Trump claims Israel-Iran ceasefire he brokered is ‘in effect' despite initial violations
US President Donald Trump claimed a ceasefire between Iran and Israel was 'in effect' on Tuesday, after expressing deep frustration with both sides for violating the agreement he brokered.
Israel earlier accused Iran of launching missiles into its airspace after the truce was supposed to take effect. The Iranian military denied firing on Israel.
Mr Trump reacted furiously after an Israel-Iran ceasefire he had brokered and taken credit for was violated within a few hours, ordering Israel to turn its warplanes around midair and abort their planned bombing sorties, which he warned would be a 'major violation'.
Israel claimed Iran had been the first to break the truce, saying it had shot down two ballistic missiles heading for northern Israel at about 10.30am, about two and a half hours after the ceasefire was announced.
Nevertheless, on waking in Washington to the news that his truce had been broken so soon, Trump reserved his greatest rancour for Israel, for the scale of its planned retaliation, but also for the amount of bombs Israeli planes had dropped between agreeing the ceasefire on Monday night and it coming into force at 5am GMT on Tuesday.
'Israel, as soon as we made the deal, they came out and they dropped a load of bombs, the likes of which I've never seen before, the biggest load that we've seen,' he said, in the strongest-worded public rebuke of Israel of any US president in history.
We basically have two countries that have been fighting so long and so hard that they don't know what the fuck they're doing.
On his own private online platform, Truth Social, he issued a blunt instruction, writing: 'ISRAEL. DO NOT DROP THOSE BOMBS. IF YOU DO IT IS A MAJOR VIOLATION. BRING YOUR PILOTS HOME, NOW!' After a conversation with Israel's prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, he returned to the platform to announce: '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, the Ceasefire is in effect!'
Minutes later, however, explosions were reported by Iranian media around Tehran and in the north of the country.
A member of Iran's Revolutionary Guard stands guard at Enqelab-e-Eslami (Islamic Revolution) square in downtown Tehran, Iran, Tuesday, June 24, 2025. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
The US website Axios reported that Netanyahu had told Trump that he could not cancel the strike entirely, and that ultimately 'it was decided to significantly scale back the strike, cancel the attack on a large number of targets and strike only one target'. Haaretz reported that the single target was an Iranian radar installation.
Iran denied having broken the truce or launched missiles that Israel claimed to have intercepted mid-morning on Tuesday, but Israel's defence minister, Israel Katz, said he had ordered immediate retaliation on Tehran.
Trump had used social media to announce the ceasefire just after 5am GMT on Tuesday, asking the warring parties not to violate it. Both sides carried out an intense exchange of fire before signalling their acceptance, but hours after the declaration it remained unclear if the truce would stick.
Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu. File Picture: Ronen Zvulun/Pool Photo via AP
The all clear was later sounded in the north of Israel but the country's hardline finance minister, Bezalel Smotrich, posted a message on the social media platform X vowing a response, warning: 'Tehran will tremble.' Iranian state media suggested the ceasefire had been 'imposed on the enemy' after 'four waves of attacks on Israeli-occupied territories'.
The Israeli authorities confirmed Iran had fired 20 missiles, and that five Israelis had been killed and more than 22 wounded in the southern city of Beersheba.
Israeli security forces inspect the site struck by an Iranian missile strike that killed several people, in Beersheba, Israel, on Tuesday, June 24, 2025. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)
Ninety minutes after Trump's announcement, Israel – which began the war with a surprise attack on 13 June – also acknowledged the truce and claimed victory.
In the hours before the declaration of a ceasefire, Israel carried out some of its most intense airstrikes on Tehran yet, residents said.
The Tasnim News Agency said nine Iranians had been killed in the north of the country, while Israel claimed to have struck missile launchers in western Iran and struck dozens of targets in Tehran in the early hours of Tuesday morning. The prime minister's office claimed to have killed hundreds of militants in the Basij, a volunteer force used to suppress internal dissent, and targeted an Iranian nuclear scientist, bringing the toll of assassinations of Iranian scientists to at least 15.
