Trump Announces Ceasefire Between “Israel” and Iran Amid Lingering Questions
U.S. President Donald Trump said on Tuesday a ceasefire between “Israel” and Iran was now in place and asked both sides not to violate it, raising hopes of an end to the 12-day war even as deadly attacks were reported from both sides.
Writing on Truth Social earlier, Trump declared: “THE CEASEFIRE IS NOW IN EFFECT. PLEASE DO NOT VIOLATE IT!”
His announcement came after Iranian authorities reported nine people killed in an attack in northern Iran on Tuesday morning, while four were killed in Beersheba, according to Reuters.
Iran’s Nournews reported the killing of nuclear scientist Mohammadreza Sediqi in an “Israeli” strike prior to the ceasefire’s implementation.
When the US president announced on Monday what he called a complete ceasefire to end the war, he appeared to suggest that “Israel” and Iran would have time to complete missions that were underway, at which point the ceasefire would begin in a staged process.
His declaration came after a sharp escalation of the conflict since Sunday, when the United States bombed Iranian nuclear sites, prompting Iran to retaliate by firing missiles at a U.S. base in Qatar on Monday.
A senior White House official said Trump had brokered the ceasefire deal in a call with Netanyahu, who agreed so long as Iran did not launch further attacks.
“Now that Trump declared ‘world peace,’ it will be hard for Netanyahu to publicly contradict him,” said Laura Blumenfeld, a Middle East expert at the Johns Hopkins School for Advanced International Studies in Washington.
Qatar’s Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani secured Tehran’s agreement during a call with Iranian officials, an official briefed on the negotiations told Reuters on Tuesday.
An Iranian official earlier confirmed that Tehran had agreed to a ceasefire, but the country’s foreign minister said there would be no cessation of hostilities unless “Israel” stopped its attacks.
U.S. Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff were in direct and indirect contact with the Iranians, a White House official said.
Earlier on Monday, Trump said he would encourage “Israel” to proceed towards peace after dismissing Iran’s attack on an American air base that caused no injuries and thanking Tehran for early notice of the strikes.
He said Iran fired 14 missiles at the U.S. air base, calling it “a very weak response, which we expected, and have very effectively countered.”
Iran’s attack came after U.S. bombers dropped 30,000-pound bunker-buster bombs on Iranian underground nuclear facilities at the weekend.
According to Reuters, questions remain about what has actually been agreed to, even as Trump’s declaration raised hopes for the end of a conflict that has prompted fears of a broader regional war.
In the biggest and potentially riskiest foreign policy move of his presidency, Trump was betting not only that he could take out Iran’s key nuclear site at Fordow but also draw only measured retaliation against the U.S.
There have been fears that Tehran could respond by closing the Strait of Hormuz, the world’s most important oil artery, and attacking multiple U.S. military bases in the Middle East.
If Trump is able to defuse the “Israel-Iran” conflict, he may be able to calm the storm of criticism from congressional Democrats and appease the anti-interventionist wing of his Republican MAGA base over bombings that ran counter to his own campaign pledges, Reuters added.
