WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. struck Iran on Friday in response to a drone attack a day earlier on a cargo ship in the . It’s the most significant test yet to an  reached a week ago by the two countries to begin working to end their months-long war and reopen the pivotal waterway.

U.S. President  said the drone attack violated the . The strikes came shortly after Trump told reporters, “You’ll find out,” whether the U.S. would respond.

U.S. Central Command said the military struck missile and drone locations and coastal radar sites in Iran.

“I don’t like the fact that they took a shot yesterday, actually four of them,” Trump said at the White House shortly before the U.S. struck back. When asked why there would be strikes when Trump has insisted talks with Tehran are going well, Trump said of Iran: “They’re a little bit different.”

He then abruptly cut off questions and reporters were ushered out of his office.

Ebrahim Azizi, who heads the Iranian parliament����ap national security commission, responded to Trump on social media earlier Friday, saying, “the Strait of Hormuz is governed by Iran, so: Respect the rules” and to “not mistake control for escalation.”

“This is not a violation of the ceasefire; it is ceasefire management,” Azizi wrote.

Friday evening, Vice President JD Vance said on social media that Iran should “pick up the phone” if there are disagreements about the ceasefire agreement.

“But violence will be met with violence,” Vance said.

Strikes conclude an hour later

The U.S. strikes on Iran concluded about an hour after U.S. Central Command announced the military action on social media, a U.S. official with knowledge of the situation told The Associated Press. The official spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss an ongoing military operation.

The British military said on Thursday that a container ship was hit by a projectile off the coast of Oman, coming hours after  vessels to stop using the route. The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations center said no injuries were reported.

The development came during a fragile time for the U.S. and Iran as they work to negotiate a permanent end to the war. Iran has increasingly challenged the region and the U.S. over its control of the Strait of Hormuz, even with the current interim deal it reached with the U.S. last week.

The attack on the cargo ship happened while a United Nations maritime agency was beginning an operation to move stranded ships out of the strait this week, using an alternative route, hugging the shores of Oman rather than sailing through the central part of the strait.

The International Maritime Organization  after the attack and said on Friday they won’t resume until there are guarantees that the other ships won’t be attacked.

About 115 ships were able to move out of the strait in recent days, leaving about 500 still in the area, said Arsenio Dominguez, the agency’s secretary-general.

The opening of the alternative passage through the strait was expected to  and remove Iran’s main source of leverage in  with the U.S.

The U.S. and Iran are still negotiating terms of the deal, including issues such as getting ships through the key strait and addressing the future of . Under the interim deal, the two sides have 60 days to work out the details.

Cargo ship attack poses a test for shipping

Shipping analysts said the drone strike cast a shadow over what had been a growing stream of trapped vessels finally leaving the Gulf and an increasing flow of tankers carrying crude oil.

“A week of widening commercial confidence in the Strait of Hormuz has hit its first significant test,” said marine data company Windward on X. It said that while the strait remains operationally open with 43 transits recorded after the incident, “the pace of normalization has slowed.”

On Wednesday before Thursday’s drone strike, 78 vessels transited the strait, the highest since the war began, although below the prewar averages of 130 or more per day.

At least two tankers reversed course while attempting to transit the strait on the U.N.-backed route near Oman after Iran insisted vessels use only the Teheran-approved routes, according to marine data and analytic firm Lloyd’s List Intelligence.

More than two dozen ships were still transiting the strait’s southern route after the attack, Lloyd’s said Friday.

Lebanon and Israel make a step toward peace

Ambassadors from Israel and Lebanon  Friday described as a step toward peace following months of conflict between Israeli troops and the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah.

Nada Hamadeh, Lebanon’s ambassador to the U.S., called the framework a move toward “enabling our people to go back to their land and allowing all Lebanese to live in peace, security, and prosperity.”

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the plan was a “great achievement” for Israel.

“The most important thing, first and foremost, is that Israel will remain in the security zone in southern Lebanon,” he said, adding that they will stay until Hezbollah is disarmed and no longer poses a threat to Israel.

Gambrell reported from Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Associated Press writers Ben Finley, Michelle L. Price and Josh Boak in Washington, David McHugh in Frankfurt, Germany, and John Seewer in Toledo, Ohio, contributed to this report.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Senate Republicans who were berated by President Donald Trump over opposition to his war in Iran held a late-night vote Wednesday to try to appease him, rejecting a war powers resolution a day after a similar measure passed.

Trump harangued GOP senators face to face earlier in the day for allowing a on Tuesday, further escalating a feud that has diverted GOP efforts to focus on election-year affordability issues and brought much of the chamber’s business to a halt. He exchanged particularly harsh words with , one of four Republicans who had voted with Democrats on the measure.

Hours later, though, Cassidy was invited to receive a personal briefing on the war at the White House from Vice President JD Vance and envoy Steve Witkoff. Cassidy then returned to the Capitol to vote against a separate but nearly identical war powers resolution.

“I want to thank Vice President Vance and Special Envoy Witkoff for the thorough briefing this afternoon on Iran. I appreciate the quick invitation to the White House to address many of my concerns,” said Cassidy, who last month after Trump endorsed his opponent, in a post on X.

Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul, a Republican who has repeatedly voted with Democrats to halt the war, voted present this time “to give the President more space and leverage to negotiate a lasting peace,” he said on X. The measure failed 47-50-1 just before midnight on Wednesday, and the Senate then left town for a two-week recess.

It����ap unclear whether the move will be enough to appease Trump, who had called the Republicans “losers” for voting against his war and had called Cassidy a “lunatic” at the lunch after their tense exchange. But the vote was a clear signal to the president from Republican senators who still want to placate him, despite increasing tensions in recent weeks and his decision Wednesday morning to reverse himself and delay signing a housing bill that received overwhelming bipartisan support.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., and a small group of his Senate GOP colleagues called Trump after the vote. Thune told reporters that the president was “pleased with the outcome.”

Trump later thanked Thune in a social media post and noted that Cassidy and Paul had switched their votes. “This vote puts Iran on notice!” he wrote.

The war powers measure blocked by the Senate on Wednesday was on a separate track from the nearly identical resolution adopted on Tuesday, which had also been passed by the House. Both votes were largely symbolic, and the measures do not carry the full force of law.

Cassidy had sharp words for Trump

Invited by Florida Sen. Rick Scott to speak at a GOP luncheon in the Capitol, Trump had signaled ahead of time that he would use the closed-door meeting to push senators to pass his . But the conversation was more focused on Tuesday’s vote on war powers.

