Donald Trump announces 11th-hour Iran ceasefire

Iran also agreed to the truce, meaning that Tehran will reopen the Strait immediately, as long as both countries halt their attacks. The ceasefire reportedly also covers Lebanon, where Israel has intensively struck Hezbollah strongholds for the past month.

Mr Trump asserted that the US had won a “total and complete victory” over Iran, and had “already met or exceeded all military objectives” during the nearly six-week conflict.

“Total and complete victory. 100 per cent. No question about it,” he said in a phone call with AFP.

Markets rallied following the announcement, with oil prices plunging by nearly 17 per cent and stocks surging.

Karoline Leavitt, the White House press secretary, characterised the ceasefire as a “victory for the United States that President Trump and our incredible military made happen”.

However, Iran warned its “finger was on the trigger” to restart strikes if the US were to break the truce.

“It is emphasised that this does not signify the termination of the war,” a statement from Iran’s supreme national security council said.

“Our hands remain upon the trigger, and should the slightest error be committed by the enemy, it shall be met with full force.”

Just after the White House claimed Israel had also agreed to the two-week pause, an Israeli military official told AP that the country was still attacking Iran.

In a statement issued only in English, the office of Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, said the country supported the suspension of strikes on Iran, but denied that the ceasefire included Lebanon, Israeli media reported.

The US president had declared earlier on Tuesday that “a whole civilisation will die tonight” unless a deal was agreed upon before the deadline, and declined to say if he would follow through on his threat to destroy Iran’s power plants and bridges if the truce collapsed.

“You’re going to have to see,” he told AFP.

In a last-minute intervention, Shehbaz Sharif, the Pakistani prime minister, pleaded for both sides to stop fighting for two weeks to allow diplomacy to prevail.

“To allow diplomacy to run its course, I earnestly request president Trump to extend the deadline for two weeks. Pakistan, in all sincerity, requests the Iranian brothers to open Strait of Hormuz for a corresponding period of two weeks as a goodwill gesture,” Mr Sharif wrote on X.

His country had been facilitating indirect negotiations after Iran had refused to speak directly to the US following Mr Trump’s warning on Tuesday morning.

The White House promised “a response will come” shortly after Mr Sharif’s plea. Iran, which had until that point shown no signs of accepting Mr Trump’s ultimatum, was “positively reviewing” Pakistan’s proposal, officials said.

Mr Sharif said after the announcement that he “warmly welcomed” the ceasefire and hoped both countries would continue to engage in talks for a longer-term peace.

Mr Trump later told AFP that he believed China had pushed Tehran to the negotiating table.

Asked if Beijing was involved in encourage Iran to engage with the US, the US president said: “I hear yes.”

Following the agreement of all three nations to the two-week pause, Abbas Araghchi, the Iranian foreign minister, posted on X that the US president had agreed to the “general framework” of a 10-point plan put forward by the Iranians.

Mr Trump also shared the statement on his Truth Social account.

“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,” Mr Araghchi wrote on X.

As well as the reopening of the strait, Iran’s 10-point plan includes an end to attacks in Iraq, Lebanon, Yemen and the rest of the region; payment for reconstruction costs; the release of Iranian frozen assets; the lifting of sanctions and the agreement by Iran to “not seek possession” of nuclear weapons, a long-standing position.

Mr Trump insisted most of the framework had been agreed on, and would lead to a longer-term deal.

“We have a 15-point transaction, of which most of those things have been agreed on. We’ll see what happens. We’ll see if it gets there,” he told AFP, but did not elaborate on the nature of the possible additional five points.

There was no mention of uranium enrichment. Mr Trump had previously urged Tehran to agree to no nuclear enrichment at all within the country.

However, Iran said in a statement released alongside the 10 points that the plan would require “continued Iranian control over the Strait of Hormuz, acceptance of enrichment, lifting of all primary and secondary sanctions”.

Without saying what would happen with the uranium, Mr Trump told AFP: “That will be perfectly taken care of, or I wouldn’t have settled.”

Reports had suggested some uranium within Iran had been enriched to around 60 per cent. Uranium must be enriched to 90 per cent to reach nuclear weapons-grade.

In his statement, Mr Araghchi also appeared to suggest Iran would play a key role in controlling the strait over the next two weeks, writing: “Safe passage through the Strait of Hormuz will be possible via co-ordination with Iran’s Armed Forces and with due consideration of technical limitations.”

The 10-point plan describes ensuring “freedom and security of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz”, but does not make clear whether that would include a toll, something proposed by the Iranians.

Mr Trump has repeatedly delayed acting on his threat to destroy Iran’s energy infrastructure and previously failed to convince Tehran to open the Strait of Hormuz.

The US has paused its strikes on Iran and negotiations to end the war are set to take place in Islamabad on Friday.

Pakistani talks were reportedly spearheaded by Asim Munir, the country’s chief of army staff, with whom Mr Trump apparently has a strong relationship.

The army chief has reportedly attended a one-on-one lunch with Mr Trump and has been to the White House multiple times, with the US president describing Mr Munir as his “favourite field marshal”.

Pakistan has positioned itself as a key ally of Mr Trump throughout his second term, playing a key role in backchannel Iran-US negotiations.

[Source: Daily Telegraph]