President Donald Trump on Wednesday bashed leaks and media reports about the terms of a U.S.-Iran ceasefire, as confusion over the agreement threatened to undermine the fragile pause in fighting.
In a post on Truth Social, the president said that “Numerous Agreements, Lists, and Letters” being circulated online are being “sent out by people that have absolutely nothing to do with the U.S.A. / Iran Negotiation, in many cases, they are total Fraudsters, Charlatans, and WORSE.”
“They will be rapidly exposed after our Federal Investigation is completed,” Trump wrote. “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. It is something that is reasonable, and can easily be dispensed with.”
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt echoed Trump’s post during a press briefing Wednesday afternoon, saying that “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 that the discarded plan has been falsely reported as the one agreed to by Trump, and that with the deadline to come to an agreement approaching, Iran “put forward a more reasonable and entirely different and condensed plan to the president and his team.”
Confusion over what was agreed to establish the ceasefire and what both the U.S. and Iran are willing to negotiate to end the war permanently has exploded on social media since the moment Trump announced a pause to hostilities on Tuesday.
A particular contention is a list of 10 points supposedly demanded by Iran to end the war. The list reportedly includes a guarantee of nonaggression, a lifting of primary and secondary sanctions, recognizing Iran’s right to enrich uranium, and giving control of the Strait of Hormuz to Iran.
Trump initially characterized the proposal as a “workable basis on which” negotiations can continue. The White House, however, has said that the version of the list released to the media and circulating online is inaccurate.
The uncertainty over what was agreed to and what was not has put the ceasefire into jeopardy. There is also tension over Israel’s attacks on Hezbollah in Lebanon. Iran wants the U.S. to pressure Israel to end the operation as part of the ceasefire.
The Prime Minister of Islamic Republic of Pakistan Shehbaz Sharif, who helped broker the ceasefire, said in a post on X announcing the ceasefire that “Islamic Republic of Iran and the United States of America, along with their allies, have agreed to an immediate ceasefire everywhere including Lebanon and elsewhere, EFFECTIVE IMMEDIATELY.”
Trump, however, told PBS Newshour that Lebanon was not included in the deal, amid reports of strikes occurring in the region. Trump reportedly told the outlet, when asked if he was OK with Israel continuing attacks against Hezbollah, that “It’s part of the deal — everyone knows that. That’s a separate skirmish.”
Iran closed the Strait of Hormuz in response to Israel’s attacks against Lebanon, according to Iranian state media.
Sharif urged in a post on X for “all parties to exercise restraint” and work toward a “peaceful settlement of the conflict.”
“Violations of ceasefire have been reported at few places across the conflict zone which undermine the spirit of peace process,” the Pakistani prime minister said.
WHO HAS BEEN KILLED SO FAR DURING THE IRAN WAR?
Vice President JD Vance warned Wednesday morning that the negotiated two-week ceasefire between the countries was a “fragile truce” while speaking in Hungary.
“The United States agreed to stop attacking, and that not just the United States, but also our allies, have agreed to stop attacking, and that is the basis of this fragile truce that we have, which is now eight to 12 hours old,” Vance said in Budapest at the Mathias Corvinus Collegium, Hungary’s largest educational institution.
Mabinty Quarshie contributed to this report.