Iran Agrees to Reopen Strait of Hormuz Under Pakistan-Brokered Deal

Iran and the United States reached a two-week ceasefire Wednesday, with Tehran agreeing to conditionally reopen the Strait of Hormuz, averting a threatened American military escalation that President Donald Trump had framed in apocalyptic terms. The breakthrough came just hours before Trump's self-imposed deadline of 8:00 p.m. Eastern Time, after Pakistan's government launched an extraordinary overnight diplomatic push to pull both sides back from the brink.

Iran had closed the strait after responding to U.S. and Israeli attacks in February, effectively cutting off a waterway that serves as a conduit for about a fifth of the world's oil and natural gas supply. The closure had become Tehran's most potent bargaining chip, and earlier on Tuesday a senior Iranian official had signaled the country would not reopen it under pressure.

Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif made an 11th-hour appeal to Trump to push back his deadline by two weeks, while simultaneously urging Iran to fully open the strait as a goodwill gesture. Pakistan's army chief, Field Marshal Asim Munir, was in contact "all night long" with U.S. officials as the clock ran down.

Trump announced on Truth Social that he would suspend bombing and attacks on Iran for two weeks, writing: "Based on conversations with Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Field Marshal Asim Munir, of Pakistan... 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."

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi confirmed Tehran's acceptance, saying Iran would allow "safe passage" through the Strait of Hormuz during those two weeks "via coordination with Iran's armed forces." In his full statement, Araghchi said passage would be subject to "due consideration of technical limitations," a caveat that left the precise conditions of reopening open to interpretation. He expressed gratitude toward Sharif and Munir for their "tireless efforts to end the war in the region."

Trump wrote that his administration had received a 10-point proposal from Iran, and considered it "a workable basis on which to negotiate," adding that "almost all of the various points of past contention have been agreed to." The U.S. had separately circulated a 15-point framework of its own.

The two-week window is intended to be used for negotiations toward a broader peace agreement. U.S.-Iran peace talks are expected to be held Friday in Islamabad, with Vice President Vance likely to lead the American delegation.

Trump had threatened, in a Truth Social post laden with expletives, to strike Iranian energy and transport infrastructure if Iran failed to make a deal and reopen the Strait by Tuesday, giving a precise deadline of "Tuesday, 8:00 P.M. Eastern Time." The ceasefire, if it holds, would halt more than five weeks of strikes that have killed thousands across the region since the U.S. and Israel began attacking Iran in late February.

The fragile agreement leaves significant questions unresolved, including Iran's nuclear program and its missile and drone capabilities, issues that UAE adviser Anwar Gargash has warned must be part of any durable settlement. Gargash said a deal that failed to rein in Iran's nuclear program and its missiles and drones would pave the way for "a more dangerous, more volatile Middle East." With talks now scheduled for Islamabad, the two-week window may prove either the opening of a lasting diplomatic process or the latest pause in a conflict that has already reshaped the region.