President Donald Trump said he hopes that the ceasefire announced between Israel and Iran on Monday night will end all military hostility between the two countries.
“I think the ceasefire is unlimited. It’s going to go forever,” Trump said in a phone interview with NBC News.
Asked if the war was completely over, Trump said: “Yes. I don’t think they’ll fire each other again.”
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Trump said socially and socially that both countries agreed to enter a ceasefire.
A diplomat who explained the negotiations told NBC News that Trump and Vice President JD Vance brokered the deal with the help of Qatar’s top leader who proposed a ceasefire to Iran.
According to a senior White House official, Trump called Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and said frankly, “There’s no more war, there’s no more fight. The Iranians have been greatly weakened.”
As Trump was talking to Israelis from his oval office, his national security team had sent messages to Iranians through intermediaries, a senior White House official said.
A White House official said Trump had made Netanyahu agree to a ceasefire. And Secretary of State Marco Rubio and special envoy Steve Witkov signaled Vance that “directly and indirectly” the United States wanted a ceasefire and that Iranians should agree to it.
A gradual ceasefire in which Iran stops firing for 12 hours before Israel does the same for another 12 hours was Trump’s idea of appeasing Israel’s concern that Iran would not hold an end to its contract, officials said.
President Donald Trump said on social media that Iran and Israel have agreed to a complete ceasefire.
Another source familiar with outreach to foreign officials told NBC News that Trump called Qatar chief Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al Thani. Sources said Qatar’s prime minister, Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jasim al-Thani, coordinated with Vance and said the prime minister had spoken with the Iranians.
Neither Iran nor Israel confirmed to NBC News that it has agreed to a ceasefire.
“At this time there is no “consensus” on a ceasefire or halt of military operations,” Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Aragut said in a post in X after Trump’s announcement.
“However, if the Israeli regime had stopped illegal attacks on Iranian people within 4am, we would not continue our response,” Araguchi wrote. “The final decision regarding the suspension of our military operations will be made later.”
Iranian health officials recently said the Israeli strike killed at least 400 people and injured 3,000 people in Iran. Iran’s retaliatory strike killed at least 24 people in Israel.
“A lot of people were dying and it was just getting worse,” Trump told NBC News Monday night.
The US attacked Iran over the weekend, attacking three nuclear facilities on a strike involving more than 125 US aircraft.
Denied Trump’s warning that retaliation against US assets would “fill with even greater force,” Iran attacked a Qatar base, where thousands of US troops are stationed. Qatar said there were no casualties.
Trump called Iran’s retaliatory strike a true socially “weak response” Monday afternoon, adding that Tehran could “go to peace” and “eagerly encourage Israel to do the same.”
When Trump later announced he had reached a ceasefire agreement, he suggested that the conflict between Israel and Iran should be called a “12-day war.”
A senior White House official said the name was Trump’s idea.
This story first appeared on nbcnews.com. More from NBC News:
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