Trump agrees to suspend attacks for two weeks if Iran opens Strait of Hormuz

The president said he had received a 10-point proposal from Iran that formed a “workable basis” for negotiations. But Israel said the ceasefire “does not include Lebanon.”

By Karen DeYoung, Isaac Arnsdorf, Sammy Westfall and Tara Copp

Just 90 minutes before President Donald Trump’s 8 p.m. deadline to wipe out “a whole civilization” with massive strikes on Iran’s energy infrastructure and bridges, he granted a two-week extension for diplomacy to continue.

“Subject to the Islamic Republic of Iran agreeing to the COMPLETE, IMMEDIATE and SAFE OPENING of the Strait of Hormuz,” Trump said Tuesday on social media, “I agree to suspend the bombing and attack of Iran for a period of two weeks.”

“We have already met and exceeded all Military objectives, and are very far along with a definitive Agreement concerning Longterm PEACE with Iran,” Trump said. A 10-point proposal received from Tehran, he said, was a “workable basis on which to negotiate.”

Trump added, “This will be a double-sided CEASEFIRE!”

After Trump’s announcement, a statement posted by Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, which he attributed to the Supreme National Security Council, said it too was responding to Pakistan’s request and Trump’s “acceptance of the general Framework of Iran’s 10-point proposal for negotiations.”

“If attacks against Iran are halted,” it said, “our Powerful Armed Forces will cease their defensive operations.” For two weeks, it added, “safe passage through the Strait of Hormuz will be possible via coordination” with the Iranian military.

Trump said his ceasefire decision was in response to an appeal from Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and military chief Gen. Asim Munir. Pakistan has led a group of mediators, including Egypt and Turkey, that has been looking for an exit to the war that has destabilized the entire region. Trump has forged a particularly close relationship with Munir and, in an interview with Fox News before the extension announcement, described Sharif as “a highly respected man all over.”

In a statement following Trump’s announcement, Sharif said U.S. and Iranian delegations were invited to Islamabad on Friday “to further negotiate for a conclusive agreement to settle all disputes.” He said that the ceasefire would include Lebanon, where Israel is engaged in a massive bombing campaign against Iran-backed Hezbollah.

In a brief statement issued in English by his office early Wednesday, local time, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he supported Trump’s “decision to suspend strikes against Iran for two weeks subject to Iran immediately opening the straits and stopping all attacks on the U.S., Israel and countries in the region.”

“Israel also supports the U.S. effort to ensure that Iran no longer poses a nuclear, missile and terror threat. … The United States has told Israel that it is committed to achieving these goals … in the upcoming negotiations,” Netanyahu said.

In a caveat that did not bode well for the negotiations, he added that the ceasefire “does not include Lebanon,” contradicting Sharif’s claims.

The Israel Defense Forces said Wednesday it had “ceased fire in the campaign against Iran” but would continue “its combat and ground operations” in Lebanon. Israeli strikes on Lebanon continued through Wednesday morning as the population awoke to confusion over whether the country was included in the deal. The Lebanese army called on people who were eagerly trying to return to their homes in southern Lebanon to delay their return as attacks continued.

Hezbollah appeared to be abiding by the agreement, with neither the Iran-backed group or the Israeli military reporting any new attacks on Israel or the Israeli troops invading southern Lebanon. It was not immediately clear how long that would last. In the Persian Gulf, Bahrain reported two people were injured following an Iranian drone attack shortly after the ceasefire was announced.

Leaders from European and Persian Gulf nations welcomed news of the ceasefire. The European Union’s representative for foreign affairs, Kaja Kallas, described it as a “step back from the brink after weeks of escalation,” while the U.N. Secretary General António Guterres called on all parties to comply with international law and “abide by the terms of the ceasefire in order to pave the way toward a lasting and comprehensive peace in the region.”

Some U.S. officials and analysts have said Trump’s claims of military success are largely based on overly optimistic assessments of the war by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, which risk misinforming the public.

As recently as last weekend, the two sides appeared at an impasse amid mutually exclusive demands. Iran had rejected U.S. insistence that it shut down its nuclear and ballistic missile programs, end its support for regional proxies and reopen the strait, the vital Persian Gulf waterway through which an estimated one-fifth of the world’s energy supplies transit.

In the 10-point proposal Trump said was a basis for negotiations, Iran demanded a permanent end to the war as well as an end to any attacks against the “Axis of Resistance,” as it calls its proxy groups in the region, including Hezbollah. According to a government statement reported by Iranian media late Tuesday, demands also included establishment of a formal protocol for passage through the Strait of Hormuz “that ensures an oversight role for Iran.”

The list called for recognition of Iran’s right to uranium enrichment, “withdrawal of U.S. combat forces from all bases and military deployment points in the region,” full compensation for war damage, the lifting of all sanctions against Iran and the release of all Iranian assets held abroad.

Israel does not share Trump’s oft-stated belief that regime change in Iran has already been achieved with the killings of most of its senior leaders. While Trump has said those now in charge are “smarter” and less radical than their predecessors, many are considered by experts to be even more hard-line.

Trump has often referred to the brief U.S. military raid that captured Venezuelan strongman Nicolás Maduro as a template for U.S. action in Iran. After removing its leader in Caracas, Trump left the existing regime in power and now refers to it as a great U.S. partner.

“If this two-week ceasefire holds with serious talks, one thing is clear,” said Aaron David Miller, a veteran of Middle East negotiations through both Republican and Democratic administrations. “Regime change is out — legitimizing this regime is in. And the more engagement directly, the more new reality looks more like the old. A brutal, repressive regime has survived the world’s most powerful military.”

While the truce may not sit well with some of the president’s most hawkish supporters and there is no guarantee a negotiated agreement with Iran can be reached in the next two weeks, Trump has his own reasons for wanting to bring an end to a conflict, including the near-doubling of gas prices and a falling approval rating as midterm elections approach.

Following the ceasefire announcement, the price of a barrel of oil immediately plunged by about 14 percent and stock futures surged.

Throughout much of Tuesday, an imminent U.S. assault throughout Iran attack appeared certain. Following Trump’s apocalyptic threat, made early in the morning, Iran said it was calling off talks and threatened “a new stage of warfare.”

As much of the world held its collective breath, countries across the region warned residents to shelter in place. In Washington, Trump’s political opponents questioned his fitness for office and called for his removal.

While Democratic lawmakers said Congress should stop the war from escalating Tuesday, Republicans said little.

Both former Republican congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene and the NAACP, along with some Democrats, called for Trump’s removal through the 25th Amendment to the Constitution — under which the president can be removed from power, including by the vice president and a majority of the Cabinet, if they determine him to be “unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office.”

“This is evil and madness,” Greene said on X.

House Democratic leadership said in a statement that Trump was “completely unhinged” and called for lawmakers to “come back into session immediately” and vote on an end to the war.

Rep. Ted Lieu (California), the No. 4 Democrat in House leadership, called on the Pentagon not to obey any orders to eradicate “a whole civilization.”

After the ceasefire announcement, Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-New York) said in a statement he was “glad Trump backed off and is desperately searching for any sort of exit ramp from his ridiculous bluster.”

Trump has claimed to have accomplished “regime change” in Iran, but regional and Western officials say that the country’s hard-line government remains largely intact and is prepared to drive a hard bargain in negotiations to end the war, including a demand for full control over the Strait of Hormuz.

Victoria Craw in London, Abbie Cheeseman in Beirut and Lior Soroka in Tel Aviv contributed to this report.