Israeli Defence Minister Yisrael Katz has accused Iran of violating a ceasefire agreement and ordered the country’s military to respond with new strikes.
“I have instructed the Israeli army to respond decisively to Iran’s violation of the ceasefire with heavy strikes against regime targets in the heart of Tehran,” Katz said after the military announced rocket launches from Iran towards Israel.
The statement came only hours after US President Donald Trump announced that the Phased Ceasefire Agreement between Israel and Iran had entered into force. Israel said it had agreed to the truce but promised a “strong response if it is violated”.
Iran’s state television also reported the start of a ceasefire in the conflict with Israel. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi stated that “provided the Israeli regime stops its illegal aggression against the Iranian people…, we do not intend to continue to respond.”
Meanwhile, immediately prior to the Israeli and Iranian announcement, mutual strikes continued. An Iranian missile strike at dawn on 24 June reported the deaths of four people in Israel, while Israel conducted airstrikes on targets throughout Iran before dawn.
On 23 June, Iran launched missile strikes on the U.S. Al-Udeid air base in Qatar in response to U.S. strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities the previous day.
Trump stated that no Americans were hurt and almost no damage was done as a result of this Iranian strike. He also called it” a very weak response “to the” US destruction ” of Iran’s nuclear facilities during last weekend’s attack and thanked Iran for the United States’ early communication, which he said prevented loss of life and injuries.
Many experts saw this as a sign that Iran did not want to escalate the crisis, given the limited strike against US interests and the fact that Tehran had warned Washington.
Israel began striking Iran on the night of 13 June, the US launched several strikes on the night of 22 June. They justified their actions on the threat of Tehran building nuclear weapons.
Iran has repeatedly claimed that its nuclear programme is peaceful.
At the same time, according to the IAEA, Iran had more than 400 kilograms of uranium enriched to 60%, which is close to the level sufficient to create several nuclear warheads in a short time.