Tehran, April 8, (dpa/GNA) – Iran and the United States have agreed on a two-week ceasefire and the temporary reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, under a last-ditch deal to avert a massive wave of strikes threatened by US President Donald Trump.
The Tasnim news agency, which is close to Iran’s powerful Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), reported Tehran’s agreement to the ceasefire early on Wednesday in a deal brokered by Pakistan.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said safe passage through the Strait of Hormuz would be possible for two weeks in coordination with Iran’s armed forces “and with due consideration of technical limitations.”
Trump made reopening the waterway a condition for the ceasefire, and threatened to devastate Iran’s energy sector and infrastructure in a series of expletive-laden posts and bombastic statements in recent days.
The US president announced the two-week ceasefire around 90 minutes before the expiry of the deadline overnight, putting a pause on more than a month of fighting since the US and Israel launched large-scale attacks on Iran on February 28.
Oil prices fell sharply in response to the agreement, while stock markets in Asia rose strongly, as investors welcomed the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz.
The waterway, which is crucial to global oil and gas trade, had been largely closed by Iran since the beginning of the conflict, driving up oil prices across the world.
Pakistan, which has emerged as a key mediator between Tehran and Washington, said that an immediate ceasefire has taken effect.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif wrote on X that the Islamic Republic of Iran and the US, along with their allies, had agreed to an “immediate ceasefire everywhere,” including in Lebanon.
Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu, however, said that while Israel supported Trump’s ceasefire with Iran, the agreement did not include Lebanon.
Since the start of the war, the Iran-backed Hezbollah militia has been firing from Lebanon into Israel, prompting heavy Israeli military retaliation.
Sharif also invited US and Iranian delegations to Islamabad on Friday for further talks aimed at reaching a final agreement to end the conflict.
The US has received a 10-point proposal from Iran and believed it offered a “workable basis” for negotiations, Trump wrote on his platform Truth Social.
According to The New York Times, the plan calls for lifting all sanctions imposed on Iran.
The Tasnim news agency said the plan calls for a permanent halt to hostilities, continued control of the Strait of Hormuz and the right for Tehran to enrich uranium.
It added that Tehran also demands the lifting of stringent international sanctions, war reparations and the withdrawal of US forces from the region. The government has not formally released the text.
Pro-government supporters in Tehran celebrate ceasefire
In Iran’s capital Tehran, crowds took to the streets after the ceasefire was announced. Pro-government supporters gathered in the middle of the night at Revolution Square in the city centre, Iranian broadcaster SNN TV reported.
The channel’s reporter, affiliated with the paramilitary Basij militia, said Trump had yielded to Iran’s demands.
UN Secretary General António Guterres, meanwhile, called on all parties involved “to comply with their obligations under international law and to abide by the terms of the ceasefire in order to pave the way toward a lasting and comprehensive peace in the region,” his spokesman, Stéphane Dujarric, said.
While welcoming the two-week truce, Guterres “underscores that an end to hostilities is urgently needed to protect civilian lives and alleviate human suffering,” Dujarric added.
Despite the announced ceasefire, Israel continued to come under rocket fire from Iran overnight. Three minors were lightly injured by Iranian cluster munitions in the city of Tel Sheva, according to emergency services.
Reports of impacts also came from Petach Tikva and Bnei Brak, the Israeli news site Ynet reported. Meanwhile, sporadic explosions were reported in western Iran.
GNA