President Trump said Tuesday he has agreed to a “double sided CEASEFIRE” with Iran, less than two hours before his deadline for Iran to either cut a deal with the U.S. or face massive strikes on its power plants.
“I agree to suspend the bombing and attack of Iran for a period of two weeks,” the president wrote on Truth Social, arguing that the U.S. has “already met and exceeded all Military objectives.”
He said the ceasefire, which he agreed to at Pakistan’s request, was “subject to the Islamic Republic of Iran agreeing to the COMPLETE, IMMEDIATE, and SAFE OPENING of the Strait of Hormuz.”
Iranian Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi confirmed that Iran had agreed to halt “defensive operations,” likely referring to its drone and missile stikes on U.S. allies in the region, if the U.S. stops attacking Iran. Araghchi also said Iran’s armed forces will coordinate to allow for “safe passage through the Strait of Hormuz.”
Israel has also agreed to the ceasefire proposal, a White House official told CBS News. The U.S. and Israel launched the war with Iran jointly, striking thousands of targets in the country starting on Feb. 28. Iran has retaliated with strikes on Israel and several U.S.-allied countries in the Gulf region.
Oil futures plummeted on the news of a ceasefire, with the U.S. 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 rocketed since the war began to highs not seen in years, as shipments are largely cut off through the Strait of Hormuz, a chokepoint that normally carries one-fifth of the world’s oil. Prices still remained above pre-war levels on Tuesday.
The ceasefire followed a frenzied diplomatic effort by the U.S., Iran and third-party mediators like Pakistan to avoid a major escalation in the nearly six-week-long war. Over the weekend, Mr. Trump demanded that Iran strike an “acceptable” deal and reopen the Strait of Hormuz by Tuesday at 8 p.m. ET. If Iran did not comply, the president vowed to destroy the country’s power plants and bridges.
His threats have grown more sharp-edged in recent days. Earlier Tuesday, he wrote on Truth Social: “A whole civilization will die tonight, never to be brought back again.”
The U.S. and Iran have not appeared to strike a formal long-term deal. But Mr. Trump wrote in his message announcing the ceasefire that the U.S. is “very far along” in striking a “definitive Agreement concerning Longterm PEACE with Iran.”
The president said Iran sent the U.S. a 10-point peace plan that is a “workable basis on which to negotiate.” A day earlier, Iran rejected a 15-point proposal offered by American negotiators.
“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,” Mr. Trump wrote.
Iran’s Supreme National Security Council said negotiations between the two sides will begin in the Pakistani capital of Islamabad on Friday and last two weeks, with “complete distrust toward the American side.” Iran said that if a deal isn’t struck, “we will continue to fight side by side on the battlefield until all the demands of the Iranian people are achieved.”
Major gaps between the two sides appear to linger. In its statement, Iran said the 10-point plan calls for the U.S. to withdraw forces from all bases in the region, fully compensate Iran, lift all sanctions and grant Iran’s armed forces control over the Strait of Hormuz. It also calls for an end to hostilities against the “Axis of Resistance,” Iran’s term for regional proxy groups like Hamas, Hezbollah and the Houthis, many of which the U.S. regards as terrorist organizations.
It’s not clear whether Mr. Trump would accept many of those demands, which would mark a significant change to the U.S.’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 from ships that sail through on Monday, telling reporters that, if anything, the U.S. should take in tolls.
Also unclear: The state of talks over Iran’s nuclear program. When Mr. Trump launched strikes on Iran in late February, he said one of his primary objectives was to ensure that Iran could never build a nuclear weapon. The president has publicly called for 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 in the process of building a nuclear weapon. But the country has said it will not stop enriching uranium, and its stockpiles of highly enriched material — just a short step away from weapons-grade uranium — remain in Iran, much of it buried underneath rubble from a prior round of U.S. strikes last June.
Sara Cook and
contributed to this report.
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