US, Israel and Iran Agree on Two-Week Ceasefire Amid Tensions

AP, April 8, 2026, Dubai: Iran, the United States and Israel said they reached a deal for a two-week ceasefire, with Tehran saying it would negotiate with the United States in Islamabad beginning Friday.

US President Donald Trump initially said Iran proposed a “workable” 10-point plan, but he later called the plan fraudulent without elaborating. Trump's threats to launch devastating strikes on Iran hit a new extreme hours before the ceasefire when he warned: “A whole civilisation will die tonight, never to be brought back again," if Iran failed to make a deal that included reopening the vital Strait of Hormuz.

In a statement on Wednesday morning, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said it supports Trump's decision to suspend strikes against Iran for two weeks, but that it does not include the war with Hezbollah in Lebanon, where more than 1,500 people have been killed.

However, a series of Israeli strikes hit several areas in central Beirut Wednesday without warning, the state-run National News Agency reported. Loud booms could be heard throughout the city and smoke was rising from several points. It was not immediately clear what was targeted, but several of the strikes were in busy commercial locations. Since the outbreak of the latest Israel-Hezbollah war on March 2, Israel has regularly struck southern and eastern Lebanon and Beirut's southern suburbs but rarely in the centre of Beirut. There was no immediate report on the number of casualties.

Iran, the United States and Israel reached a two-week ceasefire Wednesday as US President Donald Trump pulled back from his threats to destroy Iranian "civilisation."

But questions emerged over what appeared to be duelling proposals to halt the region-wide war and reopen the vital Strait of Hormuz, with Iran insisting it would charge tolls to passing ships and continue to enrich uranium.

Trump then suggested American warships would be "hangin' around" the waterway, through which 20 per cent of all oil and natural gas passes in peacetime. That could be a potential flashpoint as the days go on.

Trump initially said Iran had proposed a "workable" 10-point plan that could help end the war he launched with Israel on Feb. 28. But he later called the plan fraudulent without elaborating. Trump has said ending Iran's nuclear programme was a key war goal.

Israel backed the US ceasefire with Iran, but Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Wednesday it will not stop his country's fight against Hezbollah in Lebanon, which continued through the morning. That contradicted comments from Pakistan, a key mediator, which said the ceasefire included the fighting in Lebanon.

Pakistan said that talks over cementing a peace plan would begin in Islamabad as soon as Friday. Pakistan also said the ceasefire was to begin immediately, while Iran launched attacks on Gulf Arab states and Israel soon after.

Oil prices fell and stocks rose as Asian markets opened Wednesday after the eleventh-hour agreement to reopen the strait.

In the streets of Tehran, pro-government demonstrators screamed: "Death to America, death to Israel, death to compromisers!" after the ceasefire announcement and burned American and Israeli flags. It shows the ongoing anger from hardliners, who had been preparing for what many assumed would be an apocalyptic battle with the United States.

Meanwhile, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said passage through the strait would be allowed under Iranian military management. It was not clear whether that meant Iran would completely loosen its chokehold on the waterway.

The plan allows for both Iran and Oman to charge fees on ships transiting through the strait, according to a regional official who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss negotiations they were directly involved in. The official said Iran would use the money it raised for reconstruction.

But that would upend decades of reliance on the strait as an international waterway free for transit and will likely not be acceptable to the Gulf Arab states, which also need to rebuild after repeated Iranian attacks targeting their oilfields.

"Big money will be made. Iran can start the reconstruction process," Trump said on social media.

However, it is not clear what happens when the two weeks of the ceasefire ends.

There is little public sign that Iran and the United States had resolved disagreements over the fate of Iran's nuclear programme, its ballistic missiles or its regional proxies — among the issues that the United States and Israel cited as justifications for launching the war.

In addition to control of the strait, Iran's demands for ending the war include withdrawal of US combat forces from the region, the lifting of sanctions and the release of its frozen assets.

All those likely are non-starters for Trump and potentially other Western nations. Iran's chokehold on the strait roiled the world economy and raised the pressure on Trump to reach a deal.

Since the war began, Trump has repeatedly backed off deadlines just before they expire. In doing so again Tuesday, Trump said in a social media post he had come to the decision "based on conversations" with Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Gen. Asim Munir, Pakistan's powerful army chief.