Iran, the United States and Israel agreed to a two-week ceasefire in an 11th-hour deal that headed off US President Donald Trump’s threat to unleash a bombing campaign to destroy Iranian civilization. But hours after the announcement, Iran and Gulf Arab countries reported new attacks Wednesday.
It was not clear if the strikes would scuttle the deal, which US Vice President JD Vance called “fragile.” Even before the new attacks, much about the agreement was unclear as the sides presented vastly different visions of the terms.
Iran said the deal would allow it to formalise its new practice of charging ships passing through the Strait of Hormuz, a crucial transit lane for oil. But the details were not clear, nor was it known whether vessels would feel safe using the channel or whether ship traffic had resumed. It also was unclear whether any other country agreed to this condition.
Pakistan, which helped to mediate the deal, and others said fighting would pause in Lebanon, where Israel has launched a ground invasion against the Iran-backed Hezbollah militant group. Israel said it would not, and strikes hit Beirut on Wednesday.
Iran closes strait as Israel pounds Lebanon: The United States demanded Wednesday that Iran immediately reopen the Strait of Hormuz after the Islamic Republic closed the waterway in response to Israeli attacks against the Hezbollah militant group in Lebanon.
Iran’s move cast doubt over whether an already precarious ceasefire to end more than a month of war would hold.
The United States and Iran both claimed victory after reaching the agreement, and world leaders expressed relief, even as more drones and missiles hit Iran and Gulf Arab countries.
Israel also intensified its attacks in Lebanon, hitting several commercial and residential areas in Beirut without warning. At least 112 people were killed and hundreds were wounded in one of the deadliest days in the latest Israel-Hezbollah war. The fresh violence threatened to scuttle what US Vice President JD Vance called a “fragile” deal.
“Aggression towards Lebanon is aggression towards Iran,” Gen. Seyed Majid Mousavi, aerospace commander of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard, wrote on X.
IRAN’S 10-POINT PROPOSAL TO END THE WAR
- Complete cessation of the war on Iraq, Lebanon, and Yemen
- Complete and permanent cessation of the war on Iran with no time limit
- Ending all conflicts in the region in their entirety
- Reopening the Strait of Hormuz
- Establishing a protocol and conditions to ensure freedom and security of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz
- Full payment of compensation for reconstruction costs to Iran
- Full commitment to lifting sanctions on Iran
- Release of Iranian funds and frozen assets held by the United States
- Iran fully commits to not seeking possession of any nuclear weapons
- Immediate ceasefire takes effect on all fronts immediately upon approval of the above conditions