Iran, June 24 :
A fragile ceasefire in the Iran-Israel war appeared to be holding on Tuesday, after 12 days of strikes that saw Israel and the United States pummel the Islamic Republic’s nuclear sites. US President Donald Trump, who had first declared the ceasefire, on Tuesday told Israel “do not drop those bombs” on Iran. In Israel, no warning sirens sounded after 0745 GMT, while in Iran, the military reported the last strikes at around 0530 GMT.
Israel said it had agreed to Trump’s ceasefire plan, adding that it had achieved all its objectives. Iran stopped short of officially accepting the proposal, but its top security body said the Islamic Republic’s forces had “compelled” Israel to “unilaterally” cease fire. Its foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, had earlier said that if Israel stopped “its illegal aggression,” Tehran would have “no intention” to continue fighting.
“ISRAEL. DO NOT DROP THOSE BOMBS,” Trump said on his Truth Social platform, hours after he said the truce had taken effect. “IF YOU DO IT IS A MAJOR VIOLATION. BRING YOUR PILOTS HOME, NOW!”
Fragile Ceasefire takes hold;
The US leader had said the truce would be a phased 24-hour process beginning at around 0400 GMT Tuesday, with Iran unilaterally halting all operations first. He said Israel would follow suit 12 hours later. “THE CEASEFIRE IS NOW IN EFFECT. PLEASE DO NOT VIOLATE IT!” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform.
The Israeli government said: “Last night, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu convened the cabinet… to announce that Israel had achieved all the objectives of Operation ‘Rising Lion’ and much more.” It added that it had removed “an immediate dual existential threat: nuclear and ballistic”. “Israel will respond forcefully to any violation of the ceasefire,” the statement said, while the army added that the “danger persists” despite the truce announcement.
can continue to buy Iranian oil, US President Donald Trump said Tuesday in what appeared to be relief for Tehran from sanctions Washington has previously imposed to punish the trade.
“China can now continue to purchase Oil from Iran. Hopefully, they will be purchasing plenty from the U.S., also,” Trump wrote in a post on his Truth Social platform as he travelled to a NATO summit in The Hague. China’s position as the main buyer of Iranian oil has served as a crucial lifeline for Tehran as its economy is battered by crippling international sanctions.
Beijing buys more than 90 percent of Iran’s oil exports, according to the analysis firm Kpler. It imported 1.3 million barrels of Iranian crude oil a day in April, down from a five-month high in March.
Last month, the United States announced fresh sanctions on Iranian oil sales to Beijing, however, as Trump’s administration continued its “maximum pressure” campaign against Tehran. China has condemned recent US bombing strikes on Iran’s nuclear facilities and called for parties in the region, “especially Israel”, to de-escalate. And it has called for a political solution to help a declared ceasefire hold. But analysts say that the fighting between Israel and Iran has severely reduced Beijing’s regional leverage.
Says Iran-Israel Truce Holds After Berating Both Countries
Trump said that a ceasefire between Iran and Israel was holding, shortly after he lashed out at both countries and cursed as he accused them of violating the truce. In a fast-moving series of declarations, the 79-year-old Republican, who was on his way to attend a NATO summit in The Hague, posted on his Truth Social app that “the Ceasefire is in effect!”
“ISRAEL is not going to attack Iran. All planes will turn around and head home, while doing a friendly ‘Plane Wave’ to Iran. Nobody will be hurt,” Trump wrote. Minutes earlier, he had castigated Iran and also close US ally Israel for violating a ceasefire he had originally announced late Monday.
The two countries have been “fighting so long and so hard that they don’t know what the fu** they’re doing, do you understand that?” the president told reporters at the White House. Iran violated the ceasefire, “but Israel violated it too,” Trump told reporters on the White House’s South Lawn as he departed for the NATO summit.
“So I’m not happy with them. I’m not happy with Iran either. But I’m really unhappy if Israel is going out this morning.” “I’ve got to get Israel to calm down,” he said. “Israel, as soon as we made the deal, they came out and dropped a load of bombs the likes of which I’ve never seen before.” Trump’s unusually public display of anger at Israel saw the US leader apparently trying to cajole his ally to call off warplanes in real time.
‘Respond forcefully’
After Trump said the truce had taken hold, Israel’s Defence Minister Israel Katz said he had ordered the army “to respond forcefully” to what he described as a ceasefire violation after incoming Iranian missiles were reported by the military. Iran, however, denied launching missiles at Israel after the announcement, and its military later accused Israel of similarly launching attacks after the ceasefire.
But attacks had continued until the ceasefire took effect, with Israeli rescuers reporting four people killed in a strike and state media in the Islamic Republic saying waves of missiles were headed toward Israel. In Iran, state television said an overnight Israeli strike in northern Iran killed nuclear scientist Mohammad Reza Seddighi Saber, who was under US sanctions.
Strikes on US base
Israel launched strikes against Iran on June 13, hitting nuclear and military sites as well as residential areas, and prompting waves of Iranian missile attacks on Israel. While Iran and Israel have been in a shadow war against each other for decades, this has been by far the most destructive confrontation between the arch-foes.
The war has also seen US strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities, followed by an Iranian missile launch towards the largest US military facility in the Middle East — Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar. Calling for de-escalation, Trump said Tehran had given advance notice of the barrage.
Iran’s National Security Council confirmed having targeted the base “in response to the US aggressive and insolent action against Iran’s nuclear sites and facilities”. It added that the number of missiles launched “was the same as the number of bombs that the US had used” against Iran.
