By Jessie Yeung, CNN

(CNN) — After a month and a half of spiraling conflict in the Middle East, the United States and Iran agreed to a two-week ceasefire on Tuesday – less than two hours before US President Donald Trump’s deadline, after which he had promised to wipe out a “whole civilization.”

That threat, which critics warned could be a war crime if carried out, appears to have been staved off for now at the 11th hour. But there remains a gulf between the two countries, who each portrayed the temporary truce as a victory for their nations.

The ceasefire is a starting point for further negotiations, and it remains to be seen what final terms may be included in a proposal to definitively end a war that has upended the Middle East and caused a historic global oil disruption.

Here’s what we know.

What have the US and Israel said?

Trump announced the ceasefire in a Truth Social post, saying it was made on the condition that Iran agree to reopen the critical Strait of Hormuz, through which a fifth of the world’s oil flows.

The ceasefire had been mediated by Pakistan’s prime minister and its military chief, he said. Iran had put forth a 10-point proposal, which the US views as “a workable basis on which to negotiate,” Trump added.

The next two weeks will allow a final agreement to be drawn up, he said.

In an interview with AFP news agency Tuesday, Trump described the deal as “total and complete victory.” But he would not say whether he would fulfill his prior threats to destroy Iran’s civilian infrastructure if Tehran reneged on the agreement, only saying: “You’re going to have to see.”

And in a later Truth Social post just past midnight, he said the US would be “helping with the traffic buildup in the Strait of Hormuz,” adding: “Big money will be made.”

US sources told CNN that the Trump administration is preparing for potential in-person negotiations, likely in Islamabad – where Pakistan’s prime minister has invited both sides to send delegations.

Israel is part of the ceasefire and will also suspend bombing against Iran, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said.

But it also claimed Lebanon is not part of the ceasefire – contradicting Pakistan’s prime minister, who said it was. Trump made no mention of Lebanon in his statement.

What has Iran said?

Iran’s foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, said that if attacks against Iran stop, Iranian operations will cease as well.

The country’s military will coordinate safe passage through the Strait of Hormuz during the ceasefire, he added in a post on X.

Iran’s semi-official Tasnim News Agency reported that Iran and Oman plan to charge transit fees for vessels passing through the strait during the ceasefire, with the funds earmarked for reconstruction. CNN has asked Oman’s foreign ministry for comment.

Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, the country’s top security body, had a more fiery statement – saying it had forced the US to accept its 10-point plan. It described the ceasefire as an “enduring defeat” for Washington.

It also referenced possible talks in Islamabad – warning that “should the slightest error be committed by the enemy, it shall be met with full force.”

What are the terms of ceasefire the agreement?

Araghchi said in his statement that while Washington had accepted the “general framework” of Iran’s 10-point proposal as a “basis for negotiations,” Iran was in turn considering a 15-point proposal from the US.

The full details of the 15-point US plan

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Por Ramishah Maruf, Samantha Delouya, Matt Egan y John Liu, CNN

Los precios del petróleo se desplomaron el martes después de que el presidente Donald Trump acordara un alto el fuego de dos semanas con Irán, lo que avivó las esperanzas de que más petroleros pudieran transitar pronto por el estratégico estrecho de Ormuz.

Sin embargo, los analistas advirtieron que aún quedan interrogantes, entre ellas, qué cambiará para el bloqueo efectivo del estrecho, por donde pasa aproximadamente el 20 % del petróleo mundial, y si el alto el fuego conducirá a un fin a largo plazo de la guerra.

Los futuros del crudo estadounidense cayeron más del 15 % tras el cierre del mercado, situándose por debajo de los US$ 95 por barril, una bajada significativa, pero aún muy por encima de los US$ 67,02 del 27 de febrero, antes del inicio de la guerra.

Los futuros del crudo Brent, la referencia mundial, descendieron un 13,75 %, hasta los US$ 94,68.

Mientras tanto, los futuros de las acciones estadounidenses y los mercados asiáticos experimentaron fuertes subidas. Los futuros del Dow Jones aumentaron más de 1.000 puntos, o alrededor del 2,2 %, los futuros del S&P 500 subieron un 2,4 % y los futuros del Nasdaq aumentaron cerca de un 3 % en las operaciones posteriores al cierre.

El miércoles por la mañana, el índice de referencia japonés Nikkei 225 subió un 4,9 % a las 10:41 hora local, mientras que el Kospi de Corea del Sur ganó un 5,7 %. El índice Hang Seng de Hong Kong aumentó un 2,8 %.

“El mercado ha estado ansioso por recibir buenas noticias, pero aún está por verse si el estrecho de Ormuz se abrirá por completo”, declaró Bob McNally, fundador y presidente de Rapidan Energy Group, a CNN. “Esa es la clave, y hasta ahora Washington y Teherán parecen no entenderse al respecto”.

