President Donald Trump said Israel and Iran agreed to a ceasefire on Monday.
In a social media post, Trump offered “congratulations to everyone,” and said Iran agreed to a ceasefire and Israel would end strikes as of Monday at 10 p.m. MDT (midnight Tuesday EDT). He said a final end to the “12 day war” would come another 12 hours after the cessation of attacks.
“On 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, ‘THE 12 DAY WAR,’” Trump said in his post. “This is a War that could have gone on for years, and destroyed the entire Middle East, but it didn’t, and never will! God bless Israel, God bless Iran, God bless the Middle East, God bless the United States of America, and GOD BLESS THE WORLD!”
After Trump’s announcement, Iran lobbed a barrage of strikes at Israel killing at least three. A few minutes after the ceasefire deadline, Iran launched another wave of missiles at Israel, leaving the agreement in a tenuous position. Shortly after 10:30 MDT Monday night, Iran said the ceasefire was in effect, according to The Associated Press.
Earlier, Trump celebrated the United States military’s “monumental” strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities on Saturday and floated the idea that he was supportive of potential regime change in the country.
But questions remain on whether the strikes by the U.S. and Israel will lead to the end of Iran’s nuclear program, and how much damage was done to Fordow, Iran’s underground nuclear facility.
Trump projects confidence and warnings
Trump confirmed Sunday that the B-2 pilots landed back in Missouri after dropping several “bunker buster” bombs on the Iranian facilities. Trump called the strikes “monumental” and said they were “hard and accurate.”
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said the administration was “confident” the bombers “totally obliterated” Iran’s nuclear sites. She dismissed questions about concern from some in the Republican Party about the U.S. attack as the issue divides lawmakers in Congress.
While Trump administration officials insisted that the strikes on nuclear sites in Iran were not a bid to bring a regime change to the country, Trump showed support Sunday for a regime change in Iran.
“It’s not politically correct to use the term, ‘Regime Change,’ but if the current Iranian regime is unable to MAKE IRAN GREAT AGAIN, why wouldn’t there be a regime change??? MIGA!!!” he wrote.
The president’s post sparked concern about further U.S. involvement in the region and it left administration officials with conflicting messages.
On Sunday morning, before Trump’s post online, Vice President JD Vance celebrated the attack and Trump’s decision for U.S. involvement, but also parted with Israeli officials who want a regime change.
“Our view has been very clear that we don’t want a regime change,” Vance said on NBC News’ “Meet the Press.” “We do not want to protract this or build this out anymore than it’s already been built out.”
“We want to end their nuclear program, and then we want to talk to the Iranians about a long-term settlement here,” he continued.
While Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was once active online, Iran’s supreme leader has gone quiet. He is reportedly in a bunker and picking his possible successors, should he be assassinated.
How successful was the mission?
While Trump said satellite images showed “Monumental Damage” and “obliteration” to the sites, information is still coming out about the level of damage done to Iran’s nuclear program.
In a briefing Sunday, the Pentagon celebrated its successful mission and said it appeared Iran’s missile systems did not see the U.S. bombers coming and they were able to maintain the element of surprise, CBS News reported.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said it was an “incredible and overwhelming success” that “devastated the Iranian nuclear program” but they also continue to assess the outcome.
According to independent assessments of the three attack sites via satellite images, the visual evidence may contradict the word of the president.
Jeffrey Lewis, a professor at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey, told NPR that there were “really important” things that the U.S. did not hit and called it an “incomplete strike” to eradicate Iran’s nuclear program.
He also pointed to satellite images from the Fordow enrichment plant from Friday, a day before the attack, showing trucks leaving the facility. It could be a piece of evidence that Iran was anticipating the U.S. attack and moved its enriched uranium before the bombs hit.
Former U.S. Navy Commander Kirk Lippold said on CNN Monday that it’s going to take time, human intelligence and Iranian intel for the U.S. to have a clear idea of how much damage the strikes caused.
“It could take days to weeks before we get true assessments on the extent of damage that was done, did we destroy the facility? Did we damage them to the point where they are no longer even operational? Or are there some certain parts of it that were left operational that we may need to look at for future strikes,” Lippold said. “But, that takes time.”
Former U.S. Air Force Col. Cedric Leighton added on CNN that a key element of battle damage assessment at this point is determining if the uranium was moved, and, if so, where it is now.
“That kind of enriched uranium could definitely be used to make a weapon and that is something that would have to be really taken care of,” he said.
Iran launches retaliatory strikes
Iran launched retaliatory strikes at U.S. bases in Qatar and Iraq on Monday. No casualties were reported as Qatar intercepted the attack and issued a shelter in place order.
Iran said it matched the number of bombs dropped by the U.S. over the weekend.
Trump was scheduled to meet with his national security team Monday afternoon, even before Iran launched the strikes.
In a post online, Trump said the missile attack was a “very weak response” that was expected and countered.
Trump confirmed there were 14 missiles fired, 13 that were knocked down and one that was “set free” because it was heading in a nonthreatening direction.
“I am pleased to report that NO Americans were harmed, and hardly any damage was done,” Trump said. “Most importantly, they’ve gotten it all out of their ‘system,’ and there will, hopefully, be no further HATE.”
He thanked Iran for giving the U.S. early notice, which allowed for evacuations to occur.
“Perhaps Iran can now proceed to Peace and Harmony in the Region, and I will enthusiastically encourage Israel to do the same,” he said.
In another post, Trump thanked the Emir of Qatar for his work to secure peace in the region. He said no Qataris were killed or wounded in the attack.
