Iran war latest: Vice president calls ceasefire a 'fragile truce'

Iran and the United States have agreed to a two-week ceasefire. The deal allows President Donald Trump to pull back from his Tuesday threat where he said a "whole civilization will die" if a deal wasn't reached. However, some attacks in Iran and Gulf Arab countries continued Wednesday. 

Prior to the strikes on Wednesday, both sides presented different terms of the deal. Iran said the deal would allow them to charge ships passing through the Strait of Hormuz, but terms were not clear. It was unclear if any other country agreed to this condition. 

Pakistan, who helped mediate the deal, said fighting would stop in Lebanon. Israel launched a ground invasion there against the Iran-backed Hezbollah militant group. Israel did not agree to stop there. 

It is also unclear what would happen with Iran's missile and nuclear program. Their missile and nuclear program was a main objective for U.S. and Israel when they started the conflict. 

Here’s the latest that happened on Wednesday: 

President Trump gives some details on the agreement

9:15 a.m. ET: President Trump says the United States will work closely with Iran during their regime change. 

In a social media post, Trump said that there will be no enrichment of uranium and the two countries will work together to dig up and remove all of Iran's buried nuclear "dust" that the U.S. has been tracking. 

The president also said the deal may include some tariff and sanction relief with Iran.  

Administration clarifies objective for war in Iran

8:45 a.m. ET: In a news conference held at the Pentagon Wednesday, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Dan Caine said the U.S. military had three objectives: to destroy Iran's ballistic missile and drone capabilities, destroy its navy, and destroy its defense industrial base

Different members of the Trump administration have also given different objectives over the past month since the war with Iran began. 

Officials have also said they sought to eliminate Iran's air force, block Iran's path to a nuclear weapon, cut off support for its proxy groups, and protect allies in the region. 

 

Pentagon to give update on Operation Epic Fury

8 a.m. ET: The Pentagon will hold a briefing with Secretary Pete Hegseth and Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman, Gen. Dan Caine on Operation Epic Fury. 

Vice-President Vance: A "fragile truce"

6:35 a.m. ET: Hours after a two-week ceasefire agreement to stop the war in Iran was announced, U.S. Vice President JD Vance called the ceasefire agreement "a fragile truce" but did not go into detail. 

Vice-President Vance spoke at an event in Hungary. The deal was supposed to include plans for a ceasefire and reopening the Strait of Hormuz but the deal was being misrepresented in Iran

"You have people who are lying about even the fragile truce that we’ve already struck," Vance said.

US and Iran reach 2-week ceasefire deal

Dig deeper:

On Tuesday Trump said he’d be pulling back on his threats to widen attacks on Iran. 

Trump’s latest threat over the Iran war hit a new extreme earlier Tuesday when he warned, "A whole civilization will die tonight, never to be brought back again," if Iran failed to make a deal that includes reopening the vital Strait of Hormuz.

Both the president and Iran stated that after a conversation with Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Gen. Asim Munir, Pakistan’s power army chief, a ceasefire deal was reached that would postpone attacks for two weeks. 

Oil prices plunge

Big picture view:

U.S. crude oil prices sank 18% following the 2-week ceasefire deal reached between the U.S. and Iran on Tuesday. 

Brent crude oil futures fell about 6% to $103.40. 

Why you should care:

Many Americans will likely be wondering when the prices at the pump will also plunge, but it won’t happen instantly. 

Patrick De Haan, GasBuddy’s head of petroleum analysis, said gas price averages could fall below $4 within one or two weeks. But this is all subject to change, De Haan added. 

 

Iran WarU.S.World