A fragile ceasefire in the Iran-Israel war appears to be holding, after 12 days of strikes that saw Israel and the United States pummel the Islamic republic’s nuclear facilities.
After US President Donald Trump, who had first declared the ceasefire, angrily berated both sides for violating it, Iran announced it would respect the truce if Israel did, while Israel said it had refrained from further strikes.
On his way to attend a Nato summit in The Hague, Trump had publicly castigated both countries for violating the truce, and demanded Israel call off what he characterised as an imminent attack, later saying “the Ceasefire is in effect!”
Meanwhile, a classified preliminary US intelligence report has concluded that American strikes on Iran set back Tehran’s nuclear programme by just a few months - rather than destroying it as claimed by Trump.
US media cited people familiar with the Defence Intelligence Agency findings as saying the weekend strikes did not fully eliminate Iran’s centrifuges or stockpile of enriched uranium.
The strikes sealed off entrances to some facilities without destroying underground buildings, according to the report.
White House Press Secretary Karline Leavitt confirmed the authenticity of the assessment but said it was “flat-out wrong and was classified as ‘top secret’ but was still leaked”.
