Iran’s Supreme National Security Council said Tuesday that it has accepted a two-week ceasefire in the war, signaling a conditional pause after U.S. President Donald Trump pulled back from threats to expand strikes to bridges, power plants and other civilian targets.
The council said Iran would enter negotiations with the United States in Islamabad beginning Friday, while emphasizing that the ceasefire “does not signify the termination of the war.” The announcement came in the final stretch of a self-imposed deadline Trump set for Tehran to meet U.S. terms or face what he had described as devastating escalation.
Trump said late Tuesday that he would suspend the threatened attacks for two weeks if Iran agreed to a ceasefire and to the “COMPLETE, IMMEDIATE, and SAFE OPENING of the Strait of Hormuz,” the critical shipping lane that carries a large share of the world’s oil during peacetime.
The president said the pause followed conversations with Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Gen. Asim Munir, Pakistan’s army chief, after Sharif publicly urged a two-week extension to allow diplomacy to advance and pressed Iran to open the strait for the same period.
In a parallel statement, Iranian Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi said Iran would cease its defensive operations “if attacks against Iran are halted,” and that for two weeks “safe passage through the Strait of Hormuz will be possible” through coordination with Iran’s armed forces and “with due consideration of technical limitations.”
Iran’s council statement, meanwhile, framed the ceasefire as a pause to pursue negotiations rather than an end to hostilities.
The developments marked a sharp shift from the escalating threats that dominated the day. Trump had warned earlier that time was running out, then pivoted toward a pause he described as “double sided” while pointing to continued talks and a path toward a longer-term agreement.
Iran’s acceptance, however, underscored the conditional nature of the arrangement: Tehran tied any cessation of its operations to an end to attacks, while holding open the possibility of resumed fighting if the pause collapses.
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