White House spokesperson Karoline Leavitt addresses journalists in the James Brady Press Briefing Room at the White House, April 8, 2026, in Washington. Evelyn Hockstein/Reuters
The White House affirmed Wednesday that Iran relented to President Donald Trump in consenting to a ceasefire agreement, contending his "red lines" have remained consistent as attention turns to forthcoming discussions between the U.S. and Tehran.
The two-week cessation of hostilities was declared by Trump approximately 90 minutes prior to his self-imposed Tuesday evening deadline for Iran to strike an accord to restore access to the Strait of Hormuz or, according to his doomsday forecast, a "whole civilization will die."
"The international community should heed his pronouncements very seriously," Leavitt conveyed to journalists at Wednesday's White House briefing, defending his diction when confronted with reporter inquiries concerning whether it was suitable when referencing striking civilian infrastructures such as bridges and power plants.
"And understanding that the president is consistently most focused on outcomes. And it was the Iranian government who yielded, not President Trump," Leavitt proceeded.
She stated his "forceful statements" and negotiating approach "compelled the Iranian administration to capitulate and request a ceasefire."
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt speaks with reporters in the James Brady Press Briefing Room at the White House, April 8, 2026, in Washington.Evelyn Hockstein/Reuters
Nevertheless, numerous unresolved matters remain regarding forthcoming events and the concepts underpinning the ceasefire.
Trump's six-week military engagement witnessed hostilities propagate across the region, while an oil predicament ensnared the world economy. The confrontation also engendered some rifts within the Republican Party and the president's MAGA constituency.
Currently, the White House and senior officials are proclaiming the military operation and ceasefire a "triumph." Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, during a Pentagon briefing, addressed the conflict in retrospect, although he conveyed that U.S. forces would persist in the region to guarantee Iran complies with the armistice.
Trump on Tuesday evening characterized an Iranian 10-point counterproposal as a "viable foundation" for discussions pertaining to a durable peace.
Iranian state media on Tuesday released a declaration from the Supreme National Security Council indicating that the U.S. recognized a blueprint that incorporated the endorsement of uranium enrichment and the revocation of all sanctions — provisions that the U.S. and the president himself have traditionally dismissed.
"That is untrue," Leavitt remarked concerning the Iranian state media's report on Wednesday.
"The Iranians initially introduced a 10-point plan that was essentially frivolous, unacceptable and entirely rejected. It was literally discarded in the refuse by President Trump and his negotiating team," she stated.
With Trump's deadline rapidly approaching, Leavitt conveyed that the Iranian regime "recognized reality" and "presented a more sensible and distinctly different and abridged plan to the president and his team."
That "new" and "revised" plan, as per the White House, was more in accordance with the U.S. framework, although it has not disclosed it publicly.
Iran's foreign minister on Tuesday expressed that the U.S. accepted the "overall structure on Iran's 10-point plan as a basis for negotiations" but did not specify its contents.
"The notion that President Trump would ever entertain an Iranian desiderata as a settlement is entirely ludicrous," Leavitt declared. "The president will exclusively secure a deal that advances the optimal interests of the United States of America."
She appended, "What Iran articulates publicly or disseminates to all of you in the press differs substantially from what they convey to the United States, the president and his team in private."
The forthcoming discussions — scheduled for Saturday morning local time in Islamabad, Pakistan — will be spearheaded by Vice President JD Vance, White House special envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, the White House announced on Wednesday.
Notwithstanding assertions of triumph, Leavitt urged "forbearance" in discussions, and both she and Vance have recognized the precariousness of a ceasefire.
"This is a delicate truce. Ceasefires are intrinsically unstable," she articulated.
Jared Kushner in Washington, Feb. 19, 2026, Vice President JD Vance in Budapest, Hungary, April 8, 2026, and Steve Witkoff in Miami Beach, March 27, 2026.Getty Images/Reuters/AP
At the forefront of the priority agenda in the discussions, Leavitt asserted, is the subject of Iran's highly enriched uranium.
"That is a boundary that the president is not willing to recede from," Leavitt emphasized. "And he's dedicated to ensuring that occurs. We hope it will be achieved through diplomacy."
Preventing Iran from possessing a nuclear arsenal constituted a pivotal justification for the military conflict.
Iran had earlier pledged not to develop a nuclear weapon as part of negotiations with Western nations, yet persisted in enriching nuclear material to levels nearing weapons grade. Despite the U.S. intelligence community's evaluation indicating that Iran was not pursuing a nuclear weapon in the aftermath of last summer's Operation Midnight Hammer, which Trump claimed "annihilated" the country's nuclear weapons program.
On Wednesday morning, Trump prominently remarked that the U.S. will "collaborate intimately with Iran" to eliminate the nuclear material.
"There will be no enrichment of Uranium, and the United States will, working with Iran, dig up and remove all of the deeply buried (B-2 Bombers) Nuclear 'Dust.' It is now, and has been, under very exacting Satellite Surveillance (Space Force!). Nothing has been touched from the date of attack," Trump communicated in a social media posting.
President Donald Trump speaks with reporters during a news conference in the James Brady Press Briefing Room at the White House, April 6, 2026, in Washington.Mark Schiefelbein/AP
Hegseth, during Wednesday's Pentagon briefing, expressed that Iran will "either relinquish it to us voluntarily" or "if we are compelled to pursue alternative measures ourselves … we retain that prerogative."
"That's something the president is going to resolve," Hegseth remarked.
An undertaking to seize the nuclear material would necessitate a substantial special operations force on the ground, experts previously advised ABC News.
An additional significant imponderable progressing forward is the Strait of Hormuz, where approximately one-fifth of the world's oil has been embroiled in the direct line of the war. Iran effectively blockaded the waterway as retribution.
The ceasefire presently in effect, Trump posted Tuesday evening, was contingent upon Iran's "COMPLETE, IMMEDIATE and SAFE OPENING" of the strait.
Early Wednesday, President Trump — in a telephone conversation with ABC News Chief Washington Correspondent Jonathan Karl — contemplated the prospect of a "joint enterprise" between the U.S. and Iran of levying a tariff for vessels to traverse through.
"We’re considering pursuing it as a joint venture. It constitutes a means of securing it — concurrently safeguarding it from numerous other entities," Trump communicated to ABC's Karl.
Leavitt expressed that it was "a concept" from Trump that would be deliberated over the ensuing weeks, but that "the immediate imperative of the president is the reopening of the strait without any limitations, whether in the guise of tolls or otherwise."
Leavitt was queried regarding who presently governed the Strait of Hormuz and declined to respond.
"We anticipate that the strait will be opened forthwith," she stated. "As I've articulated previously, we have observed an increase in traffic within the strait, and it's an aspect that we are monitoring moment by moment, hour by hour, as the days progress."
Sourse: abcnews.go.com