Live updates: Follow the latest news on the Iran war
US President Donald Trump on Tuesday said he was suspending a wave of attacks on Iran's infrastructure, provided Tehran immediately reopened the Strait of Hormuz.
The development came with only 88 minutes to spare before the expiration of a deadline that Mr Trump had set. Earlier in the day, he had warned that “a whole civilisation will die tonight” unless Iran made a deal.
“I agree to suspend the bombing and attack of Iran for a period of two weeks. This will be a double-sided ceasefire,” Mr Trump wrote on Truth Social.
Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said that if attacks against Iran are halted, "our powerful armed forces will cease their defensive operations.
"For a period of two weeks, 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," he said in a statement.
The announcement came after mediation involving Pakistan. Mr Trump said the US had spoken to Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Field Marshal Asim Munir.
He said he had agreed to the two-week delay because the US had “already met and exceeded” all of its military objectives and was “very far along with a definitive agreement concerning long-term peace with Iran, and peace in the Middle East".
“We received a 10-point proposal from Iran, and believe it is a workable basis on which to negotiate," Mr Trump said.
“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 finalised and consummated.”
After the announcement, Iran declared "victory" in getting the US to accept its 10-point plan.
The plan, according to a statement by Iran's Supreme National Security Council, includes a US commitment to "non-aggression", continued Iranian control over the Strait of Hormuz, acceptance of uranium enrichment, lifting all sanctions, the withdrawal of US combat forces from the region, and the "cessation of the war on all fronts, including against the heroic Islamic resistance in Lebanon".
The Supreme National Security Council said that negotiations will begin on Friday in Islamabad.
"Our hands remain upon the trigger, and should the slightest error be committed by the enemy, it shall be met with full force," it said.
The move marked a dramatic climbdown capping a tense day that started with Mr Trump issuing an apocalyptic warning following a previous threat to destroy Iran's power plants and bridges. He had claimed the Iranian people wanted the bombing to go ahead if it meant they would be free of the hardline regime in Tehran.
“A whole civilisation will die tonight, never to be brought back again. I don’t want that to happen but it probably will,” Mr Trump said earlier on Truth Social. “Maybe something revolutionarily wonderful can happen, who knows? We will find out tonight.”
His post and its extreme language drew criticism from Democrats and calls for him to be removed from office.
It was the latest instance of his increasingly harsh stance against Iran as the clock ticked down towards his deadline. On Sunday, he issued a profane threat that also drew condemnation.
Relief and hope
Alex Vatanka, director of the Iran programme at the Middle East Institute, said that while there are significant gaps between the US and Iranian stances, there is the potential for agreement, especially on a permanent ceasefire.
"They're talking in a way that you at least have the ability to agree on a basic framework that you then have to build on," he said.
The Iranian American expert said he was relieved by the breakthrough after a very troubling day.
"You have a window here to prevent disaster, and we were very close to it. I mean, the idea of what Trump was talking about would have been disastrous for the whole region," he said.
Iran had publicly appeared unwilling to offer any concessions to the US and responded to demands with its own list of requirements that would almost certainly be rejected by the US, such as Washington paying reparation for war damage.
Tehran had warned it would not hold back if Mr Trump proceeded with his threats, and that it would attack its Gulf neighbours' infrastructure.
Mr Trump on Monday told White House reporters the Iranian people are willing to endure the bombing of their public services if it means they would ultimately get freedom.
Asked if he was concerned that bombing bridges and cutting off electricity amounted to war crimes, Mr Trump said: “No. I hope I don't have to do it.”
Mr Sharif had called for an urgent two-week extension to the deadline. He has developed close ties to Mr Trump and said diplomatic efforts to end the war in the Middle East were “progressing steadily, strongly and powerfully with the potential to lead to substantive results in the near future”.
A spokesman for Iran’s Foreign Ministry, Esmaeil Baghaei, had earlier struck a defiant tone.
“A nation that has every faith in the righteousness of its path shall harness all its capacities and capabilities to safeguard its rights and legitimate interests,” he wrote on X.
During the day, reports of bombings across Iran suggested more military action was likely.
Iran’s semi-official Mehr news agency said explosions were heard on Kharg Island, the country’s main oil-export terminal. Israel struck eight roads and rail bridges across Iran, and a synagogue.
Fox News said the US had attacked bunkers, a radar station and ammunition storage there, alongside an unintentional hit on the island’s landing docks.
Iran retaliated with attempted strikes on energy sites in Saudi Arabia and the UAE.
The US-Israeli war has killed more than 5,200 people, most of them in Iran and Lebanon, and energy sites across the region have been bombed.
The UAE has been the target of more Iranian drone and missile attacks than any other Gulf country and has intercepted more than 2,500 projectiles.
