Israel and Iran Agree on Ceasefire

Israel and Iran agree on ceasefire to en

Israeli military says two waves of missiles fired from Iran Iran's foreign minister says there is no agreement yet White House: Israel on board as long as no more Iranian attacks..

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.
"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'," Trump wrote on his Truth Social site.

Hong Kong leader John Lee called on the international community to jointly safeguard global peace, saying he backed the idea of resolving conflicts through diplomatic means.

In a weekly press briefing, Lee said the immigration department received enquiries from 21 Hong Kong residents from Israel or Iran, and 20 of them left the countries safely. The department would maintain close contact with the remaining resident, he said.

Facing the escalating tensions in the Middle East, Lee sought to allay concerns over Hong Kong’s commercial ties with the region. Lee said he believed the city’s cooperation with the Middle East would deepen because any government would strive to ensure that their economic development is not affected.

“No matter how the world changes, economic and trade development needs to keep going,” he said.

Trump communicated directly with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to secure the ceasefire, according to a senior White House official who insisted on anonymity to discuss the Monday talks.

Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and special envoy Steve Witkoff communicated with Iranians through direct and indirect channels.The White House has maintained that the Saturday bombing by the U.S. on Iran helped get Israel to agree to the ceasefire and that the Qatari government helped to broker the deal.

Iran’s foreign minister said Iran would stop its attacks if Israel would, though it’s unclear what role Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran’s leader, played in the talks as he had said on social media that he would not surrender.On social media, Trump called the war between Israel and Iran 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 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 back the Sinai to Egypt, it still holds the other territories, setting the stage for decades of conflict that continue to reverberate today.Vance appeared on Fox News Channel just minutes after Trump announced a phased-in ceasefire over the next 24 hours.The vice president says the Trump administration hopes that the Iranians have learned an important lesson: If they want to build a nuclear weapon in the future, “they’re going to have to deal with a very, very powerful American military again.”Vance says he thinks that will dissuade them not to do it.Trump’s social media post says the 24-hour phased-in ceasefire will begin at approximately midnight Tuesday EST, giving the two countries six hours to have “wound down and completed their in progress, final missions.”At that point, he said, Iran will cease attacks, and 12 hours later, Tuesday at noon EST, Israel will also stop strikes, and after 12 more hours “the War will be considered, ENDED!”

There was no immediate reaction from Israel or Iran to Trump’s announcement or the timetable.

Israel warned its public to take shelter after detecting missile launches from Iran early Tuesday. The launches came after 4 a.m. local time in Tehran, the time Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Iran would stop its attacks if Israel ended their airstrikes.

U.S. President Donald Trump said on social media Monday that Israel and Iran have agreed to a “complete and total ceasefire” to be phased in over 24 hours. It is unclear yet how the latest developments will impact possible ceasefire agreements.

What to know:

Qatar responds to Monday’s attack: A Qatari military officer said Iran fired 19 missiles at the U.S. Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar, and one impacted the facility but caused no casualties. The number of missiles differed from a figure given by Trump, who said 14 missiles were fired, 13 were knocked down and one was “set free.”
Trump says Iran gave warning: Trump says Iran alerted the U.S. before targeting the military base, thanking its leaders for the “early notice.” He also said he hopes that’s the only response to the American strikes on Iran’s nuclear sites.

How we got here: Israel launched a surprise barrage of attacks on sites in Iran on June 13, which Israeli officials said was necessary to head off what they claimed was an imminent threat that Iran would build nuclear bombs. Iran has retaliated with a series of missile and drone strikes in Israel, while Israel has continued to strike sites in Iran.

While an Iranian official earlier confirmed that Tehran had agreed to a ceasefire, the country's foreign minister said there would be no cessation of hostilities unless Israel stopped its attacks.

Abbas Araqchi said early on Tuesday that if Israel stopped its "illegal aggression" against the Iranian people no later than 4 a.m. Tehran time (0030 GMT) on Tuesday, Iran had no intention of continuing its response afterwards.

There have been no reported Israeli attacks on Iran since that time.

"The final decision on the cessation of our military operations will be made later," Araqchi added in a post on X.

A senior White House official said Trump had brokered the deal in a call with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Israel had agreed so long as Iran did not launch further attacks.

