U.S. and Iran agree to 2-week ceasefire, suspending Trump's threat to annihilate Iran

President Donald Trump said Tuesday evening that he would suspend bombing Iran for two weeks, subject to Iran agreeing to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, as part of a ceasefire deal between the warring nations.

The negotiations — facilitated by Pakistan — mark a breathtaking comedown from his pledge made early Tuesday that a "whole civilization will die tonight, never to be brought back again" if a deal could not be reached by 8 p.m. ET to open the strait.

"This will be a double sided CEASEFIRE! The reason for doing so is that we have already met and exceeded all Military objectives, and are very far along with a definitive Agreement concerning Longterm PEACE with Iran, and PEACE in the Middle East," Trump wrote on his social media platform.

The president added that Iran has proposed a "workable" 10-point peace plan that include what he described as "points of past contention," which "have been agreed to between the United States and Iran." The extra time, he said, will allow the agreement to be finalized.

The idea of a two-week ceasefire was one proposed by Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif Tuesday afternoon. In a post on X, Sharif said the ongoing diplomatic efforts were "progressing steadily, strongly and powerfully with the potential to lead to substantive results in near future."

Trump had threatened to destroy bridges, power plants and water treatment facilities. Wide-scale destruction of infrastructure, without any distinction between civilian and military targets, would be considered a war crime under international and U.S. law, legal experts tell NPR.

Meanwhile in Iraq, an Iranian-backed militia announced it has released American journalist Shelly Kittleson a week after kidnapping her in Baghdad.

Copyright NPR