Overview
- Washington and Tehran reached a two-week truce Tuesday that includes a temporary reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, announced about an hour before President Trump’s 8 p.m. ET deadline.
- Trump said he would halt bombing for two weeks if Iran ensured a complete, immediate and safe opening of the waterway, and Iran’s foreign minister confirmed safe passage and a pause in defensive operations if U.S. attacks stop, with talks set to start Friday in Pakistan.
- In the hours leading up to the deal, U.S. and Israeli strikes intensified, hitting military sites on Iran’s Kharg Island, a South Pars petrochemical facility, bridges, rail lines and an airport, and oil prices jumped after reports of the Kharg attacks.
- Trump warned that “a whole civilization will die tonight” and brushed off questions about possible war crimes, while Iran rejected earlier U.S. terms, urged civilians to guard power plants and the Revolutionary Guard threatened to deprive the U.S. and its allies of oil and gas for years.
- The Strait of Hormuz carries roughly one-fifth of the world’s oil, so even a brief reopening could ease fuel costs, yet any breakdown of the truce would likely jolt energy markets again and raise the risk of a broader regional conflict.