President Donald Trump left the White House yesterday for the NATO summit in the Netherlands after condemning both Iran and Israel for undermining his peace efforts.
“These guys [have] got to calm down. Ridiculous,” Trump told reporters before his departure. “I didn’t like plenty of things I saw yesterday. I didn’t like the fact that Israel unloaded right after we made the deal.
They didn’t have to unload, and I didn’t like the fact that the retaliation was very strong.” Monday night, Trump announced that a cease-fire between Iran and Israel was officially in effect, urging both parties not to violate it. “The ceasefire is now in effect. Please do not violate it!” Trump wrote on Truth Social. Both sides exchanged heavy fire Monday night, reports theepochtimes.com.
Israel accused Iran of violating the cease-fire, hours after agreeing to the deal. Israeli Defence Minister, Israel Katz, announced this morning that Iran had “completely violated” the cease-fire, and vowed retaliation. Iran yesterday denied violating the cease-fire.
State-run Tasnim News Agency reported that the General Staff of the Iranian Armed Forces denied claims by Israeli media that Iran had fired missiles at Israel. While acknowledging Iran’s violation of the cease-fire, Trump expressed frustration with Israel’s response yesterday morning.
“In all fairness, Israel unloaded a lot. And now I hear Israel just went out because they felt it was violated by one rocket that didn’t land anywhere. That’s not what we want,” Trump told reporters. “They came out and they dropped a load of bombs, the likes of which I’ve never seen before, the biggest load that we’ve seen. I’m not happy with Israel.”
Trump later expressed his frustration on Truth Social, warning Tel Aviv not to drop bombs on Iran. “Israel. Do not drop those bombs. If you do it is a major violation. Bring your pilots home, now!” Trump wrote in all caps. Meanwhile, Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu’s office later said he held off on a tougher strike against Iran after speaking to Trump.
Also yesterday, Israel’s Airports Authority said the country’s airspace has reopened for emergency flights after closing earlier due to an hours’ long barrage of missiles from Iran. However, the fragile ceasefire appears to be holding with Iranian President, Masoud Pezeshkian, announcing the “end of the 12-day war” imposed by Israel, in a message to the nation carried by the official IRNA news agency yesterday.
“Today, after the heroic resistance of our great nation, whose determination makes history, we are witnessing the establishment of a truce and the ending of this 12-day war imposed by the adventurism and provocation” of Israel, Pezeshkian said.
On her part, Israel’s Defence Minister Israel Katz says the country will “respect” the ceasefire with Iran. “I emphasised that Israel will respect the ceasefire – as long as the other side does,” Katz said following a call with US Secretary of Defence Pete Hegseth.
In a post on X, Katz said he thanked his US counterpart for US President Donald Trump’s “bold decision to act with Israel against the Iranian nuclear threat”. Hegseth “praised Israel and the [military] for the historic achievements made”, he added.
And in a related development, Pakistan said it welcomes the ceasefire between Iran and Israel, urging both parties to uphold the agreement. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs also said in yesterday’s statement that Islamabad welcomes and supports efforts aimed at reviving dialogue and diplomacy in the region.
“Pakistan believes that lasting peace and stability can only be achieved through strict adherence to the purposes and principles of the United Nations Charter and by refraining from the use of force,” the ministry said. The country has no diplomatic ties with Israel and has said it is ready to play a role in promoting peace in the Middle East.
And the IAEA said it has identified additional impact points at the Fordo and Natanz nuclear sites, including possible localised contamination and chemical hazards. “Regarding the additional strikes to Fordo that were reported early on Monday – after the US bombing of the facility early on Sunday – the IAEA assesses that access roads close to the underground facility and one of its entrances were hit,” the statement read.
At Natanz, the IAEA said that it has identified “two impact holes from the US strikes above the underground halls that had been used for enrichment as well as for storage.” “Based on its knowledge of what these halls contained, the IAEA assesses that this strike may have caused localised contamination and chemical hazards,” it added.
According to Human Rights Activists News Agency, a Washington-based Non-Governmental organisation tracking casualties, Iran lost over 970 of her citizens and while more than 3,400 others were injured during the 12-day conflict. At least 28 people were killed in Israel and over 1,400 injured, according to the Israeli prime minister’s office.
