Since the Iran war began on February 28, Trump has repeatedly set deadlines tied to threats, only to extend them.
Hours after threatening that “a whole civilisation will die tonight,” US President Donald Trump on Tuesday said that he had agreed to a two-week ceasefire with Iran, stepping back from the threat of strikes on the country’s power plants and bridges.
Trump announced the ceasefire on Truth Social, saying he had accepted a proposal put forward by Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and his Field Marshal Asim Munir. The proposal calls for a two-week halt to hostilities and the immediate reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, which handles about one-fifth of global oil shipments.
Trump said the United States would use the two-week window to work towards a final agreement with Iran.
“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 wrote.
Trump added that Washington had received a ten-point proposal from Tehran and considered it a workable starting point. “We received a 10-point proposal from Iran, and believe it is a workable basis on which to negotiate,” he said.
The announcement came with a caveat. Trump said the ceasefire was “subject to the Islamic Republic of Iran agreeing to the COMPLETE, IMMEDIATE, and SAFE OPENING of the Strait of Hormuz.”
Iran’s Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi accepted the ceasefire.
“In response to the brotherly request of PM Sharif in his tweet, and considering the request by the US for negotiations based on its 15-point proposal, as well as announcement by POTUS about acceptance of the general framework of Iran’s 10-point proposal as a basis for negotiations, I hereby declare on behalf of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council: If attacks against Iran are halted, our Powerful Armed Forces will cease their defensive operations,” he wrote on X.
“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,” Araghchi added.
Statement on behalf of the Supreme National Security Council of the Islamic Republic of Iran: pic.twitter.com/cEtBNCLnWT
— Seyed Abbas Araghchi (@araghchi) April 7, 2026
According to three Iranian officials cited by The New York Times, Iran accepted Pakistan’s two-week ceasefire proposal following a last-minute intervention by China, a key Iranian ally, which urged Tehran to show flexibility and ease tensions. The officials said the ceasefire was approved by Iran’s new supreme leader, Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei.
Iran has previously said it would only agree to open the strait as part of a full peace settlement that guaranteed no further attacks by the United States and Israel, and not simply in exchange for a temporary ceasefire.
Since the war began, Trump has repeatedly set deadlines tied to threats, only to extend them.
Earlier on Tuesday, he had written on Truth Social that “a whole civilisation will die tonight, never to be brought back again” if a deal was not reached, while also leaving open the possibility of a resolution, saying “maybe something revolutionarily wonderful can happen.”
