Trump announces a ceasefire between Israel and Iran
Iranian state television has announced the truce, although Tel Aviv has recorded new attacks by Tehran.
WashingtonThe confusion surrounding the ceasefire between Iran and Israel announced by Donald Trump is only growing amid Tel Aviv's silence and Tehran's contradictory message. The US president announced early this morning that both countries have agreed to a 12-hour truce and that, eventually, the war would end. "It has been fully and mutually agreed upon between Israel and Iran that there will be a complete and total ceasefire (in approximately 6 hours, when Israel and Iran have concluded and completed their final ongoing missions!), for 12 hours, at which time the war will be considered over!" the Republican wrote on Iranian Truth Social. Before the time was even reached for the pause to take effect, Iran appeared to contradict Trump, and as many as five or nine attacks by Tehran against Israel were recorded.
Initially, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi stated that "at the moment" there was no agreement. "At the moment, there is no "agreement" on a ceasefire or the cessation of military operations. However, as long as the Israeli regime ends its illegal aggression against the Iranian people before 4 a.m. Tehran time, we have no intention of continuing our response after that," he wrote in a post on X. Military details will be discussed later."
Fifteen minutes later, in another post, Araghchi said he was ending the attacks. "The military operations of our powerful Armed Forces to punish Israel for its aggression continued until the very last minute, at 4 a.m.," he wrote, implying that hostilities were ending and the truce had begun. Domestically, Iranian state television announced a ceasefire between the two countries, which the presenter said was "imposed on the enemy" thanks to the regime's continued attacks on Israel. Three hours after the Iranian minister said hostilities had ended, Israel announced just after 6:00 a.m. (Tel Aviv time) that Iran had launched up to three waves of missiles. According to Reuters, three deaths have been recorded in Israel as a result of Iranian attacks since the ceasefire was announced.
The start of the truce announced by Trump was not simultaneous, but was to begin at 12 p.m. for Iran (6:00 a.m. Tuesday in Catalonia) and, six hours later, for Israel. The difference in timing, according to Trump's message, is due to both countries being able to complete the actions they were carrying out. At the time Trump announced the agreement, Israeli fighter jets had just entered Iranian airspace. On Sunday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said they were "very close to meeting" their objectives.
Iran's messages about the ceasefire and the bombings against Israel have come before the truce officially came into effect. Tehran. Still, a sixth round of missiles has raised questions about whether the ayatollahs have broken the pact. According to Reuters, Iranian media say this latest attack was launched before the truce took effect.
In a matter of hours, the president has gone from full-throttle bellicose rhetoric and suggesting "regime change" to congratulating the ayatollahs and saying "God bless Iran." On Sunday afternoon, in another post on Truth, Trump asserted that if "the current Iranian regime is unable to make Iran great again - to make Iran great again - Why shouldn't there be regime change? The idea contradicted the official position of the White House, which, until now, had made it clear that the attack on the nuclear facilities at Fordow, Natanz, and Isfahan only sought to end Iran's nuclear program and not attack the period. will remain peaceful and respectful. Based on the premise that everything will work out as it should—and it will—I would like to congratulate both countries, Israel and Iran, for having had the resilience, courage, and intelligence to end what should be called "The 12-Day War." This is a war that could have lasted for years and destroyed the entire Middle East, but it hasn't, and it never will! May God bless Israel, God bless Iran, God bless the Middle East, God bless the United States of America, and God bless the world!" Trump concluded his post. from Al-Udeid, Qatar, in response to the attack on its nuclear facilities. With the attack on Al-Udeid over—which resulted in no fatalities—Trump has shown his willingness to lower the tension. On June 13, the threat posed to Tel Aviv by Tehran's potential for nuclear weapons was the one that Washington used on Saturday to conduct the bombing of Iran's nuclear facilities. On Sunday morning, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth spoke of "severe damage" to these facilities. "Completely obliterated" is not the same as causing "severe damage." In an interview on Fox, Vice President JD Vance said that Iran is now "incapable" of building a nuclear bomb. "Iran was very close to having a nuclear weapon. "Iran is now incapable of building a nuclear weapon with the equipment they have because we destroyed it," Vance said.
Beyond the apparent nebula surrounding whether Iran's nuclear capabilities have been completely destroyed, there is also the question of whether Iran ever had the capability. Intelligence Chief Tulsi Gabbard stated that "Iran is not building a nuclear weapon, and Khamenei has not authorized the nuclear programs that he suspended in 2003."
