Israel and Iran appeared to be honoring their commitment Tuesday to a ceasefire agreement that President Donald Trump had announced hours earlier and whose violation in the first hours of its entry into force had enraged the American president.

Trump said he was upset with Tehran for launching a missile after the agreed-upon cease-fire, but had stronger words for Israel, warning it not to carry out the “intense attacks” Israel promised in response.

“If you do this, it’s a grave violation. Bring your pilots home now!” he wrote on his Truth Social social media account.

Before departing on Air Force One for the NATO summit in the Netherlands, Trump expressed his disgust with the developments in the conflict between Iran and Israel.

“Basically, we have two countries that have been fighting each other for so long that they don’t know what the fuck they’re doing,” he said.

Despite this, after boarding Air Force One, Trump again wrote on Truth Social that “the ceasefire is in effect” and that “Israel is not going to attack Iran.”

“All planes will turn around and head home, while they have a friendly 'airplane salute' to Iran. No one will be hurt, the ceasefire is in effect!,” he added.

In the following hours, he posted several messages in which he claimed that “Iran will never rebuild its nuclear facilities” and that China “will be able to continue buying oil from Iran.”

“Both Israel and Iran wanted to stop the war equally. It was my great honor to destroy all nuclear facilities and capabilities, and thus, stop the war,” he added shortly after republishing a Fox News article reporting that a Republican congressman had nominated him for the Nobel Peace Prize for preventing Iran from obtaining “the most lethal weapon on the planet.”

An unexpected ceasefire

The US president had unexpectedly announced on Monday that Israel and Iran had agreed to a “complete and total ceasefire.”

The Israeli government accepted the ceasefire proposal and noted: “Israel will respond forcefully to any violation of the ceasefire.”

“Israel thanks President Trump and the United States for their support in its defense and their participation in eliminating the Iranian nuclear threat,” the official Israeli statement added.

According to the statement, Israel has eliminated “the immediate existential dual threat” of nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles.

For his part, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi initially denied that an agreement existed, but said Iran would stop its attacks if Israel did so as well.

Hours later, Iranian state television claimed that a ceasefire had been “imposed” on Israel.

On Tuesday, At around 1:00 a.m. Washington time (8:30 a.m. Tehran time), Trump posted a message to the parties on social media: “The ceasefire is now in effect. Please do not violate it!” But shortly afterward, Israel’s defense minister accused Iran of violating the agreement and said he had ordered it to “respond with force,” including “intensive strikes against regime targets in the heart of Tehran.” Israel reported intercepting missiles launched from Iran, but Tehran denied through state media that it had fired any missiles after the agreement went into effect. Shortly after, the head of Iran’s armed forces denied it again. Israel later reported that it attacked a radar near Tehran in response to “Iranian ceasefire violations.” In a statement, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said Iran fired a missile at Israel at 7:06 a.m. local time (5:06 a.m. BST) and two more at 10:25 a.m., after the ceasefire had gone into effect. According to the report, Israel “refrained from further attacks” after the Israeli prime minister spoke with Trump. Final Intense Strikes Before Ceasefire Before the Ceasefire went into effect, Israel and Iran exchanged intense attacks overnight. In its statement, Israel said its forces had, over the past day, “severely struck government targets in the heart of the conflict.” of Tehran, eliminating hundreds of Basij operatives” (the militiamen the Iranian government often uses to suppress protests), and “eliminating other senior nuclear scientists.”

According to authorities in Iran, at least nine people were killed and four homes were destroyed in the north of the country.

The governor's office in Gilan says 33 people were wounded in what it calls a “terrorist” attack on the town of Astaneh-ye Ashrafiyeh, accusing Israel of being behind the attack.

Iranian television reported that Mohammad Reza Seddiqi, a nuclear scientist, was among the dead.

According to the BBC Persian Service, the night before the ceasefire began was one of the worst for Tehran since the conflict began.

For its part, Israel reported that the south of the country had been hit by missiles. At least four people were killed and 22 wounded in the southern town of Beersheba.

Iranian state TV referred to the attacks as “a final round of missiles” before the ceasefire.

“The military operations of our powerful Armed Forces to punish Israel for its aggression continued until the last minute, at 4:00 a.m.,” Minister Araghchi wrote.

“The End of the 12-Day War”

In his initial post, President Trump said the ceasefire would be “complete and total” and would be imposed gradually.

“Officially, Iran will initiate the ceasefire, and in 12 hours, Israel will initiate the ceasefire, and in 24 hours, the world will officially celebrate the end of the 12-day war. During each ceasefire, the other side will remain peaceful and respectful,” he wrote.

In a follow-up message, he noted that the agreement would not have been possible “without the courage and talent of our great B-2 pilots, and all those associated with that operation,” referring to the U.S. attack on Iran’s nuclear facilities last Saturday.

However, the path forward from this cessation of hostilities is not clear.

“The terms of this ceasefire remain unclear and its situation appears fragile (if it holds at all, at least for now),” notes Ione Wells, a BBC journalist in Jerusalem.

“No one knows if there are plans for further negotiations. Leaders on both sides have said they will respect it if the other does. The coming hours and days will tell,” she added.

US attacks on Iran and Iran’s response

The news of a possible cessation of hostilities came hours after Iran launched a missile attack on a U.S. base in Qatar, in response to The US attacks on its nuclear facilities on Saturday.

The missiles, which closed Qatari airspace, were fully intercepted and there were no injuries or deaths, according to Qatari and US authorities.

Media in the US are reporting that Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani,helped secure the cease-fire, according to officials involved in the negotiations. Qatar, according to the officials, became involved in the US proposal after speaking by phone with Iranian officials after Iran attacked the US base. The US joined Israel in its military offensive against Iran on Saturday, attacking three Iranian nuclear facilities, marking a significant escalation of the Middle East conflict. Both the Israeli and US governments say their goal with these attacks is to halt Iran's nuclear program. They have previously said that Tehran was close to obtaining a nuclear weapon, a claim that has not been confirmed by Western intelligence agencies. Israel began its attacks on June 13 against Iranian military and nuclear facilities, as well as against senior Tehran military officials and nuclear scientists. Israel's attacks have killed hundreds of people, many of them civilians.

In response, Iran has launched missile attacks on Israeli territory, killing around 20 people and injuring dozens.

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