It was an evening of fear and panic for the people of Qatar as explosions echoed through the capital Doha while a shower of Iranian missiles lit up the Arabian night sky.
The strikes on Monday marked a steep escalation in Tehran’s retaliation against Israel and America’s attacks on its military and nuclear facilities.
It came nearly a fortnight after Israel struck Iran's enriched uranium facilities and army bases, killing a number of senior commanders in what it called "Operation Rising Lion".
Amid fears that retaliatory attacks could spiral into all-out war, Donald Trump and his top diplomatic and security officials worked furiously behind-the-scenes to try to broker a deal to end the conflict.
As the US president communicated directly with Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, US vice-president JD Vance, secretary of state Marco Rubio and Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff communicated with the Iranians through direct and indirect channels.
Qatar played a key role as an intermediary and Mr Trump at one point spoke directly to the country’s emir, Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani.
Sources told CNN that Mr Trump even attempted to organise a meeting with Iran's president Masoud Pezeshkian in Turkey last week, although it failed to materialise.
Meanwhile, Mr Vance coordinated with Qatari prime minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al-Thani on the ceasefire's details.
Hours after Iran hit back at the targeting the US-operated Al Udeid Air Base south of Doha — which hosts around 10,000 US troops and accommodates nearly 100 aircraft — Mr Trump announced on his Truth Social platform that a truce had finally been struck.
Mr Trump heralded a “complete and total CEASEFIRE” between Iran and Israel that would lead to “an official END” to what he called the “12-day War”.
Israel agreed to the deal on the condition that Iran stop its attacks, which Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei — who had reportedly been in hiding amid — duly accepted.
Iranian state media announced on Tuesday that a ceasefire has been “imposed on the enemy” following discussions with Qatar.
Iran’s foreign minister Abbas Araghchi thanked his country’s armed forces and said its fight against Israel “continued until the very last minute”.
For his part, Mr Trump's unprecedented decision to bomb Iran and mediate a ceasefire marked a step that he had long pledged to avoid: to intervene militarily in a foreign conflict.
Mr Trump claimed on Monday that Israel and Iran reached out to him “almost simultaneously” about the need for peace in the region. But to what end?
Moments before he announced the deal, the IDF activated its defensive systems after identifying missiles launched toward Israel from Iran.
But on Sunday, Mr Rubio told CBS News: “If they (Iran) call right now and say we want to meet, let’s talk about this, we’re prepared to do that.”
