US and Iran agree to provisional ceasefire with Tehran saying it will reopen strait of Hormuz

“For a period of two weeks, safe passage through the Strait of Hormuz will be possible via coordinating with Iran’s Armed Forces,” Iran’s foreign minister said.

Donald Trump announced that a ceasefire agreement had been mediated through Pakistan. Picture: AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson.

The US and Iran agreed to a two-week conditional ceasefire on Tuesday evening after a last-minute diplomatic intervention led by Pakistan, canceling an ultimatum from Donald Trump for Iran to surrender or face widespread destruction.

Trump’s announcement of the ceasefire agreement came less than two hours before the US president’s self-imposed 8pm Eastern time deadline to bomb Iran’s power plants and bridges in a move that legal scholars, as well as officials from numerous countries and the Pope, had warned could constitute war crimes.