US president Donald Trump said on Tuesday that a ceasefire between Israel and Iran “is now in effect” and urged both countries to not violate it.
“THE CEASEFIRE IS NOW IN EFFECT. PLEASE DO NOT VIOLATE IT!” Mr Trump said in a Truth Social post.
Israel’s military said Iran launched waves of missiles on Tuesday, with emergency services reporting three people killed, hours after the US president announced a complete ceasefire to end their 12-day war.
Witnesses said they heard explosions near Tel Aviv and Beersheba in southern Israel. Israel’s military said six waves of missiles were launched by Iran and Israel’s national ambulance service said three people were killed in Beersheba, the first reported deaths in Israel since Mr Trump announced the ceasefire late on Monday.
A senior White House official said Mr Trump had brokered a ceasefire deal in a call with Israeli prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu and Israel had agreed so long as Iran did not launch further attacks.
“On the assumption that everything works as it should, which it will, I would like to congratulate both Countries, Israel and Iran, on having the Stamina, Courage, and Intelligence to end, what should be called, ‘THE 12 DAY WAR’,” Mr Trump wrote on his Truth Social site.
An Iranian official earlier confirmed that Tehran had agreed to a ceasefire, but the country’s foreign minister said there would be no cessation of hostilities unless Israel stopped its attacks.
Iranian foreign minister Abbas Araqchi said early on Tuesday that if Israel stopped its “illegal aggression” against the Iranian people, Iran had no intention of continuing its response afterwards.
“The final decision on the cessation of our military operations will be made later,” Mr Araqchi added in a post on X.
Mr Trump appeared to suggest that Israel and Iran would have some time to complete any missions that are under way, at which point the ceasefire would begin in a staged process.
Iran’s semi-official SNN news agency reported on Tuesday that Tehran fired its last round of missiles before the ceasefire came into effect.
Israel, joined by the United States on the weekend, has carried out attacks on Iran’s nuclear facilities, after alleging Tehran was getting close to obtaining a nuclear weapon.
Tehran denies ever having a nuclear weapons program but Iran’s supreme leader Ali Khamenei has said that if it wanted to, world leaders “wouldn’t be able to stop us”.
Israel, which is not a party to the international Non-Proliferation Treaty, is the only country in the Middle East believed to have nuclear weapons.
Israel does not deny or confirm that it has such weapons.
Qatar’s prime minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani secured Tehran’s agreement during a call with Iranian officials, an official briefed on the negotiations said on Tuesday.
US vice president JD Vance, secretary of state Marco Rubio and US special envoy Steve Witkoff were in direct and indirect contact with the Iranians, a White House official said.
Neither Iran’s UN mission nor the Israeli embassy in Washington responded to separate requests for comment.
The claims of a ceasefire came after Iran launched retaliatory attacks targeting the largest US base in the Middle East on Monday.
[ Iran fires missiles at key US base in QatarOpens in new window ]
However, Mr Trump called the move “a very weak response” and thanked Tehran “for giving us early notice” to avoid any casualties.
Qatar appeared to have advance warning about Iranian attacks targeting the US-run Al Udeid airbase. The Gulf country temporarily closed its air space, while the US and UK warned citizens to “shelter in place until further notice”, but this was later updated.
Qatar called the missile attacks “a flagrant violation” of its sovereignty, saying it reserved “the right to respond directly”. – Reuters
