US, Iran say they have agreed to a two-week ceasefire

Major developments we’re following:

• The United States and Iran said Tuesday they have agreed to a two-week ceasefire in the war that includes the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz. U.S. President Donald Trump initially had said Iran proposed a “workable” 10-point plan that could help end the war launched by the U.S. and Israel in February. But he later called it fraudulent, without elaborating. Neither Iran nor the United States said when the ceasefire would begin.
• Trump said he’s pulling back on his threats to widen attacks on Iran. Trump’s latest threat over the Iran war hit a new extreme earlier Tuesday when he warned, “A whole civilization will die tonight, never to be brought back again,” if Iran failed to make a deal that included reopening the vital Strait of Hormuz. Trump’s threat did not seem to account for the harm to civilians, prompting Democrats in Congress, some U.N. officials and scholars in military law to say such strikes would violate international law.
• The two-week ceasefire plan includes allowing both Iran and Oman to charge fees on ships transiting through the Strait of Hormuz, a regional official said Wednesday on condition of anonymity to discuss internal deliberations. The strait is in the territorial waters of both Oman and Iran. The world had considered the passage an international waterway and never paid tolls before.
• Israel is still attacking Iranaccording to an Israeli military official who spoke on condition of anonymity in line with regulations Wednesday. Moments earlier, the White House said Israel had agreed to the terms of the two-week US-Iran ceasefire agreement. Iran also kept up fire on Israel.

The King Fahd Causeway, a key bridge linking Saudi Arabia and the island kingdom of Bahrain, reopened Wednesday morning after an hourslong closure over possible incoming fire from Iran.

The King Fahd Causeway Authority said in its announcement on X that vehicle traffic has resumed.

Secretary-General António Guterres calls on all parties “to abide by the terms of the ceasefire in order to pave the way towards a lasting and comprehensive peace in the region,” his spokesperson said.

Guterres also calls on the parties to comply with their obligations under international law, spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said in a statement late Tuesday.

International law requires the protection of civilians and civilian infrastructure.

“The secretary-general underscores that an end to hostilities is urgently needed to protect civilian lives and alleviate human suffering,” Dujarric said.

Jean Arnault, the secretary-general’s personal envoy, is in the region “to support efforts toward lasting peace,” the spokesperson said.

The Islamic Resistance in Iraq, an umbrella group of Iran-backed Iraqi militias, said in a statement early Wednesday that it will halt its operations in Iraq and the region for two weeks.

The announcement came hours after the U.S. and Iran agreed to a two-week ceasefire.

Iran-backed militias in Iraq have claimed responsibility for dozens of attacks on U.S. bases and other facilities in the country in solidarity with Tehran since the war began.

In a statement Wednesday morning, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said it supports Trump’s decision to suspend strikes against Iran for two weeks, but that it doesn’t include the war with Hezbollah in Lebanon.

It said the ceasefire is subject to Iran immediately opening the Strait of Hormuz and stopping all attacks on the U.S., Israel and countries in the region.

The statement said Israel also supports U.S. efforts to ensure Iran no longer poses a nuclear or missile threat.

The Australian government says it “welcomes the agreement by the United States, Israel and Iran to a two-week ceasefire to negotiate a resolution to the conflict in the Middle East.”

“The Australian government has been calling for de-escalation and an end to the conflict for some time now,” Australia’s Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Foreign Minister Penny Wong said in a joint statement Wednesday.

“Iran’s de facto closure of the Strait of Hormuz, coupled with its attacks on commercial vessels, civilian infrastructure, and oil and gas facilities, is causing unprecedented energy supply shocks and impacting oil and fuel prices,” they added.

They said Australia had been working with international partners in support of diplomatic efforts to reopen the Strait of Hormuz so critical supplies can flow to those who need it, including the most vulnerable.

In Japan Minoru Kihara, Japan’s chief cabinet secretary, said his nation “welcomes the announcement as a positive development. We hope they reach an agreement.”

Winston Peters, New Zealand’s foreign minister, said on X, that his nation welcomed the effort to end the war.

“While this is encouraging news, there remains significant important work to be done in the coming days to secure a lasting ceasefire,” he wrote.

