U.S. and Iran Both Claim Victory in New Ceasefire

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Luke Vargas (0:33)

The US pauses attacks on Iran after an 11th hour truce. We'll get the latest on the ceasefire and check in on how markets are reacting. Plus, TikTok says hey to Finland as it tries to hold off European regulatory pressure. And Republicans beat back a Democratic push to win Marjorie Taylor Green's House seat.

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But they can't beat Donald Trump and they never will. And I will be on Capitol Hill as a warrior to have his back each and every day.

Luke Vargas (1:00)

It's Wednesday, April 8th. I'm Luke Vargas for The Wall Street Journal. And here is the AM Edition of What's News. The top headlines and business stories moving our world today. President Trump says he's agreed to suspend attacks on Iran for two weeks, so long as the country immediately reopens the Strait of Hormuz. Trump defended the ceasefire announcement, saying that the US had already met its military objectives and citing progress in negotiating a long-term peace with Iran. But having threatened to wipe out Iran's civilization just hours earlier and promising attacks on a range of new targets in recent days, is the US ready to lay down arms? Is Iran, and crucially, is the Strait of Hormuz back open? Here to help us sort out where things stand, I'm joined by Wall Street Journal Middle East correspondent Jared Malsin. Jared, what exactly was agreed to overnight?

Jared Malsin (2:00)

So last night, President Trump announced a two-week ceasefire with Iran. He also acknowledged Iran's own terms for the ceasefire. So you have two different parameters and a lot of ambiguity around how this ceasefire is going to unfold. So it's sort of classic Trump where there's an announcement of a deal and they're going to work out the details later where there's supposed to be negotiations between US officials and the Iranian side brokered by Pakistan starting later this week. But for now, there is a ceasefire in place. The US military says that it has stopped offensive operations and the Iranians have declared their own victory in the war.

Luke Vargas (2:45)

You said President Trump acknowledged Iran's own terms. We had read out parts of one of their counteroffers earlier in the week on yesterday's podcast, including reparations for the war, a lasting end to fighting and some other things, a new regime to govern the Strait of Hormuz. Are those the terms you're mentioning there?

Jared Malsin (3:05)

Yes, so Trump in his social media statement announcing the ceasefire last night said that they received the 10-point proposal from Iran and he said that he believes it's a workable basis on which to negotiate. So there's at least some implicit acknowledgement of Iran's position on this, which as you said include a number of important concessions. Possibly the biggest one is that Iran wants to continue its influence over the Strait of Hormuz where they say that movement of ships through the Strait will take place in coordination with its armed forces.

Luke Vargas (3:42)

I would imagine if Iran even gets some of those demands addressed by the US., that would be seen as quite a positive development in Tehran, would it not?

Jared Malsin (3:52)

Yes, that's exactly how it's being seen. Obviously, this is a situation in which both sides are really declaring victory and there's going to be a lot of spin and a lot of trying to shape public perceptions of what this all means, but it is significant that six weeks ago, you had ships moving freely through the Strait of Hormuz, and now you have at least some official acknowledgement of Iran's influence and ability to have some degree of control over what passes through the Strait. The shipping industry and the oil industry are reacting to this with some skepticism. Right now, I can tell you there are not any ships moving through the Strait of Hormuz, and I think there's going to be a lot of caution from industry because they can't send giant oil tankers through the Strait until they have explicit assurances that those ships are going to be safe. The Iranians have been trying to charge transit fees for ships as they cross. We don't know whether that's going to become a permanent thing. We know the Iranians have said that they want it to be permanent, but all of those very important details are still to be hammered out.