New Delhi: A fragile ceasefire between Iran and Israel appeared to hold Tuesday after initially faltering, and US President Donald Trump expressed frustration with both sides, saying they have fought “for so long and so hard” that they do not know what they are doing.
Israel had earlier accused Iran of launching missiles into its airspace after the truce was supposed to take effect, and the Israeli finance minister vowed that “Tehran will tremble.” The Iranian military denied firing on Israel, state media reported, but explosions boomed and sirens sounded across northern Israel in the morning, and an Israeli military official said two Iranian missiles were intercepted.
Trump told reporters at the White House before departing for a NATO summit that, in his view, both sides had violated the nascent agreement. He had particularly strong words for Israel, a close ally, while suggesting Iran may have fired on the country by mistake.
The conflict, now in its 12th day, began with Israel targeting Iranian nuclear and military sites, saying it could not allow Tehran to develop atomic weapons and that it feared the Islamic Republic was close. Iran has long maintained that its programme is peaceful.
The need for a diplomatic solution
Trump phoned Netanyahu after the American bombing on Sunday and told him not to expect additional US military attacks and that he should seek a diplomatic solution with Iran, a senior White House official said.
Israel followed up the US air attacks by expanding the kinds of targets it was hitting.
After Tehran launched a limited retaliatory strike Monday on a US military base in Qatar, Trump announced the ceasefire. A protracted conflict could have a broad economic impact if Iran closed the Strait of Hormuz, a major shipping channel.
China, which is Iran’s largest trading partner and only remaining oil customer, condemned the US attacks and said it was concerned about a “spiral of escalations” without a ceasefire.
Trump suggested the ceasefire would allow Iranian oil to continue to flow, saying on social media that China could keep purchasing crude from Iran. Israel accuses Iran of violating the truce. Iran denies allegation The deal got off to a rocky start.
An Israeli military official who spoke on the condition of anonymity in line with military regulations said Iran launched two missiles at Israel hours into the tenuous ceasefire. Both were intercepted, the official said.
As Trump spoke to reporters at the White House before departing for the NATO summit, he expressed disappointment with both sides. Iran “violated it, but Israel violated it too,” Trump said. ”I’m not happy with Israel.” Trump’s frustration was palpable, using an expletive to hammer home his point. Later, however, he announced that Israel had backed off its threat to attack Tehran and would turn its jets around.
Netanyahu’s office said Israel struck an Iranian radar site in response to the Iranian missile attack early Tuesday, but Israeli forces held off on something bigger. Following Trump’s conversation with Netanyahu, “Israel refrained from additional attacks,” Netanyahu’s office said.
Breakthrough announced after hostilities spread Netanyahu said Israel agreed to a bilateral ceasefire with Iran, in coordination with Trump, after the country achieved all of its war goals, including removing the threat of Iran’s nuclear and ballistic missile programs.
It’s unclear what role Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran’s leader, played in the talks. He said earlier on social media that he would not surrender.
Trump: ‘We don’t want to see much chaos’
Trump said Tuesday that he wasn’t seeking regime change in Iran, two days after floating the idea himself in a social media post. “I don’t want it,” Trump told reporters on Air Force One. “Regime change takes chaos and, ideally, we don’t want to see much chaos.” Before the ceasefire was announced, Israel’s military said Iran launched 20 missiles toward Israel. Police said they damaged at least three densely packed residential buildings in the city of Beersheba. First responders said they retrieved four bodies from one building and were searching for more. At least 20 people were injured.
Outside, the shells of burned out cars littered the streets. Broken glass and rubble covered the area. Police said some people were injured while inside their apartments’ reinforced safe rooms, which are meant to withstand rockets but not direct hits from ballistic missiles.
The attack followed a limited Iranian missile attack Monday on a US military base in Qatar, retaliating for earlier American bombing of its nuclear sites. The US was warned by Iran in advance, and there were no casualties.
Drones attacked military bases in Iraq overnight, including some housing US troops, the Iraqi army and a US military official said Tuesday.
A senior US military official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorised to comment publicly, said US forces shot down drones attacking Ain al-Assad in the desert in western Iraq and at a base next to the Baghdad airport, while another one crashed. No casualties were reported, and no group claimed responsibility for the attacks in Iraq.
Conflict has killed hundreds In Israel, at least 28 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 has provided detailed casualty figures from Iranian unrest, 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 roughly 700,000 American citizens, most of them dual US-Israeli citizens, believed to be in Israel.
