WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. and Iran struck an eleventh-hour deal to suspend attacks for two weeks.
President Trump originally said “a whole civilization will die” if Iran did not meet his deadline to reopen the Strait of Hormuz by 8:00pm ET Tuesday.
With less than two hours before the deadline, President Trump announced the two-week suspension of U.S. bombing — calling it a “double-sided ceasefire.” The president said the move came after backchannel talks — and a ten-point proposal from Iran — aimed at a longer-term peace deal.
“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. We received a 10 point proposal from Iran, and believe it is a workable basis on which to negotiate,” Trump said on Truth Social Tuesday evening. “Almost all of the various points of past contention have been agreed to between the United States and Iran, but a two week period will allow the Agreement to be finalized and consummated.”
Both sides – Tehran and the White House claimed victory following the agreement.
“The world has just witnessed a historically swift and successful military triumph,” said White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt during a briefing Wednesday.
The Pentagon made clear Wednesday morning that joint force remains ready if called upon to resume combat operations — “With the same speed and precision as we’ve demonstrated over the last 38 days,” said Gen. Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
“This new regime was out of options and out of time. So, they cut a deal,” said Secretary Pete Hegseth. “They know this agreement means that they will never, ever possess a nuclear weapon.”
One major question still unresolved is when — or how — the Strait of Hormuz will fully reopen. The agreement Tuesday evening appears to have tentatively and partially reopened the Strait. But Tehran’s control over the Strait, and over a toll for passing vessels, raises questions about who controls it, who gets paid, how much and in and what currency.
“It explicitly does not state whether that’s payable in U.S. dollars or in what currency,” said Aarathi Krishna, geopolitical strategist and founder & CEO of Raksha Intelligence Futures.
Krishna says there are three competing frameworks operating simultaneously. Iran’s most prominent military branch, the IRGC — a designated terrorist organization by several nations including the U.S. — is accepting the Chinese Yuan and cryptocurrency. Krishna added that Iran’s parliament passed a bill stipulating that it should be paid in Iranian riyals, while President Trump proposed a joint U.S.-Iran toll management on Wednesday with no currency specified.
“It is simultaneously an energy security story, a dollar dominance story and a US-China rivalry story all in one,” Krishna said.
Since the deal was announced, missile attacks were reported in Israel, Lebanon and across the Gulf region. On Wednesday, Iranian state media reported that the “passage of oil tankers through the Strait of Hormuz has been halted following Israel’s attacks on Lebanon.”
The White House pushed back on those reports Wednesday afternoon, claiming there has been an uptick in tanker traffic through the vital, narrow waterway.
“The president was made aware of those reports before I came to the podium. That is completely unacceptable. And again, this is a case of what they’re saying publicly is different privately. We have seen an uptick of traffic in the Strait today,” said Leavitt.
Even though the White House said the two-week period will be used to negotiate terms of Iran’s 10-point plan, Krishna says there are stark differences in each country’s demands on topics beyond the Strait. Those differences include Iran’s nuclear enrichment, U.S. sanctions, financial compensation for damage to Iran, among several others.
“It’s not really speaking the same language,” said Krishna. “Both parties are coming to the discussion with proposals that are wildly different from each other.”
However, oil markets still saw some relief following the ceasefire agreement. As of Wednesday afternoon, West Texas Intermediate crude was trading below $100 per barrel. It’s a significant drop from one day earlier, where the U.S. benchmark topped $116. The global oil benchmark, Brent Crude, also dropped below $100 a barrel Wednesday.
