Trump announces a ceasefire between Israel and Iran

US President Donald Trump announced a ceasefire between Israel and Iran on Monday evening after a 12-day war between the two countries. In a post on Truth Social, Trump said the ceasefire would take effect shortly after midnight on the US East Coast, and the war was set to officially end 12 hours later.

Trump wrote in the post: "This was a war that could have lasted for years and devastated the entire Middle East. It didn't, and it never will!" Neither Israel nor Iran immediately confirmed Trump's announcement that they had agreed to a ceasefire.

"During the ceasefire period, each side pledges to remain in a state of complete peace and respect," Trump said in his statement. He added that the agreement embodies the ability of both sides to "have the patience, courage, and intelligence to end the war," stressing that what could have been a prolonged and devastating conflict for the region "did not happen, and never will happen."

The US President concluded his message with celebratory words, saying: “God bless Israel, God bless Iran, God bless the Middle East, God bless the United States, and God bless the entire world!”

The two countries have been engaged in indirect skirmishes since the October 7, 2023, attacks on Israel by the Tehran-backed Palestinian Hamas movement, and have exchanged direct fire intermittently since 2024. But after Israel attacked Iran at dawn on June 13, the two arch-rivals in the Middle East exchanged barrages of drones and missiles against each other. Earlier on Monday, Israel launched another round of airstrikes on Iran, targeting the north of the country and areas surrounding the capital, Tehran. An hour before the ceasefire was announced, Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei wrote on Twitter that "those who know the Iranian people and their history know that the Iranian nation is not a nation of surrender."

A senior White House official, speaking on condition of anonymity to share sensitive details of the negotiations, said in a press briefing that Israel had agreed to a ceasefire—as long as it was not subjected to further attacks from Iran—and so had Iran. The official added that Trump had communicated directly with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, while Vice President J.D. Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and Special Envoy Steve Witkoff had spoken with the Iranians through direct and indirect channels, and that the Qataris played a key role in brokering the agreement. Additionally, the official said that the US strike on Iran on Saturday made the agreement “possible and acceptable, particularly to the Israelis.”

The United States initially sought to stay out of the conflict, but entered the war on Israel's side on Saturday by bombing key Iranian nuclear sites, including Fordow and Natanz. In response, Iran warned the United States in advance that it would strike a major US airbase in Qatar, which it did on Monday.

Trump's enthusiastic announcement marked the latest abrupt shift by the president toward Iran. After months of signaling the nearness of a US-Tehran agreement to significantly curb Iran's nuclear program, Trump declared his full support for the June 13 Israeli aggression that sparked the current conflict. Eight days later, he opted to directly engage the United States, authorizing the bombing of three Iranian nuclear facilities on Saturday.

After Iran's measured and relatively limited response on Monday, Trump once again favored diplomacy. He struck a conciliatory tone, portraying Iran's attack not as an escalation of the conflict, but rather as a means to completely remove the country from its "system."

This view was echoed by Vice President Jay DeVance, who described the ceasefire as a victory for both Israel and Iran. In an interview on Fox News on Monday evening, Vance embraced Trump's description of the nearly two-week conflict as a "12-day war," calling it "an important moment to reset the entire region."

For his part, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi announced early Tuesday that Iran does not intend to continue the war if Israel halts its illegal attacks on the Iranian people before 4:00 a.m. (Tehran time).

In a post on social media, Araghchi emphasized that Israel had initiated the war on Iran, not the other way around. He denied the existence of any agreement yet regarding a ceasefire or suspension of military operations, asserting that a final decision would be made later.