What to know so far on the ceasefire
Trump pulls back on threats as US, Israel and Iran reach a two-week ceasefire deal; Trump says Iran proposal is basis for negotiation; Iran describes deal as victory over Trump; Pakistan to host talks on Friday.
The United States and Iran agreed to a two-week ceasefire on Tuesday in an 11th-hour bid to avert all-out destruction threatened by US President Donald Trump.
Here’s what we know so far about the truce between the two countries, which are set to begin negotiations but remain poles apart in their positions on ending the war.
What has the US said about the truce?
Trump told AFP the ceasefire deal was a “total and complete victory” for Washington.
The US will suspend attacks on Iran for two weeks, and Tehran will in turn temporarily reopen the Strait of Hormuz, a vital global oil thoroughfare, according to Washington.
Tehran agreed to the “COMPLETE, IMMEDIATE, and SAFE OPENING of the Strait of Hormuz,” Trump said in a Truth Social post.
Trump said the US will help with the traffic buildup in the Strait of Hormuz.
The US president said the agreement was reached after he spoke to leaders in Pakistan, which has played a key role in mediating the war launched by the US and Israel on February 28.
Trump also told AFP that Iran’s enriched uranium would be “perfectly taken care of” under the two-week truce.
He has justified the war by accusing Tehran of enriching uranium with the aim of building an atomic weapon, an assertion not backed by the UN nuclear watchdog and which Iran has denied.
The US in a previous plan to end hostilities, which Tehran did not agree to, demanded Iran stop further enrichment, agree to limits on its missile programme and cease support for its proxy groups in the region.
Those requirements have not been detailed in the latest truce.
Trump has been inconsistent in his conditions for ending fighting, regularly backtracking from hardline demands.
Last month, the US leader said Iran’s “unconditional surrender” would be the only acceptable outcome to end the war.
Trump says China got Iran to negotiate
Trump said he believed China had helped get Iran to the negotiating table to agree to a two-week ceasefire deal.
“I hear yes,” Trump said in a telephone interview when asked if Beijing was involved in getting key ally Tehran to negotiate on a truce.
What is Iran saying?
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi confirmed that Tehran would allow safe passage for two weeks through the Strait of Hormuz, through which one-fifth of the world’s oil passes.
Iran has proposed a 10-point plan for securing an end to the war, which Trump said was “workable”.
While the plan could form the basis of potential negotiations later this week, it includes several sticking points which Washington has previously said were unfeasible.
The plan would require “continued Iranian control over the Strait of Hormuz, acceptance of enrichment, lifting of all primary and secondary sanctions,” according to a statement released by the country.
Iran’s Supreme National Security Council portrayed the deal as a victory over the US, claiming Trump had accepted Iran’s conditions for ending hostilities.
While the uranium enrichment demand was not included in Tehran’s English-language statement shared by the UN, it was part of the Persian release circulated by Iranian state media.
