*Thaw After Iran Attack On US Military Airbase In Qatar
*Tehran Says Will End Strikes If Israel Stops
*Israel Confirms Agreement To US Proposal
UNITED States (US) President, Donald Trump, has declared that a “complete and total ceasefire” between Israel and Iran will take effect today, Tuesday, June 24.
Trump’s Truth Social post announcing the ceasefire between Iran and Israel was set to start “approximately six hours” from when he made the announcement earlier in the US night. That time has just passed.
“It has been fully agreed by and between Israel and Iran that there will be a Complete and Total CEASEFIRE (in approximately six hours from now, when Israel and Iran have wound down and completed their in progress, final missions!),” Trump wrote at 18:00 local time in Washington.
Trump said Israel and Iran approached him “almost simultaneously, and said, ‘peace.” At this point, “I knew the time was now,” he wrote in a post on Truth social.
He continued: “The world and the Middle East are the real winners. Both nations will see tremendous love, peace and prosperity in their futures.”
Saying the two countries “have so much to gain, and yet, so much to lose if they stray from the road of righteousness and truth,” the American leader added that Israel and Iran’s futures were “unlimited and filled with great promise. God bless you both!”
In its response, Iran said it will also bring an end to its strikes if Israel stops its attacks. On its part, the Israeli government said it had agreed to the ceasefire proposal, warning, however, in a statement: “Israel will respond forcefully to any violation of the ceasefire.” It reported that shortly before the proposed ceasefire was due to start, Iran fired fresh missiles at the country, killing three.
Tehran also faced a barrage of missiles overnight, with many residents “traumatised.”
In Iran, state media said a ceasefire has been “imposed” on Israel following the “successful” Iran attack on the US base in Qatar on Monday, June 23, in retaliation to the massive US attacks on its nuclear sites.
Iran launched missiles at the US airbase in a symbolic response to strikes on its nuclear sites on Saturday. Qatar said all the missiles were intercepted by its air defences.
Iran fired a number of missiles at American bases equal to the total number of bombs US warplanes dropped during its weekend attack. In his first comments in the aftermath, Trump thanked Iran “for giving us early notice, which made it possible for no lives to be lost, and nobody to be injured.”
He branded the attack “very weak,” no Americans were harmed and very little damage was done, he said. “They’ve gotten it all out of their system,” noting there was now a chance for “peace.”
Nevertheless, a spokesman for Qatar’s Foreign Ministry said the attack was a “surprise,” a “flagrant violation of its sovereignty” and that Qatar “was one of the first countries to warn against the dangers of Israeli escalation in the region.”
Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, admitted that Iran did not harm anyone in the attack, but that his country would not “submit to anyone’s violation.”
“We have not violated anyone, and we will in no way accept being violated by anyone. We will not submit to anyone’s violation; This is the logic of the Iranian nation,” he said on X (as translated by BBC Persian).
There were indications on Monday that the US suspected Iran was preparing to launch missiles into Qatar.
Hours before the attack, Qatar said it was temporarily closing its airspace, shortly after the US and UK told citizens in Qatar to “shelter in place.”
Those warnings did not give a clear indication an attack was imminent. The US said it issued the order “out of an abundance of caution,” while the UK said it was following the lead of the Americans.
However, around an hour before the attack, the BBC learned of “a credible threat” to the base. Separately, some US media outlets quoted anonymous US officials as saying Iranian missile launchers had been positioned for a potential launch towards Qatar.
Flight tracking websites showed planes had already started diverting to other airports before the launch. According to Flightradar24, there were 100 flights bound for Doha shortly before missile launches were detected.
Hamad International Airport is one of the world’s top 10 busiest for international traffic, with around 140,000 passengers passing through per day.
Other countries in the region, including Bahrain and Kuwait, also closed their airspace for a brief period.
As news spread of a possible ceasefire, people across Israel were woken early this morning to the sounds of missile alerts on phones, warning the public to head to shelters. Multiple warnings were issued in quick succession, as missiles were launched at Israel from Iran.
Booms could be heard here in Jerusalem and there was a direct hit in the southern town of Beersheba, with medics rushing to the scene.
The emergency service, Magen David Adom (MDA), later said three deaths had been confirmed, a woman and man in their 40s and a man in his 20s.
Early in the morning, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said Iran had launched several more missiles towards Israel, with Israel’s defensive systems operating to intercept them.
The third wave of Iranian strikes in quick succession, and MDA described the scene: “We saw thick smoke rising from the impact site, and as we got closer, we saw extensive destruction to several buildings.
