President Donald Trump announced in the late minutes of last night that he had agreed to a two-week ceasefire with Iran and the immediate reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, stepping back from a self-imposed deadline to launch sweeping new strikes he had warned could devastate the country.
The dramatic reversal came after a day of extraordinary threats and following widespread international condemnation from the United Nations, global leaders, and Pope Leo XIV.
In a social media post just hours before his deadline, Trump said he would “suspend the bombing and attack of Iran for a period of two weeks” following conversations with Pakistan’s leadership and what he described as meaningful progress towards a broader agreement with Iran.
The announcement marked a sudden de-escalation after Trump had earlier warned that “a whole civilisation will die tonight” if Iran did not agree to his demands.
“This will be a double sided ceasefire!” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “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.” He added that the United States had received a 10-point proposal from Iran that he believed “is a workable basis on which to negotiate.”
The president’s decision to walk back his threat followed intense global outcry. United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres said he was “deeply troubled by statements suggesting that entire civilian populations or civilisations may be made to bear the consequences of political and military decisions.” His spokesperson told reporters in New York that “there is no military objective that justifies the wholesale destruction of a society’s infrastructure or the deliberate infliction of suffering on civilian populations.”
Pope Leo XIV, the first American leader of the Roman Catholic Church, also condemned Trump’s earlier threat. Speaking to journalists outside his residence in Castel Gandolfo, the Pope said: “Today… there was this threat against all the people of Iran, and this is truly unacceptable.” He added, “There are certainly questions of international law, but much more than that, it is a moral question,” and called all parties to the conflict to “come back to the table” for negotiations.
The UN human rights chief, Volker Türk, meanwhile said he deplored “the tirade of incendiary rhetoric being used in the Middle East war by all parties,” calling it “sickening.” He warned that “under international law, deliberately attacking civilians and civilian infrastructure is a war crime,” and insisted that anyone responsible for international crimes must be held to account.
The tentative ceasefire hinges on Iran’s agreement to immediately and fully reopen the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow waterway through which roughly a fifth of the world’s oil supply passes. Since the early weeks of the war, Iran had effectively choked off traffic through the passage, triggering a global energy shock that sent fuel prices soaring and rattled financial markets. Trump had previously suggested the United States could rapidly destroy Iran’s bridges, power plants, and other infrastructure, a campaign that military and legal experts warned could devastate civilian life in a nation of roughly 85 million people and risk violating international law.
In its official reaction, Iran accepted Trump’s peace overture. Iranian Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi posted the Islamic Republic’s response on X, announcing that Iran would cease its military operations if it was not attacked. “On behalf of the Islamic Republic of Iran, I express gratitude and appreciation for my dear brothers HE Prime Minister of Pakistan Sharif and HE Field Marshal Munir for their tireless efforts to end the war in the region,” Araghchi wrote.
He further declared on behalf of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council: “If attacks against Iran are halted, our Powerful Armed Forces will cease their defensive operations. For a period of two weeks, safe passage through the Strait of Hormuz will be possible via coordination with Iran’s Armed Forces and with due consideration of technical limitations.”
Iran’s Supreme National Security Council confirmed that it would enter negotiations with the United States in Islamabad beginning Friday, while emphasising that the ceasefire “does not signify the termination of the war.” The council added: “Our hands remain upon the trigger, and should the slightest error be committed by the enemy, it shall be met with full force.”
The decision to back down also reflected domestic political pressures. TIME previously reported that Trump had grown increasingly eager to find an off-ramp, with polling showing declining public support for the war. Rising fuel prices and market volatility had alarmed Republican lawmakers ahead of the midterm elections, even as the President remained reluctant to end the conflict without claiming a decisive victory.
Trump said in his social media post that “almost all of the various points of past 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.” The two-week pause is expected to lead to further comprehensive negotiations between the US and Iran, with a possible peace summit in Islamabad.
UN Secretary-General Guterres called for stepped-up diplomatic efforts to find a peaceful solution and said his personal envoy, Jean Arnault, was travelling to the region to support them.
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