*Brokered Deal In Call With Netanyahu, Team Spoke To Iran
*Israel Alleges Iran Violates Ceasefire, Orders Strikes On Tehran
*Tehran Denies Accusation
UNITED States (US) President, Donald Trump, has said in a post on Truth Social: “The ceasefire is now in effect. Please do not violate it!”
This is as more facts emerged that he brokered the ceasefire between Israel and Iran through talks with Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, on Monday, June 23, while his team, including Vice President, JD Vance, held talks with Tehran, a senior White House official said.
The official, according to Reuters, providing details of the ceasefire on condition of anonymity, said Israel agreed to it so long as Iran does not launch fresh attacks.
Iran signaled that no further attacks would take place, the official said.
Vance, Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, and US Special Envoy, Steve Witkoff, were involved in the direct and indirect communications with Iran, the official said.
Trump said earlier on Monday that a “complete and total” ceasefire between Israel and Iran would go into force in the coming hours, moments after both sides threatened new attacks.
Iran launched missiles against a US air base, causing no casualties, after US bombers dropped 30,000-pound bunker-busters on Iranian underground nuclear facilities over the weekend.
The official said Trump called for talks with Israel and Iran soon after the US strikes.
“He directed his team on Saturday night: ‘Let’s get on the phone .. with the Iranians,'” the official said. “‘Get me Bibi. We’re going to make peace,” the official said, quoting Trump.
His team had negotiated with Iran on five different occasions in the weeks leading up to the conflict, but the talks broke down when Iran would not back away from its demand that it continue enriching uranium.
Trump announced on Thursday that he would make a decision on American use of force “within two weeks,” but by Saturday afternoon, he had ordered the US to bomb the Iranian facilities.
His unprecedented decision to bomb Iran’s nuclear sites early on Sunday marked a step that he had long vowed to avoid, to intervene militarily in a major foreign war.
Moving to join US ally, Israel, in military strikes stirred up concern within his right-leaning “Make America Great Again” political base, which has clung to his promises to avoid foreign entanglements.
It was unclear how he got hurt, or how badly he was injured.
A ceasefire, if it holds, may quiet that criticism and reinforce Trump’s portrayal of himself as a peacemaker.
The ceasefire emerged from a day of conversations that he conducted in the Oval Office. The President spoke directly to Netanyahu, who has been a proponent throughout the conflict of more US military involvement.
Trump has “shown restraint” and made clear he was keeping US interests central to his goal, the official said.
Meanwhile, Israel’s Defence Minister, Israel Katz, said on Tuesday morning, June 24, he had ordered the military to strike Tehran after Iran fired missiles in violation of a ceasefire, opens new tab after 12 days of war.
“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 Defence Forces)… to continue high-intensity operations targeting regime assets and terror infrastructure in Tehran,” he said.
Its military said it was working to shoot down Iranian missiles after detecting a launch.
Israel had said on Tuesday a ceasefire was in effect after it had achieved all the goals of the bombing campaign against Iran that it launched on June 13.
Iran had confirmed that it would halt retaliation if Israel’s bombing stopped.
“In light of the achievement of the operation’s goals, and in full coordination with President Trump, Israel agreed to the President’s proposal for a mutual ceasefire,” Netanyahu had said in a statement.
“Israel thanks President Trump and the United States for their support in defense and their participation in eliminating the Iranian nuclear threat,” he said.
Iran’s Foreign Minister, Abbas Araqchi, said Iran would halt its retaliatory strikes provided that Israel stopped attacking as of 4 a.m. in Tehran.
But Katz accused Iran of violating the ceasefire, two hours after agreeing to the deal brokered by Trump and Qatar, vowing to “respond forcefully to Iran’s violation of the ceasefire with intense strikes against regime targets in the heart of Tehran.”
Minutes before, Israel said it had identified missiles launched from Iran, while Tehran denied launching any missiles, according to its state television, saying: “We don’t know how that missile came to be fired, whether it was a mistake or another explanation.”
But senior Israeli government figures view it as a violation of the ceasefire deal and throws into doubt, the ceasefire that hadn’t really come into full effect yet.
