Trump agrees to halt war for 2 weeks if Iran reopens Hormuz

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump on Tuesday announced a two-week ceasefire with Iran on the condition that Tehran agree to reopen the Strait of Hormuz. 

Trump wrote on Truth Social Tuesday night, "Based on conversations with Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Field Marshal Asim Munir, of Pakistan, and wherein they requested that I hold off the destructive force being sent tonight to Iran, and subject to the Islamic Republic of Iran agreeing to the COMPLETE, IMMEDIATE, and SAFE OPENING of the Strait of Hormuz, I agree to suspend the bombing and attack of Iran for a period of two weeks. This will be a double sided CEASEFIRE!"

Iran’s Supreme National Security Council said shortly afterward that the Islamic Republic would engage in diplomacy with the United States for two weeks and that talks would take place Friday in Islamabad. 

"This does not signify the termination of the war, and Iran shall accept the cessation of hostilities only ... in light of the acceptance of the principles set forth in its ten-point plan,” the Council said in a statement.

On Monday, the Iranian state-run IRNA news agency said Iran rejected the 45-day ceasefire proposal put forth by regional mediators and conveyed its own 10-point plan to Pakistan, which calls for a permanent end to the war. Iran is also seeking compensation for strike-related damage and recognition of its right to control traffic in the Strait of Hormuz.

After accepting the truce, Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said in a statement that “For a period of two weeks, safe passage through the Strait of Hormuz will be possible via coordinating with Iran’s Armed Forces.”

In a separate Truth Social post Tuesday morning, Trump threatened to wipe out the “whole civilization” in Iran unless its leaders reopen the strait, which has been closed to most commercial traffic since the war began on Feb. 28.

The US and Israeli militaries escalated their attacks ahead of Trump’s 8 p.m. EST deadline. The United States struck military targets on Iran’s main export hub of Kharg Island, while Israel attacked railways and bridges that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said were used by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps. 

Earlier Tuesday, Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif requested Trump extend his deadline for a deal by two weeks "to allow diplomacy to run its course." Sharif also called on Iran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz during the two-week period as a "goodwill gesture."

Iran claimed it attacked Saudi Arabia’s Jubail petrochemical complex on Tuesday in response to strikes on its Asaluyeh plants overnight, while Emirati officials reported that an Iranian missile struck a telecoms building in Sharjah.

Iranian allies China and Russia vetoed on Tuesday a Bahrain-led UN Security Council resolution aimed at unblocking the Strait of Hormuz.