Iran, US agree two-week ceasefire

WASHINGTON: The United States and Iran agreed to a two-week ceasefire late Wednesday, barely an hour before President Donald Trump’s deadline to obliterate the rival country was set to expire, with Tehran to temporarily reopen the vital Strait of Hormuz.

After more than a month of blistering attacks by the United States and Israel, Iran cast the ceasefire as a victory and said it had agreed to talks with Washington to begin Friday in Pakistan on a path to end the conflict.

Trump said he had spoken to Pakistan’s leaders who “requested that I hold off the destructive force being sent tonight to Iran.”

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi confirmed safe passage for two weeks for ships through the Strait of Hormuz, the gateway for one-fifth of the world’s oil, which Tehran sealed off in retaliation for the war launched on February 28.

“If attacks against Iran are halted, our Powerful Armed Forces will cease their defensive operations,” Araghchi said.

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif of Pakistan, who has played a key mediator role, said that the ceasefire would start immediately.

Israel did not immediately react. Its assault on Lebanon in response to rocket fire by Iranian-backed Hezbollah has led to more than 1,500 deaths, according to Lebanese authorities.

Israel had encouraged Trump to join the war against Iran, its arch-nemesis, and in the first strikes killed the long-serving supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.