TEL AVIV/WASHINGTON/ISTANBUL — Iranians and Israelis celebrated a tentative return of peace on Tuesday, despite reports from both sides of early violations of a ceasefire announced by US President Donald J. Trump.
Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said on Tuesday he had ordered the military to mount new strikes on targets in Tehran in response to what he said were Iranian missiles fired in a “blatant violation” of the ceasefire.
Iran denied launching any missiles and said Israel’s attacks had continued for an hour and a half beyond the time the ceasefire was meant to start.
But in both countries, the wider Middle East and around the world there was palpable sense of relief that a path out of war had been charted, 12 days after Israel launched it with a surprise attack, and two days after the United States joined in.
“We’re happy, very happy. Who mediated or how it happened doesn’t matter. The war is over. It never should have started in the first place,” Reza Sharifi, 38, heading back to Tehran from Rasht on the Caspian Sea where he had relocated with his family to escape strikes on the capital, told Reuters by telephone.
Arik Daimant, a software engineer in Tel Aviv, said: “Regrettably, it’s a bit too late for me and my family, because our house back here was totally destroyed in the recent bombings last Sunday. But as they say: ‘better late than never,’ and I hope this ceasefire is a new beginning.”
Mr. Trump had announced the ceasefire with a post on Truth Social: “THE CEASEFIRE IS NOW IN EFFECT. PLEASE DO NOT VIOLATE IT!”
It was not immediately clear what impact would follow from the accusations of early ceasefire violations.
Mr. Katz said in a statement he had ordered Israel’s military to “continue high-intensity operations targeting regime assets and terror infrastructure in Tehran” in light of what he said was Iran’s violation by firing missiles.
Iran’s Khatam al-Anbiya central military headquarters said Israel had struck Iran up to 9 a.m. local time (0530 GMT), 90 minutes after the ceasefire was due to take effect.
But both sides confirmed the agreement in principle.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said his country had achieved the goals it set in launching its June 13 surprise attack on Iran — to destroy its nuclear program and missile capabilities.
Iran’s top security body, the Supreme National Security Council, said its military had forced Israel to “unilaterally accept defeat and accept a ceasefire.”
Iran’s forces would “keep their hands on the trigger” to respond to “any act of aggression by the enemy,” it said.
In the last reported strikes before the ceasefire, missiles killed four people in the southern Israeli city of Beersheba, the Israeli ambulance service said. Iranian officials said nine people including a nuclear scientist were killed in a strike on a residential building in northern Iran.
GLOBAL RELIEF
The response across the region and wider world was largely one of relief at the prospect of an end to the biggest direct confrontation ever between the two foes.
Global stock markets rallied, and oil prices tumbled after the ceasefire announcement, in the hope it heralded a resolution of the war two days after the United States hit Iranian nuclear sites with huge bunker-busting bombs.
Israel attacked on June 13, hitting Iranian nuclear sites and killing the top echelon of its military command in the worst threat faced by the Islamic Republic since war with Iraq in the 1980s.
During the campaign, Israel said it was prepared to topple Iran’s clerical rulers if necessary to achieve its aims. It struck symbolic targets unrelated to the military, culminating on Monday with a strike on Tehran’s Evin prison, where political prisoners are held.
Iranian officials say hundreds of people have been killed in airstrikes. Full information about the extent of the damage cannot be confirmed independently, with media tightly controlled.
Iran’s retaliatory missile strikes killed 28 people in Israel, the first time large numbers of Iranian missiles have penetrated its defenses.
Iran has always said its nuclear program is peaceful, while the West accused it of seeking a bomb.
A senior White House official said Mr. Trump brokered the ceasefire deal in a call with Mr. 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 Truth Social.
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.
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.
Iran had responded to the US participation in the airstrikes by firing missiles on Monday at the biggest US military base in the Middle East, located in Qatar.
No one was hurt in that strike, with Iran’s retaliation apparently calibrated to allow de-escalation afterwards.
Mr. Trump thanked Tehran for warning the US in advance to avoid injuries, and called the strike “a very weak response, which we expected, and have very effectively countered.” — Reuters
