Trump Says He Has Agreed To 2-Week Iran Ceasefire

UPDATED with Iranian statements: Donald Trump on Tuesday accepted a ceasefire deal with Iran brokered by Pakistan for an off-ramp on his threat that a “whole civilization will die tonight, never to be brought back again.”

Promising brimstone and fire, Trump had given the regime in Tehran until 5 p.m. PT/8 p.m. PT to open the blocked Strait of Hormuz before undefined attacks would commence.

Almost from the moment Trump said he would hit Iran even harder than usual, the extreme position found POTUS clearly looking for a way out of his own deadline. In what many will view as a widely anticipated TACO move with less than two hours remaining on his self-imposed clock, Trump took to social media to unveil the latest state of affairs.

“Based on conversations with Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Field Marshal Asim Munir, of Pakistan, and wherein they requested that I hold off the destructive force being sent tonight to Iran, and subject to the Islamic Republic of Iran agreeing to the COMPLETE, IMMEDIATE, and SAFE OPENING of the Strait of Hormuz, I agree to suspend the bombing and attack of Iran for a period of two weeks,” POTUS posted.

Read live on many cable newsers, a statement from Tehran took a very different perspective on what went down between the U.S. and Iran in the flurry of the past few hours and that 10-point plan.

“We congratulate the people of Iran for this victory and reiterate that until the final details of the victory are finalized, officials and people must remain united and defiant,” Iran’s National Security Council stated. “The enemy, in its unfair, unlawful, and criminal war against the Iranian nation, has suffered an undeniable, historic, and crushing defeat,” it added, insisting the ceasefire permits Iran to carry on with their much feared nuclear program, escape U.S. sanctions and be acknowledged as in charge of the strait.

A follow-up statement from the country’s foreign minister took a less bellicose tone and offered some practical specifics. “For a period of two weeks, safe passage through the Strait of Hormuz will be possible via coordinating with Iran’s Armed Forces,” Abbas Araghchi said, fulfilling one of the White House’s core objectives amid fast-rising oil prices in the West.

Israel is also a part of the ceasefire but was subjected to a last-minute barrage of missile attacks today from Iran and its minions. Israeli officials reportedly asserted that they will halt their bombing campaign of the Islamic Republic for the next 14 days, for now.

As news of the ceasefire spread and become topic No. 1 on cable news and online, CNN’s Jake Tapper asked the question to his on-air guests that was certainly on the mind of many. “Peace is good, lack of killing people good, but is there anything fundamentally different today from yesterday?” the veteran anchor inquired. All agreed, not much.