Most Republicans stayed quiet. But Cassidy stood up and defended his vote.

“I stood and said, ‘You have not told the American people what����ap going on,’” Cassidy told reporters after the meeting. “This was supposed to last four weeks, it����ap lasted four months. Our original objectives have not been achieved.”

The two men “went back and forth,” Cassidy said, and he “matched his tone and volume.” Cassidy said that he eventually de-escalated, but he did not want to be bullied.

“I am voting for war powers until I get a briefing,” he said afterward.

Trump repeatedly told Cassidy to sit down, according to a person familiar with the private meeting who was not authorized to discuss it. At one point, the president called the senator a “lunatic.”

Publicly, Trump said afterward that they had “a really great meeting.” But he hinted at the discord.

“We like everyone in the room,” Trump told reporters on his way out. “I don’t like a few people, but that����ap OK.”

The luncheon capped weeks of friction between Trump and Senate Republicans and added a new layer of frustration as Tuesday’s vote was the first time the Senate had adopted a war powers resolution on the Iran war. Trump made clear he was in no mood to compromise before it even started, calling off a scheduled signing ceremony on a and that GOP lawmakers were touting as an election-year achievement.

Trump reverses on housing bill

Republican senators were eager for a conciliatory meeting with the president after escalating tensions in recent weeks. But Trump upended their plans when he declared on social media just beforehand that he wouldn’t sign the legislation until they send him the SAVE America Act, his bill to require proof of citizenship for all voters.

North Carolina Sen. Thom Tillis said he doesn’t know why Trump is holding the housing bill “hostage” for the voting bill that “will never pass in this Congress.”

“It makes no sense to me,” Tillis said as he walked into the luncheon.

Thune said the housing legislation, which aims to lower costs, is “an affordability issue,” and that ”eventually I hope he finds a way to sign it.”

It����ap unclear if Trump might veto the legislation or if the late Wednesday night vote will change his outlook. But by rejecting a public bill signing, Republicans worry that Trump is indicating a level of indifference to voters’ affordability concerns heading into November’s midterm elections.

Trump and Senate Republicans have been at odds

Trump’s move on the housing bill is his latest reversal after weeks of being at odds with Senate Republicans.

Trump has blocked the Senate from confirming , asked them to despite opposition and forced them to defend the even as they .

Trump has also helped whittle down his own support in the Senate after endorsing primary challengers to two GOP incumbents who were previously reliable votes for his agenda — Cassidy and Texas Sen. . Both men have become more critical of Trump since losing reelection.

“If we’re going to win the midterm elections, we need to get on the same page,” Cornyn said ahead of the meeting. “We’re not on the same page now, and that I think is dangerous.”

Trump pushes Thune on SAVE America Act

Trump has pressed Republicans for months to kill the Senate filibuster and focus on the even though Thune has repeatedly told him that .

While Thune remains popular in his conference and cordial with the president, he has spent much of his time lately telling Trump what he doesn’t want to hear. Thune said Tuesday that while Trump and some in their conference want to see the voting bill pass, “it����ap just not realistic.”

Thune devoted weeks of floor time to the voting bill earlier this year and has said he supports it. But he has repeatedly said there aren’t enough votes to scrap the filibuster that triggers a 60-vote threshold to pass most bills in the 53-47 Senate. And Democrats are uniformly opposed to the bill.

“I think people at some point have to come to grips with that,” Thune said.

Associated Press writers Josh Boak and Kevin Freking contributed to this report.

NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. gasoline prices an average of 49 cents a gallon in the last month as expectations rose for an end to the war with Iran. But they’re not falling fast enough for President Donald Trump.

Trump, who wants to stave off the economic fallout of the war midterm elections, is now pointing at oil companies as the culprit. The president said early Wednesday that he had tasked the Justice Department with investigating whether “customers are being ’gouged.”

“The big Oil Companies are not dropping their price at the pump commensurate with the sharply lower prices they are paying for Oil,” Trump wrote in a Truth Social post published just after midnight. “Gasoline prices better start going down a lot faster than what I’m seeing!”

Crude oil is the main ingredient in gasoline, and its cost makes up the bulk of what consumers pay at the pump. But oil companies don’t set gasoline prices; gas station owners do. Those operators often have little choice but to when the cost of oil surges like it did during the Iran war.

Even after crude prices come down, it can take weeks or longer for market changes to reach refineries and eventually consumers, experts said.

“It sounds a bit like political theater to me,” Karen Young, a senior research scholar at Columbia University’s Center on Global Energy Policy, said when asked during a CNBC interview about Trump’s price-gouging allegation. “That����ap not really how gasoline prices work in the U.S.”

WTI, the U.S. benchmark crude, fell 27% in the last month and was trading at $70.45 a barrel Wednesday, about 5% more than before the war started. Meanwhile, a gallon of regular gasoline cost about $3.93 on average in the U.S., according to motor club federation AAA. That was about 13% lower than a month ago and 32% higher than before the war.

Here’s what we know.

Gas prices are multifaceted

go into what gas station owners decide to charge.

In the U.S., oil prices represented about 51% of the price of a gallon of gasoline last year, per the Energy Information Administration. When crude oil gets more expensive because there’s less on the market, gasoline prices generally follow.

Before reaching an interim agreement with the Trump administration last week, Iran blocked ships from crossing , a waterway off the country’s coast through which one-fifth of the world’s oil and typically passes.

In 2025, federal and state taxes contributed about 17% of the gasoline price, refining costs and profits contributed 14% and distribution, and marketing contributed 17%, the EIA said. In some states, such as California, higher taxes and refining costs push prices well above the national average.

While expensive oil was the leading driver of higher gasoline prices in recent months, U.S. gas prices typically tick up a bit at this time of year. Warmer weather brings a shift to summer blend fuels, which is more expensive to refine than the versions sold in colder months. Demand also is greater as more people hit the road.

For the upcoming July Fourth holiday period, AAA forecast 61.4 million Americans traveling at least 50 miles away from home by car, slightly more than the 61.3 million who took road trips last year.

There’s a lag between oil and gas prices

Some components of fuel prices are outside a gas station’s control.

Refineries buy crude oil in advance, and deliveries of that oil take time. Refineries may be processing more expensive supplies weeks or months after market prices fall. After refining, gasoline travels through pipelines, ships, trucks and fuel terminals before landing at filling stations, further prolonging higher prices for consumers.

