Officials in the U.S. learned Monday that Iran’s new supreme leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, had instructed his negotiators to move toward a deal for the first time since the war began. As President Trump publicly warned of the possible destruction of Iran’s infrastructure and hinted at far broader consequences, that shift in Tehran added an unexpected diplomatic track to a moment otherwise defined by preparations for a major escalation.
According to Axios, in Washington and across the region, military plans continued as if a large‑scale attack were imminent. U.S. forces in the Middle East and officials at the Pentagon spent the closing hours before Trump’s ultimatum positioning assets for an extensive bombing campaign and trying to determine which way the president was leaning. Regional allies prepared for what they assumed would be a wave of Iranian retaliation on a scale they had not previously seen, while some civilians inside Iran left their homes in an effort to avoid likely targets.
According to multiple officials familiar with the process, the diplomacy that ultimately produced a temporary ceasefire was intense and compressed. On Monday morning, while Trump attended an Easter event at the White House, U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff was on the phone with mediators, rejecting a newly received 10‑point Iranian counter‑proposal as unacceptable. That set off a day described by those involved as chaotic, with Pakistani intermediaries relaying revised texts between Witkoff and Iranian foreign minister Abbas Araghchi, and Egyptian and Turkish ministers intervening to narrow remaining differences.
By Monday night, mediators had secured U.S. approval for an updated proposal for a two‑week ceasefire. Final authority on the Iranian side rested with Khamenei, who, because of concerns about assassination attempts, has been relying largely on couriers carrying written messages rather than electronic communications. Sources involved in the talks said Khamenei was directly engaged throughout Monday and Tuesday, and that his decision to allow his negotiators to pursue an agreement marked a turning point. They also said Araghchi played a central role in both shaping the negotiating position and persuading senior Revolutionary Guard officers to accept a pause in fighting. China, according to these accounts, pressed Iran to use the moment as an off‑ramp.
By Tuesday morning, participants in the talks believed progress was being made, even as Trump issued his most severe public warning that night could bring the end of an entire civilization. Some U.S. media reports suggested Iran was withdrawing from talks in response to the threat, but people directly involved said discussions continued and that there was still forward movement. Vice President J.D. Vance, traveling in Hungary, was in regular contact with Pakistani counterparts. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu remained in close touch with Trump and his team, though Israeli officials were increasingly concerned that they no longer fully controlled the trajectory of the process.
Around midday Tuesday, there was broad recognition among the parties that they were converging on a two‑week ceasefire framework. Roughly three hours later, Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif published the proposed terms on social media and called on both sides to accept them, putting public pressure on Washington and Tehran. Trump immediately began receiving calls and messages from hawkish allies urging him to reject the arrangement. Several people who had spoken with him only shortly beforehand still expected him to do so, even in the final hour before his decision.
In the end, Trump chose to accept the ceasefire. Shortly before posting his response, he spoke with Netanyahu to confirm Israel’s commitment to abide by the agreement, then with Pakistani military chief Asim Munir to finalize the deal. U.S. forces received orders to stand down about 15 minutes after Trump’s public statement. Araghchi then announced that Iran would adhere to the terms and reopen the Strait of Hormuz for shipping coordinated with Iranian armed forces.
Questions remain about how fully Iran will allow maritime traffic to resume and how strictly Israel will observe the ceasefire conditions. A senior Israeli official said Netanyahu received assurances that Washington will insist in future talks that Iran relinquish its nuclear material, halt enrichment and address its ballistic missile program. Vance is expected to lead the U.S. delegation at talks planned in Pakistan on Friday, a high‑stakes assignment for the vice president. Substantial differences persist between U.S. and Iranian positions on a longer‑term agreement, and officials on both sides acknowledge that the war could restart if those gaps are not bridged.
In Washington, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt are expected to hold press conferences to defend Trump’s approach and arguing that his threats helped make the ceasefire possible. Iranian officials, who have consistently maintained that such threats are destabilizing and counterproductive, are likely to question whether the risk of further escalation has truly receded.
