Trump Announces Two-Week Iran Ceasefire Minutes Before Military Deadline

In a dramatic eleventh-hour reversal, President Donald Trump announced a two-week ceasefire with Iran on Tuesday evening, less than two hours before his 8 p.m. deadline to launch devastating strikes on Iranian civilian infrastructure. The agreement came after intensive Pakistani diplomatic intervention, with Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Field Marshal Asim Munir requesting Trump pause the "destructive force" and proposing a ceasefire window for negotiations. Trump's condition: Iran must agree to the "COMPLETE, IMMEDIATE, and SAFE OPENING of the Strait of Hormuz," a critical global shipping chokepoint.

Israel has also agreed to suspend its bombing campaign during the two-week period, according to a senior White House official. Trump justified the pause by claiming the US had "already met and exceeded all Military objectives" and stating negotiations are "very far along" on a definitive peace agreement. He noted Iran submitted a 10-point proposal that serves as "a workable basis on which to negotiate," and that "almost all of the various points of past contention have been agreed to" between Washington and Tehran.

Pakistan's Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar worked late into the night calling regional stakeholders—including Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and Morocco—as the diplomatic effort accelerated. Trump told Fox News that Sharif is a "respected man" and that negotiations remain "heated." The ceasefire announcement came after a day of intense airstrikes: US-Israeli forces destroyed a synagogue in Tehran (with Israel expressing regret for the "collateral damage"), struck Iran's Amirkabir Petrochemical facility, and hit industrial units near Arak.

The pause drew rare pushback from some Republicans. Rep. Nathaniel Moran of Texas, a self-described Reagan Republican and West Point alumnus, issued a lengthy statement opposing Trump's rhetoric about destroying "a whole civilization," writing "America is great because America is good." Sen. Lisa Murkowski also condemned the threat, calling it "an affront to the ideals our nation has sought to uphold" and warning it "directly endangers Americans both abroad and at home." Separately, American journalist Shelly Kittleson, kidnapped in Baghdad last month by pro-Iranian militia Kataib Hezbollah, was released on the condition she leave the country immediately.