New Delhi: US President Donald J. Trump late Monday evening claimed that Israel and Iran agreed to a ceasefire to end their roughly 12 days of conflict. However, it remains unclear whether hostilities have actually ceased—Tel Aviv has yet to issue a statement, while Iranian state media has announced a ceasefire. It had said earlier that Iran would halt its strikes if Israel stopped its military operations.
“CONGRATULATIONS TO EVERYONE! It has been fully agreed by and between Israel and Iran that there will be a Complete and Total CEASEFIRE (in approximately 6 hours from now, when Israel and Iran have wound down and completed their in progress, final missions!),” Trump said in a post on his social media platform Truth Social.
The American President added: “Officially, Iran will start the CEASEFIRE and, upon the 12th Hour, Israel will start the CEASEFIRE and, upon the 24th Hour, an Official END to THE 12 DAY WAR will be saluted by the World. During each CEASEFIRE, the other side will remain PEACEFUL and RESPECTFUL.”
A few hours before Trump’s post on social media, Iran launched missiles at the Al-Udeid base in Qatar, which is home to US CENTCOM as a part of a measured retaliation to the American strikes on its three nuclear facilities—Fordow, Natanz and Isfahan—late Saturday evening.
Trump in a separate post on Truth Social said that Tehran had given the US early notice of its intention to strike the Al-Udeid base.
At both Fordow and Natanz, the US used ground penetrating missiles, also called bunker busters, in an attempt to destroy the underground facilities. Fordow is considered to be Iran’s most fortified enrichment facility, which was beyond the capabilities of the Israeli military to hit.
Earlier, Seyed Abbas Araghchi, the foreign minister of Iran, had rejected Trump’s statement of a ceasefire between Tel Aviv and Tehran. However, in a separate post he indicated that until 4 am Tehran time, the Iranian armed forces continued to carry out operations against Israel.
“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,” said Araghchi in his first statement.
The Iranian Foreign Minister later added: “The military operations of our powerful Armed Forces to punish Israel for its aggression continued until the very last minute, at 4 am. Together with all Iranians, I thank our brave Armed Forces who remain ready to defend our dear country until their last drop of blood, and who responded to any attack by the enemy until the very last minute.”
According to reports, sirens continued blaring across some parts of Israel, indicating that its defence forces were still intercepting Iran’s missiles. However, Tel Aviv, has made no public comment yet on the halting of its military operations against Iran.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had throughout the conflict urged the Iranian people to remove Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei from power.
The Iranian strike at the US base in Qatar, is not the first time that Tehran gave notice to Washington before launching its missiles. In 2020, after Qassem Soleimani, the chief of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, was assassinated by the US in Baghdad, Tehran had launched a calibrated strike against the Americans in Iraq.
(Edited by Zinnia Ray Chaudhuri)
Also read: What the US Constitution says about president’s powers over the military & declaration of war