President Donald Trump said he would extend a deadline for a deal with Iran by two weeks if the country agreed to reopen the Strait of Hormuz. He said the conditional ceasefire is intended to clear the way for negotiations to end the war.
The announcement came after Trump’s Tuesday morning threats that at 8 p.m. ET, “a whole civilization will die tonight, never to be brought back again” if the Iranian government didn’t open the Strait of Hormuz.
At the 11th hour, on Tuesday, the president announced the extension and ceasefire.
“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,” Trump posted on Truth Social on Tuesday evening.
The Dow began trending upward shortly before news of the ceasefire broke, as investors showed optimism about a last-minute deal. In the moments after Trump’s announcement, it shot several hundred points upward.
Oil prices dropped on the news of the ceasefire. West Texas Intermediate fell over 12% as of 7 p.m. ET.
On Tuesday morning, Trump had dramatically ramped up his threats after Iran rejected proposals put forward by the US, and Trump turned down a 10-point plan from Tehran on Monday.
The Strait controls about 20% of the world’s total oil supply, and Iran’s blockade of it has sent the national average oil price per gallon at the pump past $4 as of April 7, according to the AAA.
Leaders of other countries have been making efforts to broker peace in the region. On Tuesday afternoon, Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif asked Trump for a two-week extension of his threat and also asked Iran’s leaders to agree to open up the strait for two weeks “as a goodwill gesture.”
“We also urge all warring parties to observe a ceasefire everywhere for two weeks to allow diplomacy to achieve conclusive termination of war, in the interest of long-term peace and stability in the region,” Sharif said in a post on X.
