The United States and Iran agreed on Tuesday (US time) to a two-week ceasefire in the war in West Asia, which began after joint US-Israeli attacks on Iran on February 28.
US President Donald Trump’s announcement of the ceasefire on social media came hours after he threatened to start wiping out Iran’s “entire civilization” if it did not allow vessels to safely pass through the crucial Strait of Hormuz.
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Hours before the announcement, Pakistan, a mediator in the West Asian war, had urged President Trump to withdraw from the 8:00 PM Eastern Time (5:30 IST Wednesday) deadline he had set for Iran to accede to its demands.
Here are some key moments of the war that began more than a month ago:
February 28, 2026: The US and Israel launch strikes across Iran, hitting a government compound in Tehran and military targets. Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and other high-ranking military and intelligence leaders were killed.
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At least 175 people, mostly girls, were killed in a strike at a girls’ primary school in southern Iran, health officials and Iranian state media said. Later, reports in several US media said the attack was a targeting error by the US military
In retaliation, Iran targeted Israeli and US assets in several Gulf countries, causing further disruption to the waterway and affecting international energy markets as well as global economic stability and disrupting trade routes through the Strait of Hormuz.
March 1st: An Iranian drone strike kills six American soldiers in Port Shuaiba, Kuwait, the first Americans to die in the war. Iran-backed Hezbollah in Lebanon fired rockets at Israel in retaliation for the killing of Iran’s supreme leader.
March 8: Iran named Mojtaba Khamenei, the son of the slain supreme leader, as his father’s successor. President Trump called him an “unacceptable” choice.
March 11th: Iran has hit at least three ships in and around the Strait of Hormuz, according to the British Maritime Agency. Iran has claimed responsibility for one attack on a bulk carrier from Thailand. Oil prices rose.
Read also | Has Iran opened the Strait of Hormuz? Here’s what we know
March 12: Iran’s new Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei issued his first written statement and ordered the military to continue strangling the Strait of Hormuz.
At least six US crew members have died after a KC-135 military refueling plane crashed in Iraq.
March 13: US bombing of Kharg Island, Iran’s main oil export hub. Trump said the airstrike targeted military infrastructure.
March 17th: Israel killed two of Iran’s top leaders: Ali Larijani, head of the country’s National Security Council, and Gholamreza Soleimani, head of the Basij, a militia linked to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
March 18: Israel attacks Iran’s South Pars gas field. Qatar, a US ally, said Iran attacked its industrial city of Ras Laffan, which is the world’s largest liquefied natural gas export facility.
March 23rd: President Trump says the US and Iran are discussing ending the war.
March 28: Iran-backed Houthis in Yemen joined the war by launching a ballistic missile at Israel, which was intercepted.
April 3rd: Iran shot down a US Air Force F-15E fighter with two crew members, one of whom was safely ejected that day. The search and rescue operation for the second airman lasted two days. The F-15E was the first American fighter jet to be shot down in the war.
April 7: Donald Trump warns that if Iran does not open the Strait of Hormuz, “an entire civilization will die tonight and not be brought back.” They set a deadline of April 7th at 8:00 PM (ET).
Previously, these deadlines were issued on March 21 (48 hours), March 23 (postponed by 5 days), March 26 (postponed by 10 days) and April 4 (48 hours). The new date was 8:00 PM (ET) on April 7, which is 5:30 AM on April 8 (IST).
Trump’s comments were condemned by Democrats, some “Make America Great Again” supporters who have since broken with Trump, and America’s first pope. Some Republican lawmakers expressed concern that the threat could cause the president to lose public support, the New York Times reported.
Read also | As events unfolded hours before Trump announced a ceasefire between the US and Iran
Just before Trump’s appointment, the United States and Israel struck key infrastructure in Iran, with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu saying the attacks hit railways and bridges allegedly used by the Revolutionary Guards.
However, Pakistan proposed that each side observe a two-week ceasefire and that during that time Iran allow oil, gas and other vessels to pass through the economically vital waterway.
The latest development in the war so far is Donald Trump announcing a two-week truce with Iran. The agreement was confirmed by Iran’s National Security Council. The next stakeholder meeting is scheduled in Islamabad on April 10.
