US President Donald Trump announced Monday that Israel and Iran agreed to a “complete and total ceasefire,” in what would bring about a startlingly rapid end to the conflict just hours after Tehran retaliated against Washington for the latter’s unprecedented strike on the Islamic Republic’s nuclear sites.
In a Truth Social post published at 5:02 p.m. in Washington (1:02 a.m. Israel time), Trump said Israel and Iran would likely exchange final blows over the next six hours before the deal would come into place on Tuesday. He indicated that Iran would be the first side to hold its fire, followed by Israel.
“Iran will start the ceasefire and, upon the 12th Hour, Israel will start the ceasefire and, upon the 24th Hour, an official end to the 12 Day War,” he said, congratulating both sides on “on having the stamina, courage, and intelligence to end” the conflict that “could have gone on for years.”
Reuters cited a senior Iranian official who said on condition of anonymity that Tehran had agreed to the deal, though Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi later insisted on X that “as of now, there is NO ‘agreement’ on any ceasefire or cessation of military operations.” He added, however, that the Islamic Republic would not launch further attacks if Israel immediately ceased strikes.
“As Iran has repeatedly made clear: Israel launched war on Iran, not the other way around,” Araghchi said. “However, provided that the Israeli regime stops its illegal aggression against the Iranian people no later than 4 a.m. 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.”
There was no immediate Israeli comment on Trump’s announcement.
A senior White House official said the ceasefire was mediated by the US and Qatar, with Trump first calling Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu earlier Monday to secure his support.
After speaking with Netanyahu, Trump then called Qatar’s Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani and asked him to bring Iran on board.
The Qatari emir subsequently secured Iran’s backing in a call that took place shortly after Tehran fired a barrage of ballistic missiles at the Al Obeid airbase near Doha, which houses thousands of US troops.
Trump claimed earlier that Tehran had given the US a heads-up before the strike, in a potential indication that it had been a somewhat symbolic attempt by the Islamic Republic to save face after Washington had struck three of its main nuclear sites early Sunday morning.
After the Iranian strike, Tehran sent the US a message through Qatar that it wasn’t interested in further attacks, according to the Axios news site, which cited a source familiar with the matter.
The White House then sent a message back to Tehran saying it would not retaliate for the Iranian strike and was interested in a ceasefire.
In direct and indirect contact with the Iranians were US Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and special envoy Steve Witkoff, the White House official said.
According to Israel’s Channel 12 news, before Trump’s conversation Monday with Netanyahu — which came after Iran attacked the US base in Qatar — his Secretary of State Marco Rubio spoke with Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer, a top aide to the prime minister. The network reported Rubio told Dermer that the US wanted to wrap up the war after striking Iran’s missile sites, to which Dermer responded by saying Israel was close to achieving all the objectives it set for itself.
Aiming to clarify the sequencing of ceasefire amid Trump’s convoluted post, Vance told Fox News in an interview that Israel and Iran would likely continue exchanging fire for several more hours.
Indeed, the IDF after the Vance interview said it had intercepted several Iranian drones, while loud blasts from apparent Israeli strikes could be heard throughout Tehran after midnight on Tuesday.
Israel meanwhile remained on alert for an Iranian attack, with the IDF Home Front Command saying after Trump declared the ceasefire that there were no changes to its guidelines for the Israeli public, with gatherings still banned and schools and workplaces closed.
Vance also downplayed concerns that Iran is still in possession of highly-enriched uranium following Washington’s strikes on its nuclear program, arguing that the operation succeeded in preventing Tehran from being able to use that uranium to produce a nuclear weapon.
“Our goal was to bury the uranium, and I do think the uranium is buried,” he began. “But our goal was to eliminate the enrichment [program] and eliminate their ability to convert that enriched fuel into a nuclear weapon,” Vance told Fox News.
“If they have 60% enriched uranium, but they don’t have the ability to enrich it to 90% and further, then they don’t have the ability to convert that to a nuclear weapon. That is mission success,” he said, reiterating that Iran’s nuclear program has been “obliterated.”
The exact extent of damage to Iran’s nuclear program following the US strike on Sunday and Israel’s strikes since June 13 has not been independently verified.
As for Iran’s ballistic missile program, Vance told Fox News that it has been “destroyed” before later saying that it has been “largely destroyed.”
He argued that the ceasefire provides Iran with an opportunity “pursue the path of peace” after they have proven that “they’re just not very good at war.”
In its strike on Iran, Vance said the US proved that it “could fly a bunker buster bomb from Missouri to Iran completely undetected without landing once on the ground, and [that it] can destroy whatever nuclear capacity [Iran] builds up.
“I think that lesson is what’s going to teach them not to rebuild their nuclear capacity,” he asserts.
“Tomorrow (Tuesday) is a new day — the end of the 12 Day War, the end of the Iranian nuclear program, and the beginning of something very big for peace in the Middle East,” Vance said.
Times of Israel staff and agencies contributed to this report.