There is mayhem and blasts in the heart of the Middle East, even after Iran and Israel confirmed to ceasefire of their 12-day war. Explosions are heard in both Israel and Iran, while the Islamic regime has denied striking Israel. Following this, US President Donald Trump has lashed out at both countries. Meanwhile, the US market reacted on a bullish note to the ceasefire agreement with Dow Jones now nearing the 43,000 mark.
Israel-Iran Ceasefire Chaos:
The US President confirmed both Iran and Israel have agreed to a ceasefire. However, the deal he brokered between the two Middle Eastern countries grimed when both parties claimed they were attacked after the ceasefire came into effect, and the result was a barrage of missile explosions and booms in both the region in mid-morning of Tuesday, June 24.
In the early hours of June 24, Seyed Abbas Araghch who is the Foreign Minister of Islamic Regime of Iran, said, "The military operations of our powerful Armed Forces to punish Israel for its aggression continued until the very last minute, at 4 am."
"Together with all Iranians, I thank our brave Armed Forces who remain ready to defend our dear country until their last drop of blood, and who responded to any attack by the enemy until the very last minute," he added.
During those hours, he also said, "As Iran has repeatedly made clear: Israel launched war on Iran, not the other way around."
"As of now, there is NO "agreement" on any ceasefire or cessation of military operations. However, provided that the Israeli regime stops its illegal aggression against the Iranian people no later than 4 am Tehran time, we have no intention to continue our response afterwards," Araghchi added.
However, later, Israel claimed that Iran violated the ceasefire hours after Trump's announcement of the agreement. Israel's Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said, "Tehran will tremble' in his X post after explosions were reported on Israeli soil.
According to the Times Of Israel, Yisrael Beytenu chairman Avigdor Liberman said, "Three and a half hours after the US president announced a ceasefire, there is shooting from Iran toward northern Israel. We must not absorb it, we must not ignore it, we have to respond immediately."
Meanwhile, the Prime Minister Of Israel office tweeted, "The ceasefire was set for 07:00 this morning. At 03:00, Israel forcefully attacked the heart of Tehran, struck regime targets and eliminated hundreds of Basij and Iranian security forces personnel."
Following the strike in Israel, the Iranian military denied firing missiles at the Jewish-majority country hours after the ceasefire agreement. The local media, Nournews, said that President Pezeshkian stated Iran will not violate the ceasefire unless Israel does.
Meanwhile, during the day, explosions also rang in Tehran. As per a Reuters report, two witnesses reached by telephone in the Iranian capital said they heard two loud explosions. Israeli army radio said Israel had struck an Iranian radar site near Tehran.
This pushed Trump to intervene once again when he was en route to a NATO summit in the Netherlands. He expressed his unhappiness with both countries for breaking the ceasefire, but his anger was pointed more towards Israel. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced that Israel has halted all attacks on Iran after a call with Trump.
Trump Lashes Out At Israel-IRAN:
"ISRAEL is not going to attack Iran. All planes will turn around and head home while doing a friendly "Plane Wave" to Iran. Nobody will be hurt, the Ceasefire is in effect! Thank you for your attention to this matter!," Trump said through his Truth Social account.
He warned Israel to not drop those bombs at Iran. He said to Israel, "If you do, it is a major violation. Bring your pilots home, NOW!"
While Trump rebuked Israel, he also made his stance clear on Iran having nuclear weapons. He said, "Iran will never rebuild their nuclear facilities."
Trump further said, "China can now continue to purchase Oil from Iran. Hopefully, they will be purchasing plenty from the U.S., also. It was my Great Honor to make this happen!"
China is an ally of Iran, while the US is an ally of Israel. The PM Netanyahu-led country has been battling Iran's proxies such as Hamas in Gaza, Hezbollah in Lebanon and Houthis in Yemen since the October 7th massacre on their soil by the Hamas militia. Iran and Israel have bombarded each other on several occasions since last year.
However, the eye-bulger moment was when U.S. entered the conflict for a night during the weekend with its B-2 bombers, attacking three major nuclear facilities of Iran. Iran retaliated by attacking a US air base in Qatar, but no casualties were reported.
Is Tensions In Middle East Over With Iran-Israel Ceasefire?
During this 12-day conflict, Iran reported that at least 610 people died, while 4,700 others were heavily injured since Israel struck its nuclear and military bases on June 13. However, the death toll in Israel is marginal to 29 people, while hundreds were being reported injured from Iran's missile attacks.
Also, Israel's PM office revealed that last night Netanyahu met the Security Cabinet, together with the Defense Minister, the IDF Chief-of-Staff and the Director of the Mossad, to learn about Israel's achievement of Operation Rising Lion and much more.
Israel's PMO said, "Israel has removed from over it a double existential threat - on both the nuclear issue and regarding ballistic missiles," adding, "The IDF also achieved complete air superiority in the skies over Tehran, struck a severe blow to the military leadership and destroyed dozens of Iran's main regime targets."
The 12-day war between Israel and Iran has eventually ended, but the situation in the Middle East is at a knife-edge. Because now Israel's focus has shifted back to Gaza to complete its mission of bringing its hostages and eliminating Hamas.
Smotrich through his X handler said, "We removed an immediate existential threat from the eternity of Israel and dealt a severe blow to the Iranian Ayatollah regime, including the destruction of dozens of targets in Tehran last night."
"Now with full force to Gaza*, to complete the task - to destroy Hamas, bring back our hostages, and ensure, with God's help, many years of security and growth for the people of Israel from a position of strength," Smotrich added.
How US Market React?
On Tuesday, Wall Street witnessed strong buying sentiment in the wake of ceasefire agreement of Iran and Israel. At the time of writing, Dow Jones traded at 42,955.72, up by 373.94 points or 0.9% after hitting an intraday high of 42,979.94.
Similarly, the S&P 500 index surged by 50.91 points or 0.84% to trade at 6,076.08, which is near its intraday high of 6,078.71. Notably, the tech-heavy index Nasdaq Composite outperformed with an upside of 241.44 points or 1.23% to trade at 19,872.41, which is near its intraday high of 19,872.53.
Iranian and Israeli authorities refrained from pledging to retaliate against the small strikes between the nations today, backing hopes of de-escalation mediated by President Trump. In the meantime, oil continued to plunge amid signs that the Strait of Hormuz would not be impacted by the conflict. On the policy front, Fed Chair Powell reiterated patience in lowering rates until the impact of tariffs are understood well. Tech led the gains amid the recovery in risk sentiment, with Nvidia, Alpha, and Meta over 1.5% higher. In the meantime, Starbucks gained 2% after stating it does not intend to sell its China division, contrary to reports by Caixin, as per Trading Economics.
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