 a barrel in the hour after Mr Trump’s announcement. The price of oil has soared since the start of the war, reaching levels not seen in years, with shipments largely halted through the Strait of Hormuz, a chokepoint that normally carries a fifth of the world’s oil. Prices remained well above pre-war levels Tuesday evening.

The ceasefire follows a frenzied diplomatic effort by the United States, Iran and third-party mediators like Pakistan to avoid a major escalation in the nearly six-week-old war. Over the weekend, Mr. Trump demanded that Iran reach an “acceptable” deal and reopen the Strait of Hormuz by Tuesday at 8 p.m. ET. If Iran did not comply, the president pledged to destroy the country’s power plants and bridges.

His threats have become sharper in recent days. Earlier Tuesday, he wrote on Truth Social: “An entire civilization will die tonight, never to be brought back.”

The United States and Iran do not appear to have a formal long-term agreement. But Mr. Trump wrote in his message announcing the ceasefire that the United States is “very advanced” in reaching a “definitive agreement on long-term PEACE with Iran.”

The president said Iran had sent the United States a 10-point peace plan that provides a “viable basis on which to negotiate.” The day before, Iran had rejected a 15-point proposal proposed by American negotiators.

“Almost all past points of contention have been agreed to between the United States and Iran, but a two-week period will allow the agreement to be finalized and consummated,” Mr. Trump wrote.

Iran’s Supreme National Security Council said negotiations between the two sides would begin on Friday in the Pakistani capital Islamabad and last two weeks with “complete distrust of the US side.” It was not immediately clear whether U.S. officials would travel to Islamabad for the discussions.

Iran said that if a deal was not reached, “we will continue to fight side by side on the battlefield until all the demands of the Iranian people are met.”

Major gaps appear to persist between the two parties. In its statement, Iran said the 10-point plan calls for the United States to withdraw its forces from all bases in the region, fully compensate Iran, lift all sanctions and grant Iranian armed forces control of the Strait of Hormuz. It also calls for an end to hostilities against the “Axis of Resistance,” Iran’s term for mandated regional groups like Hamas, Hezbollah and the Houthis, many of which the United States considers terrorist organizations.

It is unclear whether Mr. Trump would agree to many of these demands, which would mark a significant shift in U.S. strategy in the Middle East. The president appeared to reject the idea of ​​allowing Iran to control the Strait of Hormuz and collect tolls on ships passing through it on Monday, telling reporters that, instead, the United States should take charge of the tolls.

Also unclear: the state of negotiations on the Iranian nuclear program. When the United States launched strikes against Iran in late February, Mr. Trump said one of his main goals was to ensure that Iran could never build a nuclear weapon. The president has publicly called on Iran to abandon all uranium enrichment.

Iran has insisted that its nuclear program is entirely peaceful, and U.S. intelligence agencies assessed last spring that Iran was not building a nuclear weapon. But the country has said it will not stop enriching uranium, and its stockpiles of highly enriched material — just a step away from weapons-grade uranium — remain in Iran, much of it buried under rubble from a previous round of U.S. strikes last June.