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said Trump’s threat to the Iranian population was not appropriate.

Albanese referred to Trump’s threat that “a whole civilization will die tonight, never to be brought back again,” if Iran failed to make a peace deal that included reopening the Strait of Hormuz.

“I don’t think it’s appropriate to use language such as that from the President of the United States. And I think it will cause some concern,” Albanese told Sky News television on Wednesday.

“We’ve said very clearly that the conduct of any conflict must be within international law and that provides for making sure that civilians — who aren’t parties to the conflict — are given every protection possible,” Albanese added.

Albanese described the agreement reached by the United States, Israel and Iran to a two-week ceasefire to negotiate a resolution to the conflict as “positive news.”

Pro-government demonstrators in the streets of Iran’s capital Wednesday morning after the ceasefire was announced screamed: “Death to America, death to Israel, death to compromisers!”

Organizers tried at one point to calm demonstrators, but they continued the chants.

They also burned American and Israeli flags in the street.

It shows the ongoing anger from hard-liners, who had been preparing for what many assumed would be an apocalyptical battle with the U.S.

Iran in the Farsi-language version of its 10-point ceasefire plan included the phrase “acceptance of enrichment” for its nuclear program, something that was missing in English versions shared by Iranian diplomats to journalists.

It wasn’t immediately clear why that term was missing.

However, Trump had said ending Iran’s nuclear program entirely was a key point of the war.

Trump after Iran issued its 10-point plan had described it as fraudulent, without elaborating.

Iran’s mission to the U.N. declined to comment late Tuesday on discrepancies between English and Farsi versions of the ceasefire deal Tehran put out.

The official who spoke on condition of anonymity in line with regulations, said early Wednesday morning that Israel was still attacking Iran.

Moments earlier, the White House said Israel had agreed to the terms of the two-week US-Iran ceasefire agreement.

Iran also kept up fire on Israel.

Lebanon’s Health Ministry said another 22 people were wounded in the strike on Sidon.

The strike came without warning, and the Israeli military did not immediately specify who it was targeting.

At least 1,530 people have been killed in the latest war between Israel and the Hezbollah militant group.

Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said he is inviting Iran and the United States to meet in Islamabad and have further discussions.

In a post on X, Sharif said that both parties have agreed on the ceasefire.

“I warmly welcome the sagacious gesture and extend deepest gratitude to the leadership of both the countries,” he said. “And invite their delegations to Islamabad on Friday, 10th April 2026, to further negotiate for a conclusive agreement to settle all disputes.”

There has been no public response from the U.S. or Iran to the invitation.

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio confirmed in a statement that American journalist Shelley Kittlesonwho was kidnapped last week in Iraq, has been released.

Kittleson was abducted by the Iran-backed Iraqi militia Kataib Hezbollah from a street corner in Baghdad on March 31.

Rubio said in a statement posted on X, “We are relieved that this American is now freed and are working to support her safe departure from Iraq.”

He thanked Iraqi authorities, as well as the FBI and U.S. defense department and other U.S. agencies for their work toward securing Kittleson’s release.

As the clock inched closer to Trump’s proposed 8 p.m. deadline with no resolution in sight, U.S. Vice President JD Vance got roped into the conversation late Tuesday, according to an official from one of the mediating countries who was briefed on the matter and spoke on the condition of anonymity to share sensitive diplomatic discussions.

Vance’s office did not immediately have a comment.

Vance is currently traveling in Hungary.

But a U.S. official, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive military operations, said American forces had halted offensive operations.

Iran continued to fire at Gulf Arab states and Israel, despite Pakistan saying the ceasefire had taken hold immediately.

China, which is Tehran’s biggest trade partner, spoke with the Iranians to get them on board, according to two officials who were not authorized to comment publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.

Chinese officials were in touch with Iranian officials to encourage Tehran to find a path to a ceasefire deal as the negotiations were evolving, the officials said.

Beijing primarily had been working with intermediaries, including Pakistan, Turkey and Egypt, as it tried to use its influence, said one of the officials, who was not authorized to comment publicly on the diplomatic matter.