“We all felt how fast gasoline prices rose this spring,” Rob Smith, director of global fuel retail at data and analytics provider S&P Global Energy. “The pace of their rise was actually less than the pace of the rise for crude oil.”

Smith calculated that the price for Brent crude oil, the international standard, rose about $1.75 per gallon between the start of the war and early April, and during that same time, the average price of gasoline went up $1.10.

“It went up a lot,” Smith said of gasoline. “But it still wasn’t as much as the crude price went up.”

That����ap because retailers resisted passing along all of the fuel price increase to customers, absorbing some of the cost, he said. When oil prices started falling, those retailers could recoup some of the money they lost, Smith added.

“Over the course of a year, there’s a certain operating margin that the retailers need to keep the lights on,” he said. “The vast majority of gas stations are owned by small corporations. A family that owns a dozen stations, or even one or two stations, they have little room for error.”

Oil prices have tumbled for several weeks now, stemming from both anticipation that led up to the U.S. and Iran signed last week and optimism now that are passing through the Strait of Hormuz.

“Our industry shares the goal of delivering relief at the pump and restoring stability to global energy markets,” Bethany Williams, spokesperson for the American Petroleum Institute, said via email. “Gasoline prices don’t move in lockstep with crude oil, especially during a major global disruption that is still affecting supply, refining and inventories.”

But beyond how markets are feeling, analysts warn it could take months, if not longer, for supply chains to return to pre-war levels. Earlier this week, S&P Global Energy said it did not expect Persian Gulf oil production to rebound fully until at least the first quarter of 2027.

Conditions in the strait have also proven to escalate or deteriorate quickly.

Prices are still higher than before the war

Even with prices dropping, motorists in the U.S. are paying almost $1 more per gallon than they were before the war, and gas is nearly 22% more expensive than it was at this time last year. That has caused many households to tighten budgets and rethink how they want to more broadly.

Gas also isn’t the only thing that����ap gotten more expensive during the war. Groceries, airline tickets and even goods like and shoes now cost more due to supply chain disruptions. Even if a final peace deal is reached and oil resumes flowing reliably from the Middle East, experts warn prices will likely for some time.

Before joining Israel to launch the war with strikes on Iran on Feb. 28, Trump bragged about low gas prices. But after Iran effectively cut off traffic from the Strait of Hormuz and energy prices skyrocketed, the president quickly pivoted. At one point, he tried to as a positive for the business of U.S. crude production — stating in March that, because the U.S. is the largest oil producer in the world, “when oil prices go up, we make a lot of money.”

Meanwhile,an online tracker from Brown University’s Watson School of International and Public Affairs estimates higher fuel prices for gas and diesel alone have cost Americans an average of over $474 per household since the war began, reflecting a consumer burden of about $62.1 billion overall.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The White House has formally requested $87.6 billion mostly to replenish the Pentagon after the , submitting the request to Congress at a politically difficult time as Republican and Democratic  to any further military action.

The Office of Management and Budget sent the supplemental spending request on Wednesday. It arrived just hours after  assailed Republican senators  — engaging in a shouting match with one — over their votes to approve a  that would halt further hostilities.

The request is mostly for expenses incurred by the Defense Department as part of Operation Epic Fury, the U.S.-led attack on Iran. But it also includes a range of other items, including $11.1 billion toward economic assistance for American farmers, $1.4 billion for the Ebola virus outbreak in Central Africa and $500 million to support ongoing efforts “to complete restoration and construction projects in and around Washington, D.C.”

“I urge the Congress to take action on these important and urgent requests as soon as possible,” said OMB Director Russ Vought in a letter to House Speaker Mike Johnson.

Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer said, “President Trump is asking taxpayers to clean up his messes, to the tune of $87.6 billion.”

“After dragging America into a reckless war, he now wants Congress to hand him tens of billions more to paper over the damage — while families are still paying higher prices.”

There may not be enough support in Congress to pass war funds

It����ap unclear how quickly the House and Senate could act on the White House’s request, or if Congress takes up the matter at all. The funding faces a difficult path because many lawmakers could view any votes as a reflection of test of their support for the war effort.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth returned to Capitol Hill on Wednesday briefing House GOP lawmakers from the conservative Republican Study Committee on the Pentagon’s budgetary needs. The White House is seeking as much as  in this year’s budget, a nearly 50% increase over previous levels.

But many lawmakers have complained they have yet to receive any formal briefing from the administration on the Iran war, nearly four months after it was launched, and as Trump’s team is now working to secure a fragile ceasefire and bring an .

Washington Sen. Patty Murray, the lead Democrat on the Senate Appropriations Committee, said the request is not merely to pay for “the president����ap disastrous war, but an attempt to secure tens of billions of additional dollars for unrelated Pentagon priorities.”

Murray said she would review to ensure servicemembers are taken care of, “but I will not rubberstamp tens of billions more for this disastrous war of choice.”

Yet the White House was clear to include provisions to interest lawmakers from various regions, including $1 billion to assist “the final design and construction of a modernized Penn Station in New York City,” which would be of interest to Schumer and House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries, both of New York.

Rep. Tom Cole, R-Okla., the chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, and Rep. Ken Calvert, R-Ca., who chairs the panel’s subcommittee on Defense, said in a joint statement, “President Trump’s request reflects the reality that our defense strength must be maintained, not merely demonstrated.”

Money for farmers, the Ebola outbreak and other needs included

The bulk of the request, $67 billion, is to replenish the Pentagon from the Iran war. The largest portion of that defense funding, $21 billion, would go to weapons and munitions, with another $17.3 billion for operational costs and $12.1 billion for other classified programs. Funds are also requested to cover fuel costs, drone manufacturing and cybersecurity.

The money for farmers would provide $10 billion in economic assistance to row and specialty crop farmers and $1.1 billion specifically to Florida agriculture producers who suffered losses from this past year’s winter storms.

The package also includes a collection of policy proposals that the administration strongly supports, and which are certain to raise interest among lawmakers.

Among them, the package proposes revisions to federal regulations of hemp products that have long been in dispute, changes to the year-round sales of renewable fuels and lifting of restrictions around federal investment support in Venezuela.

