Iran has agreed to a two-week ceasefire in its ongoing war with the United States and Israel, but made clear the pause does not mean an end to hostilities.
Iran’s Supreme National Security Council announced the decision Wednesday, saying it would send negotiators to Islamabad, Pakistan, for talks beginning Friday. The council’s statement, however, left little room for optimism. “It is emphasized that this does not signify the termination of the war,” it said, according to reporting by The Associated Press and PBS NewsHour. “Our hands remain upon the trigger, and should the slightest error be committed by the enemy, it shall be met with full force.”
The ceasefire came hours before a deadline set by U.S. President Donald Trump, who had threatened to bomb Iranian bridges, power plants, and other civilian infrastructure if Tehran failed to reopen the Strait of Hormuz — the narrow waterway through which roughly a fifth of the world’s oil passes. Trump pulled back from the threat after conversations with Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and army chief Gen. Asim Munir, who had urged a two-week diplomatic window, according to CNN and NPR.
Trump said Iran had presented a “workable” 10-point peace plan, though he stopped short of endorsing it. “Almost all of the various points of past contention have been agreed to between the United States and Iran,” he wrote on social media, adding that a two-week period would allow a final agreement to be “finalized and consummated.”
Iran’s terms, however, remain far from what Washington has demanded. According to Al Jazeera, Tehran’s plan includes a protocol for regulated passage through the Strait of Hormuz under Iranian military coordination, full sanctions relief, and an end to all regional conflicts — conditions that would amount to a significant concession by the U.S. after nearly five decades of hostility toward the Islamic Republic.
The ceasefire’s durability was immediately in doubt. Despite the announcement, missile alerts were triggered in both Israel and the United Arab Emirates early Wednesday, PBS NewsHour reported. Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, which has directed military operations throughout the conflict, had not publicly confirmed it would observe the pause.
The war began on Feb. 28, when the U.S. and Israel launched coordinated strikes on Iran targeting its military capabilities, leadership, and nuclear program. Iran retaliated with missile and drone attacks on Israel and Gulf Arab states, triggering a regional energy crisis as Hormuz traffic was severely disrupted.
Pakistan, Egypt, and Turkey have been mediating efforts to reach a negotiated settlement. Talks in Islamabad are expected to be the first direct engagement between U.S. and Iranian officials since the war began.
