Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that Israel's "finger remains on the trigger," adding that they are "ready to return to combat at any time, if necessary."
He said the campaign against Hezbollah in Lebanon would continue, reiterating that the ceasefire with Iran does not include the Lebanese armed group. "We continue to target it heavily," he said.
He dismissed political rumors that Israel was "surprised at the last minute" by the ceasefire, stressing that it came into effect "in full coordination with Israel."
Domestically, Netanyahu has faced criticism from opposition lawmakers for agreeing to a ceasefire before achieving war goals. He called it a "historic operation" with the United States, saying that "such a partnership... against our greatest enemy is also unprecedented."
Iran's Ports and Maritime Organization announced that safe routes have been determined for passage through the Strait of Hormuz and that ships must use them in coordination with the Iranian Revolutionary Guard, the Student News Network reported.
The organization stated that the safe entry route leads from the Sea of Oman to the north of Larak Island, while the safe exit route from the Gulf passes south of Larak Island and leads to the Sea of Oman, Reuters reports.
The United States must choose between continuing the war through Israel or a ceasefire, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said in a post on social media.
"The conditions for a ceasefire between Iran and the United States are clear and explicit: America must choose either a ceasefire or the continuation of the war through Israel; both cannot exist simultaneously. The world is witnessing the killings in Lebanon. Now the ball is in America's court, and the world public is watching to see whether this country will fulfill its obligations or not," he said.
Aragchi's post also included a screenshot of this post by Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, in which he announced on Tuesday that a ceasefire had been reached, stating:
"I am pleased to announce that the Islamic Republic of Iran and the United States of America, along with their allies, have reached an agreement on an immediate ceasefire everywhere, including Lebanon and other areas, EFFECTIVE IMMEDIATELY."
The White House insisted today that Lebanon was not included in the ceasefire agreement and that this had been "conveyed to all parties", while Israel sharply stepped up an intense wave of air strikes across the country, which killed at least 254 people on Wednesday.
Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) has previously warned both the US and Israel that it will respond if Israel does not stop its attacks on Lebanon.
"We issue a strong warning to the United States, which violates agreements, and its Zionist ally, its perpetrator: if the aggression against beloved Lebanon does not cease immediately, we will fulfill our duty and respond with a response."
Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Baker Qalibaf said three key points of the 10-point proposal had been violated before the talks, which are set to begin on Friday in Pakistan, adding that in such a situation, a bilateral ceasefire or negotiations are unreasonable.
As he stated in a post on the X network, the violations include violating the ceasefire in Lebanon, entering an "enemy drone" into Iranian airspace, and denying Iran's right to enrich uranium.
Pakistani sources said Qalibaf, along with Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, will travel to Islamabad for talks with the United States.
The White House said Iran had signaled it would hand over its stockpile of enriched uranium, White House spokeswoman Caroline Leavitt said, adding that such a transfer was one of President Donald Trump's top priorities.
Trump claims that one of the main reasons for starting the war was to prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons, which Iran has long denied it wants to do, Reuters reminds.
"That's a red line that the president will not back down from and he is committed to making it happen," Leavitt said at the briefing.
Asked if the Iranians had given any signal to hand over the uranium, Leavitt replied: "They have."
She did not provide additional details.
The International Atomic Energy Agency estimates that when Israel launched its first strikes in June, Iran had 440,9 kilograms of uranium enriched to 60 percent. If further enriched, that would be enough for 10 nuclear weapons, according to the IAEA's standard.
Iran claims its nuclear program is peaceful.
Nearly half of Iran's uranium enriched to 60 percent purity was stored in a tunnel complex in Isfahan and is likely still there, said Rafael Grossi, the head of the UN nuclear watchdog.
The tunnel complex is the only target that appears not to have been severely damaged in the attacks carried out by Israel and the US on Iranian nuclear facilities last June.
"It's buried right now and we're monitoring it. We know exactly what they have, and they know it," Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth told reporters separately on Wednesday, adding that Washington reserves the right to launch new military strikes targeting enriched uranium if necessary.
In an address to the nation on Wednesday evening, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Iran's enriched uranium would be removed by agreement or force.
Leavitt said Donald Trump has floated the idea that the United States generates revenue from ships passing through the Strait of Hormuz by charging fees.
"That's something that will be discussed in the next two weeks," she added.