The administration is also requesting $550 million to prevent and detect the Ebola virus in Congo, where an outbreak has killed more than 250 people. Another $800 million would go to provide humanitarian assistance to the region.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Senate Republicans who were berated by President Donald Trump on Wednesday over opposition to his war in Iran held a late-night vote to try to appease him, voting down a war powers resolution a day after a similar measure passed.

Trump harangued GOP senators face to face earlier in the day for allowing a  on Tuesday, further escalating a feud that has diverted GOP efforts to focus on election-year affordability issues and brought much of the chamber’s business to a halt. He exchanged particularly harsh words with , one of four Republicans who had voted with Democrats on the measure.

Hours later, though, Cassidy received a personal briefing on the war at the White House from Vice President JD Vance and envoy Steve Witkoff and returned to the Capitol to vote against a separate war powers resolution. Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul, a Republican who has repeatedly voted with Democrats to halt the war, voted present this time “to give the President more space and leverage to negotiate a lasting peace,” he said on X. The measure failed 47-50-1.

“I want to thank Vice President Vance and Special Envoy Witkoff for the thorough briefing this afternoon on Iran. I appreciate the quick invitation to the White House to address many of my concerns,” said Cassidy, who lost reelection last month after Trump endorsed his opponent, in a post on X.

It’s unclear whether the move will be enough to appease Trump, who had called the Republicans “losers” for voting against his war and had called Cassidy a “lunatic” at the lunch after their tense exchange. But the vote was a clear signal to the president from Republican senators who still want to placate him, despite increasing tensions in recent weeks and his decision Wednesday morning to reverse himself and delay signing a housing bill that received overwhelming bipartisan support.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., and a small group of his Senate GOP colleagues called Trump after the vote. Thune said the president was “pleased with the outcome.”

Trump later thanked Thune in a social media post and noted that Cassidy and Paul had switched their votes. “This vote puts Iran on notice!” he wrote.

Cassidy had sharp words for Trump

Invited by Florida Sen. Rick Scott to speak at a GOP luncheon in the Capitol, Trump had signaled ahead of time that he would use the closed-door meeting to push senators to pass his . But the conversation was more focused on Tuesday’s vote on war powers, a mostly symbolic measure that allows Congress to rebuke the administration’s military actions. The House had passed its own version of the resolution earlier this month.

Most Republicans stayed quiet. But Cassidy, who  last month after Trump endorsed an opponent, stood up and defended his vote.

“I stood and said, ‘You have not told the American people what����ap going on,’” Cassidy told reporters after the meeting. “This was supposed to last four weeks, it����ap lasted four months. Our original objectives have not been achieved.”

The two men “went back and forth,” Cassidy said, and he “matched his tone and volume.” Cassidy said that he eventually de-escalated, but he did not want to be bullied.

“I am voting for war powers until I get a briefing,” he said afterward.

Trump repeatedly told Cassidy to sit down, according to a person familiar with the private meeting who was not authorized to discuss it. At one point, the president called the senator a “lunatic.”

Publicly, Trump said afterward that they had “a really great meeting.” But he hinted at the discord.

“We like everyone in the room,” Trump told reporters on his way out. “I don’t like a few people, but that����ap OK.”

The luncheon capped weeks of friction between Trump and Senate Republicans and added a new layer of frustration as Tuesday’s vote was the first time the Senate had adopted a war powers resolution on the Iran war. Trump made clear he was in no mood to compromise before it even started, calling off a scheduled signing ceremony on a  and that GOP lawmakers were touting as an election-year achievement.

Trump reverses on housing bill

Republican senators were eager for a conciliatory meeting with the president after escalating tensions in recent weeks. But Trump upended their plans when he declared on social media just beforehand that he wouldn’t sign the legislation until they send him the SAVE America Act, his bill to require proof of citizenship for all voters.

North Carolina Sen. Thom Tillis said he doesn’t know why Trump is holding the housing bill “hostage” for the voting bill that “will never pass in this Congress.”

“It makes no sense to me,” Tillis said as he walked into the luncheon.

Thune said the housing legislation, which aims to lower costs, is “an affordability issue,” and that ”eventually I hope he finds a way to sign it.”

It’s unclear if Trump might veto the legislation or if the late Wednesday night vote will change his outlook. But by rejecting a public bill signing, Republicans worry that Trump is indicating a level of indifference to voters’ affordability concerns heading into November’s midterm elections.

Trump and Senate Republicans have been at odds

Trump’s move on the housing bill is his latest reversal after weeks of being at odds with Senate Republicans.

Trump has blocked the Senate from confirming , asked them to  despite opposition and forced them to defend the  even as they .

Trump has also helped whittle down his own support in the Senate after endorsing primary challengers to two GOP incumbents who were previously reliable votes for his agenda — Cassidy and Texas Sen. . Both men have become more critical of Trump since losing reelection.

“If we’re going to win the midterm elections, we need to get on the same page,” Cornyn said ahead of the meeting. “We’re not on the same page now, and that I think is dangerous.”

Trump pushes Thune on SAVE America Act

Trump has pressed Republicans for months to kill the Senate filibuster and focus on the  even though Thune has repeatedly told him that .

While Thune remains popular in his conference and cordial with the president, he has spent much of his time lately telling Trump what he doesn’t want to hear. Thune said Tuesday that while Trump and some in their conference want to see the voting bill pass, “it����ap just not realistic.”

Thune devoted weeks of floor time to the voting bill earlier this year and has said he supports it. But he has repeatedly said there aren’t enough votes to scrap the filibuster that triggers a 60-vote threshold to pass most bills in the 53-47 Senate. And Democrats are uniformly opposed to the bill.

“I think people at some point have to come to grips with that,” Thune said.

Associated Press writers Josh Boak and Kevin Freking contributed to this report.

JERUSALEM (AP) — Israel and the Iranian-backed Hezbollah militant group agreed Friday to halt the heavy fighting in southern Lebanon that had threatened to unravel an interim agreement  to end their war, officials said. Neither Israel nor Hezbollah immediately confirmed the truce.

It came after a heavy exchange of fire killed 47 people in Lebanon and four Israeli soldiers.

Hezbollah and Israel went to war shortly after the outbreak of the wider conflict, with Hezbollah  at civilian communities in northern Israel and Israel .

 to end the Iran war has already reopened the , which Iran effectively closed, cutting the global economy off from significant supplies of oil and natural gas. The deal would also relaunch talks on Iran’s nuclear program, the core issue over which Israel and the U.S. began the war on Feb. 28.

