BEIRUT — President Trump announced Monday that Israel and Iran had reached a ceasefire just hours after the Islamic Republic fired missiles at the largest U.S. military installation in the Middle East. Iran had called the attack a “mighty” retaliation for the American bombardment of its nuclear sites.
Posting on his social media platform around 6 p.m. Eastern, Trump wrote, “Officially, Iran will start the CEASEFIRE and, upon the 12th Hour, Israel will start the CEASEFIRE and, upon the 24th Hour, an Official END to THE 12 DAY WAR will be saluted by the World. During each CEASEFIRE, the other side will remain PEACEFUL and RESPECTFUL.”
After congratulating the governments of both countries, Trump said, “This is a War that could have gone on for years, and destroyed the entire Middle East, but it didn’t, and never will! God bless Israel, God bless Iran, God bless the Middle East, God bless the United States of America, and GOD BLESS THE WORLD!”
Trump added that the conflict should be called “THE 12 DAY WAR.”
Hours earlier in the Middle East, sirens sounded in U.S. military facilities in Qatar, Iraq, Bahrain, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia as Iran launched a volley of missiles at Al Udeid Air Base, which Trump visited five weeks ago.
The Iranian military declared — in a televised announcement on state TV complete with martial music — the beginning of what it described as “a mighty and successful response by the armed forces of Iran to America’s aggression.”
Before Trump posted about a ceasefire, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei posted a statement notable for its relatively softer tone compared with the rhetoric employed by other officials. “We do not harm anyone,” Khamenei wrote. “We will not accept any harassment from anyone under any circumstance. We will not submit to anyone’s harassment. This is the logic of the Iranian nation.”
Trump had said earlier Monday that Iran had given the U.S. advance warning of the attack.
“I am pleased to report that NO Americans were harmed, and hardly any damage was done,” he wrote on his platform. “Most importantly, they’ve gotten it all out of their ‘system,’ and there will, hopefully, be no further HATE. I want to thank Iran for giving us early notice, which made it possible for no lives to be lost, and nobody to be injured.”
Trump added, “Perhaps Iran can now proceed to Peace and Harmony in the Region, and I will enthusiastically encourage Israel to do the same.”
Al Udeid, a sprawling, 60-acre facility southwest of the Qatari capital, Doha, that houses about 10,000 U.S. troops, hosts the forward headquarters of U.S. Central Command, which directs battle operations over a 21-nation region stretching from northeast Africa to South Asia. British and other foreign forces also operate there, alongside the Qatari air force.
Residents in Doha reported their windows rattling as missiles arced overhead before exploding near Al Udeid, while others posted video to social media depicting the missiles streaking through the night sky.
Qatari Foreign Ministry spokesman Majed Al Ansari, in a post on social media, said Qatar’s air defenses successfully intercepted the missiles, that the base had been evacuated earlier and there were no casualties.
Soon after the attack, the secretariat of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, which is overseen by Khamenei, issued a statement saying the targeting of the base “does not pose any threat to our friendly and brotherly country, Qatar.”
The statement added that Al Udeid is far away from population centers and that it was hit with the same number of bombs used in the U.S. strikes on Iranian nuclear installations — a signal, observers say, that Tehran considers itself mollified and would not take further action.
That placatory language was met by a furious response from Qatari officials, who called the attack a “flagrant violation” of Qatar’s sovereignty and its airspace.
“We affirm that Qatar reserves the right to respond directly in a manner equivalent with the nature and scale of this brazen aggression, in line with international law,” said Al Ansari, the Foreign Ministry spokesman.
But he cautioned that continuing on the path of “escalatory actions” would lead to “catastrophic consequences” and that Qatar had warned of the dangers from Israel’s campaign on Iran.
“We call for the immediate cessation of all military actions and for a serious return to the negotiating table and dialogue,” he said.
An unnamed U.S. defense official quoted by CNN said Al Udeid was attacked “by short-range and medium-range ballistic missiles originating from Iran.” Other U.S. bases came on full alert, according to local media outlets, as a number of Persian Gulf nations closed their airspace, including Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Qatar, which had shutdown its skies even before the attack on Al Udeid. By midnight all airspace closures were reversed.
Earlier in the day, the U.S. Embassy in Qatar asked U.S. citizens to “shelter in place” out of what it said was an “abundance of caution.”
The strikes are Iran’s second-largest attack on U.S. forces since 2020, when it fired more than a dozen missiles on U.S. bases in Iraq in retaliation for Trump ordering the assassination during his first term of Iranian Gen. Qassem Suleimani — a decision that was expected to trigger furious retaliation from Tehran but which never materialized beyond the missile fusillade seen mostly as symbolic.
Monday’s barrage comes after repeated threats from Iranian officials of a painful response for the U.S. strike Sunday on the Fordo nuclear facility, even as Israel launched a round of airstrikes Monday morning targeting access roads to Iran’s flagship uranium enrichment facility.
Israel also expanded the scope of its attacks to well beyond the nuclear and military targets it had focused on when it launched its campaign June 13. The Israeli military said Monday that it hit Evin Prison, a jail notorious for its incarceration of anti-government dissidents; the internal security headquarters of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps; and its paramilitary wing.
At least 400 people have been killed in Iran since Israel launched attacks and more than 3,000 injured, according to Iranian officials. Observer groups believe the death toll to be more than double the state figures.
The office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said 24 people have been killed and 1,361 others injured in retaliatory attacks. Around 15,000 people have been evacuated from their homes.
Companies operating around the region have already begun taking precautions against a wider conflagration.
On Monday, Iraq’s state-owned Basra Oil Co. said British Petroleum, Eni and TotalEnergies evacuated foreign personnel working in Iraqi oilfields. Marine traffic data reveal some tankers avoiding the Strait of Hormuz, a vital waterway that Iran is threatening to shut down. And many airlines — both regional and European — remain reluctant to share sky lanes with flying ordnance.
Trump’s visit to Al Udeid in May was part of a tour of the Middle East, during which he said the United States and Iran had “sort of” agreed to a nuclear deal. At Al Udeid on May 15, he said that “my priority is to end conflicts, not start them, but I will never hesitate to wield American power if it’s necessary to defend the United States of America or our partners.”
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