Trump's immediate priority is to open the strait "without any restrictions," she said.
Reopening the strait and handing over Iran's enriched uranium are "at the top of the priority list" for Trump's negotiating team.
Asked if Tehran had given any signal to hand over its uranium, she replied: "Yes."
Leavitt reiterated that Trump's message was a "very, very serious threat" - but "not an empty threat" - which led to results, as Iran "relented" and requested a ceasefire, the Guardian reports.
President Donald Trump wants the Strait of Hormuz open to oil tankers and other traffic without any restrictions, including tolls, White House spokeswoman Caroline Leavitt said.
"The president's immediate priority is to reopen the strait without any restrictions, whether in the form of tolls or otherwise," Livit said.
Leavitt told reporters that the United States today recorded an increase in traffic through the Strait of Hormuz.
When asked who currently controls the Strait of Hormuz, Leavitt declined to answer.
White House spokeswoman Caroline Leavitt called the ceasefire a "victory" for the United States.
Leavitt presents the ceasefire as being in line with Trump's "four to six week" deadline for the war, praises US military capabilities and says the operation "achieved its key military objectives in just 38 days."
This includes "destroying Iran's defense-industrial base and crushing the regime's ability to produce weapons," she claims, adding that Iran's ability to produce both ballistic missiles and long-range drones has been "set back by years."
Leavitt states that Trump's red lines, primarily the cessation of Iranian uranium enrichment, have not changed.
US officials are now working on a revised plan to bring it into line with the 15-point proposal the US put forward a few weeks ago, "as long as the Strait of Hormuz remains open, without delay," Leavitt said.
A White House spokeswoman rebuked the media for what she said was "incorrect reporting" that Trump was conducting negotiations based on the original 10-point plan proposed by Tehran.
"President Trump and his negotiating team literally threw it in the trash," she said, despite Trump stating on Truth Social that the US had received Iran's 10-point proposal, which is believed to be a "workable basis for negotiations," the Guardian writes.
Leavitt argued that Iran actually offered the president "a more reasonable, completely different and concise plan."
She stressed that Trump's red lines, primarily the suspension of uranium enrichment in Iran, "have not changed."
"The idea that President Trump would ever accept an Iranian wish list," she said, "is completely absurd."
After Trump announced the ceasefire, Iranian state media released a proposal that included continued Iranian control of the strategic Strait of Hormuz, the lifting of international sanctions on the country, and "acceptance" of uranium enrichment.
"The idea that President Trump would ever accept the Iranian wish list as an agreement is completely absurd," Leavitt said.
She again suggested that what Iran publicly announces is "very different" from what it communicates privately.
Qatar condemned "the brutal series of Israeli airstrikes that hit large areas of Lebanon today," which killed at least 254 people and wounded 1.165.
In a statement, the Qatari Foreign Ministry added that it considers the attacks "a dangerous escalation and a flagrant violation of the sovereignty of the brotherly Republic of Lebanon, the rules of international humanitarian law and United Nations Security Council Resolution 1701."
The Foreign Ministry called on the international community "to fulfill its obligations by forcing the Israeli occupation authorities to stop their barbaric massacres and repeated attacks on Lebanon, and to hold them accountable for respecting international conventions and laws."
Iran has closed the Strait of Hormuz in response to today's Israeli attacks on Lebanon, despite a ceasefire, Iranian state media reported, stating that Iranian authorities continue to treat the strait as closed.
The two-week conditional ceasefire, agreed just hours ago between the US and Iran, included a provision for the temporary reopening of this key sea passage.
Tehran said today it would allow safe passage in coordination with its armed forces, but the coast guard warned that any ship attempting to pass without permission would be "targeted and destroyed."
Israel carried out major attacks across Lebanon today, killing more than 250 people, and Trump later clarified that Lebanon was not covered by the ceasefire agreement.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said, during a visit to Saudi Arabia, that there is still much work to be done to reopen the Strait of Hormuz.
"Now... we have a ceasefire, but, as you can understand, there is a lot of work to be done to ensure that that ceasefire becomes durable and brings the peace that we all want to see," he told British and Saudi staff during the visit.
"But there is also a lot of work to be done when it comes to the Strait of Hormuz, which has an impact around the world."
Lebanon is not part of the ceasefire agreement the US reached with Iran, Axios reports. The statement was made by White House spokeswoman Caroline Leavitt.
