Iran agreed to reopen the Strait of Hormuz on Tuesday as Tehran and the US reached a two-week ceasefire deal — a breakthrough in the nearly 40-day war that has disrupted shipping and spiked gas prices.
President Trump announced a two-week pause on military strikes on Iran in a dramatic pivot less than 90 minutes from his 8 p.m. deadline — saying it was subject to Tehran agreeing letting ships pass through the key waterway. Israel also agreed to the two-week ceasefire, a White House official told The Post.
In a statement on Truth Social, Trump said he spoke with Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Field Marshal Asim Munir, who urged him to hold off on what he described as a “destructive force” set to be unleashed on Iran.
The cease-fire is “subject to the Islamic Republic of Iran agreeing to the COMPLETE, IMMEDIATE, and SAFE OPENING of the Strait of Hormuz,” he added.
“This will be a double sided CEASEFIRE! 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 Longterm PEACE with Iran, and PEACE in the Middle East,” Trump said. “We received a 10 point proposal from Iran, and believe it is a workable basis on which to negotiate.”
The president further explained that “almost all of the various points of past contention have been agreed to between the United States and Iran.”
“A two week period will allow the Agreement to be finalized and consummated,” he added. On behalf of the United States of America, as President, and also representing the Countries of the Middle East, it is an Honor to have this Longterm problem close to resolution. Thank you for your attention to this matter.”
Tehran will allow passage through the Strait of Hormuz for the next two weeks under Iranian military management, Iran’s foreign minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi said in a statement.
That condition was key to Trump’s two-week ceasefire.
Araghchi also said if attacks against Iran are halted, then Tehran will “cease their defensive operations.”
The global cost of oil plummeted upon the news. The price of Brent crude, the international benchmark, nosedived 14% in the hour after Trump’s announcement.
Iran’s Supreme National Security Council confirmed the ceasefire agreement, noting it does not amount to full-fledged peace.
“It is emphasized that this does not signify the termination of the war,” the statement said, according to the Associated Press. “Our hands remain upon the trigger, and should the slightest error be committed by the enemy, it shall be met with full force.”
Iranian state-run media painted the announcement as proof that Iran forced Trump into an agreement.
“US President Donald Trump has once again retreated from his own threats, stating, I agree to halt bombings and attacks against Iran for a period of two weeks, and this will be a mutual ceasefire,” Iran’s IRNA News Agency posted to X.
The US and Iran are weighing in-person talks to finalize a peace deal, but the administration warns nothing is final.
“There are discussions about face-to-face meetings between the United States and Iran, but nothing is final until it is announced by the President or the White House,” press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a statement.
Iran wants two big concessions from the United States as part of its 10-point plan for peace, including the removal of all sanctions placed on the country going back to George W. Bush’s administration and control of the valuable Strait of Hormuz.
Tehran wants a permanent end to hostilities and guarantees that the US and Israel won’t attack Iran again, per reports. It also wants to charge tolls for cargo ships to use the strait, a key waterway between Europe and the Middle East.
Nour News, an Iranian publication backed by Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, listed other points that Trump would unlikely agree to, including “acceptance that Iran can enrich uranium for its nuclear program,” payments to Iran for war damage and withdrawal of all US troops from the region.
Trump has said repeatedly his top goal for the war is to stop Iran from ever having a nuclear weapon.
A White House official refused to detail what was in the 10-point plan, telling The Post: “We do not negotiate in the press. As President Trump said, the 10-point document is a workable starting point.”
Another Trump administration official told The Post that there was “relief” among the president’s team, but that “nobody knows for sure” if the war is truly over.
“One thing that had become clear over the last 72 hours is that Iran was not as beaten down as Trump had been led to believe by the Defense Department,” the official said. “I think the shoot-down [of the F-15 jet last week] was a sober reminder that Iran was still a very dangerous adversary [and that] while they had been degraded, they were nowhere near defeated. And that continuing the war would have likely led to the loss of more life, for little gain.”
The official said that Trump’s core war objectives were largely accomplished, including crippling Iran’s military, such as its ballistic missile production, navy and ability to support proxies, while nuclear material is believed to remain deeply buried.
Israel, which launched the attack alongside the US on Feb. 28, hasn’t accomplished its own goal of fundamental regime change and may need to be pressured by Trump to hold fire, he said.
The official said that Trump and Iranian leaders can both spin the breakthrough as a win.
“Both sides can claim a win on this: The Iranians can say they demonstrated the ability to effectively close the Strait of Hormuz,” he said. “We can say that the Strait of Hormuz, if the Iranians don’t decide to keep attacking ships, is open.”
The war came at a cost, including the killing of 13 US troops, the wounding of hundreds more, a depletion of munitions and a price tag expected to top $100 billion.
The agreement came shortly before Trump’s self-imposed deadline of 8 p.m. Tuesday for Iran to reopen the strait or face destruction of its energy infrastructure.
The US demanded that Iran restore shipping through the narrow waterway that carries roughly 20% of the world’s oil supply or face what Trump warned could be devastating military action.
Follow The Post’s coverage of the United States’ airstrikes on Iran:
“A whole civilization will die tonight, never to be brought back again. I don’t want that to happen, but it probably will,” Trump warned on Truth Social Tuesday morning.
“… We will find out tonight, one of the most important moments in the long and complex history of the World.”
Tehran on Monday had issued a 10-point response to an American 15-point plan to end the war that Washington sent through intermediaries two weeks ago, Iran’s state-run IRNA news agency reported at the time.
The document rejected any talk of a cease-fire, instead opting for “a permanent end to the war that respects its own considerations,” which would include lifting US sanctions on Iran, funds for reconstruction efforts, as well as developing “safe passage protocol through the Strait of Hormuz,” according to IRNA.
Pakistan, which has served as the main mediator for the US and Iran throughout the weeks-long war, made an 11th-hour bid for Trump to extend the deadline by two weeks — proposing that Iran could temporarily reopen the strait for that period “as a goodwill gesture.”
China joined Pakistan in urging Iran to accept the two-week ceasefire proposal, per Iranian officials who spoke with the New York Times.
Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif offered to host in-person peace talks to finalize a deal.
He invited American and Iranian delegations “to Islamabad on Friday, 10th April 2026, to further negotiate for a conclusive agreement to settle all disputes,” he wrote on social media.
“Both parties have displayed remarkable wisdom and understanding and have remained constructively engaged in furthering the cause of peace and stability,” Sharif wrote. “We earnestly hope, that the ‘Islamabad Talks’ succeed in achieving sustainable peace and wish to share more good news in coming days!”
The two-week deal came after the US unleashed targeted strikes on Iran’s critical Kharg Island, through which Iran exports roughly 90% of its crude oil.
Roughly 50 strikes were carried out on bunkers, a radar station and ammunition storage on the Islamic Republic’s oil-critical stronghold — while stopping short of targeting key energy infrastructure such as oil tanker landing docks, Fox News reported, citing a senior US official.
Tuesday’s tensions left global markets on edge, with fears mounting that the US could follow through on threats to target key Iranian infrastructure including bridges and power plants, escalating the conflict.
“We have a plan because of the power of our military where every bridge in Iran will be decimated by 12 o’clock tomorrow night,” Trump said Monday, “where every power plant in Iran will be out of business, burning, exploding, and never to be used again.”
He said “it will happen over a period of four hours.”
