The United States and Iran suddenly announced a two-week cease-fire on Tuesday, and there are myriad open questions about what happens next. Israel has also agreed to the truce, though it reportedly did so reluctantly.

Both Washington and Tehran have claimed victory, but it’s too early to declare this war over with so many major issues unresolved—and missiles and drones still flying across the region even after the truce was announced. Several Gulf states reported Iranian attacks on Wednesday, and Israel launched major strikes in Lebanon.

The United States and Iran suddenly announced a two-week cease-fire on Tuesday, and there are myriad open questions about what happens next. Israel has also agreed to the truce, though it reportedly did so reluctantly.

Both Washington and Tehran have claimed victory, but it’s too early to declare this war over with so many major issues unresolved—and missiles and drones still flying across the region even after the truce was announced. Several Gulf states reported Iranian attacks on Wednesday, and Israel launched major strikes in Lebanon.

The United States and Iran are set to begin negotiations in Islamabad on Saturday, according to the White House, with Vice President J.D. Vance leading the Washington delegation along with envoy Steve Witkoff and President Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner. Trump on Tuesday said a 10-point peace plan put forward by Iran would provide a “workable basis” for the talks, though what is included in that plan is unclear. Iran has publicly released several versions of the 10-point plan, all of which include a number of elements that would appear to be nonstarters for Washington and seemingly don’t jibe with central aspects of a 15-point proposal put forward by the United States last month.

But Trump on Wednesday suggested that he is working off a different set of points than the ones Iran has made public. “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,” Trump said on Truth Social.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt sought to further clarify in a press conference on Tuesday afternoon, stating that the Trump administration had deemed Iran’s original 10-point plan to be “fundamentally unserious” and that it was “literally thrown in the garbage by President Trump.” She said Tehran eventually “put forward a more reasonable and entirely different and condensed plan” that Trump and his negotiators determined was a workable basis from which to negotiate. She did not say what was in that new 10-point plan.

With so much up in the air, and all sides offering conflicting statements on the terms of the truce, here are five big questions hanging over the cease-fire and peace process.

1. Can the truce move forward amid Israel’s offensive in Lebanon?

Israel and the United States have said Lebanon is not part of the cease-fire. Pakistan and Iran say it is. That confusion is already threatening to unravel the fragile truce.

Trump on Wednesday portrayed the fighting between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon as a “separate skirmish,” but the conflict is intrinsically linked to the Iran war. Tehran has also included ending the war on all fronts, including in Lebanon, in its 10-point plan, according to Iran’s official Islamic Republic News Agency.

Iran has reportedly warned that it could pull out of the Islamabad talks and continue to maintain a chokehold over the Strait of Hormuz if there’s not a cease-fire in Lebanon. The United States has also said the truce is contingent on Iran reopening the strait.

The long-running conflict between Israel and Hezbollah, the Iran-aligned militant group in Lebanon, was reignited in early March in conjunction with the Iran war. The Israeli military has been conducting ground operations and strikes in Lebanon in response to Hezbollah launching attacks on Israel. Though Hezbollah had reportedly paused strikes on Wednesday, Israel is showing no signs of backing down in the wake of the cease-fire with Iran.

Israel on Wednesday launched its largest wave of airstrikes against Hezbollah in the war to date, hitting more than 100 targets within 10 minutes, according to the Israel Defense Forces. The Lebanese health ministry said the strikes had killed at least 112 people and injured more than 800 others, as of Wednesday night local time, while the Lebanese Civil Defense put the death toll higher, at 254 people. Lebanese President Joseph Aoun on Wednesday accused Israel of committing a “massacre.”

2. Who will control the Strait of Hormuz?

Iran’s chokehold on the Strait of Hormuz, through which roughly 20 percent of the world’s crude oil and liquefied natural gas typically flows, has wreaked havoc on global energy markets and been a major headache for Trump throughout the war. This is why the United States conditioned the cease-fire on the reopening of the strait.

At least one version of Iran’s 10-point plan calls for it to maintain control over the strait, which the United States is unlikely to agree to. Tehran has also floated charging tolls for ships transiting the strait.

When asked about the possibility of Iranian tolls, Trump on Wednesday suggested that the United States and Iran could secure the strait as part of a “joint venture.” It’s unclear how this would actually work, though. When asked by a reporter on Wednesday why the United States would be OK with Iran collecting tolls in the strait, Leavitt said that “that’s not something we’ve said that we’ve definitively accepted.” The joint venture is “something that was proposed by the president, but he was very clear in his statement last night—he wants to see the strait reopened immediately without limitation,” she added.

3. What happens to Iran’s nuclear program?

The Trump administration’s objectives in the Iran war have repeatedly fluctuated, but the president has repeatedly cited preventing Tehran from obtaining a nuclear weapon as a key goal.

Trump has claimed that the objectives of the war have been accomplished, but Iran’s stockpile of highly enriched uranium (HEU) is still unaccounted for. Experts have emphasized that as long as the HEU is still in Iran’s possession, it leaves the door open for the country to pursue a nuclear bomb.

The president on Wednesday suggested that the United States could work with Iran to “dig up and remove” what he referred to as the “Nuclear ‘Dust.’” But this is a far-fetched scenario that Iran is unlikely to agree to, and it’s evident that the United States and Iran are not on the same page whatsoever on this issue.

For instance, while Trump on Wednesday said there would be “no enrichment of Uranium” by Iran, at least one of the 10-point plans publicly put forward by Tehran explicitly calls for acceptance of its right to enrichment.

U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Wednesday called on Iran to hand over its HEU stockpile, adding that the United States reserves the “opportunity” to “take it out” if Tehran doesn’t cooperate. Former U.S. officials and military experts have warned that such an operation would require ground forces and be massive, complicated, and extremely risky.

4. Will Iran keep its missiles?

The Trump administration has repeatedly zeroed in on destroying Iran’s missile program as a key objective in the war, along with ensuring that Iran cannot project power outside its borders. There is no question that Iran’s military, including its missile program, has been significantly diminished by U.S. and Israeli strikes.

But as evidenced by continued Iranian attacks on Wednesday against its Gulf neighbors, among other data points, Tehran retains the ability to launch missiles at targets throughout the region. Iran’s drones, which have proved to be a major challenge for U.S. and allied forces, also remain a threat.

5. Will the United States lift sanctions on Iran?

Several versions of Iran’s 10-point plan call for all U.S. sanctions on the country to be lifted. Yet it’s highly unlikely that the United States will be willing to remove all sanctions on Iran, many of which have been in place for years. Sanctions have been a hallmark of U.S. policy toward Iran since its 1979 revolution. But Trump on Wednesday said that “Tariff and Sanctions relief with Iran” will be discussed in the talks ahead. Still, it’s unclear what this could look like and to what extent the Trump administration will be willing to ease existing sanctions.

In the past, the United States eased sanctions on Iran in exchange for concessions on its nuclear program. But based on Iran’s hard-line demands in its 10-point plans, and Tehran’s evident distrust of Trump’s word following the breakdown of previous negotiations, it’s difficult to predict what concessions the country would currently be willing to offer in exchange for sanctions relief.