“Outside one of the buildings, we saw an unconscious man lying at the entrance. When we went inside to search the building, we found a man and a woman unconscious. We set up a triage point for the injured and are conducting medical checks on residents coming out of the buildings.”
Iranian state television called the attack on the US base in Qatar a “successful” response to the US attack, saying Trump “begged” for a ceasefire following Iran’s attack, even as it hailed the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and the Army and praised the “resistance” of Iranians.
If the ceasefire holds, it would make for a significant step back from the brink of a conflict that seemed on the verge of engulfing the region, along with pulling America further in after US airstrikes hit Iranian nuclear facilities on Saturday.
“Provided that the Israeli regime stops its illegal aggression against the Iranian people no later than 4 am Tehran time,” Iranian Foreign Minister, Abbas Araghchi, said in a statement, “we have no intention to continue our response afterwards.”
The BBC said that as the 4 am deadline arrived in Tehran, the Israeli attacks reportedly came to a halt, with the two parties appearing to be on the verge of turning down the heat.
It was gathered that Iran warned US ahead of the strikes at its airbase in Qatar to avoid escalation, for which Trump thanked it for the “early notice.”
Security and defence expert, Stephan Fruehling, told the BBC that Iran’s motivation for hitting back at the US is primarily ‘symbolic,’ adding: “So this warning is likely to signal to the US that Iran is not interested in further conflict with the US.”
Iran’s warning could have provided the timing and target of the strike so Qatar and the US could clear civilian airspace in time, he noted, adding that the warning is a gesture to the US and Qatar that they want to “keep this limited to a conflict with Israel,” as they could lose militarily if they were to escalate.
Fruehling recalled that Iran had conducted “similar performative strikes in the past,” including during Trump’s first term after the killing of Iran’s former military general, Qasem Soleimani.
The BBC reported that before explosions reportedly stopped, Tehran endured one of its worst nights. “Another sleepless night,” that’s how a resident of Tehran described the Israeli night attacks on the city.
Israel had previously issued three warnings for different parts of the city to evacuate “immediately,” but with the internet connection still disrupted in the country, it was harder for residents to see these warnings.
“Why on earth should we have to stay up this late, stressing so much, just to see what disaster is going to fall on us? I feel traumatised, I’m scared of every random noise I hear now,” another resident said in the early hours.
State television said reports indicated some areas of Tehran saw the most intense air defence clashes during the night since June 13. But around 4am, the explosions seemed to stop, some residents told the BBC.
Araghchi issued a 4am deadline for Israel to stop its attacks on X, and thanked the armed forces for continuing to “punish Israel for its aggression…until the very last minute, at 4am.
“The military operations of our powerful Armed Forces to punish Israel for its aggression continued until the very last minute, at 4am.
“Together with all Iranians, I thank our brave Armed Forces, who remain ready to defend our dear country until their last drop of blood, and who responded to any attack by the enemy until the very last minute.”
Araghchi restated: “As Iran has repeatedly made clear: Israel launched war on Iran, not the other way around.
“As of now, there is NO “agreement” on any ceasefire or cessation of military operations. However, provided that the Israeli regime stops its illegal aggression against the Iranian people no later than 4 am Tehran time, we have no intention to continue our response afterwards.
“The final decision on the cessation of our military operations will be made later.”
Meanwhile, US Vice President, JD Vance, has boasted that Iran will not be able to build nuclear weapons as a result of the US air strikes, noting: “We have to talk to Iran, and of course, to Israel, about what the future holds.”
Vance said the crucial question now is whether Iran’s ability to enrich uranium has been fully destroyed, adding, however, that a clear message has been sent to Iran: That US jets can reach their homeland any time.
According to Reuters, Araghchi said on Monday that Tehran’s attack on the Qatar airbase came in response to the US “aggression against Iran’s territorial integrity and sovereignty,” and Iran was ready to respond again in case of any further action by US.
According to the BBC, even though both countries accept the deal, but the hard part for Trump comes after the ceasefire: keeping the nuclear weapon out of Iranian hands.
The White House claimed that Iran’s nuclear programme was completely destroyed, but no one will know for certain until Iran allows observers on the ground.
There are other unknowns too. Had Iranians removed nuclear material and processing machines out of known sites before the American attack? Are there secret sites that were not destroyed by the strikes?
Americans, and indeed, the world, now need a diplomatic deal with the Iranians that will ensure a complete, verifiable and irreversible dismantling of Iran’s nuclear programme.
The last time the US negotiated such deal with Iran, it took over two years to sign the paper. It was then annulled when Trump withdrew from it.
Trump tore up a similar agreement in 2018, the JCPOA, arguing it was defective and could not prevent Iran from building a nuclear bomb.
