US President Donald Trump announced Monday evening a ceasefire between Iran and Israel. Iran signalled it would stop striking Israel if Israel stopped striking Iran, but there has been no official comment from Israel yet, and it is unclear when any pause may take place.
The American President said that Israel and Iran reached out to him almost simultaneously about peace. “I knew the time was now”, he wrote in a post on Truth Social.
Referring to the ceasefire he declared, he continued: “The world and the Middle East are the real winners. Both nations will see tremendous love, peace and prosperity in their futures”.
Trump, just a few hours after he announced a ceasefire deal, said in a post on Truth Social: “Israel & Iran came to me, almost simultaneously, and said, ‘PEACE!’ I knew the time was NOW. The World, and the Middle East, are the real WINNERS! Both Nations will see tremendous LOVE, PEACE, AND PROSPERITY in their futures.”
“They have so much to gain, and yet, so much to lose if they stray from the road of RIGHTEOUSNESS & TRUTH. The future for Israel & Iran is UNLIMITED, & filled with great PROMISE. GOD BLESS YOU BOTH!” the president wrote.
CNN reports that Trump and a group of his top diplomatic and security officials worked furiously behind the scenes to try to broker a peace deal to end the conflict between Iran and Israel in the hours after Iran launched a missile attack on a US base in Qatar.
Iran and Israel continue strikes after Trump’s announcement
Despite the ceasefire announcement, strikes resumed. Israel said it identified missiles launched from Iran early Tuesday morning, with one slamming into a residential building in the south that left three dead. Iranian state media reported Israel launched fresh attacks on Iran’s capital, Tehran, overnight.
Iran’s foreign minister, Seyed Abbas Araghchi, posted on X saying that if Israel stops its “illegal aggression” now, Iran has “no intention to continue our response afterwards”.
Araghchi said Israel must stop by 04:00 local time on Tuesday, which has just passed: “As Iran has repeatedly made clear, Israel launched war on Iran, not the other way around.
“As of now, there is NO agreement on any ceasefire or cessation of military operations. However, provided that the Israeli regime stops its illegal aggression against the Iranian people no later than 4 am Tehran time, we have no intention to continue our response afterwards. The final decision on the cessation of our military operations will be made later.”
Earlier, Trump thanked Iran for “early notice” of the missiles fired at the US base in Qatar. But what is Tehran’s reason for warning the US?
Security and defence expert Stephan Fruehling told the BBC that Iran’s motivation for hitting back at the US is primarily “symbolic”.
“So this warning is likely to signal to the US that Iran is not interested in further conflict with the US,” he tells the BBC.
Iran’s warning could have provided the timing and target of the strike so Qatar and the US could clear civilian airspace in time, says Fruehling, who teaches at the Australian National University.
The warning is a gesture to the US and Qatar that they want to “keep this limited to a conflict with Israel” as they could lose militarily if they were to escalate, he added.