Israel and Iran Halt Attacks Following Trump’s Push for Ceasefire

By Hadriana Lowenkron, Golnar Motevalli and Dan Williams (Bloomberg) —

Israel and Iran appeared to be honoring a ceasefire agreement unexpectedly announced by US President Donald Trump overnight, after the American leader reacted angrily to early breaches of the deal by both sides.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu agreed to hold off on further strikes after a conversation with Trump on Tuesday, according to a statement from his office. Israel had destroyed a radar complex near Tehran after the truce came into effect as of 7 a.m. local time, the PM’s office said, but this was in response to three missiles from Iran. 

“DO NOT DROP THOSE BOMBS. IF YOU DO IT IS A MAJOR VIOLATION. BRING YOUR PILOTS HOME, NOW!,” Trump had written on his Truth Social platform earlier, directing his ire toward Israel in particular.  

Trump’s frustration at the rocky start to his ceasefire was evident when he stopped to take questions from reporters outside the White House before heading to a NATO summit in The Hague. “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,” he told them. 

Those comments, alongside the posts on Truth Social, highlight the fragility of the truce between Israel and Iran, arch-enemies for decades and which have been at war since Israel kicked off an exchange of drone and missile fire on June 13. 

Oil Sinks After Iran Targets U.S. Base—Not Tankers

Trump announced the ceasefire late Monday, less than 48 hours after the US entered the conflict directly with attacks on the Islamic Republic’s nuclear facilities. That followed a well-telegraphed attack by Iran on a US air base in Qatar that was widely viewed as de-escalatory. 

Trump told the reporters he believed the truce would hold, even if it was being tested.

“I think they both violated it,” Trump said. But when asked if the ceasefire was breaking, Trump responded “I don’t think so.”

Trump had cast the ceasefire as an end to the 12-day war that saw Israel, later joined by the US, launch attacks on Iran’s nuclear infrastructure and draw retaliatory strikes from Tehran. The military action came after five rounds of talks between the US and Iran about a diplomatic solution to international concerns over Iran’s nuclear program. 

The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, which answers to Iran’s supreme leader, said it fired 14 missiles at Israel in the “last minutes before the ceasefire came into effect.” The IRGC said it was a response to an Israeli strike that killed a number of military personnel.

Since the war started on June 13, 606 people have been killed in Iran, according to the government. In Israel, emergency services have said 28 people have been killed by Iranian missile strikes, including four on Tuesday morning.

“THE CEASEFIRE IS NOW IN EFFECT,” Trump said at around 9:10 a.m. Dubai time on social media. “PLEASE DO NOT VIOLATE IT!”

Oil prices plunged late on Monday when it became clear Iran’s strikes on Qatar caused no fatalities or major damage. Traders took it as a sign that Iran had no intention of escalating tensions with Washington, let alone drag other countries in the petroleum-rich region into a wider war.

Brent fell 4.1% to $68.58 a barrel as of 1:58 p.m. on Tuesday in London, following a drop of more than 7% a day earlier. It has returned to almost the same level from before Israel started attacks on Iran on June 13.

A senior White House official said Trump brokered the ceasefire in a conversation with Netanyahu on Monday. Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and special envoy Steve Witkoff held direct and indirect talks with the Iranians about the proposal, the official said.

Israel agreed to the truce as long as Iran did not launch further attacks, and the Iranian government signaled it would abide by those terms, according to the official.

© 2025 Bloomberg L.P.

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