US President Donald Trump said Iran and Israel have agreed to a “total ceasefire”, which will begin in approximately 6 hours, around 8am UAE time (4am GMT).
Within 24 hours, “an official end to the 12-day war will be saluted by the world,” Trump said on a Truth Social post. The ceasefire will start when Iran and Israel “have wound down and completed their in-progress, final missions.”
“Iran will start the ceasefire, and after 12 hours, Israel will start the ceasefire.” During each ceasefire, the other side will remain “peaceful and respectful,” he added.
Trump congratulated both countries, Israel and Iran, on having the “stamina, courage, and intelligence” to end the war.
The US President said “this is a war that could have gone on for years, and destroyed the entire Middle East, but it didn’t, and never will”.
Summary of events so far
On June 13, Israel attacked Iran, claiming that it had struck Iranian nuclear targets to block Tehran from developing atomic weapons, and Iranian media and witnesses reported explosions, including at the country’s main uranium enrichment facility.
In response, Iran launched approximately 100 drones towards Israel. With both countries striking each other, countries and world leaders condemned the attack.
Airspaces were shut, travellers stranded at airports, and advisories issued across the world as regional instability majorly escalated into a sharp conflict. The Iran-US nuclear talks now hung in limbo, as Iran said it refused to negotiate as long as Israeli aggression continued.
With the war drawing on for days, civilians were killed, houses destroyed, and Iranian top brass including military commanders were killed.
While US had not directly involved itself in the conflict for the first week, it did so on June 22 when it launched missiles at three nuclear installations in Iran. Iran vowed to respond, and on June 23, it attacked the Al Udeid base in Qatar.
This sparked a new wave of airspace closures as the region went on alert; although no casualties were reported, Qatar said it “reserved the right to respond.” However, Iran said its actions did not pose a threat to the “brotherly, friendly” Gulf state.
Hours after the strikes on the US base in Qatar, Trump announced that Iran and Israel have agreed to a “complete and total” ceasefire. (Agencies)