Trump appeared to suggest that Israel and Iran would have some time to complete any missions that are underway, at which point the ceasefire would begin in a staged process.Iran denies ever having a nuclear weapons program but 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.
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 told Reuters on Tuesday.
U.S. Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff were in direct and indirect contact with the Iranians, a White House official said.
Neither Iran’s U.N. mission nor the Israeli embassy in Washington responded to separate requests for comment from Reuters.
Hours earlier, three Israeli officials had signaled Israel was looking to wrap up its campaign in Iran soon and had passed the message on to the United States.
Netanyahu had told government ministers whose discussions ended early on Tuesday not to speak publicly, Israel's Channel 12 television reported.

Markets reacted favorably to the news.

S&P 500 futures rose 0.4% late on Monday, suggesting traders expect the U.S. stock market to open with gains on Tuesday.

U.S. crude futures fell in early Asian trading hours on Tuesday to their lowest level in more than a week after Trump said a ceasefire had been agreed, relieving worries of supply disruption in the region.

END TO THE FIGHTING?

There did not appear to be calm yet in the region.

The Israeli military issued two evacuation warnings in less than two hours to residents of areas in the Iranian capital Tehran, one late on Monday and one early on Tuesday.

Israeli Army radio reported early on Tuesday that alarms were activated in the southern Golan Heights area due to fears of hostile aircraft intrusion.

Earlier on Monday, Trump said he would encourage Israel to proceed towards peace after dismissing Iran attack on an American air base that caused no injuries and thanking Tehran for the early notice of the strikes.

He said Iran fired 14 missiles at the U.S. air base, calling it "a very weak response, which we expected, and have very effectively countered."

Iran's handling of the attack recalled earlier clashes with the United States and Israel, with Tehran seeking a balance between saving face with a military response but without provoking a cycle of escalation it can't afford.

Tehran appears to have achieved that goal.

Iran's attack came after U.S. bombers dropped 30,000-pound bunker-buster bombs on Iranian underground nuclear facilities at the weekend, joining Israel's air war.

Much of Tehran's population of 10 million has fled after days of bombing.

The Trump administration maintains that its aim was solely to destroy Iran's nuclear program, not to open a wider war.

"Iran was very close to having a nuclear weapon," Vice President JD Vance said in an interview on Fox News' "Special Report with Bret Baier."

"Now Iran is incapable of building a nuclear weapon with the equipment they have because we destroyed it," Vance said.

Trump has cited intelligence reports that Iran was close to building a nuclear weaopon, without elaborating. However, U.S. intelligence agencies said earlier this year they assessed that Iran was not building a nuclear weapon and a source with access to U.S. intelligence reports told Reuters last week that that assessment hadn't changed.

But in a social media post on Sunday, Trump spoke of toppling the hardline clerical rulers who have been Washington's principal foes in the Middle East since Iran's 1979 Islamic Revolution.

Israel, however, had made clear that its strikes on Evin prison - a notorious jail for housing political prisoners - and other targets in Tehran were intended to hit the Iranian ruling apparatus broadly, and its ability to sustain power.

Additional reporting by Howard Goller, Humeyra Pamuk, Noel Randewich, Jeff Mason, Enas Alashray, Yomna Ehab, Bhargav Acharya, Jasper Ward and Kanishka Singh; Writing by Costas Pitas and Stephen Coates; Editing by Nia Williams, Don Durfee and Michael Perry

Trump says there is a ceasefire agreement between Israel and Iran

What we're covering
• Trump announces ceasefire: US President Donald Trump announced Monday evening a ceasefire between Iran and Israel. Iran’s state media confirmed a ceasefire deal but there has been no official comment from Israel yet and it is not clear what time any pause may take place.

• Strikes continue: Israel said it identified missiles launched from Iran early Tuesday morning with one slamming into a residential building in the south. Iranian state media reported Israel launched fresh attacks on Iran’s capital Tehran overnight.

• Negotiation details: Qatar helped broker the ceasefire by mediating talks with Iran, sources say. Israel agreed to the ceasefire deal on the condition that Iran stop its attacks in their country, a senior White House official told CNN. Iran agreed to those terms, the source said.

Three people killed in missile strike in southern Israel, Israel's emergency services says

From CNN’s Eugenia Yosef and Lex Harvey
Israel’s emergency services said three people were killed after a missile struck a residential building in the southern Israel city of Beer Sheva.

The emergency service Magen David Adom (MDA) said earlier a man around 40-years-old, a woman about 30-years-old and a man around 20-years-old were critically wounded.