- The Guardian and Associated Press
Read More
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Irish Times
2 hours ago
- Irish Times
Letters to the Editor, June 25th: On restoring peace, subsidising house prices and US student visa rules
Sir, –What a coup! President Donald Trump has surprised us all with the ceasefire between Iran and Israel. America's wise restraint in not responding militarily to the attack on its Al Udeid airbase in Qatar sets a new precedent for superpower restraint. Hopefully, China will appreciate, and Russia will stop its aggression on Ukraine. Israel must now adopt a ceasefire in Gaza and respond constructively to President Mahmoud Abbas of Palestine's letter earlier this month. More than that, Trump should team up with French president, Emmanuel Macron, and Sauidi crown prince, Mohammed Bin Salman, to make a success of the planned UN conference on Palestine. The best way forward is for Trump to lift the US veto on Palestine's membership in the UN, already recognised by an overwhelming majority of its members, including Ireland. That would boost the Abraham Accords, as it would rejoin the Arab Peace Initiative and settle conflict in the region durably. Israel could at last become an integrated state in its home region. READ MORE Its own internal governance reforms must follow suit. All of this falls imminently on the 80th anniversary of the UN Charter, the call to conscience for which was launched by the peace reflection group of former UN officials, and has been endorsed by Mary Robinson and a plethora of other world leaders, including not least former UN secretary-general Ban Ki-Moon. – Yours, etc, FRANCIS M. O'DONNELL, (former UN diplomat), Vienna, Austria. Sir, – Reputedly, when Gandhi was asked about his view on Christian principles, he responded that he greatly approved of them but suggested that perhaps the Christians ought to follow them. The same, with far more validity, can also be said of UN member states and the principles enunciated in the UN Charter supposedly adopted by them. It is well past the time finally to recognise that the (UN) emperor has no (legitimate) clothes. The ongoing support of the US for the war crimes and genocide committed by Israel in Gaza and the United States' bombing of Iran are the last straws. That is not to say I support either the Iranian regime or Hamas. I unreservedly condemn both. But for far too long now most, if not all, of the permanent members of the UN Security Council, who control the UN, have made an utter mockery of the UN Charter. The UN has passed countless resolutions in respect of Israel and Gaza and all have been wholly ignored, indeed flouted and mocked, by Israel with the open support of the US. The US has been engaged in several wars and invasions of other countries over the past several decades – for, at best, dubious and self-serving reasons – and indeed sought, and sometimes even obtained, UN approval for the same. The US and Russia have had the temerity to use the UN to provide cover for their unlawful activities and wrongdoing. This needs to stop now. Ireland should immediately withdraw from the UN and join with like-minded countries, of which there are very many, to found a genuinely representative world body in which no one country would have either automatic membership of the governing council or a veto. This new body would of course need to have real enforcement powers and an effective world court. It would not be difficult to do: the UN Charter agreed by all countries already exists. Of course, the United States, Russia, Israel, etc, will not join this new body – at least not right away –– but what harm would that do? – Yours, etc EAMON DILLON, Farranshone, Limerick. US and student visa rules Sir, – The new requirement for J-1 visa applicants to submit social media details will affect more than just summer students bound for the US. ( 'US visa applicants must disclose all social media ', June 24th). The J-1 visa is typically the primary and most common visa classification for research scholars and visiting professors coming to the US on a temporary, non-immigrant basis, especially for sabbaticals, academic exchanges, and short-term research appointments. At the very least, this requirement is likely to cause some to hesitate before choosing the US and toward other destinations with more transparent or less invasive visa processes. – Yours, etc, JAMES QUINN, Rochester, USA. Sir, – If a student seeking a J1 visa has posted their opinion of Trump as an a**hole and that the Israeli actions in Gaza are disgraceful will they get that visa? If so, then