A tentative ceasefire between Israel and Iran appeared to be holding on Tuesday evening, after initial accusations from both sides of violations in the hours after it came into force.
United States president Donald Trump put pressure on Israeli prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu publicly and privately to stick to the brokered ceasefire agreement.
Over the course of the day, Mr Trump issued several demands on his social media platform Truth Social, directing Israel to refrain from striking Iran.
Israel and Iran traded accusations that the other had violated the terms of the truce in the 12-day war that had threatened to destabilise the Middle East. After a small number of early instances of alleged violations, the ceasefire between the two sides appeared to hold.
The tensions in the Middle East and the shaky ceasefire were expected to feature prominently in the discussions of leaders at a Nato military summit in the Netherlands.
Mr Netanyahu said on Tuesday night that Israel in its 12 days of war with Iran had removed the threat of nuclear annihilation and was determined to thwart any attempt by Tehran to revive its programme.
“We have removed two immediate existential threats to us – the threat of nuclear annihilation and the threat of annihilation by 20,000 ballistic missiles,” he said in video remarks issued by his office.
“If anyone in Iran tries to revive this project, we will work with the same determination and strength to thwart any such attempt. I repeat, Iran will not have nuclear weapons.”
He called it a historic victory that would stand for generations.
He said Israel never had a better friend in the White House than President Trump.
[ Israel-Iran ceasefire leaves key questions unansweredOpens in new window ]
Speaking before travelling to the summit, Mr Trump described Israel and Iran as two countries “that have been fighting so long and so hard that they don’t know what the f**k they’re doing”.
Mr Trump, who arrived at the Huis ten Bosch Royal Palace for a dinner with other heads of state on Tuesday evening, seemed confident the two sides would adhere to the truce, following a phone call with Mr Netanyahu.
In an online post, the US president said “both Israel and Iran wanted to stop the War equally! It was my great honour to Destroy All Nuclear facilities & capabilities, and then, STOP THE WAR”.
The conflict began on June 13th when Israel launched a sustained bombing campaign, which it said was necessary to curtail Iran’s ability to develop nuclear weapons.
Iran retaliated with its own barrage of missiles, many of which were prevented from hitting their intended targets, due to Israel’s Iron Dome air defence system.
[ Where were China and Russia when Iran needed them most?Opens in new window ]
Mr Netanyahu’s government succeeded in getting the US to support the campaign, resulting in Mr Trump ordering US bombers to strike three Iranian nuclear facilities at the weekend. The full extent of the damage, particularly to Iran’s underground Fordow site seen as key to its nuclear programme, remains unclear.
It was reported on Tuesday night that an initial classified US assessment of the strikes on Iran’s nuclear facilities says they did not destroy two of the sites and were likely to only set back the nuclear programme by a few months, according to two people familiar with the assessment.
The report produced by the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) – the intelligence arm of the Pentagon – concluded key components of the nuclear programme, including centrifuges, were capable of being restarted within months.
The report also found that much of Iran’s stockpile of highly enriched uranium that could be put to use for a possible nuclear weapon was moved before the strikes and may have been moved to other secret nuclear sites maintained by Iran.
The findings by the DIA, which were based on a preliminary battle damage assessment conducted by US Central Command, which oversees US military operations in the Middle East, suggests Mr Trump’s declaration about the sites being “obliterated” may have been overstated.
Mr Trump said in his televised address on Saturday night immediately after the operation that the US had completely destroyed Iran’s enrichment sites at Natanz and Fordow, the facility buried deep underground, and at Isfahan, where enrichment was being stored.
“The strikes were a spectacular military success. Iran’s key nuclear enrichment facilities have been completely and totally obliterated. Iran, the bully of the Middle East, must now make peace,” Mr Trump said in his address from the White House.
While the DIA report was only an initial assessment, one of the people said if the intelligence on the ground was already finding within days that Fordow in particular was not destroyed, later assessments could suggest even less damage might have been inflicted.
Long regarded as the most well-protected of Iran’s nuclear sites, the uranium-enrichment facilities at Fordow are buried beneath the Zagros mountains. Reports have suggested that the site was constructed beneath 45-90 metres (145-300ft) of bedrock, largely limestone and dolomite.
The White House disputed the intelligence assessment, which was first reported by CNN. “The leaking of this alleged assessment is a clear attempt to demean President Trump, and discredit the brave fighter pilots who conducted a perfectly executed mission to obliterate Iran’s nuclear program,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a statement. – Additional reporting: Guardian; Reuters
