Less than 24 hours after Donald Trump pulled back from the brink on Tuesday, his truce with Iran has begun to fray — undermined by conflicting versions of what exactly was agreed.
The US president’s plan for vice-president JD Vance to lead talks in Pakistan points to the urgency, but the faultlines are vast, from Israel’s strikes on Lebanon to Iran’s enriched uranium and willingness — or not — to reopen the Strait of Hormuz.
“It’s one thing to declare a ceasefire on social media and it’s another thing to actually have an agreement where people have a shared understanding of the terms,” said Brian Katulis, a senior fellow at the Middle East Institute think-tank in Washington.