WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump on Monday mentioned the “12 day conflict” between Israel and Iran was set to finish in a ceasefire, holding out the anticipated deal as validation for his strategic gamble of ordering U.S. airstrikes on Iranian nuclear sites.
“It has been totally agreed by and between Israel and Iran that there can be a Full and Complete CEASEFIRE,” Trump posted on social media.
Iran’s International Minister Abbas Araghchi mentioned Iran would cease its assaults if Israel would. It’s unclear what function Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran’s chief, performed within the talks. He had mentioned on social media earlier Monday that Iran wouldn’t give up. Israel has not publicly confirmed that it has agreed to finish hostilities.
“As of now, there’s NO ‘settlement’ on any ceasefire or cessation of navy operations,” Araghchi wrote on social media. “Nonetheless, offered that the Israeli regime stops its unlawful aggression towards the Iranian individuals no later than 4 am Tehran time, we’ve no intention to proceed our response afterwards.”
A ceasefire, if it culminates as Trump laid out, could be welcome information for the area and the world. However the scenario within the Center East stays removed from secure and it was not possible to foretell how longer-term dynamics is likely to be affected. The Israeli and U.S. bombing of Iran actually has slowed Iran’s capability to counterpoint nuclear materials but it surely may additionally have steeled Tehran’s resolve to breakout towards a bomb.
Trump’s announcement comes simply earlier than he leaves Tuesday for a NATO summit within the Netherlands, the place he’ll seemingly make the case that his mixture of aggression and diplomacy has succeeded.
By no means shy to counsel he deserves the Nobel Peace Worth, Trump went as far as to provide the battle between Israel and Iran the title of the “12 day conflict,” a title that appeared to reference the 1967 “Six Day Conflict” by which Israel fought a bunch of Arab international locations together with Egypt, Jordan and Syria.
Later, Trump in one other social media posting mentioned that “Israel & Iran got here to me, virtually concurrently, and mentioned, “PEACE!”
“They’ve a lot to realize, and but, a lot to lose in the event that they stray from the highway of RIGHTEOUSNESS & TRUTH,” Trump added. “The long run for Israel & Iran is UNLIMITED, & stuffed with nice PROMISE. GOD BLESS YOU BOTH!”
As Trump described it, the ceasefire would begin with Iran after which be joined by Israel 12 hours later, with the president writing that the respective sides would “stay PEACEFUL and RESPECTFUL.” The phased-in ceasefire was set to start Tuesday morning in Israel and Iran and culminate inside 24 hours.
However Iran launched one other assault on Israel after 4 a.m. native time in Tehran, the time Iran’s international minister mentioned Iran would stop its assaults if Israel ended their airstrikes.
“This can be a Conflict that might have gone on for years, and destroyed the complete Center East, but it surely didn’t, and by no means will!” Trump mentioned.
The White Home reposted Trump’s announcement with a photograph of the president holding a purple hat that mentioned “Trump was proper about the whole lot” in all capital letters.
A senior White Home official mentioned Trump communicated straight with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to safe the ceasefire. The official, who insisted on anonymity to debate the Monday talks, mentioned Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and particular envoy Steve Witkoff communicated with the Iranians via direct and oblique channels.
The official mentioned the Qatari authorities performed an necessary function in brokering the approaching ceasefire. Trump spoke to Qatar’s emir, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, to thank him for serving to land the settlement. The Gulf emirate has been chief interlocutor within the on-and-off ceasefire and hostage negotiations between Israel and Hamas of their ongoing conflict in Gaza.
The precise phrases of the ceasefire apart from the timeline offered by the Trump administration remained to be seen.
On Sunday, the Trump administration had insisted that Iran abandon its program to counterpoint uranium for potential use in nuclear weapons as a situation of any lasting peace. Whereas the bombings of the Fordo, Natanz and Isfahan amenities had been a robust present of pressure, it remained unsure simply how a lot nuclear materials Iran nonetheless possessed and what its ambitions could be going ahead.
Vice President JD Vance mentioned in a TV interview simply because the ceasefire was introduced that the world would look again on the conflict between Israel and Iran ― and the U.S. bombing of Iran’s nuclear amenities ― as “an necessary reset second for the complete area.”
Showing on Fox News Channel’s “Particular Report,” the vp mentioned the Trump administration hoped that the Iranians had realized an necessary lesson: In the event that they wish to construct a nuclear weapon sooner or later, he mentioned, “they’re going to should take care of a really, very highly effective American navy once more.”
White Home press secretary Karoline Leavitt posted on the social media website X an Related Press headline of the information and wrote that Trump “has achieved what no different president in historical past might ever think about — the obliteration of the Iranian Regime’s nuclear program, and an unprecedented ceasefire between Israel and Iran.”
The ceasefire announcement got here after Iran tried to retaliate for the U.S. assault with a Monday missile strike geared toward a significant U.S. navy set up within the Gulf nation of Qatar. Trump individually thanked Iran on social media for giving the U.S. and allies “early discover” of the retaliation.
The president expressed hope that Tehran — with its reprisal for the U.S. bombardment of three key Iranian nuclear amenities — had “gotten all of it out of their ‘system’” and that the second would result in a de-escalation within the Israel-Iran conflict.
The Iranian assault on U.S. forces at Qatar’s Al Udeid Air Base marked Tehran’s first act of direct retaliation towards the U.S. since Trump ordered strikes on Iran’s nuclear amenities.
Leon Panetta, who served as CIA director and protection secretary underneath former President Barack Obama, mentioned Iran’s restrained response means that “their capability to reply has most likely been broken fairly badly.” He additionally mentioned it’s a possible sign “they’re not taken with escalating the conflict, both with Israel or the USA.”
Trump mentioned Iran launched 14 missiles on the base, a sprawling facility that hosts the ahead headquarters of the U.S. navy’s Central Command and was a significant staging floor through the U.S. wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
The president mentioned 13 of the Iranian missiles “had been knocked down” by U.S. air protection programs whereas one was “‘let out’ as a result of it was headed in a nonthreatening path.”
Related Press writers Stan Choe in New York, Jon Gambrell in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, and Matthew Lee and Eric Tucker in Washington contributed to this report.
