Trump accuses ‘Israel and Iran’ of violating ceasefire, pressures Israel into forgoing retaliation

In an exceptional turn of events on Tuesday, U.S. President Donald Trump declared a ceasefire, which was then violated by the Iranian regime, before announcing that Israel had violated it as well and pressured its leadership to call back a group of fighter jets that were already underway to strike Iran.

Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian later said his country would respect the ceasefire “If the Zionist regime does not violate [it]”

The Iranian regime launched several barrages of missiles just before and after the 7 a.m. deadline for the ceasefire, including one that killed four people in Beersheba.

Shortly before 9 a.m., President Trump posted a message to Truth Social, saying, “THE CEASEFIRE IS NOW IN EFFECT. PLEASE DO NOT VIOLATE IT!” 

Within fifteen minutes, the Israeli government officially accepted the ceasefire in a statement – but half an hour later, alarm sirens were triggered across northern Israel again as Iran fired another missile hours after the deadline.

Defense Minister Israel Katz quickly announced he had instructed the IDF “to continue high-intensity operations in Tehran to target regime assets and terror infrastructure in the city,” and several ministers called for renewing airstrikes in Iran.

Israel’s aircraft had left Iranian airspace by that time, and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu apparently ordered them to begin the 2,000 kilometer (nearly 1,250 miles) journey back across the Middle East toward Iran.

However, in the meantime, Trump awoke and found out the ceasefire he had brokered was teetering on the brink.

In a post on Truth Social, he wrote, “ISRAEL. DO NOT DROP THOSE BOMBS. IF YOU DO IT IS A MAJOR VIOLATION. BRING YOUR PILOTS HOME, NOW!”

In a second post, he reiterated, “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!“

In some of the strongest language Trump has used against Israel to date, he accused both sides of violating the agreement in comments to reporters before boarding Air Force One 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. I’m not happy with Israel. You know, when I say, okay, now you have 12 hours, you don’t go out in the first hour and just drop everything you have on them,” he said, adding, “I’m not happy with Iran either.”

“But I’m really unhappy if Israel is going out this morning because of one rocket that didn’t land, that was shot, perhaps by mistake, that didn’t land… You know what? We basically have two countries that have been fighting so long and so hard that they don’t know what the f**k they’re doing. Do you understand that?”

“I think they both violated [the ceasefire]. I’m not sure they did it intentionally. They couldn’t bring people back. I don’t like the fact that Israel went out this morning at all. I’m going to see if I can stop it.”

Trump then told Netanyahu in “exceptionally firm” terms to waive the retaliation against Iran in a phone call.

“The president told Netanyahu what needed to happen to sustain the ceasefire. The prime minister understood the severity of the situation and the concerns President Trump expressed,” a White House source told Axios.

Netanyahu apparently managed to convince Trump to allow at least a symbolic strike, and Israeli officials later confirmed that fighter jets struck a radar facility in northern Iran in a final airstrike.

After the hours-long drama, the Israeli Prime Minister's Office reiterated Israel’s position that the IDF wrapped up strikes before the 7 a.m. morning deadline.

“At 03:00, Israel forcefully attacked in the heart of Tehran, struck regime targets and eliminated hundreds of Basij and Iranian security forces personnel,” the GPO said.

“At 07:06, Iran launched one missile at Israeli territory, and two additional missiles at 10:25. These missiles were either intercepted or fell in open areas, and caused neither casualties nor damage. In response to Iran's violations, the Air Force destroyed a radar installation near Tehran.”

The GPO confirmed Israel “refrained” from further strikes out of respect for Trump, adding that during the phone call, the president “expressed his great appreciation for Israel, which achieved all of its objectives for the war, as well as his confidence in the stability of the ceasefire.”