that's great for free speech. However, if they don't then is that not telling us the US has fundamentally changed to an adversary of free speech? – Yours, etc, LEE HEALY, Ballincollig, Cork. Sir, – If the prospect of sharing their social media content with American authorities to acquire a student visa causes 'fear and distress', then maybe America isn't the right place for these students to go. Find a better fit or wait for a different administration. – Yours, etc, DARA O'DONNELL, Portobello, Dublin 8. Seeing red over College Green Sir, – Do we really need a civic plaza in the centre of Dublin at a cost of €80 million? Admittedly, it's not enough to solve the housing crisis, but to spend it on a traffic-free, pedestrian and cycle plaza, seems to me, a complete waste of taxpayers money. Unlike some other European cities, where one can sit and soak up the ambience generated by cafes, ice-cream parlours, restaurants, bars, boutique shops etc., in glorious sunshine, Dubliners and visitors alike, are expected to sit and admire the Bank of Ireland, Trinity College and a few 19th century buildings, with just one or two places where you can get a take-away coffee? Spectacular as they may be, would anyone want to look at them for longer than it takes to lick a '99.' without being able to rest comfortably? The architect's image in The Irish Times (June 24th), shows two long backless benches which might accommodate 30 adults – if you don't mind sitting shoulder to shoulder with a complete stranger, as they sip their take-away coffee, and risk getting hit by an e-scooter whizzing by, as you stand up, or get soaked to the skin by a frequent Irish summer's downpour. There is not a single waste bin in sight to dispose of an empty coffee cup and the ground surface depicted is hardly conducive to wheelchairs, rollators or prams – never mind bicycles! Methinks, it is a case of back to the drawing board. – Yours, etc, BARBARA KELLY, Greystones, Co Wicklow. Fallout from not upgrading the A5 Sir, – The news that the A5 upgrade will not now happen will be greeted with dismay by all of us who travel that particular portion of road from Donegal to Dublin It's time for the Irish Government to upgrade the Sligo to Letterkenny road thus giving the communities in Donegal some hope of reducing the long journey to Dublin and beyond. We need to stop relying on our neighbours to partner on this much-needed upgrade while they sort out the rights of landowners and climate change impacts which apparently trump the lives of those killed and injured on this notorious road. – Yours, etc, JOHN O'CONNELL, Letterkenny, Co Donegal. Developing a housing policy Sir, – Dr John McCartney's article ( 'Developers are bluffing when they say lower prices would undermine viability of house building ,' June 24th) misreads Ireland's housing crisis. Persistent affordability pressures arise not from surplus capital but from a structural undersupply of homes and a stubbornly high cost floor. Housing Commission data show completions still trail demographic need. Reoccupying vacant units helps, yet it cannot bridge the gap, especially in urban areas where demand is strongest. Cost is the second constraint. Repeated Society of Chartered Surveyors Ireland studies confirm that, even on free land, building apartments to today's safety, accessibility and sustainability standards often prices them beyond reach. Developers are not on 'strike' – they build when schemes are viable. Targeted supports such as help to buy and the first home scheme – both with price caps – therefore remain essential. They narrow the affordability gap without fuelling price inflation and give lenders and builders the certainty to start projects. Abandoning supply targets or tightening credit would simply throttle delivery and push prices higher. What Ireland now needs is evidence-led policy that accelerates planning reform, lowers delivery costs and mobilises public and private capital behind new supply across all tenures. Yours, etc, PAT FARRELL, Chief executive, Irish Institutional Property, Upper Pembroke St, Dublin. Sir, – With respect to John McCartney's article on housing I would like to make the following point: While it is refreshing to hear an advocate for less government interference in the housing market, the help to buy scheme is simply giving young working people there own tax money back. These young workers are already heavily taxed to fund the social housing of others and the various other subsidies that mostly end up in the bank accounts of landlords. While it is technically an intervention in the housing market, it is