If US pursues regime change, Iran would pursue the bomb, warns fmr. Iranian negotiator
As Iran responds to America's bombing of its nuclear facilities, Christiane Amanpour speaks with former Iranian diplomat and nuclear negotiator Seyed Hossein Mousavian about what might come next.
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Chicago Tribune
10 minutes ago
- Chicago Tribune
A whirlwind 48 hours: How Trump's Israel-Iran ceasefire agreement came together
WASHINGTON — In a 48-hour whirlwind, President Donald Trump veered from elated to indignant to triumphant as his fragile Israel-Iran ceasefire agreement came together, teetered toward collapse and ultimately coalesced. Trump, as he worked to seal the deal, publicly harangued the Israelis and Iranians with a level of pique that's notable even for a commander-in-chief who isn't shy about letting the world know what he thinks. The effort was helped along as his aides, and Qatari allies, sensed an opening after what they saw as a half-hearted, face-saving measure by Tehran on Monday to retaliate against the U.S. for strikes against three key nuclear sites. And it didn't hurt that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, after 12 days of bombing, could tell the Israeli public that Iran's nuclear program had been diminished 'This is a War that could have gone on for years, and destroyed the entire Middle East, but it didn't, and never will!' Trump declared in a social media post announcing the ceasefire. The agreement began taking shape early Sunday morning, soon after the U.S. military carried out blistering strikes on Iranian nuclear sites that U.S. defense officials said have set back Tehran's nuclear program. Trump directed his team to get Netanyahu on the phone. The president told Netanyahu not to expect further U.S. offensive military action, according to a senior White House official who was not authorized to comment publicly about the sensitive diplomatic talks. The U.S. president made the case that it was time to stop the war and return to diplomatic negotiations with Iran. Trump also noted that the U.S. had removed any imminent threat posed by Iran, according to the official. For his part, Netanyahu listened to Trump's argument as Israel was nearing its own objectives with Iran, the official said. Netanyahu did not enthusiastically agree, but understood Trump's stance that the U.S. had no desire for additional military involvement. Around the same time, Trump special envoy Steve Witkoff spoke directly with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, telling him to come back to the bargaining table because Iran had seen what the U.S. military could do and that it was capable of doing much more, the official said. Witkoff stressed that the U.S. wanted peace — and Iran should, too. Less than 48 hours later, Trump took to his social media platform to announce that a 'Complete and Total CEASEFIRE' had been achieved. The ceasefire was based solely on the end of military hostilities, rather than on additional conditions about Iran's nuclear program or its economic interests. Trump was acting on the belief that Iran's ability to develop nuclear weapons had been crippled. But as Trump spoke with confidence about the coming cease-fire, the Israelis and Iranians were notably quiet — neither side publicly commented on what Trump described as a deal that would be phased in over the coming hours. Araghchi spoke out first, acknowledging the wheels were in motion for a deal, but stopping short of saying Iran had signed off. 'As of now, there is NO 'agreement' on any ceasefire or cessation of military operations,' Araghchi posted on X. '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.' Not long before Trump's announcement, Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei took to social media to declare that Iran wouldn't surrender. It was unclear what role Khamenei, the ultimate authority in the Islamic Republic's theocracy, had in the deal. And Netanyahu was silent. He would wait more than eight hours after Trump's announcement to confirm that Israel had accepted the ceasefire and that it had achieved its war goals against Iran. Qatar's prime minister, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, said ceasefire efforts gained steam after Iran's retaliatory attack on a