THE UNITED STATES and Iran agreed to a two-week ceasefire barely an hour before President Donald Trump’s deadline to obliterate the country was set to expire, with Tehran to temporarily reopen the vital Strait of Hormuz.

Both sides claimed to have won the more than month-long conflict that has roiled global financial markets and sent oil prices skyrocketing, with Trump telling AFP the deal was a “total and complete victory” for the US.

Iran too cast the ceasefire as a win and said it had agreed to talks with Washington to begin Friday in Pakistan on a path to end the conflict.

“The enemy has suffered an undeniable, historic and crushing defeat in its cowardly, illegal and criminal war against the Iranian nation,” said a statement from the Iranian Supreme National Security Council.

“Iran achieved a great victory.”

The White House said Israel had also agreed to the ceasefire, but Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said it does not include Lebanon, where Israeli assaults in response to rocket fire by Iranian-backed Hezbollah have led to more than 1,500 deaths, according to Lebanese authorities.

“Israel supports President Trump’s decision to suspend strikes against Iran for two weeks subject to Iran immediately opening the straits and stopping all attacks on the US, Israel and countries in the region,” the office of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a statement.

Israel added that it “supports the US effort to ensure that Iran no longer poses a nuclear, missile and terror threat”.

Israel had encouraged Trump to join the war against Iran, its arch-nemesis, and in the first strikes killed the long-serving supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Trump said he had spoken to Pakistan’s leaders who “requested that I hold off the destructive force being sent tonight to Iran.”

He later told AFP he believed China had helped get Tehran to negotiate.

“Subject to the Islamic Republic of Iran agreeing to the COMPLETE, IMMEDIATE, and SAFE OPENING of the Strait of Hormuz, I agree to suspend the bombing and attack of Iran for a period of two weeks,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform on Tuesday.

Trump had set a deadline to Iran to open the Strait of Hormuz by 8pm Washington time last night (1am today Irish time). 

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi confirmed safe passage for two weeks for ships through the Strait of Hormuz, the gateway for one-fifth of the world’s oil which Tehran sealed off in retaliation for the war launched on 28 February.

“If attacks against Iran are halted, our Powerful Armed Forces will cease their defensive operations,” Araghchi said.

Trump has said that the US will help with traffic buildup in the Strait of Hormuz.

The vital shipping route for oil has been virtually paralysed for weeks by the Middle East war, pushing up prices for crude and related products worldwide.

“The United States of America will be helping with the traffic buildup in the Strait of Hormuz,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform.

“There will be lots of positive action! Big money will be made. Iran can start the reconstruction process.”.”

Pakistan, which has forged a close relationship with Trump and is sensitive to developments in neighbouring Iran, emerged as a channel for messaging between Tehran and Washington in recent weeks.

The temporary ceasefire came after a down-to-the-wire bid by Pakistan and other mediators to avert Trump’s threat to destroy all power plants and bridges across Iran, a move that legal experts said could constitute a war crime.

Turkey and Egypt had also been helping mediate in recent days, while China helped get Iran to the negotiating table, Trump told AFP today.

- © AFP 2026