But the accord , with the fighting there leading to a delay in the start of talks planned for Friday in Switzerland. The agreement calls for a halt to military operations in Lebanon and for its sovereignty to be respected. Neither Israel nor Hezbollah is a party to the deal.

Israeli Prime Minister  has vowed to keep Israeli forces in southern Lebanon until the threat is eliminated. Hezbollah has refused to halt its attacks unless Israel commits to withdrawing from Lebanon, which Iran says is also a condition of the deal.

Firing goes on along Lebanese border

Hours after officials told news organizations about the truce, Israeli artillery fire could still be heard from northern Israel along the Lebanese border, and a large explosion was seen erupting inside Lebanon, according to an AP journalist in northern Israel.

Word of the attempt to halt the fighting came from two regional officials and a U.S. official. The effort was mediated by Qatar, the U.S. and Iran, the regional officials said. The three officials were not authorized to comment publicly and spoke to The Associated Press on the condition of anonymity.

Fighting between Israel and Hezbollah was supposed to end at 4 p.m. local time, according to a second U.S. official who was not authorized to speak publicly and also spoke on condition of anonymity.

A Hezbollah official said an agreement to stop fighting could be announced soon, but he stopped short of confirming it was in place. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss the matter publicly.

Netanyahu’s office did not immediately comment. However, Netanyahu posted Friday on X that, on his orders, the Israeli army had “struck powerfully” 150 Hezbollah targets, killing dozens of militants.

Military spokesman Brig. Gen. Effie Defrin said the military has not received different instructions from the government. He said Israeli forces were operating in a “forward defense zone” and would continue doing so.

The Israeli ambassador to the U.S., Yechiel Leiter, posted on X that Israel “remains firmly committed to an immediate ceasefire” if Hezbollah honors the agreement and ceases hostilities.

Iranian and U.S. officials cancel travel to Switzerland

Iranian officials did not travel as planned to Switzerland, insisting that the fighting in Lebanon must stop before the talks can take place, according to the two regional officials, an Iranian official and a fourth person familiar with the matter who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive conversations behind the scenes. U.S. Vice President JD Vance .

The future talks are supposed to bring about a permanent end to the conflict.

On Friday, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei said consultations through mediators were ongoing regarding the next phase of negotiations to draft a final agreement.

Because the initial deal was signed digitally earlier this week, the talks in Switzerland were not urgent, and plans were underway to hold a meeting in the coming days, he said.

Fighting forces families to flee from villages

The Israeli military said four soldiers, including a lieutenant colonel, were killed in an attack on a tank in a village near the southern Lebanese city of Nabatiyeh. An explosive drone attack wounded another five, military officials added.

Israel then launched multiple strikes against “Hezbollah infrastructure sites” in Nabatiyeh and other areas, according to a military statement, which accused the militant group of “blatant ceasefire violations.”

Later, the military said it also struck targets in the Bekaa Valley in eastern Lebanon, with Lebanese media saying the village of Douris was hit.

“Israel will not tolerate attacks on our soldiers or on our territory, and it will exact a very heavy price from Hezbollah for these attacks,”  in a statement.

Hezbollah acknowledged targeting Israeli tanks and said its attacks were in response to what it called Israel’s own violation of the ceasefire. It said the attacks came after Israeli forces attempted to reach the northern side of Ali al-Taher hilltop, a strategic point that overlooks Nabatiyeh and that Israeli troops have been trying to capture.

In southern Lebanon, many were forced to flee their villages.

“The situation is lawless, we couldn’t stay,” said Mustafa Zain, who was with his six daughters in a pickup truck.

Israel’s actions have created a rift between Israel and the U.S., with Trump becoming increasingly critical of his close ally Netanyahu, who is also facing increasing criticism at home.

Much still needs to be resolved

The discussions in Switzerland were expected to focus on Iran’s nuclear program. Tehran maintains it is peaceful, though it has highly enriched uranium that could be used to build multiple atomic bombs, should it choose to do so, according to the International Atomic Energy Agency.

Those talks are expected to be difficult. The 2015 nuclear deal, which Trump scrapped during his first term, .

The interim deal gives negotiators 60 days to come up with a nuclear agreement, but that can be extended. It outlines lucrative incentives if Iran does reach a new agreement, including the eventual lifting of all international sanctions and a $300 billion fund for postwar reconstruction.

Already Iran has won some concessions. Following the signing of the interim deal, the U.S. lifted its blockade of Iran’s ports and is allowing it to sell its oil freely. The deal also calls for Iran’s assets to be unfrozen — though it����ap not clear how quickly.

Gambrell reported from Dubai, United Arab Emirates, and Madhani reported from Zurich. Associated Press journalists David Rising in Bangkok, Abby Sewell and Bassem Mroue in Beirut, Samy Magdy in Cairo, Malak Harb in Tyre, Lebanon, Munir Ahmed in Islamabad and Areej Hazboun in Jerusalem contributed to this story.

NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. gas prices fell to just below $4 a gallon on average Thursday, bringing some relief to drivers who have seen soaring costs amid Washington’s 

But filling up is still more expensive than it was before the conflict began.

According to motor club AAA, a gallon of regular gasoline is now averaging at $3.999. It’s the first time  that prices have been that low. And the drop aligns with  overall, with some optimism about  between the U.S. and Iran to end their war.

Still, American drivers are collectively paying about $1 more per gallon than they were before the U.S. joined Israel to attack Iran in February — and prices are 25% higher than they were at this time last year. That’s caused many households to tighten their budgets in other areas, or  more broadly.

More expensive bills beyond gas

Research has shown that short-term swings in the cost of gas leads consumers to adjust both their driving and wider spending — with some even pulling back on core necessities like groceries when prices at the pump get high, notes Dylan Brewer, an assistant professor in Georgia Tech’s School of Economics.

If costs continue to cool in the coming weeks, he said, more people may be able to “loosen their belts a little bit.” Cheaper fuel will also be welcome by businesses that rely on gas and diesel to transport their goods. But it could take a few months for that to trickle through the supply chain, Brewer adds.

And gas isn’t the only thing that’s gotten more expensive over the course of the war. Groceries, airline tickets and even  and shoes cost more amid global supply chain disruptions. Even if oil and other core necessities — like fertilizer — begin flowing from the Middle East again, experts warn the sticker shock .

“Product prices across the United States are projected to keep climbing for the rest of 2026,” Pat Penfield, a professor of supply chain practice at Syracuse University, said on Thursday.