major U.S. base in the emirate on Monday evening. The Iranians fired 14 missiles at the base — with U.S. and Qatari defense systems knocking down 13. One of the missiles, according to Trump, was ''set free' because it was headed in a nonthreatening direction.' Trump also claimed the Iranians gave the U.S. and Qatar a heads up, allowing the troops to take shelter and the Qataris to clear their typically busy airspace. Iran's restrained direct response to the U.S. bombardment suggested to Trump administration officials that Iran — battered by Israel's 12-day assault — and its degraded proxy groups, including Lebanon-based Hezbollah and Yemen-based Houthis, didn't have the wherewithal to expand the fight. Qatar's emir, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, had a 'long call' with Trump soon after the Iranian attack on the Al-Ubeid military installation, according to the Qatari prime minister. 'There was an opportunity during this communication to announce a full ceasefire on all fronts, and U.S. authorities asked Qatar to contact Iranian authorities to know how prepared they are for a ceasefire,' the prime minister said. The president soon got back in touch with Netanyahu to secure his commitment to end the hostilities, officials said. The prime minister agreed to the ceasefire, as long as there were no further attacks by Iran, the officials said. From there, things moved quickly. Vice President JD Vance was making an appearance on Fox News' 'Special Report' on Monday evening when Trump took to social media to announce the ceasefire deal had been reached and would go into effect over the coming day. The vice president appeared surprised when host Bret Baier told him that Trump had announced a deal had been reached. 'We were actually working on that just as I left the White House to come over here,' Vance said. 'So that's good news that the president was able to get that across the finish line.' But after Trump's announcement, the attacks kept coming. Iran launched a series of strikes on Israel after 4 a.m. local time Tuesday in Tehran, the time that Iran's foreign minister had said Iran would cease its attacks if Israel ended their airstrikes. And the Israeli prime minister's office confirmed that Israel launched a major assault hours ahead of the ceasefire's start, hitting central Tehran. 'We attacked forcefully in the heart of Tehran, hitting regime targets and killing hundreds of Basij and Iranian security forces,' the statement read. Iranian media confirmed nine casualties in the northern Gilan province. 'Four residential buildings were completely destroyed and several neighboring houses were damaged in the blasts.' Fars News Agency reported. Trump, who was scheduled to depart the White House early Tuesday to fly to the Netherlands for the NATO summit, was livid. His frustration was palpable as he spoke to reporters on the White House South Lawn. 'I'm not happy with them. I'm not happy with Iran, either, but I'm really unhappy with Israel going out this morning,' Trump said. 'We basically have two countries that have been fighting so long and so hard that they don't know what the f—- they're doing.' Minutes later, he took to his Truth Social platform to send a warning to Israel. 'ISRAEL. DO NOT DROP THOSE BOMBS. IF YOU DO IT IS A MAJOR VIOLATION,' Trump posted. 'BRING YOUR PILOTS HOME, NOW!' Trump climbed aboard Air Force One and was soon on the phone with Netanyahu. He did not mince words with the Israeli leader, according to one of the White House officials. Trump was 'exceptionally firm and direct' with Netanyahu 'about what needed to happen to sustain the ceasefire.' Netanyahu got the message. His office confirmed that the Israeli leader held off tougher action after the appeal from Trump and 'refrained from additional attacks.' After the call, Trump once again took to social media to declare the ceasefire was 'in effect. ' 'ISRAEL is not going to attack Iran,' Trump declared. 'All planes will turn around and head home, while doing a friendly 'Plane Wave' to Iran, Nobody will be hurt, the Ceasefire is in effect!' The president went on to spend a considerable chunk of his flight celebrating what his administration is calling a signal achievement. 'It was my great honor to Destroy All Nuclear facilities & capability, and then, STOP THE WAR!'
