WASHINGTON/TEL AVIV/ISTANBUL. — US. President Donald Trump accused both Israel and Iran of violating a ceasefire on Tuesday, hours after he announced it, expressing particular frustration with Israel, which had announced major new strikes on Tehran.
“Israel, do not drop those bombs. If you do it, it is a major violation. Bring your pilots home, now!” Trump wrote on Truth Social shortly after he left the White House for a trip to a NATO summit in The Hague.
Before boarding, he told reporters he was “not happy” with either side for violating the truce, particularly with Israel.
“I’ve got to get Israel to calm down now,” Trump said as he left the White House. “Israel, as soon as we made the deal, they came out and they dropped a load of bombs, the likes of which I’ve never seen before, the biggest load that we’ve seen.”
Iran and Israel had been fighting “so long and so hard that they don’t know what the fuck they’re doing,” he said before turning away from cameras and heading to his helicopter.
Earlier on Tuesday, Trump announced a ceasefire between Israel and Iran was now in place and asked both countries not to violate it.
The announcement came only hours after Iran launched waves of missiles, which Israel’s ambulance service said killed four people.
“The ceasefire is now in effect. Please do not violate it!” Trump said in a Truth Social post.
“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,’” Trump also said.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had confirmed the ceasefire, saying Israel had achieved the goals it had set in launching its June 13 surprise attack on Iran, to destroy its nuclear program and missile capabilities.
“Israel thanks President Trump and the United States for their support in defense and their participation in eliminating the Iranian nuclear threat,” Netanyahu had said.
Both Israel and Iran had confirmed the ceasefire after Trump’s announcement.
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.
Iran’s foreign minister said there would be no cessation of hostilities unless Israel stopped its attacks.
Abbas Araqchi said early on Tuesday that if Israel stopped its “illegal aggression” against the Iranian people no later than 4 a.m. Tehran time (0030 GMT) on Tuesday, Iran had no intention of continuing its response afterwards.
There have been no reported Israeli attacks on Iran since that time.
“The final decision on the cessation of our military operations will be made later,” Araqchi added in a post on X.
A senior White House official said Trump had brokered the deal in a call with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Israel had agreed so long as Iran did not launch further attacks.
When Trump announced on Monday what he called a complete ceasefire to end a 12-day war, he appeared to suggest that Israel and Iran would have time to complete missions that were underway, at which point the ceasefire would begin in a staged process.
U.S. Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff were in direct and indirect contact with the Iranians, a White House official said.
Neither Iran’s U.N. mission nor the Israeli embassy in Washington responded to separate requests for comment from Reuters.
Qatar’s Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani secured Tehran’s agreement to the U.S. proposal for a ceasefire in the conflict between Israel and Iran during a call with Iranian officials held after Iran’s strikes on a U.S. air base in Qatar on Monday, an official briefed on the negotiations told Reuters early on Tuesday.
The phone call came after Trump told Qatar’s emir that Israel had agreed to the ceasefire and asked for Doha’s help persuading Tehran to also agree to the ceasefire deal, the official said.
CEASEFIRE VIOLATION
Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said on Tuesday he had ordered the military to strike Tehran in response to what he said were Iranian missiles fired in violation of the ceasefire announced hours earlier by Trump.
The directive followed an announcement by the military that it had detected missile launches from Iran towards Israel.
Iran said it had not violated the ceasefire. The armed forces general staff denied there had been any launch of missiles towards Israel in recent hours, Iran’s Nour News reported.
Katz said in a statement he had ordered the military to “continue high-intensity operations targeting regime assets and terror infrastructure in Tehran” in light of “Iran’s blatant violation of the ceasefire declared by the President of the United States.”
“In light of Iran’s blatant violation of the ceasefire declared by the President of the United States — through the launch of missiles toward Israel — and in accordance with the Israeli government’s policy to respond forcefully to any breach, I have instructed the IDF (Israel Defense Forces) … to continue high-intensity operations targeting regime assets and terror infrastructure in Tehran,” he said.
The Israeli military said it was working to shoot down Iranian missiles after detecting a launch.
Israel’s military said six waves of missiles were launched by Iran and Israel’s national ambulance service said four people were killed in Beersheba, the first reported deaths in Israel since Trump announced the ceasefire.
