Trump Says Iran-Israel Truce Holds After Berating Both Countries

(MENAFN- Jordan Times) WASHINGTON - US President Donald Trump said Tuesday that a ceasefire between Iran and Israel was holding, shortly after he lashed out at both countries and cursed as he accused them of violating the truce.

In a fast-moving series of declarations, the 79-year-old Republican, who was on his way to attend a NATO summit in The Hague, posted on his Truth Social app that "the Ceasefire is in effect!"

"ISRAEL is not going to attack Iran. All planes will turn around and head home, while doing a friendly 'Plane Wave' to Iran. Nobody will be hurt," Trump wrote.

Minutes earlier, he had castigated Iran and also close US ally Israel for violating a ceasefire he had originally announced late Monday.

The two countries have been "fighting so long and so hard that they don't know what the fuck they're doing, do you understand that?" the president told reporters at the White House.

Iran violated the ceasefire, "but Israel violated it too," Trump told reporters on the White House's South Lawn as he departed for the NATO summit.

"So I'm not happy with them. I'm not happy with Iran either. But I'm really unhappy if Israel is going out this morning."

"I've got to get Israel to calm down," he said. "Israel, as soon as we made the deal, they came out and dropped a load of bombs the likes of which I've never seen before."

Trump's unusually public display of anger at Israel saw the US leader apparently trying to cajole his ally to call off warplanes in real time.

Earlier the same morning, he had posted on Truth Social: "ISRAEL. DO NOT DROP THOSE BOMBS" -- without it being clear which bombs he was referring to.

"IF YOU DO IT IS A MAJOR VIOLATION. BRING YOUR PILOTS HOME, NOW!"

If it holds, the truce would be a big political win for Trump in the wake of his risky decision to send US bombers over the weekend to attack three nuclear facilities in Iran that Israel and the United States say were being used to build an atomic bomb in secret.

The US leader had said the truce would be a phased 24-hour process beginning at around 0400 GMT Tuesday, with Iran unilaterally halting all operations first. He said Israel would follow suit 12 hours later.

Israel has been bombing Iran in an offensive that began June 13. The United States joined the attack with a mission starting overnight Friday to Saturday against the deeply buried Fordow complex and two other sites.

Speaking to reporters at the White House, Trump insisted that the US bombing mission was a success.

"I think it's been completely demolished," he said, savaging US journalists for "fake news" and calling two networks "scum" for reporting that it remains unclear whether the Iranian nuclear infrastructure was truly dismantled.

"IRAN WILL NEVER REBUILD THEIR NUCLEAR FACILITIES!" he posted separately on Truth Social.

Iran's President Masoud Pezeshkian said Tuesday that it will respect a ceasefire announced by US President Donald Trump provided that Israel also upholds its terms.

"If the Zionist regime does not violate the ceasefire, Iran will not violate it either," Pezeshkian said during a phone conversation with Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, according to the presidency's website.

Iran said on Tuesday that at least 610 civilians had been killed and more than 4,700 wounded in the Islamic republic since the start of the war with Israel on June 13.

"They are all civilians," health ministry spokesman Hossein Kermanpour said, announcing the increase from the previously reported toll of more than 400 dead and 3,056 wounded.

"Over the past 12 days, hospitals... have been confronted with extremely harrowing scenes," he wrote on social media platform X.

Those killed in the Israeli strikes included 13 children, the youngest of whom was two months old, the ministry said, as well as five doctors and rescue workers.

The ministry also said seven hospitals and nine ambulances had been damaged in the Israeli attacks.

Iran's government said Tuesday it had "taken the necessary measures" to ensure the continuation of its nuclear programme after US and Israeli strikes targeted its facilities.

"We have taken the necessary measures and are taking stock of the damage" caused by the strikes, said the head of the Atomic Energy Organisation of Iran, Mohammad Eslami, in a statement aired on state television.

"Plans for restarting [the facilities]have been prepared in advance, and our strategy is to ensure that production and services are not disrupted," he added.

The United States struck the Fordo, Isfahan and Natanz uranium enrichment facilities on Sunday.

Trump called the strikes a "spectacular military success". The extent of the damage is unknown.

An adviser to Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, said his country still had stocks of enriched uranium and that "the game is not over".

Israel announced on Monday that it had again bombed the Fordo site, buried under a mountain south of Tehran, to "obstruct access routes".

The government spokeswoman said Tuesday efforts to rebuild residential areas and public infrastructure damaged in Israeli strikes over 12 days had begun.

"We witnessed attacks on residential areas, as well as on scientific centres, research institutes, healthcare facilities and civilians... therefore we are facing a major task ahead in terms of reconstruction," government spokeswoman Fatemeh Mohajerani told state TV, adding that the authorities have begun to assess the extent of the damage.

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