• Says Iran Breach Truce Terms
By Kolawole Ojebisi
It appears the warring nations of Israel and Iran have refused to embrace the truce declared by President Donald Trump of the United States.
This is as Israel’s Defence Minister, Israel Katz, reportedly ordered renewed military strikes on Tehran, hours after Trump’s declaration.
Katz condemned what he described as “Iran’s blatant violation of the ceasefire declared by the President of the United States.”
He stated that for this reason he had ordered the Israeli military to “continue high-intensity operations targeting regime assets and terror infrastructure in Tehran”
Meanwhile, according to Nour News, affiliated with Iran’s top security bodies the Islamic Republic has denied firing missiles in breach of the agreement.
According to Nour news the armed forces general staff said there had been “no launch of missiles towards Israel in recent hours.”
The blame game amid unrelenting mutual attacks between the warring nations has cast immediate doubt over the fragile ceasefire, intended to halt 12 days of escalating warfare between the two regional powers.
Recall that Trump had, on Tuesday, posted on his social media platform Truth Social, “THE CEASEFIRE IS NOW IN EFFECT. PLEASE DO NOT VIOLATE IT!”
Reacting immediately after Trump’s declaration, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel had achieved its military objectives, stating, “Israel thanks President Trump and the United States for their support in defence and their participation in eliminating the Iranian nuclear threat.”
Iran in its own case accepted the call for a truce with a condition that Israel will stop what it described as “unprovoked aggression” on its skies and territory.
Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi had earlier said Iran would suspend retaliatory strikes so long as Israel also ceased attacks from 4:00 a.m. Tehran time.
In its widely reported reaction, Iran Supreme National Security Council said the ceasefire reflected Israel’s forced acceptance of “defeat”, though it warned that Iranian forces would “keep their hands on the trigger” in readiness to respond to further aggression.
While both countries initially expressed willingness to embrace the ceasefire announced by Trump, this development may have dashed hope of amicable resolution of the 12-day conflict.
