Spartan Echo

President Donald Trump. Credit: AP

US President Donald Trump announced a ceasefire between Israel and Iran after the United States launched airstrikes on Iranian nuclear facilities early Sunday, local time.

The Israel-Iran conflict escalated after Israel, with backing from the US, bombed suspected nuclear sites in Iran, exposing what was claimed to be the Islamic Republic’s secret nuclear weapons program. In retaliation, Iran launched dozens of missiles at Israel, prompting the US to intervene. 

The operation, dubbed “Operation Midnight Hammer,” was a covert mission involving B-2 stealth bombers that dropped over a dozen massive “bunker-buster” bombs on Iran’s Fordow and Natanz nuclear facilities, according to a US military timeline of the attack.

President Trump announced on social media that both Israel and Iran had agreed to a full ceasefire, scheduled to begin at midnight. 

“Officially, Iran will begin the CEASEFIRE at the 12th hour. Israel will follow shortly after. Upon the 24th hour, an Official End to the 12-DAY WAR will be saluted by the World,” Trump wrote in a post. 

Neither Israeli nor Iranian officials have publicly responded to Trump’s announcement.

The statement comes just days after Iran reportedly launched missiles toward Qatar in an attempt to strike a US military base there. 

In an interview with Fox News, Vice President J.D. Vance praised Trump’s handling of the conflict, calling the operation a “reset button.” 

“What the Iranians have shown—through their support of terror networks and their now-failed attempt to build a nuclear weapon—is that they’re simply not very good at war,” Vance said. “And I think the President really hit the reset button and said, ‘Look, let’s actually produce long-term peace in the region.’” 

Before the interview concluded, host Bret Baier asked whether the Trump administration currently knows the location of Iran’s highly enriched uranium. Vance deflected. 

“Well, Bret, I think that’s not the central question right now. The real question is whether Iran can enrich uranium to weapons-grade and convert that material into a functioning nuclear weapon,” he said. 

As the world watches closely, questions remain about whether the ceasefire will truly hold—or if Trump’s announcement was premature, while fighting reportedly continues across the region.