TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — An oil refinery on Iran’s Lavan Island came under attack Wednesday hours after a ceasefire in the war was announced, Iranian state television reported.
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.
THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP’s earlier story follows below.
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 when the deal would start, 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 Wednesday afternoon that its air defenses were firing at an incoming Iranian missile barrage. Kuwait's military said its forces were responding to an “extensive wave” of drone attacks.
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, Egypt and France 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 had Iran 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 program was a key war goal.
Israel backed the U.S. ceasefire with Iran, but Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Wednesday it won't 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.
Israel’s military said later that Wednesday that it “continues fighting and ground operations” against Hezbollah.
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.
Iran and Oman to collect shipping fees in Strait of Hormuz
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said passage through the strait would be allowed under Iranian military management. It wasn’t 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.
Ceasefire leaves questions unresolved
It's not clear what happens when the two weeks of the ceasefire ends.
There's little public sign that Iran and the United States had resolved disagreements over the fate of Iran's nuclear program, 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 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 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.
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 come even after ceasefire 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 appeared to stop for a time, but then the UAE and Kuwait reported attacks.
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.
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Gambrell reported from Dubai, United Arab Emirates, Magdy reported from Cairo and Metz reported from Ramallah, West Bank. Associated Press writers Edie Lederer at the United Nations, Natalie Melzer in Jerusalem and Aamer Madhani in Washington contributed to this report.
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