The Chinese foreign ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Earlier Tuesday, Mao Ning, a spokesperson for the Chinese foreign ministry, said, “All parties need to demonstrate sincerity and quickly end this war that should not have happened in the first place.” She said China was “deeply concerned” about the impact the conflict has on the world economy and energy security.

The two-week ceasefire plan includes allowing both Iran and Oman to charge fees on ships transiting through the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow mouth of the Persian Gulf, a regional official said Wednesday.

The official said Iran would use the money it raised for reconstruction. It wasn’t immediately clear what Oman would use its money for.

The strait is in the territorial waters of both Oman and Iran. The world had considered the passage an international waterway and never paid tolls before.

The official, who had been directly involved in the negotiations, spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss internal deliberations.

That’s according to a person familiar with the situation who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not allowed to speak to the media.

The person said Israel would like to achieve more in the war with Iran.

Asked for clarity on what Trump meant by the Iranian peace proposal being “workable,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said, “President Trump’s words speak for themselves: this is a workable basis to negotiate, and those negotiations will continue.”

“The truth is that President Trump and our powerful military got Iran to agree to reopening the Strait of Hormuz, and negotiations will continue,” Leavitt said in a statement.

Futures for U.S. crude oil sank 18% to around $92.60, while Brent crude oil futures fell about 6% to $103.40.

Both prices remain well above where they were at the start of the war.

Futures for the S&P 500 rose 2.4%.

President Donald Trump speaks with reporters in the James Brady Press Briefing Room at the White House, Monday, April 6, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)

Some Israeli officials had begun speculating as Trump neared his self-imposed deadline that he was edging towards finding an off-ramp even as he offered increasingly menacing rhetoric toward, according to person privy to internal deliberations.

The U.S. administration had signaled to Israelis that the strikes on military assets on Kharg Island earlier Tuesday and the targeting of Iran’s two main petrochemical hubs, Mahshahr and Assaluyeh, were sending a clear message to Tehran of what would come if Trump chose to further intensify the bombardment, according to the person who requested anonymity to discuss the matter.

Israeli officials were skeptical and believed the apparent breakthrough could unravel and lead to further escalation if the Iranians don’t make good on quickly opening the Strait of Hormuz, the person added.

The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to describe sensitive military operations, noted that defensive measures and operations would still be in effect.

It comes after President Donald Trump announced a two-week ceasefire agreement with the Islamic Republic.

President Donald Trump is seen on television monitors in the James S. Brady Press Briefing Room at the White House in Washington, Tuesday, April 7, 2026. (AP Photo/Rod Lamkey, Jr.)

The White House on Tuesday night did not answer messages on why the president described Iran’s 10-point peace plan as “workable.”

Among the points communicated by Tehran were an easing of U.S. sanctions on Iran and “the withdrawal of United States combat forces from all bases and points of deployment within the region.”

In his social media post announcing a postponement of his threatened bombing campaign, Trump wrote: “We received a 10 point proposal from Iran, and believe it is a workable basis on which to negotiate.”

The White House did not immediately clarify what Trump meant or provide details on what a “basis” for future negotiations might entail.

Israel and the United Arab Emirates both sounded missile alerts early Wednesday, despite Iran and the United States saying they had reached a two-week ceasefire in the war.

It wasn’t immediately clear what was being targeted in the two countries, which bore the brunt of the missile and drone fire during the war.

Throughout the war, Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard has called the shots in all decisions. Individual commanders have made decisions on what to strike and when, with the nation’s political leadership sidelined.

Whether they agreed to stop shooting with the declared ceasefire and negotiations being planned in Islamabad remained in question.

However, many Mideast wars see combatants launch last-minute attacks to be able to claim victory with their populations.

The missile alert sounded early Wednesday morning after the United States and Iran said they reached a two-week ceasefire in the war.

It wasn’t clear what had been targeted, but it showed the chaos of the unfolding diplomatic moves.

In question is another of the points messaged by the Iranians — “the withdrawal of United States combat forces from all bases and points of deployment within the region.”

