US, Israel, Iran Ceasefire    04/08 05:29

   Iran, the United States and Israel agreed to a two-week ceasefire, an 11th 
hour deal that allowed U.S. President Donald Trump to pull back from his 
threats to unleash a bombing campaign that would destroy Iranian civilization.

   DUBIAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) -- Iran, the United States and Israel 
agreed to a two-week ceasefire, an 11th hour deal that allowed U.S. President 
Donald Trump to pull back from his threats to unleash a bombing campaign that 
would destroy Iranian civilization.

   But it was unclear Wednesday if the deal had started, what it included and 
whether it could lead to a durable peace as the sides presented vastly 
different visions of the terms.

   Hours after the announcement, the United Arab Emirates reported an incoming 
Iranian missile barrage, and Kuwait's military said its forces were responding 
to drones. Iran then said an oil refinery came under attack.

   U.S. Vice President JD Vance called the agreement "a fragile truce."

   Even as there were indications negotiations could begin soon, much about the 
deal remained unknown:

   - Iran said the deal would allow it to formalize its new practice of 
charging ships passing through the Strait of Hormuz, but the terms were not 
clear, nor was whether ships would feel safe using the crucial transit lane for 
oil. It also was unclear whether any other country agreed to this condition.

   - Pakistan, which helped to mediate the deal, and others said it would pause 
fighting in Lebanon, where Israel has launched a ground invasion against the 
Iran-backed Hezbollah militant group. Israel said it would not.

   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. The chants underscored the 
anger animating hard-liners, who have been preparing for what many assumed 
would be an apocalyptic battle with the United States. Trump warned Tuesday 
that "a whole civilization will die tonight," if a deal wasn't reached.

   Varying reports of ceasefire's terms

   Trump initially said Iran proposed a "workable" 10-point plan that could 
help end the war the U.S. launched with Israel on Feb. 28. But when a version 
in Farsi emerged that indicated Iran would be allowed to continue enriching 
uranium -- which is key to building a nuclear weapon -- Trump called it 
fraudulent without elaborating.

   Trump also suggested American warships would be "hangin' around" the Strait 
of Hormuz, through which 20% of all traded oil and natural gas passes in 
peacetime. That could be a potential flashpoint in days to come.

   Iran's demands for ending the war, meanwhile, include a withdrawal of U.S. 
combat forces from the region, the lifting of sanctions, and the release of its 
frozen assets.

   All those likely are nonstarters for Trump and other Western nations.

   Pakistan said that talks to hammer out a permanent end to the war could 
begin in Islamabad as soon as Friday.

   Israel backed the U.S. ceasefire with Iran, but Prime Minister Benjamin 
Netanyahu said early Wednesday that the deal doesn't cover fighting against 
Hezbollah in Lebanon. Israel's military said later that fighting and ground 
operations continue.

   Iran and Oman will collect shipping fees in Strait of Hormuz

   While Iran could not match the sophistication of U.S. and Israeli weaponry 
or their dominance in the air, its ability to control the Strait of Hormuz 
since the war began proved a tremendous strategic advantage: The chokehold 
roiled the world economy and raised the pressure on Trump both at home and 
abroad to find a way out of the standoff.

   The ceasefire may formalize that control -- and give Iran a new source of 
revenue.

   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.

   That would upend decades of precedent treating the strait as an 
international waterway that was free to transit and will likely not be 
acceptable to the Gulf Arab states, which also need to rebuild after repeated 
Iranian attacks targeting their oil fields.

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

   Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said passage through the strait 
would be allowed under Iranian military management -- further clouding the 
picture of who would be allowed to transit the strait.

   Nevertheless, news of the ceasefire drove oil prices down and pushed stocks 
up Wednesday.

   Fate of Iran's nuclear and missile programs remains unclear

   The U.S. and Israel have battered Iran, but they do not appear to have 
entirely eliminated the threats posed by Iran's nuclear program, its ballistic 
missiles or its support for regional proxies, like Hezbollah. The U.S. and 
Israel said addressing those threats was a key justification for going to war.

   Iran seems to still have the means to restart its nuclear program -- which 
it says is peaceful, although it has enriched uranium up to 60% purity, a 
short, technical step from weapons-grade levels.

   That stockpile of highly enriched uranium is still believed to be buried, 
and Tehran referred to the program differently in two versions of the ceasefire 
plan that it released. The version in Farsi included the phrase "acceptance of 
enrichment" for its nuclear program. That phrase was missing in English 
versions shared by Iranian diplomats with journalists.

   A senior Israeli official said the United States had coordinated the 
ceasefire with Israel in advance and said Israel's government credited "the 
massive crushing of the regime's infrastructure" with securing the agreement.

   Speaking on condition of anonymity because they were discussing private 
diplomatic conversations, the official said Washington had committed to 
pressing for the removal of nuclear material and dismantling of Iran's 
ballistic missile program.

   Airstrikes reported in the hours after the deal is announced

   Missile alerts were issued in the United Arab Emirates, Israel, Saudi 
Arabia, Bahrain and Kuwait after the ceasefire announcement. A gas processing 
facility in Abu Dhabi was ablaze after incoming Iranian fire, officials said.

   The fire stopped for a time, but then restarted.

   The United Arab Emirates said Wednesday afternoon its air defenses fired at 
an incoming Iranian missile barrage. Kuwait's military said its forces 
responded to an "extensive wave" of drone attacks.

   And Iranian state television reported that an oil refinery on Iran's Lavan 
Island came under attack Wednesday. The report said that firefighters were 
working to contain the blaze but no one had been hurt. It did not say who 
launched the attack.

   More than 1,900 people had been killed in Iran as of late March, but the 
government has not updated the war's toll for days.

   In Lebanon, where Israel is fighting Iran-backed Hezbollah militants, more 
than 1,500 people have been killed. and 1 million people have been displaced. 
Eleven Israeli soldiers have died.

   In Gulf Arab states and the occupied West Bank, more than two dozen people 
have died, while 23 have been reported dead in Israel, and 13 U.S. service 
members have been killed.