Updated April 8, 2026 at 4:22 PM CDT
The U.S. and Iran reached a temporary ceasefire, with Israel saying it supports the agreement but is continuing its assault on Iranian-backed Hezbollah in Lebanon. Iran and several Gulf Arab countries also reported some attacks, in an early test of the fragile truce.
The Israeli attacks in Lebanon, including what Israel called its largest strikes in Beirut since the start of the war, drew condemnation from Iran and criticism from mediator Pakistan.
Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, whose government has acted as an intermediary between Washington and Tehran, called out violations of the agreement and urged "all parties to exercise restraint and respect the ceasefire for two weeks, as agreed upon, so that diplomacy can take a lead role towards peaceful settlement of the conflict."
The ceasefire announcement marked a breathtaking comedown from President Trump's pledge that a "whole civilization will die tonight, never to be brought back again" if Iran did not reach a deal to open the Strait of Hormuz Tuesday night. His threat had drawn rebukes from other countries and from Pope Leo XIV, who called it "truly unacceptable" and appealed for dialogue.
Trump hailed the ceasefire agreement early Wednesday as "a big day for World Peace!"
As Trump pledged the U.S. would help free up the Strait of Hormuz, a key shipping route for the world's fuel and goods that Iran has largely blocked during the war, global investors breathed a sigh of relief, markets surged and crude oil prices plunged.
In another morning social media post, Trump said the U.S. will work with Iran to "dig up and remove" Iranian nuclear material he said is buried after U.S. bombings.
The president also warned the U.S. would slap an immediate 50% tariff on imports from any country supplying weapons to Iran.
Here are more updates from the region:
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Israel pounds Beirut | Attacks in the region | Iran hails ceasefire win | What are the negotiation "points"? | Israeli opposition fumes | Shelly Kittleson freed
Israel carries out its largest strikes in Beirut and south Lebanon
Israel carried out its largest attack in Lebanon since the start of the war last month, after asserting that the U.S.-Iran ceasefire deal did not include its fight against Lebanon's Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah.
A series of Israeli airstrikes hit multiple neighborhoods in the heart of Beirut during morning rush hour, causing panic around the capital.
Lebanon's civil defense department said more than 250 people were killed and more than 1,100 wounded in Israeli attacks in different parts of Lebanon on Wednesday.
Israeli military spokesperson Lt. Col. Nadav Shoshani explained why Israel made a surprise attack on Beirut. "Leading up to this operation, we've seen Hezbollah disperse over different areas, taking advantage of the warnings that we provide for civilians to also hide for themselves among the civilians, moving, trying to scatter their operations in different locations and to hide behind civilian locations," he said.
Since Hezbollah entered the fray last month in support of Iran, Shoshani said the group was firing more than 100 rockets at Israel on most days.
After more than a month of Israel's assault, the death toll in Lebanon has surpassed 1,600, and more than 1 million people have been displaced by the fighting, according to Lebanese authorities.
Many displaced Lebanese, when they initially heard the ceasefire news, rejoiced, packed up and started driving home to areas they had evacuated.
But then Israeli attacks continued. Lebanese news reports showed a car in flames hit by an Israeli strike on the seafront in Sidon, a city in southern Lebanon that's not one of the areas the Israeli military had warned it would attack. Israeli artillery shelling also continued. Lebanon's state media said there were airstrikes in the southern port city of Tyre and on a unit of paramedics affiliated with Hezbollah.
Lebanon's government asked displaced people to stay put saying that it was still dangerous.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said in a statement Wednesday morning that his government supports Trump's decision to suspend strikes against Iran for two weeks, but that the ceasefire doesn't include Lebanon.
That's despite the fact that when Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, acting as mediator, announced the Iran-U.S. ceasefire, he specifically mentioned it would also take effect in Lebanon.
Hezbollah said in a statement that it insists the U.S.-Iran ceasefire includes Lebanon. But the militant group said "if the Israeli enemy does not adhere" to it, then "no party will commit to it, and there will be a response from the region, including Iran."
Iran condemned the continued assault on Lebanon and said it was the U.S. government's responsibility. "The world sees the massacres in Lebanon. In a post on social media, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said, "The ball is in the U.S. court, and the world is watching whether it will act on its commitments," above a screenshot of the Pakistani statement including Lebanon in the truce.
Araghchi said he discussed alleged ceasefire violations in Iran and Lebanon by Israel with Pakistan's army chief.
President Trump, meanwhile, echoed Netanyahu's understanding of the deal. Asked by a PBS reporter why Lebanon was not included, he said, "Because of Hezbollah. They were not included in the deal. That'll get taken care of too."
Iran says a refinery was hit and Gulf Arab countries report Iranian attacks
Iran said its Lavan oil refinery was attacked around 10 a.m. local time, after the ceasefire took effect, and several Gulf Arab countries reported interceptions of Iranian drones and missiles.
Israel's military said it was not behind the strike on the Iranian refinery.
Kuwait's army said drone attacks caused significant damage to oil facilities, power stations and water desalination plants.
People were injured by fallen debris in Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates, where the country's main gas complex also caught fire.
According to the Financial Times and Reuters, Saudi Arabia's critical east-west oil pipeline was also attacked.
In Iraq, Iranian-backed militias continued drone attacks near the Baghdad Diplomatic Support Center and Baghdad International Airport on Wednesday, according to the U.S. Embassy in Iraq.
