Iran says we'll stop attacks if Israel does
Washington | US President Donald Trump says Iran and Israel have agreed to a ceasefire, but Tehran has disputed his version of events, underlining the brittle state of diplomacy in the highly volatile Middle East region.
Trump had already put a rhetorical end to the recent fighting by naming it 'the 12-day war' but Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said a final decision would be made later and was dependent on Israel ceasing its military operations.
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The Age
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‘Crosses our red lines': Trump demand divides NATO
Poland spent 4.1 per cent of GDP on defence last year, according to official NATO figures, while Estonia spent 3.4 per cent and Latvia spent 3.1 per cent. Germany, France and the Netherlands spent slightly more than 2 per cent, while the UK spent 2.3 per cent. Rutte has urged member countries to aim for a massive increase, with 3.5 per cent to be spent on the military and another 1.5 per cent on supporting services such as cybersecurity, roads and ports. Speaking in London earlier this month, he had a grim warning for the British: 'If you do not do this, if you would not go to the 5 per cent, including the 3.5 per cent core defence spending, you could still have the National Health Service, or in other countries their health systems, the pension system, et cetera, but you had better learn to speak Russian.' But there is an awkward fact behind Trump's demands for mammoth European spending: the US itself devoted 3.4 per cent of GDP to defence last year, according to the NATO tally. While Trump has spoken of increasing the Pentagon's budget to more than $US1 trillion ($1.54 trillion), that will depend on the US Congress. In any case, Trump expects Europe to commit to a target he will not endorse for himself. 'I don't think we should, but I think they should,' he said of the spending goal last Friday. 'We've been supporting NATO [for] so long.' What is missing from the NATO debate, however, is a detailed plan for where the money would go. The percentage target is wholly theoretical unless it comes with specific proposals to expand industrial capacity and military production. The disagreements at the summit, due to begin in The Hague on Tuesday, will come at a time when outside support for the Atlantic security pact has moderated this year. The summit has lost the top-level participation of three of the four Indo-Pacific nations (IP4) – Japan, South Korea, Australia and New Zealand – invited to the defence meetings each year. Loading Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba cancelled his attendance on Monday amid doubts about whether he would meet Trump, while South Korean President Lee Jae-myung cited the 'growing instability in the Middle East' as one reason to withdraw. This means Prime Minister Anthony Albanese is not alone among IP4 leaders in choosing not to attend NATO this year, amid the domestic furore about whether he would meet the US president. Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles will represent Australia at the summit. While New Zealand Prime Minister Christopher Luxon is in Europe for meetings and is due to attend NATO, he told reporters on Monday he did not expect a meeting with Trump.
Sydney Morning Herald
31 minutes ago
- Sydney Morning Herald
‘Crosses our red lines': Trump demand divides NATO
Poland spent 4.1 per cent of GDP on defence last year, according to official NATO figures, while Estonia spent 3.4 per cent and Latvia spent 3.1 per cent. Germany, France and the Netherlands spent slightly more than 2 per cent, while the UK spent 2.3 per cent. Rutte has urged member countries to aim for a massive increase, with 3.5 per cent to be spent on the military and another 1.5 per cent on supporting services such as cybersecurity, roads and ports. Speaking in London earlier this month, he had a grim warning for the British: 'If you do not do this, if you would not go to the 5 per cent, including the 3.5 per cent core defence spending, you could still have the National Health Service, or in other countries their health systems, the pension system, et cetera, but you had better learn to speak Russian.' But there is an awkward fact behind Trump's demands for mammoth European spending: the US itself devoted 3.4 per cent of GDP to defence last year, according to the NATO tally. While Trump has spoken of increasing the Pentagon's budget to more than $US1 trillion ($1.54 trillion), that will depend on the US Congress. In any case, Trump expects Europe to commit to a target he will not endorse for himself. 'I don't think we should, but I think they should,' he said of the spending goal last Friday. 'We've been supporting NATO [for] so long.' What is missing from the NATO debate, however, is a detailed plan for where the money would go. The percentage target is wholly theoretical unless it comes with specific proposals to expand industrial capacity and military production. The disagreements at the summit, due to begin in The Hague on Tuesday, will come at a time when outside support for the Atlantic security pact has moderated this year. The summit has lost the top-level participation of three of the four Indo-Pacific nations (IP4) – Japan, South Korea, Australia and New Zealand – invited to the defence meetings each year. Loading Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba cancelled his attendance on Monday amid doubts about whether he would meet Trump, while South Korean President Lee Jae-myung cited the 'growing instability in the Middle East' as one reason to withdraw. This means Prime Minister Anthony Albanese is not alone among IP4 leaders in choosing not to attend NATO this year, amid the domestic furore about whether he would meet the US president. Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles will represent Australia at the summit. While New Zealand Prime Minister Christopher Luxon is in Europe for meetings and is due to attend NATO, he told reporters on Monday he did not expect a meeting with Trump.
