The fragile ceasefire between Israel and Iran appears to be taking hold as both sides have stopped attacks on each other.
Both countries have declared victory after the 12-day war. On Tuesday, Iranians held celebrations in Tehran, while Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu hailed the outcome as a triumph that would be remembered for generations.
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This comes after the US president lashed out at Israel for continuing attacks and accused both countries of violating the ceasefire plans.
The war has resulted in casualties on both sides. Iran says at least 610 people — including 13 children — have been killed and more than 3,000 others injured since Israel launched its “preemptive strike.”
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In Israel, at least 28 people have been killed in Iranian strikes and hundreds injured.
PREMIUM TIMES reported that US President Donald Trump first announced the ceasefire a few hours after Iran launched strikes on American bases in Qatar and Iraq.
The Iranian attack was in retaliation for a US strike on its nuclear facilities, which Tehran described as an act of self-defence and a “clear and explicit” warning to the White House.
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Mr Trump, however, played down the incident, calling the strikes largely symbolic and noting that they were intercepted after Iran gave prior notice.
Following the announcement, both countries agreed to the ceasefire. Israel praised the US for its role in countering what it described as the Iranian nuclear threat.
Trump reacts to intelligence assessment
Meanwhile, Mr Trump has rejected a leaked preliminary US intelligence assessment, which indicated that the strike on Iran’s nuclear facilities did not destroy the country’s nuclear capability but merely set it back by a few months.
Israel’s attacks on Iran were aimed at destroying its nuclear capability, which it described as an existential threat. When the war began, the US tried to distance itself, but eventually struck Iran two weeks into the conflict.
The US airstrikes affected Iran’s nuclear facilities located in Fordo, Natanz and Isfahan.
Over the weekend, Mr Trump claimed the airstrikes obliterated Iran’s nuclear programme. However, this claim now contradicts the US intelligence report, according to reports by several US news media.
READ ALSO: Qatar summons Iranian ambassador over missile attack
According to Reuters, a source revealed that Iran’s stockpile of enriched uranium wasn’t wiped out, and much of its nuclear programme—largely hidden deep underground—may have only been delayed by a month or two.
Another source revealed that the strikes sealed off the entrances to two of the facilities but did not destroy the underground structures.
Reacting to this, Mr Trump described reports about the attack as false and insisted that the bombs completely destroyed the sites.
In a post on Truth Social, he said some US media “have teamed up in an attempt to demean one of the most successful military strikes in history. The nuclear sites in Iran are completely destroyed!”
The White House also stated that the intelligence assessment was “flat-out wrong.”
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