Roving Periscope: Israel and Iran agree/disagree with ceasefire-friendly Trump
Virendra Pandit
New Delhi: Chasing a Nobel Peace Prize, three days after ‘obliterating’ Tehran’s nuclear assets, and vowing for a regime change in the Islamic Republic, the universal dealmaker US President Donald Trump on Tuesday announced a ‘ceasefire’ between Iran and Israel—they agreed, disagreed, continued attacking each other, and agreed all over again.
Looking at the fluid situation in the Middle East, India on Tuesday suspended all air travel operations in the volatile region. Airlines issued advisories, indicating the deteriorating situation despite the so-called ‘ceasefire’ which, anyway, few took seriously.
Initially, Iran and Israel accepted Trump’s ceasefire proposal to end their 12-day war that roiled the Middle East—but only after attacking and accusing one another of violating the ceasefire.
The Israeli strikes killed nine Iranians, including a nuclear scientist, the Iranian state media said. At least seven people were killed in Israel’s Be’er Sheva also after an Iranian missile landed on a residential complex, the media reported.
Iranian state television said the ceasefire became effective at 7:30 am (local time), but Iranian officials did not comment since Trump’s announcement. Hours earlier, Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said his country was prepared to halt airstrikes.
“As of now, there is NO ‘agreement’ on any ceasefire or cessation of military operations,” he wrote in a post on X. “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.”
Trump’s ceasefire proposal came after Tehran launched a retaliatory limited missile attack on a US military base in Qatar to protest against the bombing of nuclear sites. Of the 14 missiles Iran fired, the US destroyed 13 and ‘released’ one! Soon after, Trump announced a ‘ceasefire.’
The US was warned by Iran in advance, and there were no casualties.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel had agreed to a bilateral ceasefire with Iran in coordination with Trump. He said he had reported to Israel’s security cabinet on Monday night that Israel had achieved all of its war goals against Iran, including removing the threat of Iran’s nuclear and ballistic missile programmes.
Israel also damaged Iran’s military leadership and several government sites and achieved control over Tehran’s skies, Netanyahu said.
“Israel will respond forcefully to any violation of the ceasefire,” he said.
Heavy Israeli strikes continued in Iranian cities until shortly before 4 am, followed by Iranian barrages that sent Israelis hurrying into bomb shelters at sunrise, killing at least four people and injuring eight others, Israel’s Magen David Adom rescue services said.
Writing over an hour after a deadline passed for Iran to halt its attacks, Trump wrote on Truth Social: “THE CEASEFIRE IS NOW IN EFFECT. PLEASE DO NOT VIOLATE IT! DONALD J. TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES!”
Iran’s barrage damaged at least three densely packed residential buildings in the city of Beer’ Sheba, police said.
First responders said they retrieved four bodies from one building and were searching for more. Outside, the shells of burnt-out cars littered the streets. Broken glass and rubble covered the area. Hundreds of emergency workers gathered to search for anyone still trapped in the buildings.
President Trump even gave the conflict between Israel and Iran a name: the “12 Day War.” That recalls the 1967 Mideast war, known by some as the “Six Day War,” in which Israel fought a group of Arab countries including Egypt, Jordan and Syria.
Trump’s reference carries emotional weight for the Arab world, particularly the Palestinians. In the 1967 war, Israel captured the West Bank and East Jerusalem from Jordan, the Gaza Strip and the Sinai Peninsula from Egypt, and the Golan Heights from Syria. Though Israel later gave the Sinai back to Egypt, it still holds the other territories.
The White House maintained that the Saturday bombing of Iranian nuclear sites helped get the Israelis to agree to the ceasefire and that the Qatari government helped to broker the deal.
It’s unclear what role Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran’s Supreme Leader, played in the talks. He said earlier on social media that he would not surrender.
In Israel, at least 24 people have been killed and more than 1,000 wounded in the war. Israeli strikes on Iran have killed at least 974 people and wounded 3,458 others, according to the Washington-based group Human Rights Activists.
The group, which provided detailed casualty figures from Iranian unrest such as the protests surrounding the death of Mahsa Amini in 2022, said of those killed, it identified 387 civilians and 268 security force personnel.
The US has evacuated some 250 American citizens and their immediate family members from Israel by government, military and charter flights that began over the weekend, a State Department official said.
There are nearly 700,000 American citizens, most of them having a dual US-Israeli citizenship, in Israel.