Six other people were being treated with light to moderate injuries, an MDA spokesperson said.

The Israel Defense Forces said it identified missiles launched from Iran towards Israel and instructed residents to enter bomb shelters.

President Donald Trump claimed late Monday night that Israel and Iran reached out to him almost simultaneously about peace between the two regions, as the Israeli military said it had identified missiles launched toward the nation from Iran.

Trump, just a few hours after he announced a ceasefire deal, said in a post on Truth Social: “Israel & Iran came to me, almost simultaneously, and said, ‘PEACE!’ I knew the time was NOW. The World, and the Middle East, are the real WINNERS! Both Nations will see tremendous LOVE, PEACE, AND PROSPERITY in their futures.”
“They have so much to gain, and yet, so much to lose if they stray from the road of RIGHTEOUSNESS & TRUTH. The future for Israel & Iran is UNLIMITED, & filled with great PROMISE. GOD BLESS YOU BOTH!” the president wrote.

CNN has reported that Trump and a group of his top diplomatic and security officials worked furiously behind-the-scenes to try to broker a peace deal to end the conflict between Iran and Israel in the hours after Iran launched a missile attack on a US base in Qatar.

Moments before Trump’s post, the Israeli military said it had identified missiles launched toward Israel from Iran and said its defensive systems were activated.

Iranian state media announced Tuesday local time that a ceasefire has been “imposed on the enemy” after the country’s military response to “US aggression.”Trump said on social media that Israel and Iran have agreed to a “complete and total ceasefire” to be phased in over 24 hours.The U.S. president said on Truth Social that the ceasefire would bring an “Official END” to war, a major change in the hostilities that follows a U.S. strike over the weekend on three Iranian nuclear sites.“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,’” Trump posted.

The State Department has lifted the “shelter in place” warning to Americans in Qatar that it issued earlier Monday ahead of Iranian missile launches at a US military base there in retaliation for weekend U.S. airstrikes on Iranian nuclear facilities.

The embassy in Doha, which had also instructed official personnel to stay inside, revoked the guidance in a statement issued late Monday afternoon Washington time after nearly all of the missiles were intercepted and Iran signaled there would be no more.It noted that Qatari airspace, which had been closed earlier, remained closed and that the security situation in the country could change rapidly.The draft Security Council resolution, circulated to its 15 members for comments and obtained by The Associated Press, is almost certain to be vetoed by the United States in its present form. It could be changed in negotiations.It “condemns in the strongest terms the attacks against peaceful nuclear sites and facilities” in Iran under safeguard by the U.N. nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency.

The draft also calls for “an immediate and unconditional ceasefire” in the Israel-Iran conflict, urgent protection of civilians and civilian infrastructure, and a diplomatic solution to Iran’s nuclear issue that guarantees its “exclusively peaceful nature” in exchange for the lifting of unilateral and multilateral sanctions against Iran.

In a makeshift base on the outskirts of Tel Aviv, more than a hundred reservists have been working around the clock trying to find survivors and dig people out of the rubble after missile strike.

Soldiers said after Iran’s strike on the US base in Qatar they’re on high alert.

“We’re very focused we think there’s going to be a response from Iran, we don’t know what to responses will be,” said Matan Schneider the company’s second in command for the search and rescue team.

Iran fired 19 missiles at the base in Qatar, and one impacted the facility but caused no casualties, a Qatari military officer said late Monday.

Maj. Gen. Shayeq Al Hajri told reporters that seven missiles were fired from Iran and all were intercepted over the water between the two countries by Qatari air defenses. Iran then fired 12 more missiles and 11 were intercepted over Qatari territory, but one hit the U.S. base, Al Hajri said.It was not immediately clear how much damage was caused by the missile.The number of missiles differed from a figure given by Trump, who said 14 missiles were fired, 13 were knocked down and one was “set free” because it posed no threat.USA President Trump said Iran warned the U.S. before its missile strike Monday on an American air base in Qatar.“I want to thank Iran for giving us early notice, which made it possible for no lives to be lost, and nobody to be injured,” Trump wrote on social media.The president expressed hope that the missile would be the end of Iranian retaliation for U.S. strikes on Iranian nuclear sites.“Most importantly, they’ve gotten it all out of their ‘system,’ and there will, hopefully, be no further HATE,” he said.US president Donald Trump has proclaimed in a social media post that Iran and Israel have agreed to a ceasefire that will start first with Iran in just a matter of hours. After 12 hours, he said, Israel would follow suit.

