Iran and the U.S. Remain Far Apart Despite Cease-Fire Deal

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Imani Moise (0:34)

Despite a ceasefire, the US and Iran aren't on the same page, and Iran is keeping a tight grip on the Strait of Hormuz.

Shelby Holliday (0:40)

We don't know what Iran plans to do, and Iran has shown that it is able to hold the straight hostage and use it as a bargaining chip.

Imani Moise (0:48)

Plus, news of the ceasefire sends US stock markets soaring and oil prices plunging. And the key to losing more weight on GLP-1s might be in your DNA. It's Wednesday, April 8th. I'm Imani Moise for The Wall Street Journal, filling in for Alex Ossola. This is the PM Edition of What's News, the top headlines and business stories that move the world today.

The US and Iran reached a ceasefire agreement, but it's clear that the two sides remain far apart on many issues. Since the deal was announced, there's been conflicting reports about the status of the Strait of Hormuz and continued strikes in other parts of the Middle East. WSJ National Security Reporter Shelby Holliday is here to walk us through the latest. So where does the ceasefire stand now and what's the next step?

Shelby Holliday (1:38)

Well, today's been really interesting because from the US side, it's been a huge victory lap. We've heard from Press Secretary Caroline Levitt, we've heard from the Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, and what they're saying is that what we set out to do has been accomplished, and now we're trying to hammer out a ceasefire. There are still some very important questions lingering, namely, what Iran will do with its nuclear material, whether ships will be able to freely navigate the Strait of Hormuz, who will lead Iran. So next step here is that the White House is dispatching the Vice President, Special Envoy Steve Wittkopf, and President Trump's son-in-law, Jared Kushner, to Islamabad in Pakistan for a round of negotiations. And I think in the next few days, we might have a little more clarity on where things stand.

Imani Moise (2:18)

And Iran is saying that participating in this weekend's talks hinges on a ceasefire in Lebanon. But Israel is continuing to strike Hezbollah in Lebanon. So what happens next?

Shelby Holliday (2:27)

Yeah, that's a key sticking point, actually. So Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel just came out and said, the ceasefire has nothing to do with Lebanon. We will continue to go after Hezbollah forcefully. Hezbollah is a proxy group that Iran supports. And we don't know how Iran will react to that.

Imani Moise (2:42)

And then there's the Strait of Hormuz. How soon could it return to normal traffic?

Shelby Holliday (2:46)

We don't know what Iran plans to do. And Iran has shown that it is able to hold the Strait hostage and use it as a bargaining chip. One thing that was interesting in the White House press conference today was that press secretary Caroline Levitt said, what Iran is doing and saying publicly does not match what they are doing and saying privately.

SPEAKER_5 (3:04)

We have seen an uptick of traffic in the Strait today. And I will reiterate the president's expectation and demand that the Strait of Hormuz is reopened immediately, quickly and safely.

Shelby Holliday (3:16)

The White House is that it's reopening. I think we're going to need to look at a lot of shipping data to verify that and see if that's actually true. But a big question lingering over the Strait is whether Iran will be able to charge some sort of toll. And that really changes the dynamic in the Middle East and in oil markets. If Iran is able to say, hey, if you want to come through the Strait of Hormuz, you need to pay us $1 million, that's something Iran would love to do. That is something the US likely will not accept. So we'll see what happens with the Strait of Hormuz. It's still very much an open question.

Imani Moise (3:46)

And what about the energy facilities in the region?

Shelby Holliday (3:48)

Energy facilities got hit really hard in this war. And they'll need to be rebuilt. And in some cases, it will take years to rebuild what was destroyed. So that will have an effect on energy markets. In the future, there is a lot of damage that was done in these five weeks. And it will take a long time to rebuild.