US president Donald Trump has announced in a social media post that Iran and Israel have agreed to a ceasefire. “On the assumption that everything works as it should, which it will, I would like to congratulate both Countries, Israel and Iran, on having the Stamina, Courage, and Intelligence to end, what should be called, “THE 12 DAY WAR,” Trump wrote on his platform, Truth Social. “This is a War that could have gone on for years, and destroyed the entire Middle East, but it didn’t, and never will!”
Just after 5am GMT, Trump posted to social media that a ceasefire was now in effect, adding “PLEASE DO NOT VIOLATE IT!” Earlier he told NBC the ceasefire was “unlimited” and would last “forever”.
Trump brokered the ceasefire through talks with Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday while his team, including vice-president JD Vance, held talks with Tehran, a senior White House official told Reuters. The official, providing details of the ceasefire on condition of anonymity, said Israel agreed to it so long as Iran does not launch fresh attacks.
After the ceasefire was announcement by Trump but before it came into effect, Israel’s Defence Forces issued an evacuation warning for several parts of the Iranian capital, ahead of a planned Israeli strike. On social media, some users reported massive explosions in Tehran, which they said was the most intense since Israel first started bombing Iran 12 days ago.
Iran launched several salvoes of ballistic missiles at Israel early on Tuesday, with at least one of the missiles directly hitting a residential building in Be’er Sheva, killing four and wounding eight more, emergency services said.
Iran’s foreign minister Abbas Araghchi, said the country would end its attacks if Israel stopped its bombings. At 4.30am GMT Iranian state media announced that a ceasefire was now in effect.
Qatar’s prime minister reportedly secured Iran’s agreement to the US ceasefire proposal in call with Tehran, an official briefed on the matter told Reuters.
Trump’s declaration comes after Iran announced it had launched a missile attack on a US base in the Gulf state of Qatar, in what it said was retaliation for US participation in Israel’s bombing campaign against Iran the day before.
Qatar’s foreign ministry said that “Qatar’s air defences successfully thwarted the attack and intercepted the Iranian missiles” and there had been no casualties. Iran reportedly provided advance warning of the attack.
Trump at the weekend launched an unprecedented attack on three nuclear sites in Iran, including Isfahan, Natanz and Fordow. Codenamed ‘midnight Hammer,’ the attack deployed American B-2 bombers, and so-called bunker buster bombs.
Trump was quick to claim that US strikes on Iran’s nuclear facilities had “completely and totally obliterated” them, it remains unclear how much physical damage has been done or what the longer-term impact might be on Iran’s nuclear programme.
US bombing probably caused “very significant” damage to the underground areas of Iran’s Fordow uranium enrichment plant dug into a mountain, though no one can yet tell the extent, UN nuclear watchdog chief Rafael Grossi said on Monday. “Given the explosive payload utilised and the extreme vibration-sensitive nature of centrifuges, very significant damage is expected to have occurred,” Grossi said in a statement.
The comments follow a meeting by the national security committee of Iran’s parliament, which approved the general outline of a bill meant to fully suspend Tehran’s cooperation with the UN nuclear watchdog. According to the bill, installing surveillance cameras, allowing inspections, and submitting reports to the IAEA would be suspended as long as the security of nuclear facilities is not guaranteed.