Penfield pointed to depleted inventories and ongoing supply chain consequences spanning from the war — noting that farmers, for example, already had to pay higher costs for fertilizer and other supplies in the spring that will “ripple through to increased food prices by autumn.” And at the gas pump, he noted that limited refinery capacity in the U.S. “remains a significant bottleneck” toward bringing down prices further.

What prices at the pump look like nationwide

Steep fuel costs have  to its highest level in three years. And many consumers are still filling their tanks for much more than $4 a gallon.

That price is a national average, with costs varying between states due to factors like proximity to supply and differing tax rates. In California on Thursday, prices averaged about $5.64 for a gallon of regular gas, per AAA, followed by $5.57 in Hawaii. Meanwhile, prices in Indiana and Texas sat at about $3.40 and $3.49 a gallon, respectively.

Recent relief for fuel prices arrived with cooling costs for crude oil — the main ingredient in gasoline.

Brent crude, the international standard, . And U.S. benchmark crude tumbled to below $76 per barrel. That’s still a little higher than the roughly $70 price tag before the war, but far below the $100-plus price from just a few weeks ago.

Why oil costs are falling

Prices fell overnight after President  signed an agreement with Iran. The tenuous agreement calls for Tehran to dilute its  and waives U.S.-backed  — immediately allowing Iran to  in a significant concession from Washington.

Major ship owners have also  through the key Strait of Hormuz since the memorandum of understanding was signed Wednesday, according to maritime data from Lloyd’s List Intelligence, although some reported that only  were open. And U.S. Vice President JD Vance said Thursday that the Navy has  to allow some transit to and from Iranian ports.

Still, it could take  for traffic to return to prewar levels. Before the war, the strait carried a fifth of the world’s crude oil. And Gulf oil producers that throttled back production will need time to get the oil moving again.

Some ship captains may take their time to determine if the passage is safe. The agreement between the U.S. and Iran calls for a permanent end to hostilities and starts a 60-day negotiating clock to reach a final deal on the future of Iran’s nuclear program, though Trump left the door open to resume attacks.

Refineries also typically pay for crude oil a month or more in advance, so even after oil prices drop, they  be processing cheaper products. Energy shocks have been even starker in places that rely more heavily on imports from the Middle East — notably �����Ի���.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The  is supposed to usher in a two-month period that would address the most divisive issue between the longtime adversaries — Tehran’s nuclear program.

Preventing Iran from attaining a nuclear bomb is a key reason that President Donald Trump said he launched the war alongside Israel in February, but  leaves little runway to negotiate the long-running sticking point. The previous nuclear pact between Iran and world powers, from which  in his first term, took many months to negotiate.

Under terms of , Iran would immediately take steps to  to global oil shipments and would be allowed to sell its oil without restrictions, senior U.S. officials said Wednesday.

The accord,  Friday in Switzerland, also envisions Iran receiving at least $300 billion to rebuild after the war and says the U.S. would work to end all American and U.N. sanctions imposed on Tehran. That is if a  is reached after the opening of a 60-day period for talks. The draft says the sides agreed to resolve “the disposition” of Iran’s highly enriched uranium during that period.

Still, there is  and Democratic lawmakers, pro-Israel advocates and  that the deal is realistic, workable or would have any effect on subsequent .

“My skepticism is Iran itself. What would a good deal look like? No enrichment. And we’ll see if we can get there,” Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., a close Trump ally and longtime Iran hawk, said Tuesday. “But whether or not we can get phase 2, I don’t know.”

A nuclear deal takes commitment to the details

David Schenker, director of the Arab Politics Program at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, said “this administration has proven that it has a hard time keeping its attention on these issues.”

Schenker, who served as assistant secretary of state for Near Eastern Affairs in the first Trump administration, questioned whether the current administration would have the wherewithal to reach a nuclear deal even if the agreement is signed Friday.

“This is the kind of thing that requires dogged attention, attention to detail and numerous technical experts involved,” he said. “Trump loses his attention, moves on, and so does the administration. It����ap like they don’t understand Iran’s strategy. They didn’t get it the first time, or the second.”

The Republican administration has maintained its confidence. Trump said Wednesday that Iran would work with the U.S. to turn over its highly enriched uranium  that the U.S. bombed in June 2025.

Because of that, Trump insisted it did not need to be done quickly and that the U.S. has “cameras on every inch of it” in the meantime.

If Iran tries to move it, the U.S. will attack and “they’ll be gone. And they know that,” Trump said at a closing news conference at the  in France.

There is a general agreement on what to do to “downblend” the uranium that is buried in the rubble of the bombed facilities, but details of who would excavate the material, who would dilute it and where the resulting material would go remain to be negotiated.

Asked how the deal ensures that Iran is permanently prevented from getting a nuclear weapon, Trump responded, “If it����ap not permanently, we will bomb them.”

The draft deal says “the minimum methodology” would be dilution of the material on site under the supervision of the U.N. nuclear agency. Iran has long maintained its nuclear program is peaceful.

It took over a year and a half to get the previous nuclear deal

The 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, or JCPOA, took more than 18 months to negotiate, starting with secret talks between U.S. and Iranian officials in Oman at the end of Democratic President Barack Obama’s first term.

They required dozens of direct high-level interventions from Secretary of State John Kerry and Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz, not to mention a team of dozens of technical experts traveling to Europe and elsewhere before the conclusion of the negotiations in Vienna.

Trump withdrew from the JCPOA in 2018 before most of its more contentious concessions had come into effect, and there is no indication now that Iran is willing to offer much more.

The JCPOA relied on very technical language and understandings, including limits on uranium enrichment, advanced centrifuges and heavy water production. In exchange, Iran was granted significant sanctions relief, amounting to billions of dollars.

As unhappy as critics were about the JCPOA — Trump called it the “worst deal ever negotiated,” while all Republicans and a number of prominent Democrats voted against it — all sides acknowledge it took more than 18 months to get to an even imperfect agreement.

Republicans say Congress must approve any deal

Republicans say any nuclear deal with Iran should be brought to Congress, as required by law. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, has said he “would certainly anticipate that” the Senate will get the final say.

Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., said he had little confidence Iran would abide by any agreement.

But Sen. Roger Marshall, R-Kan., one of a handful of senators who has spoken to Vance about the agreement, said the shortened timeline could be an advantage.

