Iran’s Supreme National Security Council said Wednesday it has accepted a two-week ceasefire in the war. Its statement said it would negotiate with the United States in Islamabad beginning Friday.
WATCH: Trump agrees to 2-week ceasefire, backs down from threats to destroy Iran’s infrastructure
“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.”
U.S. President Donald Trump said late Tuesday he’s pulling back on his threats to widen attacks on Iran, including an array of bridges, power plants and other civilian targets — subject to Iran being ready for a two-week ceasefire and to reopen the Strait of Hormuz.
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 fails to make a deal that includes reopening the vital Strait of Hormuz.
The Republican president’s earlier comments were swiftly met with condemnation from Democrats, some “Make America Great Again” supporters who have since broken with Trump, and the first American pope.
Trump says talks with Pakistani officials helped lead to his decision to delay bombing campaign
In his social media post, Trump said he decided 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.
READ MORE: Pakistan urges Trump to extend Iran deadline
Sharif, in a post on the social platform 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 Strait of Hormuz for two weeks.
Iran’s explanation of its 10-point plan says Strait of Hormuz would be subject to ‘regulated passage’
Iran’s explanation of the 10-point plan included its claim that the Strait of Hormuz would be subject to “regulated passage … under the coordination of the Armed Forces of Iran.”
It added that it would be “thereby conferring upon Iran a unique economic and geopolitical standing.” It would also 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.
It isn’t clear if Iran will loosen its chokehold on the waterway that’s crucial to global energy supplies
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.
WATCH: How Iran is reacting as Trump pulls back from threat to wipe out civilization
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.
But any step-down in troop levels in the region likely would anger the Gulf Arab states that have suffered through weeks of war.
Also not clear: What Iran means in referencing ‘withdrawal’ of U.S. combat forces
In question is another point 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.
WATCH: Mideast experts weigh Iran regime’s leverage in negotiations with U.S.
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.
Missile alerts sound despite Iran and U.S. saying they’ve reached a ceasefire
Israel and the United Arab Emirates both sounded missile alerts early Wednesday, despite Iran and the U.S. 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.
U.S. military has halted all offensive operations against Iran, U.S. official says
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 Trump announced a two-week ceasefire agreement with the Islamic Republic.
— By Konstantin Toropin
U.S. signaled to Israel that strikes were meant to show Iran what could come, official says
Some Israeli officials had begun speculating as Trump neared his self-imposed deadline that he was edging toward finding an off-ramp even as he offered increasingly menacing rhetoric, 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.
— By Aamer Madhani
Oil prices plunge after Trump pulls back on threats to widen attacks
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%.
Leavitt says negotiations will continue
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.
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.”
