Washington/Tehran/Tel Aviv: There is possibility of peace returning to the Middle East after the announcement of a ceasefire between Israel and Iran by US president Donald Trump.
This came after Iran fired missiles at US bases in Qatar and Iraq, including the Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar – the largest US military base in the region. This was in retaliation to US air strikes on three nuclear sites in Iran.
Trump said that the ceasefire will be phased across 24 hours. Iran said that it would cease hostilities if Israel stopped its strikes on the country by 4 am (6 am IST) on Tuesday. While there are no reports of any fresh Israeli strikes on Iran after that time, Tel Aviv claimed that Iran’s missiles struck the country beyond the deadline, killing at least two persons.
Trump called the conflict a ’12-day war’ and posted on X that: “CONGRATULATIONS TO EVERYONE! It has been fully agreed by and between Israel and Iran that there will be a Complete and Total CEASEFIRE (in approximately 6 hours from now, when Israel and Iran have wound down and completed their in progress, final missions!), for 12 hours, at which point the War will be considered, ENDED!,” Trump posted on his Truth Social platform.
According to him, the Islamic Republic will begin the ceasefire, and after 12 hours, the Jewish State will join in, and after 12 more hours, “an official end to the 12-day War will be saluted by the world.”
“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.” 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 added.
The conflict began on June 13 when Israel launched a massive airstrike on Iranian military and nuclear sites, codenamed “Operation Rising Lion”. In retaliation, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) initiated a large-scale drone and missile campaign called ‘Operation True Promise 3’, targeting Israeli fighter jet fuel production facilities and energy supply centres.
The ceasefire is said to have been brokered by Qatar after that country was forced to close down its airspace due to Iran’s missile attacks. The airspace has now been reopened.
