WASHINGTON/DOHA/ISTANBUL (Reuters) : U.S. President Donald Trump announced on Monday a complete ceasefire between Israel and Iran, potentially ending the 12-day war that saw millions flee Tehran and prompted fears of further escalation in the war-torn region.
But there was no confirmation from Israel and the Israeli military said it had detected missiles launched from Iran towards Israel in the early hours of Tuesday.
鈥淒efensive systems are operating to intercept the threat,鈥 the Israel Defense Forces said in a statement.
Israel, joined by the United States on the weekend, has carried out attacks on Iran鈥檚 nuclear facilities, after alleging Tehran was getting close to obtaining a nuclear weapon.
鈥淥n the assumption that everything works as it should, which it will, I would like to congratulate both Countries, Israel and Iran, on having the Stamina, Courage, and Intelligence to end, what should be called, 鈥楾HE 12 DAY WAR鈥,鈥 Trump wrote on his Truth Social site.
While an Iranian official earlier confirmed that Tehran had agreed to a ceasefire, the country鈥檚 foreign minister said there would be no cessation of hostilities unless Israel stopped its attacks.
Abbas Araqchi said early on Tuesday that if Israel stopped its 鈥渋llegal aggression鈥 against the Iranian people no later than 4 a.m. Tehran time (0030 GMT) on Tuesday, Iran had no intention of continuing its response afterwards.
There have been no reported Israeli attacks on Iran since that time.
鈥淭he final decision on the cessation of our military operations will be made later,鈥 Araqchi added in a post on X.
A senior White House official said Trump had brokered the deal in a call with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Israel had agreed so long as Iran did not launch further attacks.
Trump appeared to suggest that Israel and Iran would have some time to complete any missions that are underway, at which point the ceasefire would begin in a staged process.
Iran denies ever having a nuclear weapons program but Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei has said that if it wanted to, world leaders 鈥渨ouldn鈥檛 be able to stop us鈥.
Israel, which is not a party to the international Non-Proliferation Treaty, is the only country in the Middle East believed to have nuclear weapons. Israel does not deny or confirm that.
Qatar鈥檚 Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani secured Tehran鈥檚 agreement during a call with Iranian officials, an official briefed on the negotiations told Reuters on Tuesday.
U.S. Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff were in direct and indirect contact with the Iranians, the White House official said.
Neither Iran鈥檚 U.N. mission nor the Israeli embassy in Washington responded to separate requests for comment from Reuters.
Hours earlier, three Israeli officials had signaled Israel was looking to wrap up its campaign in Iran soon and had passed the message on to the United States.
Netanyahu had told government ministers whose discussions ended early on Tuesday not to speak publicly, Israel鈥檚 Channel 12 television reported.
Markets reacted favorably to the news.
S&P 500 futures rose 0.4% late on Monday, suggesting traders expect the U.S. stock market to open with gains on Tuesday.
U.S. crude futures fell in early Asian trading hours on Tuesday to their lowest level in more than a week after Trump said a ceasefire had been agreed, relieving worries of supply disruption in the region.
END TO THE FIGHTING?
There did not appear to be calm yet in the region.
The Israeli military issued two evacuation warnings in less than two hours to residents of areas in the Iranian capital Tehran, one late on Monday and one early on Tuesday.
Israeli Army radio reported early on Tuesday that alarms were activated in the southern Golan Heights area due to fears of hostile aircraft intrusion.
Earlier on Monday, Trump said he would encourage Israel to proceed towards peace after dismissing Iran鈥檚 attack on an American air base that caused no injuries and thanking Tehran for the early notice of the strikes.
He said Iran fired 14 missiles at the U.S. air base, calling it 鈥渁 very weak response, which we expected, and have very effectively countered.鈥
Iran鈥檚 handling of the attack recalled earlier clashes with the United States and Israel, with Tehran seeking a balance between saving face with a military response but without provoking a cycle of escalation it can鈥檛 afford.
Tehran appears to have achieved that goal.
Iran鈥檚 attack came after U.S. bombers dropped 30,000-pound bunker-buster bombs on Iranian underground nuclear facilities at the weekend, joining Israel鈥檚 air war.
Much of Tehran鈥檚 population of 10 million has fled after days of bombing.
The Trump administration maintains that its aim was solely to destroy Iran鈥檚 nuclear program, not to open a wider war.
鈥淚ran was very close to having a nuclear weapon,鈥 Vice President JD Vance said in an interview on Fox News鈥 鈥淪pecial Report with Bret Baier.鈥
鈥淣ow Iran is incapable of building a nuclear weapon with the equipment they have because we destroyed it,鈥 Vance said.
Trump has cited intelligence reports that Iran was close to building a nuclear weaopon, without elaborating. However, U.S. intelligence agencies said earlier this year they assessed that Iran was not building a nuclear weapon and a source with access to U.S. intelligence reports told Reuters last week that that assessment hadn鈥檛 changed.
But in a social media post on Sunday, Trump spoke of toppling the hardline clerical rulers who have been Washington鈥檚 principal foes in the Middle East since Iran鈥檚 1979 Islamic Revolution.
Israel, however, had made clear that its strikes on Evin prison 鈥 a notorious jail for housing political prisoners 鈥 and other targets in Tehran were intended to hit the Iranian ruling apparatus broadly, and its ability to sustain power.