Trump warns strikes will resume if Iran doesn't agree to his peace terms

Special Series Middle East conflict Conflict in the Middle East has been escalating. These stories provide context for current developments and the history that led up to them. Fadel Itani/AFP via Getty Images hide caption President Trump said late Wednesday that U.S. forces deployed in the Middle East will "remain in place" until an agreement is reached with Iran, and its implementation takes hold. Middle East conflict What has the U.S. war with Iran accomplished? His comments followed a shaky start to a two-week ceasefire. The uncertainty was also felt by the markets on Thursday, diminishing gains made a day earlier, with oil prices rising and stocks dipping. Trump warned that strikes on Iran would resume if Iran did not comply with "the REAL AGREEMENT reached." "If for any reason it is not, which is highly unlikely, then the "Shootin' Starts," bigger, and better, and stronger than anyone has ever seen before," he said. He also reiterated that the deal would not allow nuclear enrichment in Iran and would keep the Strait of Hormuz open. "It was agreed, a long time ago, and despite all of the fake rhetoric to the contrary - NO NUCLEAR WEAPONS and, the Strait of Hormuz WILL BE OPEN & SAFE," Trump wrote on Truth Social. Erik Marmor/Getty Images hide caption Here are more updates from the region: Click the links below to jump down to a specific section. delegation. Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images hide caption Meanwhile, Israeli attacks in Lebanon, which is observing a national day of mourning on Thursday, drew condemnation from Iran and criticism from Pakistan. The dispute over whether Lebanon is included in the ceasefire terms remains unresolved. 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. Pakistani Prime Minister Sharif had announced the Iran-U.S. ceasefire, would also take effect in 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 to put an end to it.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. 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. and Iran prepare to enter negotiations on Saturday, Gulf Arab countries are seeking to enhance defense cooperation with the U.S. military, an official from the region, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to outline these demands publicly, told NPR. Gulf countries have relied on U.S. defense systems to intercept recent Iranian missile and drone attacks. The official said Gulf countries want a U.S.-Iran deal to include a framework to protect energy facilities in the region and a way to enforce freedom of navigation through the Strait of Hormuz. On Thursday, the Saudi and Iranian foreign ministers held their first official phone call since the war started. The Israeli military said it conducted the largest attack so far, with 100 strikes in 10 minutes in Beirut on Wednesday, killing the nephew of a Hezbollah leader. The military issued evacuation orders for the capital's suburbs, but then attacked central Beirut. That city has swelled in recent weeks with people fleeing the Israeli invasion in the country's south, which has displaced more than a million people. More than 1,160 were wounded in Wednesday's strikes, according to the country's civil defense department. Lebanon's army said four soldiers were among those killed. Rescue workers search for people after an Israeli attack hit a residential building in the Corniche al Mazraa neighborhood on April 8, 2026 in Beirut, Lebanon. Daniel Carde/Getty Images hide caption On Thursday, Israel struck a bridge in Lebanon. Hezbollah, which had held its fire on the first day of the ceasefire, fired rockets into northern Israel on Thursday. The violence marred the start of a two-week ceasefire between the U.S. and Iran in the wider Middle East war. But Israeli officials justified the assault by asserting that the new deal did not include a pause in its fight against Lebanon's Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah. The International Committee of the Red Cross says it's outraged by such attacks in densely populated urban areas. 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. Al Jazeera said its correspondent Mohammed Wishah is the 11th journalist from the network to be killed in Gaza. Two years ago, Israel said Wishah was a "key terrorist in Hamas" who posed a threat to its troops. The Israeli military repeated that allegation in a statement after his killing on Tuesday, but did not say why he was targeted six months into a ceasefire in which hundreds have been killed in Gaza. Also Tuesday, CPJ said reporters Ghada Dayekh and Suzan Khalil were killed in a blitz of Israeli airstrikes on Lebanon that hit Hezbollah and civilian neighborhoods. One of the journalists worked for a Hezbollah-affiliated news outlet. According to the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) Israel's military has killed more than 260 Palestinian journalists in Gaza in the past two and a half years. CPJ says Israel's attacks on the press should be independently investigated as war crimes. Trump has repeatedly said that the deal is dependent on the free movement of ships in the Strait of Hormuz to ease the global energy crisis. The strait is a critical throughway that carries about a fifth of the world's oil and provides the only sea passage from the Persian Gulf to the Gulf of Oman and the Arabian Sea. Before the war broke out, Iran allowed an average of 120 to 150 ships per day to sail through unimpeded. But in the last five weeks, that traffic has come to a grinding halt. And despite Tuesday's announcement of ceasefire terms that required Iran to reopen the strait for safe passage, more than a hundred ships remained effectively stalled. Details about the strait's status remain unclear. While Iran announced it had ceased transit operations in response to Israel's continued attacks on Lebanon, the White House denounced the reports as false and said closing the waterway would be completely unacceptable. If the strait was open, hundreds of other ships in and around the strait still chose to stay put out of an abundance of caution. Ship owners, insurance companies, and seafarers say they are seeking clarity as Iran threatens to attack any vessel transiting without permission. Erik Broekhuizen, a U.S.-based ship broker and energy consultant with Poten & Partners, told NPR that another concern for the ships is Iran's decentralized military command. "You don't really know who to talk to, who is in charge, and whether all the sort of regional commanders have gotten the memo that the strait is open and they should stop attacking vessels," Broekhuizen said. More than 20 ships have been attacked by Iran since the war began. Operators are also confused by Iran's new fee system and how payments will be collected as the government rolls out new toll procedures. According to analysts, several oil tanker operators said they have paid at least $1 million to transit the strait. An English language VHF broadcast was blasted to the hundreds of ships in and around the strait on Wednesday. It warned those aboard idling ships that they need permission before they try to transit. Sponsor Message Become an NPR sponsor