The U.S. has maintained a network of military bases through the Persian Gulf for decades after the 1991 Gulf War with Iraq.

The bases have served as the region’s chief security guarantor and provided protection for the energy-rich Gulf Arab states.

Iran did not define, however, what it meant by “combat forces,” potentially giving wiggle room for those bases to remain.

But any step-down in troop levels in the region likely would anger the Gulf Arab states that have suffered through weeks of war.

A cameraman films the Indian flagged LPG carrier Jag Vasant transporting liquefied petroleum gas, at the Mumbai Port in Mumbai, India, after it arrived clearing the Strait of Hormuz, Wednesday, April 1, 2026.(AP Photo/Rafiq Maqbool)

Iran’s foreign minister says that ships would be allowed to pass through the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow mouth of the Persian Gulf, over the next two weeks under coordination from Iran’s military.

About a fifth of the world’s oil transits the strait in peacetime.

Araghchi wrote in a statement that: “For a period of two weeks, safe passage through the Strait of Hormuz will be possible via coordination with Iran’s Armed Forces and with due consideration of technical limitations.”

Before the war, there were no “technical limitations.” Over 100 ships a day passed through the water in Iranian and Omani territorial waters in a decades-old traffic system.

The statement did not say whether Iran would seek to charge ships as it had been doing during the war.

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Iran’s explanation of the 10-point plan included its claimed that the Strait of Hormuz would be subject to “regulated passage … under the coordination of the Armed Forces of Iran.”

It added that would be “thereby conferring upon Iran a unique economic and geopolitical standing.” It also would receive full sanctions relief.

These terms would represent an extraordinary step down by the U.S. after 47 years of hostilities with Iran, starting from the 1979 Islamic Revolution.

Iran’s Supreme National Security Council said Wednesday it had accepted a two-week ceasefire in the war.

Its statement said it would negotiate with the United States in Islamabad beginning Friday.

“It is emphasized that this does not signify the termination of the war,” the statement said. “Our hands remain upon the trigger, and should the slightest error be committed by the enemy, it shall be met with full force.”

In his social media post, Trump said he came to the decision to delay an expansion of U.S. strikes “based on conversations” with Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Gen. Asim Munir, Pakistan’s powerful army chief.

Sharif, in a post on X earlier Tuesday, urged Trump to extend his deadline by two weeks to allow diplomacy to advance. Pakistan has been leading negotiations.

Sharif used the same post to ask Iran to open the Hormuz Strait for two weeks.

And then to retreat if a backlash ensues — a phenomenon his critics have derided as “Trump Always Chickens Out,” or TACO.

The president backed off many of the sweeping “Liberation Day” tariffs he first announced in April 2025 after they caused the financial markets to go haywire.

He also largely dropped threats to impose high levies on many imported products from China, Mexico, the European Union and Canada — among other trade partners.

Perhaps the most spectacular example came during a January meeting of the World Economic Forum in Davos, where Trump insisted that he wanted the U.S. to get Greenland “including right, title and ownership” only to switch course and abandon his threat to impose widespread tariffs on Europe to press his case.

The president added in his social media post that Iran has presented “a workable basis on which to negotiate.”

“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 finalized and consummated,” Trump said in the post.

The president says that includes an array of bridges, power plants and other civilian targets — subject to Iran being ready for a two week ceasefire and to reopen Strait of Hormuz.

In a post on his social media site on Tuesday evening, Trump said Iran could agree “to the COMPLETE, IMMEDIATE, and SAFE OPENING of the Strait of Hormuz” and said that he’d then “suspend the bombing and attack of Iran for a period of two weeks.”

Since the war began in February, Trump has set a series of deadlines threatening escalation of the conflict, only to backoff just before they expire.

Iran’s joint military command spokesperson made the warning in a statement responding to U.S.-Israeli attacks.

Ebrahim Zolfaghari said Iran will intensify its attacks on military, security, and economic infrastructure in Israel and on “centers related to” the U.S. in the region.

Zolfaghari said Iran’s continued attacks on the infrastructure of the U.S. and its allies aim to deprive them of the region’s oil and gas supplies “for many years” and “force them to leave” the Middle East.