Witnesses later heard explosions near Tel Aviv and Beersheba in central Israel. Israel media said a building had been struck.
Iran’s ISNA student news agency said reports that Iran had fired missiles at Israel after the ceasefire took effect were false.
Iran’s semi-official SNN news agency reported on Tuesday that Tehran fired its last round of missiles before the ceasefire came into effect.
The developments raised early doubts about the ceasefire, intended to end 12 days of war.
QATAR ATTACK
Iran launched a missile attack on an American air base in Qatar on Monday that caused no injuries.
Iran had threatened to retaliate against the United States after U.S. bombers dropped 30,000-pound bunker-busters on Iranian underground nuclear facilities at the weekend, joining Israel’s air war against Iran, and Trump had raised the possibility of the Iranian government being toppled.
“We did not assault anyone, and we will never accept being assaulted by anyone,” Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said in a statement. “We will not submit to anyone’s aggression – this is the logic of the Iranian nation.”
Iran gave advance notice to the U.S. via diplomatic channels hours ahead of the attack, as well as to Qatari authorities. Trump seized on that as a positive sign.
“I want to thank Iran for giving us early notice, which made it possible for no lives to be lost, and nobody to be injured,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social media site. “Perhaps Iran can now proceed to peace and harmony in the region, and I will enthusiastically encourage Israel to do the same.”
He said Iran fired 14 missiles at the air base, calling it “a very weak response, which we expected, and have very effectively countered.”
“I am pleased to report that no Americans were harmed and hardly any damage was done,” Trump wrote. “Most importantly, they’ve gotten it all out of their ‘system,’ and there will, hopefully, be no further hate,” Trump wrote.
Iran’s handling of the attack recalled earlier clashes with the United States and Israel, with Tehran seeking a balance between saving face with a military response but without provoking a cycle of escalation it can’t afford.
Araqchi said Iran was ready to respond again in case of further action by the United States, according to a statement posted by the ministry’s account on Telegram.
The attack strained Iran’s relationship with its Arab neighbors: Qatar condemned it, as did Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Iraq.
“There are deep ties between the two states (Iran and Qatar) and the two nations, but the attack undoubtedly calls for a genuine meeting and a clear stance,” Qatari foreign ministry spokesperson Majed Al Ansari said at a press conference.
Israel said it carried out its most extensive wave of attacks on Tehran ever on Monday.
Targets included a Tehran prison where Iran’s leadership holds political opponents, in a renewed demonstration of its willingness to strike beyond its previously stated military and nuclear targets and attack key pillars of Iran’s ruling system.
AIRSPACE CLOSED
Qatar, situated just across the Gulf from Iran, reopened its airspace after a brief suspension, its civil aviation authority said early on Tuesday.
Earlier, Qatar said it had shut down its airspace temporarily, hours after U.S. and British authorities contacted their citizens there recommending that they shelter in place until further notice.
The U.S. and British announcements, which triggered a slew of messages from many Doha-based institutions to employees and students, came as Iran repeated earlier threats to retaliate against the U.S. after strikes on its nuclear sites.
Qatar hosts Al Udeid Air Base, the largest U.S. base in the Middle East, which serves as the forward headquarters for U.S. Central Command and accommodates approximately 10,000 troops.
Two U.S. officials separately told Reuters that Iran could carry out attacks targeting American forces in the Middle East soon, with one source saying it could happen in the next day or two.
The messages from Britain and the U.S. embassy in Qatar said their recommendations were made “out of an abundance of caution” and offered no further information.
Qatar’s foreign minister said on X that its airspace would be closed as part of measures taken amid developments in the region, without going into further detail.
Earlier, Qatari foreign ministry spokesperson Majed Al Ansari had released a statement saying the security situation there remained stable.
Many Qatar residents were confused by what they said appeared to be mixed messaging from Qatari and U.S. embassy officials.
The Qatar campuses of American universities in Qatar sent messages to staff and students after the embassy announcement.
Texas A&M University said an evacuation of its building had been ordered, Northwestern University asked people to go home and Georgetown University said people could go home if they wished.
The American School, which is not in session, closed its campus and cancelled summer camps until further notice.
