US President Donald Trump unexpectedly announced a ceasefire, and the 12-day war between Iran and Israel seems to be coming to an end. During this conflict, Iran’s top military leaders and scientists were killed, the US bombed Iran’s nuclear facilities and launched multiple missiles at Qatar.
The specific time of the pause and Israel’s response to Trump’s statement remain uncertain, but tensions seem to be easing. Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said in a post that Iran’s defensive capabilities have significantly declined and it has no intention of retaliating for Israel’s attacks after midnight.
Trump said on social media: “Iran will officially begin the ceasefire. After the 12th hour, Israel will also start the ceasefire. After the 24th hour, the whole world will celebrate the official end of the 12-day war.”
Previously, in a social media post following the Iran operation, Trump thanked the Islamic Republic of Iran for “giving us advance notice” and encouraged Iran and its main regional adversary Israel to pursue “peace and harmony”.
This is different from before, when Trump threatened to respond to any retaliation with force “greater” than that used by the United States to strike nuclear facilities.
Although Israeli officials remained silent overnight, a senior White House official said that Trump spoke directly with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday, leading to the ceasefire. The official said that Vice President J.D. Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Special Envoy Steve Vitkov held direct and indirect talks with Iran on the proposal.
The official said that Israel would agree to a ceasefire as long as Iran did not launch further attacks, and the Iranian government also said it would abide by these terms.
Despite the uncertainties and lack of details, the market responded quickly. Global benchmark Brent crude oil fell nearly 5% at the opening of the Asian trading session. S&P 500 futures rose 0.5%, and Asian stocks generally rose. The US dollar weakened and gold fell.
“For now, I think this situation will continue and the war will eventually end,” said Dennis Ross, who served as President Bill Clinton’s special envoy to the region and is now a researcher at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy. “Iran has no intention of restarting anything in the short term.”
Just two days ago, the United States suddenly intervened in the conflict and launched a large-scale bombing on Iran’s nuclear facilities in Fordow, Natanz and Isfahan. Trump said that this attack “completely destroyed” these facilities, but the battle damage assessment is still ongoing, and the whereabouts of Iran’s enriched uranium stockpile remains unknown.