The Hill
21 minutes ago
- The Hill
Trump's ‘both sides' approach to Israel, Iran comes into question
President Trump's strategy of playing both sides is coming into question as he fumed over Israel and Iran's continued fighting while demanding peace in the region. The president was so frustrated Tuesday morning he dropped an expletive on the White House lawn on his way to the NATO summit, contending that the two adversaries 'don't know what the f—k they're doing.' He also offered a window into his handling of the situation in which he stressed criticism mostly for Israel but also Iran in his quest to end the fighting: 'All I do is play both sides.' Whether Trump's strategy to have a foot in each camp will be successful depends on if Israel and Iran will abide by his desire to stop fighting longterm, but some foreign policy experts think it will take more disciplined diplomacy to reach a peaceful end. Elliott Abrams, U.S. Special Representative for Iran during Trump's first term, argued that if the administration took a more subdued approach and called on Israel to de-escalate instead of retaliate when Iran continued strikes, Trump would have likely not gone on his 'tirade' on Tuesday. 'With the announcement of the ceasefire and the Iranians cheating, the Israelis were going to respond. They did respond. And I think that had he or [Secretary of State Marco] Rubio called Netanyahu and said, 'we don't want to lose the ceasefire. So how do you plan to respond? And, don't blow up Tehran, do something moderate.' That would have worked,' Abrams said. 'There was no need for a public and private tirade.' Abrams contended that while Trump may have been posturing toward both countries, his public outburst did the situation few favors. 'You never know with Trump how much is performative, but I think there was no need for what he did,' added Abrams, senior fellow for Middle Eastern studies at the Council on Foreign Relations. Trump allies have argued that the president's flexibility and willingness to pivot on a dime is an asset, particularly when it comes to foreign policy. Where critics see Trump as having few strongly held beliefs and a lack of commitment to long-standing allies, the president's supporters see him as able to shift his tone and approach to get whatever result he desires. White House officials this week have trumpeted that 'only' Trump could have produced the results he did with Iran, a nod to his unorthodox approach that can change from day-to-day or hour-to-hour depending on the situation. Fred Fleitz, vice chair of the America First Policy Institute's Center for American Security, argued some tension between Trump and Netanyahu is to be expected, but that Trump is unwaveringly pro-Israel despite his public frustrations. 'Netanyahu is not Trump's puppet, and he has to look out for the interests of his nation, not simply do what Trump tells him to do,' Fleitz said. 'And I think that creates conflict from time to time.' One Trump ally noted that the Iran-Israel conflict was far from the first time the president has deployed an 'all sides' approach. They argued Trump has used it at times when addressing the war in Ukraine, alternately attacking Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and bellowing that he is unhappy with Russian President Vladimir Putin as he attempts to bring the two sides to the negotiating table. A version of that was also on full display Tuesday as Trump posted a cascade of Truth Social posts as he was flying to the Netherlands for the NATO summit this week. While he left the White House just after sunrise in a huff, his Truth Social posts soon began suggesting that the ceasefire was holding and that he was telling Israel to turn their planes around. By the time Trump spoke to reporters on Air Force One, he relayed that he spoke to Netanyahu and that he was optimistic a truce would hold. 'The ceasefire is very much in effect, and I think we're going to keep it there for a long time,' he said. 'I said, 'you got to turn back the planes.'' Trump said. 'And there was going to be a retaliation this morning by Israel and I said, 'you gotta call back the planes. It's enough, it's enough.' And they did, which I respect very greatly.' By late Tuesday, the ceasefire appeared to hold by both Israel and Iran with few if any reports of Tehran striking Israel after Trump's earlier remarks. Trump said there wouldn't be consequences for the fighting that occurred overnight when the ceasefire was supposed to initially begin. Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), one of the most hawkish Trump allies in Congress, argued in response to Trump's unleashing that Israel and Iran can't be lumped together. 'I can understand his frustration but there's no moral equivalency between Iran and Israel,' Graham said on Fox News. 'Israel is our friend, Iran is our enemy.' The U.S. had been pulled into a dayslong conflict between Israel and Iran when it struck three Iranian nuclear sites on Saturday with some of the most powerful ammunition in the U.S. arsenal. Iran struck back Monday with several missiles over Qatar where a large U.S. military base is located, but gave fair warning to the U.S. before doing so, which prevented casualties, according to Trump. Trump announced the parameters of a ceasefire deal later Monday, but fighting between Iran and Israel continued overnight, much to the president's chagrin Tuesday morning. Abrams said he was surprised that Trump was upset with Israel and Iran, but added, 'another thing you never know… what is the factual basis for his comment.' He added, 'God knows what someone said to him over the phone or what tweet he read that set him off. He may actually not have understood the situation.'
Bloomberg
21 minutes ago
- Bloomberg
Fragile Iran-Israel Ceasefire Holds After Trump Lashes Out
Good morning. A shaky truce between Israel and Iran is holding. China's Labubu craze changes the way consumers shop. And there's trouble in South Park. Listen to the day's top stories. A shaky Iran-Israel ceasefire appeared to hold after an angry Donald Trump slammed both sides for mutual attacks in the early hours of the accord. The president's tone cooled later as he hailed 'PEACE abroad.' In Doha and Dubai, life returned to 'normal' after a 24 hours of chaos. Meanwhile, the United Nations' atomic watchdog has a question: Where is Iran's 409 kilograms of near-bomb-grade uranium? That may be increasingly important amid reports that the US bombing failed to completely destroy the nuclear sites.
