US and Iran both claim victory after agreeing to two-week ceasefire

With barely an hour to spare before President Donald Trump’s deadline to unleash a devastating assault on Iran, Washington and Tehran agreed overnight to a two-week ceasefire, prompting a wave of global relief tempered by deep uncertainty.

Iran has also agreed to temporarily reopen the Strait of Hormuz, a vital artery for global shipments of oil, gas and fertiliser, easing immediate fears for an already battered world economy.

Even so, international leaders warned the breakthrough remained fragile. UN chief Antonio Guterres urged all sides to “pave the way towards a lasting and comprehensive peace”, stressing that the real test now lies in stopping the conflict from reigniting.

That sense of danger was underscored this morning by explosions in Manama, Bahrain, where authorities blamed what they described as “Iranian aggression”.

Tehran also presented the ceasefire as a victory and said it had agreed to enter talks with the US, beginning on Friday in Pakistan, on a possible route to ending the war.

“The enemy has suffered an undeniable, historic and crushing defeat in its cowardly, illegal and criminal war against the Iranian nation,” said a statement from the Iranian Supreme National Security Council.

“Iran achieved a great victory.”

First responders gather at the site of an Israeli airstrike in Saida, Lebanon today

The White House said Israel had signed on to the ceasefire as well, but Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the arrangement does not extend to Lebanon, where Israel’s retaliation for rocket fire from Iranian-backed Hezbollah has killed more than 1,500 people, according to Lebanese authorities.

On the ground today, Israeli forces continued operations in south Lebanon, warning residents of a building near the city of Tyre to leave, while Lebanese state media reported fresh strikes.

Israel had pushed Mr Trump to launch the war against Iran, its longstanding regional foe, and the opening strikes killed Tehran’s veteran supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Any peace settlement would leave the Islamic republic still standing, despite US and Israeli ambitions to bring it down.

Washington and Tel Aviv have said their attacks on Iran were aimed at degrading the country’s military capacity.

McEntee says ceasefire must include Lebanon

Minister for Foreign Affairs Helen McEntee welcomed the overnight agreement but said any ceasefire that excludes Lebanon would fall short.

“Any ceasefire must be comprehensive and include Lebanon, and I call on Hezbollah and Israel to cease attacks and military operations,” Ms McEntee said.

“The Strait of Hormuz must open and remain safe to pass. The protection of civilians must remain paramount, and all parties must uphold their obligations under international law.

“I urge all parties to de-escalate and engage in negotiations towards a durable ceasefire and a lasting, peaceful resolution.”

‘Safe opening’ of Strait of Hormuz

Iran had effectively closed the Strait of Hormuz to marine traffic

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

He later said he believed China had played a role in persuading Tehran to negotiate.

“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,” Mr Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform at 11.32pm (Irish time) last night.

Mr Trump had given Iran until 1am Irish time to reopen the Strait of Hormuz.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi confirmed that ships would be allowed safe passage through the strait for two weeks after Tehran shut it in retaliation for the war.

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

This morning, Mr Trump said on social media that the US would “be helping with the traffic buildup in the Strait of Hormuz”.

Uranium to be ‘taken care of’ – Trump

Markets reacted swiftly to the ceasefire. Oil prices tumbled by more than 17%, European natural gas fell 20%, and stock markets surged in early Asian trading.

Mr Trump said the US was “very far along” in talks on a longer-term agreement with Iran, which he said had put forward a 10-point plan that was “workable.”

But the points released publicly by Iran struck a hard line, including demands to lift long-standing US sanctions, recognise its “dominion” over the strait and remove American forces from the region.

Most significantly, Tehran said any plan would require Washington to accept its uranium enrichment programme.

Mr Trump has claimed Iran was close to producing an atomic bomb, a charge not supported by the UN nuclear watchdog or by most observers.

He nevertheless said any peace accord would address the nuclear material.

“That will be perfectly taken care of, or I wouldn’t have settled,” Mr Trump said, without offering specifics on what would happen to the uranium.

Mr Trump declined to say whether he would return to earlier threats to destroy power plants and bridges across the nation of 90 million people if the agreement collapsed.

“You’re going to have to see,” he said.

The US president had issued rhetoric that stood out even by his own standards, warning that “a whole civilization will die tonight, never to be brought back again. I don’t want that to happen, but it probably will.”

Pope Leo XIV said “this threat against all the people of Iran” was “truly unacceptable”.

A woman walks among buildings destroyed in a joint attack by Israel and the United States in Tehran

Heavy strikes before deadline

Before Mr Trump’s deadline expired, US and Israeli forces hit major infrastructure, with Netanyahu saying the strikes targeted railways and bridges allegedly used by the Revolutionary Guards.

Iran, in turn, has carried out weeks of drone and missile attacks on Gulf Arab states, saying they served as hubs for US troops.

Those attacks have badly shaken the Gulf monarchies’ carefully cultivated image of safety and stability.

Today, the United Arab Emirates, which suffered the heaviest impact from Iran’s Gulf strikes, also declared victory.

“The UAE emerged victorious from a war we sincerely sought to avoid,” presidential adviser Anwar Gargash said in a post on X.

Still, much of the international response centred not on celebration but on the urgent need to turn the ceasefire into a durable peace.

Oman, which had mediated failed talks between Washington and Tehran before the war interrupted them, stressed “the importance of intensifying efforts… to identify solutions capable of resolving the crisis at its roots”.

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer announced an immediate trip to the Gulf and said “we must do all we can to support and sustain this ceasefire, turn it into a lasting agreement and re-open the Strait of Hormuz”.

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