one of the few ways that young people have to compete with the Government, institutional buyers and other landlords. – Yours, etc, ALAN COAKLEY, Co Roscommon. Sir, – There abides, but soon to be evicted and despatched, a neighbour. He lives with his mate and brood on the southern end of a substantial top-soil mound which has become wild and richly overgrown having been without human interference for some years now. An ideal location, with cover, for a pheasant to inhabit, set up a home and start a family. Stored top-soil mounds are valuable. Rich horticulture land is also valuable, but has a much slower, generational monetary return. Developers procured this land perhaps 15 years ago built on part of it and now are set to fully 'develop' it. Developers become destroyers then when it's time to build directly on removed top-soil mounds and 'fully develop' the land for housing. Time has come to access this resource, sell and recover their loss for storage then scour the area fit for housing. Heavy earth moving machinery will make short work of a fertile mound. Our pal sits on his patch and raucously proclaims to all that this is his place in the world. His partner and chicks feel safe and secure here in their elevated idyllic ground nest. An irony is that he and his family will not see the middle of July, having been evicted and despatched before then. Not only should we mourn the loss of a pheasant family but also the loss of rich horticultural land. We need homes, but the Government, planners, et al, need to get their act together, find brownfield sites and build there. We need developers not destroyers. – Yours, etc, PASCAL BYRNE, Rush, Co Dublin. Seriously, though Sir, – The letters published in The Irish Times recently seem to be of a longer and more serious nature. Time for a regime change perhaps? – Yours, etc, DAVID CURRAN, Knocknacarra, Galway. Sir, – Monday's edition of The Irish Times felt very skimpy to me. The shop assistant noticed my bemused look and said: 'You're right and you're not the first: there's no news today'. If only. – Yours, etc, MICHAEL KEEGAN, Booterstown, Co Dublin. Spare a thought for school secretaries Sir, – As schools begin to close their doors this week and teaching staff disperse to the four corners of the world, spare a thought for the most overworked and underpaid secretarial cohort in the country. School secretaries will over the summer ensure that everything is in order for schools to return in late August. Despite a new contractual system, schools struggle to hold on to excellent secretarial staff who are quite predictably lured away by more lucrative and less taxing positions elsewhere. Schools have struggled with staffing issues in recent years and substitution has proven difficult but the show goes on. However, most principals will concede that if their secretary is absent they are irreplaceable and that school administration grinds to a halt. Quite simply, to ensure that these wonderful people stay in our schools, their conditions of employment must change and they should be rewarded for their skills and versatility. This is a well beaten drum at this stage and one to which most ministers for education have chosen not to listen. I ask the current Minister for Education, Helen McEntee, to give this matter some thought and consideration. She would be doing both the secretarial community and the whole school community an enormous service by tackling this issue. – Yours, etc, AIDAN BOYLE, (Retired principal), Co Dublin. Drawing tattoos conclusions Sir, – I refer to Dr Pat McGrath's letter ( June 23rd) and would point out that tattoos have a rich and diverse history spanning thousands of years, with evidence of tattooing found in various cultures around the world. Tattoos have cultural, spiritual, social and artistic significance to numerous groups and societies around the world and it is simply wrong, and insulting to say that years ago they were confined to sailors, prisoners and psychiatric patients. I got my first and only (so far) tattoo at the age 62 having met a 100- year-old US army veteran on Omaha Beach in Normandy. The tattoo reads '6th June 1944', the date of the Allied invasion of Normandy and I got it to commemorate that monumental day and those who lost their lives that day. I am very proud of my tattoo and very happy that I have it. – Yours, etc, GARY DOYLE, Straffan, Co Kildare. Duff suggestion Sir, – If Damien Duff was unhappy with the performance of the Shelbourne team of which he was manager, why did he not just duff them up and get a result? – Yours, etc, MICHAEL GREENE. Spiddal, Co Galway.