“Iran’s modus operandi is to negotiate for the purpose of delaying, so they can rearm themselves,” Marshall said Tuesday. “I think the president has to give them some type of a finite amount of time, or there’s going to be consequences. So I think it can be done.”

Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., noted that what could help Trump’s negotiators to hammer out a nuclear agreement in such a truncated timeline is that there is “a base” to work from following the Obama-era talks.

Still, the JCPOA “took years to put together. You had allies and even adversaries — China and Russia — around the table, you had the IAEA at the table, the Obama chief negotiator had a Nobel Prize in physics, Ernie Moniz,” Kaine said. “I don’t know that either Jared Kushner or Steve Witkoff have a Nobel Prize. So it����ap going to be hard.”

Trump envoys Witkoff and Kushner, neither of whom had any prior experience in nuclear negotiations, made numerous but ultimately unsuccessful attempts to reach an agreement under Omani mediation during the first months of Trump’s second term.

There also is uncertainty about other issues besides nuclear that have been of concern to Arab countries, Israel, Europe and the United States. Issues such as Iran’s ballistic missile program, its support for militant proxies in the region or repression of its own people do not appear in the interim agreement.

It includes major concessions, such as Iran selling its oil freely, beyond the terms of the JCPOA. Only at the conclusion of the overall deal in 2015 were sanctions on Iran’s oil lifted.

“A deal is better than more fighting, but the war America and Israel prosecuted against Iran has fallen short of achieving its stated objectives,” said Brian Katulis, a senior fellow at the Middle East Institute. “This agreement is mostly about cleaning up an unnecessary mess and putting the best face on it.”

Associated Press writers Seung Min Kim and Nathan Ellgren contributed to this report.

INGLEWOOD, Calif. (AP) — The coach of Iran’s team said it was ordered to leave the U.S. and return to its training base in Mexico only a few hours after opening its politically charged tournament by playing to a 2-2 draw with New Zealand on Monday night.

Coach Amir Ghalenoei didn’t say who ordered the Iranians to leave earlier than planned. The team had expected to spend the night in California to maximize the normal recovery process after its opening game, only to be told after the match that everyone must immediately get on a plane for the 140-mile trip back to Tijuana.

“They didn’t even give us time to recover,” Ghalenoei said through an interpreter. “After the game today, they said to us, ‘You have to leave immediately.’ It����ap very important for us to have time for recovery, (but) we are asked to get on a plane and return to our camp in Tijuana, and we are really troubled by that.”

The Iranians’ World Cup cycle has been in upheaval since the U.S. and Israel on Feb. 28. Iran ultimately decided to compete even after FIFA rejected its request to move its three group-stage matches out of the U.S.

Iran captain Mehdi Taremi said the team endured five hours of travel and security checks during what����ap normally a very short trip from Tijuana to the Los Angeles area on Sunday.

“We don’t know why they are returning us, to be honest,” Ghalenoei said. “I think it����ap very strange. It seems like others are doing the planning for us. The decision-making for us is being made elsewhere. We were supposed to come two nights before the game, and we were supposed to stay tonight to recover and return tomorrow at lunchtime. We have no idea why.

“I think our team is perhaps the most oppressed in the World Cup.”

Taremi and Ghalenoei both decried the team’s lack of many important staff members — including the president of Iran’s football federation, coaching support personnel and media officials — who were denied visas by the U.S., amplifying the team’s difficult preparations.

“We have to leave Los Angeles right now, and it����ap not good for us,” Taremi said about an hour after the match. “I think FIFA have to help us more than this. … Everything is like a disaster, actually, for us.”

Ghalenoei said several players developed cramps during the game, which was played in mild conditions. He attributed the injury problems to the lack of proper preparation time caused by Iran’s bureaucratic and diplomatic obstacles.

“Before the game, I said we haven’t had time to adjust because of the travel,” Ghalenoei said. “Many of our players, they had cramps, and that����ap why we had to substitute them. So it wasn’t for technical reasons that we made substitutions. It was because of the injury and because of the cramp. They will be examined (Tuesday) by our technical staff, but the fact they delayed our arrivals and they are forcing us to go back early without time for recovery, they are making the situation more difficult.”

The Iranians’ remaining two games in group stage play are against in Inglewood on Sunday, followed by a trip to Seattle to face Egypt next week.

Iran opened its World Cup with a disappointing draw to a team ranked 65 places lower in FIFA’s rankings. Yet the Iranians also overcame two deficits in an exciting match, getting the tying goal from Mohammad Mohebi in the 64th minute before a strongly pro-Iranian crowd at SoFi Stadium near Los Angeles, which has the world’s largest population of Iranians outside Iran.

The game was played in a crackling atmosphere created in part by a conflicted, diasporic fan base which remains furious with the current Iranian government, but is still largely supportive of Team Melli.

While many fans from the diaspora jeered and turned their backs on the field during the national anthem. Dozens of Lion and Sun emblems — the centerpiece of Iran’s official flag before 1979 — were displayed in the crowd despite FIFA’s attempts to keep them away, while dozens more fans wore the Lion and Sun emblems on T-shirts.

Yet the vast majority of the crowd vocally supported the Iranian players once the match kicked off.

“It was an incredible atmosphere in the game, all 90 minutes,” Taremi said. “It was like at home for us.”

Elijah Just scored early in each half for New Zealand, but Iran responded twice with a pair of beautiful goals, including Mohebi’s header off a perfect pass from Ramin Rezaeian, who had scored off the side of his boot in the first half.

Mohebi appeared to mime the shooting of a gun after his goal, setting off criticism online. He also made the now-ubiquitous “ice in my veins” gesture originated 10 miles away from SoFi Stadium by Los Angeles Lakers rookie D’Angelo Russell a decade ago, before he held up a heart to the cheering fans.

“The Iranians who live in Los Angeles, they make a great atmosphere,” Mohebi said. “That celebration, it comes in the mind, and I did like this” — motioning to his arm — “for all the fans. Just a celebration.”

Players from both teams embraced and shook hands after the final whistle, with at least one jersey swap occurring. While Ghalenoei sat by himself in the dugout, his players gathered together and walked around the field applauding their remaining thousands of flag-shaking, roaring fans.

Both of Iran’s next two matches are tougher on paper, endangering their chances of getting out of the World Cup group stage for the first time. Iran, Belgium, Egypt and New Zealand have one point apiece after the opening round.

“We’re facing more hurdles, but we’re not going to let that stop us from doing our best,” Ghalenoei said. “I think today was one of the best games in the World Cup so far, and I think the fans really enjoyed it inside the stadium and outside the stadium.”

