The deal was announced on 7 April and took effect on 8 April after weeks of fighting that killed Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, 13 US soldiers and 35 people in Israel.
Iran had retaliated with strikes on Gulf states, US bases and Israel after Israeli and US operations beginning on 28 February, which also killed Iran's defence minister and several IRGC generals.
Since 28 February, ballistic missile attacks across Israel have killed 12 IDF soldiers and 23 civilians and injured at least 7,693, underscoring the scale of the regional conflict the truce seeks to halt.
With 13 US bases now useless and a fragile truce holding, who truly won the 40-day war with Iran?
Iran can still build five nuclear bombs after a devastating war. Was the entire military operation a strategic failure?
April 2026 U.S.-Iran Ceasefire: Temporary Reopening of Strait of Hormuz and Persistent Middle East Instability
Overview
In April 2026, U.S. President Trump unexpectedly halted planned strikes on Iran, enabling Pakistan to broker a conditional two-week ceasefire. As part of the agreement, Iran reopened the vital Strait of Hormuz, allowing oil shipments to resume and easing global market fears, which led to a sharp drop in oil prices and stock market gains. Despite this, attacks continued in the region, with Israel excluding its operations against Hezbollah from the truce. The ceasefire set the stage for talks in Islamabad, but deep mistrust, ongoing military actions, and disputes over Lebanon and the Strait’s future keep the peace fragile and uncertain.