In the days before proposed talks aimed at ending the war between them, President Trump and Iran’s leaders exchanged a barrage of threats and insults that played out like a high-stakes game of chicken.

In the end — at least, from Iran’s perspective — Mr. Trump blinked first.

Late on Tuesday, with neither Iranian nor American mediators having traveled to Pakistan for a second round of peace talks, Mr. Trump announced an indefinite cease-fire with Iran. He said it was to give Iran’s leadership time to submit a response to American demands and would last until “discussions are concluded, one way or the other.”

For Iranian leaders, that result will most likely validate their conviction that their readiness to endure the pain of the war is higher than Mr. Trump’s.

Despite the vast destruction caused by U.S.-Israeli strikes on their country, they believe that they can withstand the increasingly costly U.S. blockade of Iranian ports longer than Mr. Trump is willing to countenance Iran’s effective closure of the vital Strait of Hormuz.

“The Iranians measure the timeline in months for themselves, and in weeks for the Trump administration and the global economy,” said Ali Vaez, the Iran project director for the International Crisis Group. “They think Trump can’t tolerate the strait remaining closed for another three weeks.”

Since the war began, Iran has been blocking most of the shipping traffic that previously moved about one-fifth of the world’s oil and a substantial amount of natural gas supplies through the strait. The impact was felt around the world, not just in rising oil prices, but in fertilizer and gas shortages. Rising gas prices in the United States also create a domestic problem for Mr. Trump in a crucial midterm election year.