Mientras Trump celebraba en las redes sociales, Irán recalcó que el alto el fuego era solo temporal. “Esto no es el fin de la guerra, pero todas las ramas militares deben acatar la orden del Líder Supremo y cesar el fuego”, según un comunicado leído en el canal de noticias estatal IRIB.

Sin embargo, el repunte de las acciones y el desplome de los precios del petróleo enviaron un mensaje “sumamente claro”, según declaró Art Hogan, estratega jefe de mercado de B. Riley Financial, a CNN: “A los inversores les gustaría que se abriera el estrecho de Ormuz y que este conflicto quedara atrás”.

Trump aceptó el alto el fuego menos de dos horas antes de la fecha límite de las 8:00 p.m. (hora de Miami) para destruir “toda una civilización”. Afirmó que el acuerdo dependía de la reapertura del estrecho de Ormuz.

“Hemos recibido una propuesta de 10 puntos de Irán y creemos que es una base viable sobre la cual negociar”, publicó Trump en Truth Social el martes por la noche.

La guerra en Medio Oriente —y el cierre efectivo del crucial estrecho de Ormuz— ha provocado la mayor crisis de suministro de petróleo jamás registrada, que afecta a entre 12 y 15 millones de barriles de crudo al día.

Tanto el mercado de futuros como el mercado físico del petróleo ya habían dado señales de alerta importantes.

Pero aún no está claro si el estrecho podrá volver a la normalidad. Irán también se atribuyó la victoria y afirmó que sus fuerzas armadas regularán el paso por el estrecho de Ormuz, lo que le otorgaría a Irán una “posición económica y geopolítica única”, según un comunicado de la Secretaría del Consejo Supremo de Seguridad Nacional de Irán.

El alto el fuego “no ha aclarado

By Isaac Yee, CNN

(CNN) — A hacker has allegedly stolen a massive trove of sensitive data – including highly classified defense documents and missile schematics – from a state-run Chinese supercomputer in what could potentially constitute the largest known heist of data from China.

The dataset, which allegedly contains more than 10 petabytes of sensitive information, is believed by experts to have been obtained from the National Supercomputing Center (NSCC) in Tianjin – a centralized hub that provides infrastructure services for more than 6,000 clients across China, including advanced science and defense agencies.

Cyber experts who have spoken to the alleged hacker and reviewed samples of the stolen data they posted online say they appeared to gain entry to the massive computer with comparative ease and were able to siphon out huge amounts of data over the course of multiple months without being detected.

An account calling itself FlamingChina posted a sample of the alleged dataset on an anonymous Telegram channel on February 6, claiming it contained “research across various fields including aerospace engineering, military research, bioinformatics, fusion simulation and more.”

The group alleges the information is linked to “top organizations” including the Aviation Industry Corporation of China, the Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China, and the National University of Defense Technology.

CNN has reached out to China’s Ministry of Science and Technology as well as the Cyberspace Administration of China for comment.

Cyber security experts who have reviewed the data say the group is offering a limited preview of the alleged dataset, for thousands of dollars, with full access priced at hundreds of thousands of dollars. Payment was requested in cryptocurrency.

CNN cannot verify the origins of the alleged dataset and the claims made by FlamingChina, but spoke with multiple experts whose initial assessment of the leak indicated it was genuine.

The alleged sample data appeared to include documents marked “secret” in Chinese, along with technical files, animated simulations and renderings of defense equipment including bombs and missiles.

“They’re exactly what I would expect to see from the supercomputing center,” said Dakota Cary, a consultant at cybersecurity firm SentinelOne who focuses on China and has reviewed the samples placed online from the alleged hack.

“You would use supercomputer centers for large computational tasks. The swath of samples that the sellers put out kind of really speaks to the breadth of customers that this supercomputing center had,” Cary said.

Most of those customers would have little reason to maintain their own supercomputing infrastructure independently, he added.

Intelligence value

The Tianjin center — the first of its kind in China when it opened in 2009 — is one of several supercomputing hubs located in major cities including Guangzhou, Shenzhen, and Chengdu.

According to Marc Hofer, a cybersecurity researcher and author of the blog NetAskari, the size of the dataset would make it attractive to adversarial state intelligence services.

“Only they probably have the capacity to work through all this data and come back with something useful.”

To put the scale in perspective: one petabyte equals 1,000 terabytes, and a high-spec laptop typically holds around one terabyte.

“There are leaks from China’s cyber ecosystem that I’m familiar with that have sold very quickly,” Cary told CNN. “I’m sure that there are plenty of governments globally that are interested in some of the data at the NSCC, but many of those governments that are interested also may already have the data.”

How did the hacker gain access?

Hofer, who reviewed the sample of the leak,

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