U.S. President Donald Trump on Tuesday used a profanity to criticize both Iran and Israel for what he said were violations of a ceasefire between the two adversaries.
Reuters
A ceasefire between Israel and Iran held up on Tuesday under pressure from U.S. President Donald Trump, who admonished both sides for continuing to fight after he announced that they had reached a deal to end their war.
The ceasefire, announced by Mr. Trump on Monday evening with few details, was confirmed by Israel and Iran on Tuesday morning after an evening of strikes and counterstrikes. Each side claimed victory and accused the other of immediately violating the pact, prompting a profane outburst from Mr. Trump.
“I’m not sure they did it intentionally,” Mr. Trump told reporters on Tuesday just before leaving Washington for the North Atlantic Treaty Organization summit in The Hague. He was especially angry at Israel for launching a series of bombings overnight Monday just after he’d announced the ceasefire would take effect in 12 hours.
“I didn’t like the fact that Israel unloaded right after we made the deal,” he said. “They didn’t have to unload.”
The U.S. intervened in the Israel-Iran conflict over the weekend when Mr. Trump approved a military strike on three Iranian nuclear facilities. That prompted a limited counterattack by Iran on a U.S. military base in Qatar.
The ceasefire ended a 12-day bombing campaign by the Israeli military to weaken Iran’s nuclear program. Iran has insisted for years that its nuclear ambitions were only for civilian uses, but Israel and other Western countries have long suspected that the regime’s real intention was to build a nuclear weapon.
A preliminary U.S. intelligence assessment revealed that the U.S. strikes likely only set Iran’s program back by months, Reuters reported on Tuesday, citing unnamed sources. Mr. Trump had earlier claimed the nuclear facilities were obliterated. One official told Reuters that the assessment contained several caveats and that more details were expected over the next days and weeks.
The White House and U.S. Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth disputed the assessment. “Our massive bombs hit exactly the right spot at each target – and worked perfectly,” Mr. Hegseth said in a statement to Reuters.
In an interview with CNN, Prime Minister Mark Carney said Iran’s position has been “substantially degraded” and that has created a window for the ceasefire.
“We’ll see how it holds,” he said. Mr. Carney called Iran’s retaliatory strikes a “diplomatic move” because its response was proportionate and de-escalatory.
“It gives an opening for diplomacy,” he said.
Confirmation of the ceasefire brought relief around the world and sent the price of oil tumbling. The international benchmark, Brent crude, fell 6 per cent to settle at US$64.37 on Tuesday.
In an address to his nation on Tuesday, Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu hailed a “historic victory” that had eliminated Iran’s senior command, destroyed key nuclear sites and dealt a blow to Iran’s ballistic missile capabilities.
“The victory will be remembered for generations. We removed two immediate existential threats – a nuclear threat and a ballistic missile threat. If we had not acted, we would soon be facing the danger of annihilation,” he said.
He also issued a warning to Iran. “We have dismantled the Iranian nuclear project. And if anyone in Iran thinks of rebuilding it – we will strike again.”
Israel’s Chief of the General Staff, Lieutenant-General Eyal Zamir, echoed that sentiment earlier and said “the campaign against Iran is not over.”
“We are entering a new phase based on the achievements of the current one,” he said. However, he said the focus of the military would now shift back to Gaza “to bring the hostages home and to dismantle the Hamas regime.”
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Iranian television quoted government officials as saying Mr. Trump’s ceasefire had been “imposed” on Israel after Iran’s “successful” attack on a U.S. military base. Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian also vowed to respect the ceasefire and said Iran was “ready to pursue the Iranian nation’s rights at the negotiating table.”
“The Iranian people have once again shown that despite some problems and grievances, they will stand united and united against the enemy’s invasion until the end,” he said.
Mr. Trump had also mused about encouraging an overthrow of the Iranian regime, which is deeply unpopular in the country. But on Monday he said he did not favour regime change. “I’d like to see everything calm down as quickly as possible,” he told reporters.
French President Emmanuel Macron voiced fears on Tuesday that Iran could resume its nuclear program in secret.
“This risk has indeed increased with what has happened recently,” Mr. Macron said during a visit to Norway. “It is one of the main risks for the region and the international community. We must absolutely prevent Iran from going down this path.”
Air space also began to reopen across the region, including over Israel and Iran, and airlines have started resuming regular flights.
“If this ceasefire succeeds after the decisive U.S. military strikes against Iranian nuclear facilities, it will be a very positive development,” German Chancellor Friedrich Merz wrote on X. “It will make the Middle East and the world safer.”
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said the ceasefire “was an opportunity to secure much-needed stability in the Middle East.”
“Iran must never be allowed to develop a nuclear weapon, and they must now return to the table and work towards a lasting settlement,” he said.
China welcomed the ceasefire Tuesday, with Foreign Ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun telling reporters in Beijing that “the Chinese side is highly concerned about the developments in the Middle East and does not wish to see tensions escalating.”
“Facts have shown that military might cannot bring about peace, and dialogue and negotiation are the right path to resolving issues,” Mr. Guo said.
Beijing urged all parties to “return to the correct track of political resolution” and said it was “willing to work with the international community to make efforts to maintain peace and stability in the Middle East.”
Saudi Arabia’s Foreign Ministry also welcomed the ceasefire and said it valued “the efforts exerted to de-escalate tensions.”
“The Kingdom looks forward to all parties committing to de-escalation in the coming period, refraining from the use or threat to use force, and hopes that this agreement will contribute to restoring security and reliability in the region and averting the dangers of continued escalation,” the ministry said on X.
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With a report from James Griffiths