White House hits out at ‘leaked’ intelligence assessment on Iran strikes

A fragile truce appeared to take hold between Israel and Iran after Donald Trump rebuked the two countries for alleged ceasefire violations.

A ceasefire brokered by the US president went into effect on Tuesday morning, but Israel swiftly claimed it had been broken by Tehran and struck an Iranian radar station in retaliation.

However, Israel said that after a conversation between Trump and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, it would refrain from further attacks.

“ISRAEL. DO NOT DROP THOSE BOMBS,” the US president wrote on his Truth Social platform before the latest Israeli strike. “IF YOU DO IT IS A MAJOR VIOLATION. BRING YOUR PILOTS HOME, NOW!”

Speaking to reporters at the White House before flying to the Nato summit in The Hague, he added that the two countries “don’t know what the fuck they’re doing”.

The US president said he was “really unhappy” with Israel in particular, but insisted that “the Ceasefire is in effect”.

The agreement between the regional rivals heralded a possible end to almost two weeks of conflict. On Monday, Tehran struck the Al Udeid air base near Doha, the biggest US base in the Middle East.

Iran said the attack, which caused no casualties, was a response to the US strike against Iran’s nuclear facilities at the weekend.

Oil prices fell as Tuesday’s ceasefire appeared to take hold, trading 5 per cent down at $67.91 a barrel.

Crude had fallen sharply following Iran’s attack on the base in Doha, which traders interpreted as a largely symbolic retaliation, designed to avoid a response from the US.

Israel said that the decision to halt its strikes on Iran was agreed “in full co-ordination with president Trump”.

Netanyahu launched the military campaign against Iran nearly two weeks ago, vowing to eliminate what he said was the threat posed by Tehran’s missile and nuclear programmes. Iran has maintained its nuclear programme is peaceful.

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