“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,” Trump wrote on his platform, Truth Social. “This is a War that could have gone on for years, and destroyed the entire Middle East, but it didn’t, and never will!” Trump later told NBC the ceasefire was “unlimited” and would last “forever”.After the ceasefire announcement, Israel’s Defence Forces issued an evacuation warning for several parts of the Iranian capital, Tehran, ahead of a planned Israeli strike. “The Israeli army, as it has been operating across Iran in recent days to target the military infrastructure of the Iranian regime, will be active in these areas,” it wrote, urging citizens to immediately evacuate. On social media, some users reported massive explosions in Tehran, which they said were the most intense since Israel first started bombing Iran 12 days ago.Iran’s foreign minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi said on X that there was “NO” agreement on any ceasefire, or “cessation of military operations.” However, he provided an important caveat, saying: “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.”Israel is yet to officially confirm the ceasefire.

According to a report from Reuters news agency, Qatar played a role in helping to broker the deal behind the scenes. Qatar’s prime minister reportedly secured Iran’s agreement in a call with Tehran, an official briefed on the matter told Reuters.A White House official also told Reuters that Israel agreed to the ceasefire so long as Iran does not launch further attacks, while Iran has signalled to the US that no further attacks would take place.Trump’s proclaimed ceasefire comes after Iran announced it had launched a missile attack on a US base in the Gulf state of Qatar, at the Al Udeid Air Base, in what it said was retaliation for US participation in Israel’s bombing campaign against Iran the day before.Qatar’s foreign ministry said that “Qatar’s air defences successfully thwarted the attack and intercepted the Iranian missiles” and there had been no casualties. Iran reportedly provided advance warning of the attack.

Key Takeaways

• US President Donald Trump announced that Israel and Iran agreed to a ceasefire, beginning the evening of June 23. A senior Iranian official confirmed to Reuters that the ceasefire would occur following Qatari mediation.
• Iran conducted a missile attack targeting the US al Udeid Airbase in Qatar in retaliation for the US strikes on the Iranian nuclear program. The attack was largely symbolic and inflicted no casualties or damage, however.
• Iranian elite, including some moderate leaders, have reportedly tried to pressure Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei to accept a ceasefire or sideline him entirely. It is unclear what role these individuals played in the US-announced ceasefire.
• Iranian Deputy Foreign Affairs Minister for Policy Majid Takht Ravanchi announced that Iran will remain a member of the NPT. Iranian officials have previously threatened to withdraw from the NPT in response to US and Israeli strikes.
• IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi confirmed that the United States likely inflicted “very significant damage” in its strikes on the Fordow nuclear site. Iran may have moved some of its nuclear material to undisclosed locations beforehand, however.

NOTE: CTP-ISW will provide further analysis about the ceasefire between Israel and Iran in its June 24 Morning Update.

US President Donald Trump announced that Iran and Israel agreed to a ceasefire that will go into effect at 12:00 AM ET on June 24. Trump said that Iran would adhere to the ceasefire starting at midnight on June 24 and that Israel would join at noon on June 24. Trump said that the war would officially end at midnight on June 25. Trump congratulated Israel and Iran for “having the stamina, courage, and intelligence” to end the war. Trump announced the ceasefire five hours after Iran conducted a ballistic missile attack targeting US forces in Qatar. A senior Iranian official confirmed to Reuters that Iran agreed to a Qatar-mediated, US-proposed ceasefire.

Iran conducted a retaliatory, but largely symbolic, ballistic missile attack targeting a US airbase in Qatar on June 23. Iran launched 14 medium- and short-range ballistic missiles at the United States’ largest position in the Middle East—al Udeid Airbase—just before 1:00 PM ET. The United States and partner forces intercepted 13 missiles and “set free” one missile on a “nonthreatening” trajectory.[6] Trump confirmed that the Iranian attack did not injure or kill any US servicemembers or Qataris and caused “hardly any damage.” Iranian Supreme National Security Council Secretary Ali Akbar Ahmadian claimed after the attack that Iran fired one missile at al Udeid Airbase for each bomb that the United States dropped on Iranian nuclear facilities on June 21 Initial reports claimed that Iran also fired a single short-range ballistic missile targeting US forces at Ain al Asad Airbase in Iraq, but a US military official refuted that claim

Posted on 2025/06/24 01:57 PM