WASHINGTON\u00a0\u2014\u00a0A day after the United States and Iran agreed to a two-week ceasefire, the truce showed signs of strain Wednesday as Iranian leaders accused Americans of violating the agreement and reports emerged that Tehran had moved to restrict traffic through the Strait of Hormuz.<\/p>\n
The developments tested President Trump\u2019s ability to parlay a fragile pause in fighting into a lasting peace deal with a country he has spent weeks threatening to destroy, and raised questions about whether the Trump administration had the diplomatic leverage to hold the deal together.<\/p>\n
The White House sought to project confidence about the ceasefire, but the fragile deal grew shakier after Israel carried out its largest attack against Hezbollah in Lebanon since the conflict began. Iran said the strikes by the U.S. ally amounted to a breach of the ceasefire terms, even as Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu maintained that Lebanon was not subject to the agreement.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe big issue seems to be that the two sides can\u2019t agree on what the agreement is,\u201d said Michael Rubin, an expert on Iran at the American Enterprise Institute. At best, he said, the two sides had secured a \u201ctactical pause.\u201d<\/p>\n
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said the United States must choose between a ceasefire or \u201ccontinued war via Israel. <\/p>\n
\u201cIt cannot have both,\u201d Araghchi wrote on X. \u201cThe world sees the massacres in Lebanon. The ball is in the U.S. court, and the world is watching whether it will act on its commitments.\u201d<\/p>\n
Whether Iran will draw a red line over Lebanon could become a key question. The Wednesday back-and-forth represented \u201cthreshold-testing\u201d of Iran and whether it will be willing to reengage the United States in conflict over the issue, said Ross Harrison, senior fellow at the Middle East Institute.<\/p>\n
The parties\u2019 prospects for reaching an agreement \u2014 and what Trump\u2019s options become for declaring success \u2014 will depend on how the ceasefire goes in the coming days, Harrison said. <\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s some room here … if [the Iranians] see that negotiations are real and not a pretext for further attacks,\u201d he said. \u201cA lot of what the United States can get depends on what the United States is willing to give \u2014 not just in terms of the points of their plan, but also in terms of the signaling that they too have an interest in de-escalating.\u201d<\/p>\n
Reports that Iran had moved to restrict traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, a crucial waterway whose opening was central to the truce negotiations, further complicated the ceasefire.<\/p>\n
\u201cAny vessel trying to travel into the sea … will be targeted and destroyed,\u201d the Iranian navy told shipping vessels, Fars News reported. The news agency is aligned with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.<\/p>\n
At a news briefing Wednesday, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said Trump was aware of reports that the Strait of Hormuz had been closed, a move she called both \u201ccompletely unacceptable\u201d and \u201cfalse.\u201d She added that the president expects the waterway will be \u201creopened immediately, quickly and safely\u201d during the ceasefire.<\/p>\n
Leavitt sidestepped questions about who currently controls the oil route.<\/p>\n
Earlier in the day, at a Pentagon briefing, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth told reporters that \u201ccommerce will flow\u201d through the strait, but did not say whether U.S. warships would be escorting vessels through the waterway. Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Dan Caine, who stood next to Hegseth, was asked whether the strait was open. He said: \u201cI believe so.\u201d<\/p>\n
Hegseth emphasized that Iran should keep its end of the bargain or face the consequences.<\/p>\n
He said the U.S. military plans to maintain a presence in the region to ensure Iranian compliance, saying American troops are ready to \u201cgo on offense and restart operations at a moment\u2019s notice\u201d if the truce broke down.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ll be hanging around,\u201d Hegseth said. \u201cWe are going to make sure Iran complies with this ceasefire and then ultimately comes to the table and makes a deal.\u201d<\/p>\n
The warning came as several Persian Gulf nations reported Iranian missile and drone attacks on their territories despite the ceasefire. Kuwait said its air defenses intercepted drones, while Bahrain reported that an Iranian attack has sparked a fire at one of its facilities.<\/p>\n
Hegseth downplayed the continued Iranian attacks in the region, saying that \u201cit takes time sometimes\u201d for ceasefires to take hold, but advised Iran to \u201cfind a way to get a carrier pigeon to their troops in remote locations\u201d and ensure compliance moving forward.<\/p>\n