ABC News
35 minutes ago
- ABC News
Breaking down the confusion during the countdown to Trump's Iran-Israel ceasefire
The hours since US President Donald Trump claimed a ceasefire had been brokered between Iran and Israel have been peppered with confusion and contradiction over when attacks might cease. As the 2pm AEST deadline announced by Trump neared, confusion remained over the deal as missiles sped towards Israel from Iran. It came after neither side publicly confirmed they had made an agreement for a pause or cessation of hostilities. Iranian state media is now reporting a ceasefire is in effect, but Israeli officials are yet to publicly confirm a deal. Details on what a ceasefire would look like and how it was brokered are vague but the US president has continued to make posts saying Iran and Israel approached him and that there will be "peace". Here's what to know. It depends who you ask. Shortly after 2pm AEST, Iranian state television was reporting a final barrage of missiles had been sent towards Israel before a ceasefire took effect. Earlier, Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said that Tehran would stop its attacks if Israel stopped its air strikes by 4am, local time, which was about 10:30am AEST. But Araghchi said there was no "agreement" on any ceasefire between Israel and Iran. "The final decision on the cessation of our military operations will be made later," Araghchi added in a post on X. The White House has said that Israel was on board with the ceasefire, provided there were no more Iranian attacks. Israel has not publicly commented, and there have been no reported Israeli attacks on Iran since Araghchi's message was published. Since Mr Trump's announcement, the IDF has reported five waves of missiles were launched toward Israel from Iran, with the last landing shortly after the ceasefire was due to commence, with Israel's emergency services reporting people killed on the ground. According to the White House Officials, Trump communicated directly with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to secure a ceasefire — Netanyahu has not commented publicly. Reuters and the Associated Press said US Vice-President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and special envoy Steve Witkoff communicated with Iranians through direct and indirect channels. The White House has maintained that the Saturday bombing by the US of Iran helped get Israel to agree to the ceasefire and that the Qatari government helped to broker the deal. It's unclear what role Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran's leader, played in the talks. The details are vague. Trump told NBC News the ceasefire would last "forever". "I think the ceasefire is unlimited," he said. "It's going to go forever." In his post to Truth Social announcing the ceasefire, he wrote that it would bring an "official end" to the war after coming into effect in stages. "There will be a Complete and Total CEASEFIRE (in approximately 6 hours from now, when Israel and Iran have wound down and completed their in progress, final missions!), for 12 hours, at which point the War will be considered, ENDED!" he posted on Truth Social just after 8am AEST. "Officially, 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 will be saluted by the World. During each CEASEFIRE, the other side will remain PEACEFUL and RESPECTFUL." He did not elaborate on the mechanics of the proposal or explain why his post suggested a delay between when the ceasefire would take effect in Iran and when it would take effect in Israel. David Kilcullen, a counterinsurgency expert and former official in the Bush administration, said from Israel's perspective, its objectives of the war had not yet been met. "The key missing piece of the puzzle is the allegedly about 400kg of highly enriched uranium that Iran was supposed to be in the process of converting into some kind of a bomb, which is still missing," he said. "No confirmation of where that might be, or indeed, of whether the strikes on the three nuclear facilities that were conducted over the weekend were actually successful in destroying the Iranian nuclear capability. "So, while Israel believes its war aims have not yet been met, I'm going to say — I would be rather sceptical they will be ready to jump into a ceasefire as soon as Donald Trump's truth seems to suggest." Details from Trump's post have not been publicly confirmed or committed to by Israel, Iran, or any other parties. Araghchi said if Israel stopped its strikes by 4:00am Tehran time, Iran had "no intention" of retaliating further. Trump appeared to suggest that Israel and Iran would have some time to complete any missions that are underway, at which point the ceasefire would begin in a staged process. Often, Killcullen said, the lead-up to a ceasefire is when the most intense fighting occurs. "We've seen repeatedly in the past that ceasefires can fall over at the last minute as each side tries to, you know, burnish its position leading into the end of hostilities," Killcullen said. "So I think there's a lot of things to still drop into place before we can say the ceasefire will happen. "If indeed it does, it would be quite a remarkable 24-hour period and even more remarkable 72 hours across the Middle East."