US President Donald Trump is "eager" to make progress towards ending the war with Iran and has instructed his negotiating team to negotiate honestly with the Iranians, Vice President J.D. Vance said on Wednesday.
Speaking at an event in Budapest during a visit to Hungary, Vance said a deal was possible if Iran negotiated honestly, but warned that while some parts of the Iranian establishment were approaching the talks constructively, others were "lying" about the ceasefire, Reuters reported.
According to the Iranian news agency ISNA, Iran's delegation at Friday's talks should be led by Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, while the Tasnim news agency reported that a final decision on the head of the delegation has not yet been made.
US officials previously told CNN that the meeting would likely be held in Islamabad, with Pakistan mediating. US special envoy Steve Witkoff, Jared Kushner and Vice President JD Vance are also expected to attend.
US Vice President J.D. Vance, who participated in the final phase of negotiations that led to the ceasefire, described the agreement as a fragile truce and said that the experience helped him better understand the Iranian political system, the Guardian reports.
Speaking in Budapest, Vance said that the reactions from Iran have been mixed, depending on factions within the government. According to him, the foreign minister reacted positively to the plan, while others lied about the results of US military actions and the framework of the ceasefire itself.
"That's why I say this is a fragile truce. You have people who want to negotiate and find a solution, but you also have those who are distorting the facts even about this agreement," Vance said.
He added that he believed it was possible to reach an agreement if Iran negotiated in good faith, but warned that otherwise the United States would react.
"President Donald Trump has instructed us to sit down at the negotiating table. If Iran does not do the same, they will see that the US president is not someone to be played with. He wants quick results," Vance said.
He also pointed out that Trump has ordered that certain military, diplomatic and economic pressures on Iran not be used for the time being, but that these options remain open if negotiations are not successful.
Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif announced that he had received confirmation from Iran that the country would participate in the negotiations in Islamabad, the Guardian reported.
Sharif stated that Iranian President Masoud Pesekian confirmed to him that Tehran would participate in talks with the United States with the aim of resolving the conflict.
He had earlier invited delegations to meet in the Pakistani capital on Friday. Iranian state media reported that the talks could be extended, but stressed that talks with the US did not mean the end of the war.
Pope Leo XIV today welcomed with pleasure the announcement of a two-week ceasefire in the war in Iran.
The Pope, who has been an outspoken critic of the war, also hailed this pause in fighting as a sign of hope.
"Only by returning to negotiations can the war be ended. I call for this period of delicate diplomatic work to be accompanied by prayer, in the hope that openness to dialogue can become a means of resolving other conflicts around the world," he said in an address at the Vatican on Wednesday, Reuters reported.
Iranian President Masoud Pesekian said that the ceasefire announced this morning was in line with the general demands set by Tehran.
"The ceasefire, with the acceptance of the general principles set by Iran, was the fruit of the blood of our tortured leader, the great Khamenei, and the result of the participation of all people on the ground. From today, we will continue to stand together, whether in diplomacy, defense, on the streets or in public service," he said on X.
He joined other Iranian officials in declaring the ceasefire agreement a victory for Iran.
Mohammad Reza Aref, Iran's first vice president, wrote on X that Iran's era had begun, while Iran's National Security Council declared that the US had suffered an undeniable, historic and devastating defeat.
While the Israeli military announced that it would continue its ground invasion of southern Lebanon, sources for Reuters claim that Hezbollah has suspended attacks on northern Israel and on Israeli troops.
Three Lebanese sources close to the group told the agency that Hezbollah is likely to issue a statement soon outlining its official position on the US-Iran ceasefire, as well as Israel's claim that Lebanon is not involved.
The Lebanese army, meanwhile, has urged displaced families to delay returning to their homes in the south of the country, warning of continued Israeli attacks.
The Israeli military has announced that it is continuing combat and ground operations in Lebanon against the Iranian-backed militant group Hezbollah, the Guardian reports.
In a statement on social media, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said it had carried out extensive strikes on launch sites across Iran overnight, before ceasing fighting after the ceasefire was announced.
"In accordance with political directives, the IDF has limited combat in the campaign against Iran and remains on a high level of defense alert, ready to respond to any violation," the IDF said.
They add that in Lebanon, the IDF continues combat and ground operations against the terrorist organization Hezbollah.
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