Irish Examiner
2 hours ago
- Irish Examiner
Opposition TDs decline invitation to Fourth of July celebrations at US embassy
A number of Opposition TDs have said they will decline their invitation to attend Fourth of July celebrations at the US embassy. With 10 days to go until the event, TDs and senators have come out to publicly state that they will be boycotting, with at least one protest already planned. Labour TD Conor Sheehan said he "couldn't think of anything worse" than to attend the event at the present moment. Mr Sheehan said his stance is down to "what the US government is involved in, both in terms of illegal wars overseas but also in terms of the persecution of people in the US". Party colleague Ciarán Ahern echoed this sentiment, adding that the current US administration is doing its best to undermine global co-operation on issues such as climate and trade at every step. Sinn Féin's foreign affairs spokesperson Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire said the party will continue to engage with the US administration to safeguard Irish interests and raise concerns about international issues, in particular Gaza, but added: However, it would not be appropriate to attend a celebration given US policy in the continued arming of Israeli forces to commit genocide. Social Democrats' foreign affairs spokesperson Senator Patricia Stephenson confirmed that she would not be attending, but said she does not speak for everyone in her party. She said it would not be appropriate to attend because Donald Trump's administration "does not necessarily align with the values of our party". Green Party leader Roderic O'Gorman, who did not attend last year, said that he has not seen an invitation but is unlikely to attend. People Before Profit-Solidarity TD Ruth Coppinger will not attend the event, but will be protesting as part of the Dublin 15 Palestine Group. Aontú and Independent Ireland did not rule out attending, citing the importance of maintaining the important relationship between the two countries. Peadar Tóibín said that as long as his diary is clear, he has no issue attending the event, given the tens of millions of Irish living in the US and the many shared ties and objectives. While people will have, obviously, difference of opinions in terms of the Trump regime, potentially, there is no doubt in my mind, that we need to continue to build a positive relationship with the American administration. Independent Ireland said it will discuss it as a party over the coming days but leader Michael Collins said communication is very important when it comes to negotiating peace. Mr Collins said it is also important to keep lines of communications open with the newly appointed ambassador. US businessman Edward Walsh was sworn in as the US ambassador to Ireland last week and is due to move into the Phoenix Park residence soon. The annual event sees politicians and other well-known public figures attend the US Independence Day celebration at the ambassador's Deerfield Residence in Phoenix Park. Last year also saw politicians boycott and members of the public protest near the venue over the US providing support to Israel as it continued its bombardment of Gaza. Read More Pentagon report says US strikes on Iran nuclear sites only set back programme months
RTÉ News
5 hours ago
- RTÉ News
US strikes set back Iran nuclear programme by months
US airstrikes did not destroy Iran's nuclear capability and only set it back by a few months, according to one initial US intelligence assessment, as a shaky ceasefire brokered by President Donald Trump took hold between Iran and Israel. The preliminary assessment by the US Defense Intelligence Agency was disclosed to Reuters by three sources familiar with the matter. One of the sources said Iran's enriched uranium stocks had not been eliminated, and in fact, the country's nuclear program may have been set back only a month or two. The assessment contradicted Mr Trump's assertion that the weekend strikes had succeeded in destroying Tehran's nuclear program and raised questions about further US military action if indeed the program survived the intense aerial bombardment. The White House said the intelligence report was "flat out wrong." Mr Trump's administration told the UN Security Council that its weekend strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities had "degraded" Iran's nuclear program, short of Mr Trump's earlier assertion that the facilities had been "obliterated". Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that Israel in its 12 days of war with Iran had removed the threat of nuclear annihilation and was determined to thwart any attempt by Tehran to revive its programme. "We have removed two immediate existential threats to us - the threat of nuclear annihilation and the threat of annihilation by 20,000 ballistic missiles," he said in video remarks issued by his office. Israel launched the surprise air war on 13 June, hitting Iranian nuclear sites where it said Iran was trying to develop an atomic bomb and killing top military commanders in the worst blow to the Islamic Republic since the 1980s war with Iraq. Iran, which says its uranium enrichment programme is for peaceful purposes and denies trying to build nuclear weapons, retaliated with a series of missile barrages on Israeli cities. Earlier today, both Iran and Israel signalled that the air war between the two nations had concluded, at least for now, after Mr Trump scolded them for violating a ceasefire he announced. Iranian preisdent hails 'great victory' Israel's military lifted restrictions on activity across the country at 8pm local time (6pm Irish time), and officials said Ben Gurion Airport, the country's main airport near Tel Aviv, had reopened. Iran's airspace likewise will be reopened, state-affiliated Nour news reported. Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said his country had successfully ended the war in what he called a "great victory," according to Iranian media. Mr Pezeshkian also told Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman that Tehran was ready to resolve differences with the United States, according to official news agency IRNA. A senior White House official said Mr Trump brokered the ceasefire deal with Mr Netanyahu, and other administration officials were in touch with the Iranians. Qatar's Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani secured Tehran's agreement during a call with Iranian officials, an official briefed on the negotiations said. Both Israel and Iran took hours to acknowledge they had accepted the ceasefire and accused each other of violating it, underscoring the fragility of the truce between the two bitter foes and the challenge of achieving lasting peace between them. Mr Trump scolded both sides but aimed especially stinging criticism at Israel, telling the close US ally to "calm down now." He later said Israel called off further attacks at his command. Israel's defence minister, Israel Katz, said he told his US counterpart, Pete Hegseth, that his country would respect the ceasefire unless Iran violated it. Mr Pezeshkian likewise said Iran would honour the ceasefire as long as Israel did, according to Iranian media. Whether the Israel-Iran truce can hold is a major question given the deep mistrust between the two nations. But Mr Trump's ability to broker a ceasefire showed Washington retains some leverage in the volatile region. Israeli Armed Forces Chief of staff Eyal Zamir said a "significant chapter" of the conflict had concluded but the campaign against Iran was not over. He said the military would refocus on its war against Iran-backed Hamas militants in Gaza. Iran's military command also warned Israel and the United States to learn from the "crushing blows" it delivered during the conflict. Iranian authorities said 610 people were killed in their country by Israeli strikes and 4,746 injured. Iran's retaliatory bombardment killed 28 people in Israel, the first time its air defences were penetrated by large numbers of Iranian missiles. Oil prices plunged, and stock markets rallied worldwide in a sign of confidence inspired by the ceasefire, which allayed fears of disruption to critical oil supplies from the Gulf. Ceasefire violations? Earlier in the day, Mr Trump admonished Israel with an obscenity in an extraordinary outburst at an ally whose air war he had joined two days before by dropping massive bunker-buster bombs on Iran's underground nuclear sites. Before departing the White House en route to a NATO summit in Europe, Mr Trump told reporters he was unhappy with both sides for the ceasefire breach but particularly frustrated with Israel, which he said had "unloaded" shortly after agreeing to the deal. "I've got to get Israel to calm down now," Mr Trump said. Iran and Israel had been fighting "so long and so hard that they don't know what the f**k they're doing." Mr Netanyahu's office acknowledged Israel bombed a radar site near Tehran in what it said was retaliation for Iranian missiles fired three-and-a-half hours after the ceasefire was due to begin. It did not explicitly say whether the strike on the radar site took place before or after they spoke. The Islamic Republic denied launching any missiles and said Israel's attacks had continued for an hour-and-a-half beyond the time the truce was meant to start. In both countries, there was a palpable sense of relief. "Who mediated or how it happened doesn't matter. The war is over. It never should have started in the first place," said Reza Sharifi, 38, heading back to Tehran from Rasht on the Caspian Sea, where he had fled with his family.