Iranian leaders hail ceasefire as victory
Iranian leaders touted the ceasefire as a victory, noting they believed the "criminal U.S." agreed to "the general framework" of Iran's 10-point proposal.
"Good news to the dear nation of Iran! Nearly all the objectives of the war have been achieved," the Supreme National Security Council said in a statement.
But the statement warned any deviation from the agreement could lead to future violence. "Our hands are on the trigger, and the moment the enemy makes the slightest mistake, it will be met with full force," the Supreme National Security Council said.
Iran's foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, thanked Pakistan Prime Minister Sharif for his role in the negotiations.
"If attacks against Iran are halted our Powerful Armed Forces will cease their defensive operations," Araghchi said in a statement. "For a period of two weeks, safe passage through the Strait of Hormuz will be possible via coordination with Iran's Armed Forces and with due consideration of technical limitations."
Uncertainty around the terms of agreement
In his message announcing the ceasefire with Iran late Tuesday, President Trump said, "We received a 10 point proposal from Iran, and believe it is a workable basis on which to negotiate."
On Wednesday, the White House dismissed reports about the specifics of the proposal. NPR has been trying to independently verify the terms.
A plan published by the Iranian Mehr news agency said the points include Iran's control over the Strait of Hormuz, acceptance of its nuclear enrichment, the withdrawal of all U.S. combat forces from the region, the lifting of all sanctions and U.N. resolutions against Iran, compensation for damage as well as cessation of war on all fronts, including in Lebanon.
On Wednesday, Iran's Parliament speaker later accused the U.S. of violating three of the points Iran claims the U.S. has agreed to. He said the violations were the noncompliance of the ceasefire in Lebanon, the entry of a drone into Iranian airspace and the denial of Iran's right to enrichment.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt called it "absurd" to think President Trump would accept an Iranian wish list.
"The Iranians originally put forward a 10-point plan that was fundamentally unserious, unacceptable and completely discarded. It was literally thrown in the garbage by President Trump and his negotiating team," Leavitt said.
She said with Trump's Tuesday night deadline approaching to reach a deal, Iran "put forward a more reasonable and entirely different and condensed plan to the president and his team. President Trump and the team determined the new modified plan was a workable basis on which to negotiate and to align with our own 15-point proposal." She did not provide details about the plans.
Trump also said on social media that terms were being circulated by people who had nothing to do with the negotiations.
"There is only one group of meaningful 'POINTS' that are acceptable to the United States, and we will be discussing them behind closed doors during these Negotiations. These are the POINTS that are the basis on which we agreed to a CEASEFIRE," he wrote.
Israeli opposition slams Netanyahu
Israeli opposition leader Yair Lapid blasted the ceasefire on social media, saying, "there has never been such a political disaster in our entire history." He criticized Prime Minister Netanyahu for not being a party to the ceasefire agreement, adding that Netanyahu "failed to meet a single one of the goals he set for himself."
Netanyahu and Trump spoke on the phone before Trump announced the ceasefire with Iran, according to a person familiar with the matter who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly.
Netanyahu spoke on TV Wednesday defending the ceasefire, saying Israel was stronger than ever and Iran had been rendered weaker than ever.
Netanyahu also said Iran's highly enriched uranium, which could be used to create a nuclear weapon, would be removed from Iran whether through negotiations or by force.
A senior Israeli official, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive negotiations, said the U.S. has assured Israel that it will insist on the removal of enriched uranium from Iran, an end to further enrichment and "the elimination of the ballistic missile threat" during negotiations.
American journalist Kittleson is freed
Freelance journalist Shelly Kittleson has been released a week after she was kidnapped by Kataib Hezbollah, the Iranian-backed Iraqi militant group.
"We are relieved that this American is now free and are working to support her safe departure from Iraq," Secretary of State Marco Rubio wrote in a statement on X on Tuesday evening.
Kittleson, 49, has spent over a decade covering the Middle East, according to Columbia Journalism Review. She was captured by the militia group on March 31, in broad daylight on a Baghdad street corner. Her release was a multi-agency effort, according to Rubio.
"The U.S. Department of State extends its appreciation to the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Department of War, U.S. personnel across multiple agencies, and the Iraqi Supreme Judicial Council and our Iraqi partners, for their assistance in securing her release," Rubio said.
He added: "Under President Trump, the wrongful detention or kidnapping of U.S. nationals will not be tolerated. We will continue to use every tool to bring Americans home and to hold accountable those responsible."
Kataib Hezbollah, one of Iraq's most powerful Shia paramilitaries, announced earlier on Tuesday that it was releasing Kittleson in appreciation of "the patriotic positions" of Iraq's prime minister, who helped negotiate her release. It said she had to leave the country immediately.
The group in Iraq is not related to the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah. It's part of a coalition of Iran-backed militias that have been attacking U.S. military and government targets in Iraq. The U.S. and Israel have launched airstrikes in response.
When Kittleson was kidnapped last week, the U.S. State Department said it had warned her of threats against her beforehand, and that it was working with the FBI to secure her release. The U.S. Embassy in Baghdad has said all American citizens should leave Iraq because of attacks.
Lauren Frayer in Beirut, Daniel Estrin and Carrie Kahn in Tel Aviv, Israel, and Jane Arraf in Amman, Jordan contributed to this report.
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