Associated Press writer Amy Taxin and AP Sports Writer Beth Harris contributed to this report.

AP World Cup:

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Iran’s top diplomat said Tuesday that the  with the United States would require Israel to withdraw from Lebanon — a condition Israel has already rejected and that could sink the agreement, leading to the resumption of all-out war.

The deal, which is between the U.S. and Iran, has not been made public, and officials have sometimes  of what is in it. While Israel is not party to the agreement, it is part of the war after joining the U.S. in  on Feb. 28. Israel also has fought the Iran-backed  in Lebanon and seized large swaths of that country.

Iranian Foreign Minister  said Israel’s continued occupation of southern Lebanon would violate the deal.

“Without the withdrawal of Israeli forces from the territories they occupied during this war, the war has not fully come to an end,” Araghchi said.

A U.S. official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss outlines of the agreement, has said the deal does not call for an Israeli withdrawal. And Israeli Prime Minister  said Monday that Israel would remain in Lebanon “as long as necessary.”

The negotiations to end the war have been plagued by such disagreements before, leading to a prolonged but uneasy ceasefire that has failed to develop into a permanent end to hostilities and has left the , a crucial waterway for the world’s energy supplies, effectively shut.

Switzerland’s foreign ministry said the signing ceremony for the deal will take place Friday at the Bürgenstock resort near the city of Luzern.

Iran’s call for an Israeli withdrawal from Lebanon complicates any deal

Pakistan has said the deal called for an end to military operations, including in Lebanon, as Iran long insisted. But Araghchi’s call for an Israeli withdrawal adds a new wrinkle.

It puts Israel into a dilemma as it tries to degrade Hezbollah’s military capabilities without undermining an agreement championed by its most important ally, the United States. Israel invaded southern Lebanon after Hezbollah fired missiles across the border during the first week of the war. Since then, it has expanded its military footprint to levels unseen in decades and struck targets deep inside Beirut.

Though Hezbollah has been weakened, it retains the ability to strike Israel, leaving open questions about the effectiveness of Israel’s campaign.

As of Tuesday evening, Netanyahu had not seen the memorandum of understanding between the U.S. and Iran, said a person familiar with the situation, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss closed-door details. Another person, who also spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss private conversations between Israel and the U.S., said Israeli officials have not asked U.S. negotiators for the memorandum.

Netanyahu’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The White House declined to comment on whether Netanyahu or Israeli officials have reviewed the agreement.

The Israeli ambassador to the U.S., Yechiel Leiter, told NPR that while Israel does not know the details of the deal, the apparent inclusion of Lebanon is “unnecessary and unhelpful.”

The extent of Israel’s strikes has at times opened a public fracture between its leaders. U.S. President Donald Trump told reporters Tuesday that he was “not happy with the way Israel has handled themselves with Lebanon and with Hezbollah.”

“It just goes on forever,” he said of Israel’s strategy. Israeli strikes in Lebanon have killed nearly 4,000 people, including hundreds of civilians, and displaced more than 1 million.

“Israel’s fighting Hezbollah too long, and too many people are being killed,” Trump said.

Lebanese government welcomes prospects for a ceasefire

Israel and the Lebanese government have entered their own , of which Hezbollah was not part. Those talks have yielded  that were never implemented on the ground.

Lebanese officials initially tried to keep Lebanon separate from the U.S.-Iran negotiations, not wanting to be seen as beholden to Iran, but they have since welcomed the announcement that the deal to end the U.S.-Iran war would include a ceasefire in Lebanon.

Araghchi’s latest comments appear to match the understanding of two regional officials with direct knowledge of the interim deal. The officials, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss the closed-door negotiations, said it would require Israel to leave nearly all the territory it occupies in Lebanon, minus a few hilltop points along the border seized earlier.

The officials say Iran insisted the accord include Lebanon in the last days of the negotiations.

The U.N. peacekeeping force in Lebanon known as UNIFIL reported that Israel and Hezbollah are still exchanging fire but at a “significantly reduced level,” U.N. spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said Tuesday.

Many questions loom ahead of ceremonial signing

Other major questions hang over the planned ceremonial signing.

The agreement is meant to provide a meaningful truce in a monthslong war that has killed thousands across the Middle East and raised the prices of fuel, food and other basic goods far beyond the region.

The agreement provides for the “immediate” opening of the Strait of Hormuz and the lifting of the American naval blockade of Iranian ports, according to a senior U.S. official who spoke to reporters Monday on condition of anonymity to discuss outlines of the agreement.

At least two oil tankers left Iran on Tuesday and crossed the U.S. military blockade without being stopped, ship tracking websites show. They represented Iran’s first crude oil exports in two months, merchant shipping tracking website TankerTrackers.com said.

The site said it corroborated the departure of the Iranian-flagged tankers Diona and Hero II with satellite imagery and that they were carrying a combined total of 3.8 million barrels of Iranian crude oil. U.S. Central Command said it had no comment.

Next, the U.S. and Iran will begin 60 days of negotiations over  and the potential lifting of sanctions, Pakistani officials who helped broker the interim deal said, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss the unpublished text.

The pact also includes the possibility of releasing Iran’s frozen funds and a $300 billion fund to help rebuild Iran if Tehran meets certain benchmarks, senior U.S. officials told reporters Monday. Trump later said the United States would not “invest” funds in Iran.

U.S. officials have not yet explained how they see the agreement addressing Iran’s nuclear program, including who will be in charge of  and who will destroy or remove highly enriched uranium believed to be buried under  by U.S. strikes last summer.

Iran has agreed to discuss ways to possibly “dilute or remove” the uranium, the regional officials said. However, it remains unclear whether Tehran would agree to that, particularly with hard-liners opposed.

Trump said he’s open to sending the emerging agreement to the U.S. Congress for review. Republicans on Capitol Hill say they want Trump to provide more information about the , with some expressing skepticism that the deal can deter Iran from pursuing a nuclear weapon.

Metz reported from Ramallah, West Bank, and Magdy reported from Cairo. Associated Press writers Julia Frankel and Koral Saeed in Jerusalem, Munir Ahmed in Islamabad, Michelle L. Price and Konstantin Toropin in Washington, Aamer Madhani in Geneva, Darlene Superville in Evian-les-Bains, France, and Edith M. Lederer at the United Nations contributed to this report.