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Donald Trump said Israel and Iran had agreed a ceasefire, ending more than a week of conflict between the two countries that had threatened to engulf the US in another Middle Eastern war.
The US president said the two sides would end what he titled the “12 day war” and congratulated both sides after a day in which Tehran had launched missiles against America’s biggest air base in the Middle East in return for Trump’s strike against Iran’s nuclear facilities at the weekend.
“It has been fully agreed by and between Israel and Iran that there will be a Complete and Total CEASEFIRE,” Trump posted on Truth Social on Monday evening, as he outlined steps that would result in an end to the conflict over 24 hours.
There was no immediate response from either Israel or Iran.
Trump said that the truce would start about six hours later, “when Israel and Iran have wound down and completed their in progress, final missions”, and that it would be first implemented by Iranian and then Israeli forces.
“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’,” he added.
The statement from Trump came just hours after Iran’s attack on the US’s Al Udeid air base near Doha, which he said had resulted in no American or Qatari casualties.
The president had thanked Iran for giving the US advance notice of a barrage of missiles against the biggest American air base in the Middle East and said he would also encourage Israel to make peace.
Oil prices fell as traders calculated that Iran’s attack was largely symbolic, and signalled an effort by Iran to avoid a full-blown conflict.
While Iranian state television claimed six missiles hit the base, Qatar foreign ministry spokesperson Majed al-Ansari said the country’s air defences “thwarted the attack and successfully intercepted the Iranian missiles”.
A US military official said no other base in the region had been targeted.
The sprawling Al Udeid base just outside the Qatari capital is the US Central Command’s regional headquarters and typically hosts about 10,000 American troops. But most personnel were evacuated last week and aircraft and other equipment moved as regional tensions soared.
Qatar closed its airspace earlier on Monday in expectation of an Iranian attack. The US and UK embassies in Doha had also told their citizens to “shelter in place”. The Gulf state’s airspace was reopened a few hours after the attack.
The Iranian attack came just over a day after Trump ordered the US military to drop “bunker buster” bombs on Fordow and Natanz — Iran’s main nuclear sites — as Washington joined Israel’s 10-day war against the Islamic republic.
Shortly before the attack, Major General Abdolrahim Mousavi, chief of Iran’s armed forces, said Trump had “violated all international norms by breaching the airspace of our beloved country”, adding: “The crime itself and the blatant disrespect cannot go unanswered”.
Iran launched a similar attack against the US in 2020 when it fired missiles at two US bases in Iraq after Trump ordered the assassination of Qassem Soleimani, Iran’s most powerful commander. The assault was telegraphed and caused no damage, and both sides stepped back from the brink of a full-blown war.
But as news circulated of Monday’s explosions, which were preceded by air raid sirens, a regional official said the attack “will undoubtedly impact the relationship-building efforts that have been under way between” Iran and its Arab neighbours.
Airlines including British Airways, Air France, Kuwait Airways and Etihad Airways had previously cancelled or rerouted some destinations in the Gulf.
BP, TotalEnergies and Eni have begun to evacuate foreign staff from oilfields in southern Iraq amid fears that Iran could target energy infrastructure in the region.
Regional states have been on edge since Israel launched its war against Iran, fearing an attack on US bases or energy facilities. They also worry that Iran could seek to oil exports from the Gulf.
Israel had widened its strikes on Iran earlier on Monday, hitting sites in Tehran, including the notorious Evin prison, and the headquarters of the Basij, a force linked to the elite Revolutionary Guards.
Additional reporting by James Politi and David Sheppard
