WASHINGTON — A day after the United States and Iran agreed to a two-week ceasefire, the tentative truce showed early signs of strain amid continuing attacks across the region and reports that Iran moved to restrict traffic through the Strait of Hormuz.

The developments tested President Donald Trump’s ability to convert a fragile pause in fighting into a lasting peace deal with a country he has spent weeks threatening to destroy, and raised questions about whether the Trump administration had the diplomatic leverage to hold the deal.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and the White House sought to project confidence at separate news briefings on Wednesday, and warned Iran to keep its end of the bargain or face the consequences.

Hegseth said the U.S. military plans to maintain a presence in the region to ensure Iranian compliance, saying American troops are ready to “go on offense and restart operations at a moment’s notice” if the truce broke down.

“We’ll be hanging around,” he said. “We are going to make sure Iran complies with this ceasefire and then ultimately comes to the table and makes a deal.”

The warning came as several Gulf nations reported Iranian missile and drone attacks on their territories despite the ceasefire being in effect. Kuwait said its air defenses intercepted drones, while Bahrain reported that an Iranian attack has sparked a fire at one of its facilities.

Hegseth downplayed the continued Iranian attacks in the region, saying that “it takes time sometimes” for ceasefires to take hold, but advised Iran to “find a way to get a carrier pigeon to their troops in remote locations” and ensure compliance moving forward.

Israel added to the regional turmoil on Wednesday, carrying out its largest strike against Hezbollah since the militant group began launching rockets in solidarity with Iran last month. Lebanese health authorities said hundreds were killed and wounded in the strikes.

Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu have both maintained that Lebanon is not subject to the agreed upon terms to pause the hostilities.

Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, who helped broker the ceasefire, wrote on X that violations to the ceasefire had been reported at “a few places across the conflict zone” and urged all parties to exercise restraint. Though he did not detail the violations, he said the attacks “undermine the spirit of the peace process.”

The regional instability appeared to push the Iranian Navy to restrict traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, a crucial waterway whose opening was key in the ceasefire negotiations, according to Fars News, an Iranian news outlet aligned with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.

“Any vessel trying to travel into the sea ... will be targeted and destroyed,” the Navy told shipping vessels, according to the Fars News report.

At a press briefing Wednesday, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said Trump was aware of the media reports that the Strait of Hormuz had been closed, a move that she called both “completely unacceptable” and “false.” She added that the president’s expectation is that the waterway will be “reopened immediately, quickly and safely.”

Hegseth told reporters earlier in the day that “commerce will flow” through the Strait of Hormuz with the ceasefire in effect. Leavitt, however, sidestepped questions about who currently has control over the oil route.

The situation in the Strait of Hormuz underscores how much remains uncertain about the agreement between the United States and Iran. The full terms of the ceasefire have not been publicly disclosed, and Trump wrote on Truth Social the “only group of meaningful ‘POINTS’ that are acceptable to the United States” will be discussed behind closed doors.

Trump also seemed to take issue with the 10-point peace plan that Iran publicly released on Wednesday. He said that there are terms being floated by people that have “absolutely nothing to do” with the negotiations between the United States and Iran. He said that “in many cases, they are total Fraudsters, Charlatans, and WORSE.”

Leavitt declined to offer details about the working proposal being negotiated, saying the talks will take place privately. Both Leavitt and Hegseth, however, mentioned that the United States wants to ensure Iran does not have stockpiles of enriched uranium, the fissile material that is key in developing nuclear weapons.

“This is on the top of the priority list for the president and his negotiating team as they head into the next round of discussions,” Leavitt said.

Hegseth told reporters earlier in the day that Iran may “hand it over.” If they don’t, Hegseth said: We will take it out, or if we have to do something else ourselves like we did [with] Midnight Hammer or something like that, we reserve that opportunity.”

Leavitt reiterated that administration officials “hope it will be through diplomacy,” but left open the possibility that it could be retrieved through ground operations.

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