US and Iran agree to provisional ceasefire
Last-minute intervention led by Pakistan sees US president abandon his ultimatum for Iran to surrender
Iran war ceasefire announcement – what we know so far
Explainer: What is in Iran’s 10-point ceasefire plan and will the US agree to it?
The US and Iran agreed to a two-week conditional ceasefire on Tuesday evening, which included a temporary and conditional reopening of the strait of Hormuz, after a last-minute diplomatic intervention led by Pakistan, canceling an ultimatum from Donald Trump for Iran to surrender or face widespread destruction.
Trump’s announcement of the ceasefire agreement came less than two hours before the US president’s self-imposed 8pm Eastern time deadline to bomb Iran’s power plants and bridges in a move that legal scholars, as well as officials from numerous countries and the pope, had warned could constitute war crimes.
Just hours earlier, Trump had written on Truth Social: “A whole civilization will die tonight, never to be brought back again. I don’t want that to happen, but it probably will.” American B-52 bombers were reported to be en route to Iran before the ceasefire agreement was announced.