Global energy markets braced as US and Iran agreed` two-week truce

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres welcomed the US-Iran two-week ceasefire on Tuesday, his spokesperson said, while urging all parties to work toward long-term peace in the Middle East.

Speaking from New York on Tuesday, Stephane Dujarric, spokesperson for Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, confirmed that the UN chief warmly received the announcement. The two-week window is being viewed by international observers as a critical “cooling-off” period in a region that has faced months of escalating geopolitical friction.

Beyond the immediate silencing of guns, the UN’s objective is the cultivation of a “lasting and comprehensive peace”. Sources close to the Secretariat suggest that the two-week timeframe is intended to serve as a diplomatic bridge, allowing for back-channel negotiations that could address deeper structural conflicts within the Middle East.

He added that the UN chief “calls on all the parties to the current conflict in the Middle East to comply with their obligations under international law and to abide by the terms of the ceasefire in order to pave the way toward a lasting and comprehensive peace in the region.”