Iran says will respect truce if…; Israel ‘refrained from further strikes’ after Trump call

Iran and Israel attacked each other within hours of US President Donald Trump’s announcement of a ceasefire, but later Tehran came up with the proposition that it would follow the truce only if it is not attacked further. On the other hand, Israel said that it “refrained” from launching further attacks after Trump spoke to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian said on Tuesday that it will respect a ceasefire announced by President Trump provided that Israel also upholds its terms.
“If the Zionist regime does not violate the ceasefire, Iran will not violate it either,” Pezeshkian said during a phone conversation with Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim.

“The Iranian people have once again shown that despite some problems and grievances, they will stand united against the enemy’s invasion until the end,” he added.

Earlier, in a first official remark to Trump’s claimed ceasefire, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Iran would stop its attacks if Israel stopped its airstrikes by 4 am local time.

Israel struck a radar installation near Tehran hours after the start of ceasefire in retaliation for Iranian missile launches, but said it had refrained from further attacks after President Donald Trump spoke with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

The prime minister’s office acknowledged the strike in a statement after Trump expressed frustration that Israel had launched strikes on Iran after the ceasefire agreement was reached but before it took effect.

Trump also criticised Israel’s plans to respond militarily to an alleged Iranian violation of the ceasefire.

Iran rejects accusations of breaching truce

Tehran rejected accusations that it breached the truce, which was meant to start at 7 am Israeli time (0400 GMT), and instead said Israel had continued its attacks on Iran for an hour and a half after the ceasefire came into effect.

Netanyahu’s office claimed that Israel had carried out a strike in Tehran targeting Iranian security forces at 3 am (midnight GMT), four hours before the ceasefire was due to start.

‘Iran launched missile after ceasefire came into effect’

An Iranian missile strike on Beersheba in Israel’s south killed four Israelis on Tuesday morning. Netanyahu’s office said that attack had been launched before the truce started.

It also accused Iran of launching a single missile six minutes after the ceasefire came into effect and firing another two missiles around three and a half hours later, at about 10.25 a.m. (0725 GMT). In retaliation, the Israeli air force destroyed the radar installation near Tehran, Netanyahu’s office said.

The prime minister’s office said Israel refrained from carrying out further strikes on Iran after a Trump spoke to Netanyahu, without specifying if the conversation took place before or after the attack on radar.