Live Updates: Trump Says Cease-Fire Is Imminent; No Word From Iran or Israel

New York Times

4 hours ago

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President Trump said on social media on Monday that Israel and Iran had agreed to a cease-fire after more than a week of missile strikes on each other and a weekend attack on Iranian nuclear facilities by American bombers. There was no immediate confirmation of a deal by Israel or Iran.
Mr. Trump's assertion came hours after Iran launched missiles at Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar, the largest American military installation in the Middle East, retaliating for U.S. strikes on Iranian nuclear sites though taking steps to limit the damage.
Vice President JD Vance said that the war appeared to be 'effectively over' and that there was now an opportunity to 'restart a real peace process.'
Mr. Trump's language was characteristically less cautious.
'It has been fully agreed by and between Israel and Iran that there will be a Complete and Total CEASEFIRE,' the president wrote on social media. But he said it would not take place until the two countries had 'wound down' military missions still in progress, which he said would unfold in phases over a day.
An Israeli military spokesman declined to comment, and there was no immediate comment from the Iranian government. But Israeli officials had suggested that the fighting might wind down soon. On Sunday night, the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, said Israel was 'very, very close' to achieving its aims in the war against Iran, although he did not provide a timetable for an end to the fighting.
Even as Iran prepared to target an American air base in Qatar earlier in the day, there were signs that the country was looking for an off-ramp from confrontation with the United States. Iranian officials and Mr. Trump said Iran had given advance notice that the missile strike was coming, minimizing potential casualties.
Mr. Trump said that 13 of the 14 Iranian missiles fired at Al Udeid had been downed, that no Americans there had been killed or wounded and that the damage was minimal. He also suggested that the fight, at least between the United States and Iran, might be over.
'They've gotten it all out of their 'system,' and there will, hopefully, be no further HATE,' he said, thanking Iran 'for giving us early notice, which made it possible for no lives to be lost, and nobody to be injured.'
About 10,000 U.S. troops are stationed at Al Udeid, which serves as the regional headquarters for the U.S. Central Command. The Iranian strike on the base had initially stoked fears that the conflict with Iran might intensify, drawing the United States in deeper and expanding across the region. Qatar condemned the attack on its territory and said it reserved 'the right to respond directly.'
Iranian officials had said their country needed to be seen striking back at the United States for its attack on critical nuclear installations, but cautiously. Iran used a similar approach in 2020, giving a heads-up before firing ballistic missiles at an American base in Iraq in reprisal for the assassination of its top general.
The Iranian assault came as Israel launched wide-ranging strikes on Tehran on Monday and promised more 'in the coming days,' pressing on with its bombing campaign two days after the United States attacked three Iranian nuclear sites.
But the new Israeli barrage, which a military spokesman said targeted a paramilitary headquarters and access routes to the Fordo nuclear enrichment site that the U.S. military bombarded, came as Iran fired salvos of missiles that sent Israelis to huddle in shelters, and as Iran's foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, met with a key ally, President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia.
While the Russian leader called the U.S. strikes 'absolutely unprovoked aggression,' he stopped short of offering concrete support for Iran.
Here's what else to know:
Economic impact: Oil prices fell and stocks climbed after Iran fired missiles at Al Udeid. Before the attack, investors appeared cautiously optimistic about the potential economic fallout from the U.S. strikes over the weekend, and of any moves Iran might make that would disrupt oil shipments through the Strait of Hormuz, a critical transit point for global oil supplies.
Calls for peace: After European foreign ministers met to discuss Iran, the European Union's chief diplomat, Kaja Kallas, said that 'the concerns of retaliation and this war escalating are huge.' The International Atomic Energy Agency held an emergency meeting in Vienna, where the head of the agency, Rafael Grossi, warned that 'violence and destruction could reach unimaginable levels' if Iran, Israel and the United States do not find a path to diplomacy.
U.S. strikes: Though Mr. Trump declared that Iran's nuclear program had been 'totally obliterated' by the U.S. bombings over the weekend, the actual state of the program was far murkier, with senior officials conceding they did not know the fate of Iran's stockpile of near-bomb-grade uranium.
River Akira Davis contributed reporting.