People gather in an underground shelter in Tel Aviv on Tuesday after sirens sounded in several areas across the country after missiles were fired from Iran. — AFP JERUSALEM, June 24 (AFP): A fragile ceasefire in the Iran-Israel war appeared to be holding on Tuesday, 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.
Trump had said that both Israel and Iran had violated the ceasefire, but he expressed particular dissatisfaction with Israel.
As a ceasefire between Iran and Israel began to take effect, oil prices dropped and stock markets saw an increase on Tuesday. Additionally, oil prices declined further after Trump stated that China would still be allowed to purchase Iranian oil, offering reassurance regarding the supply of crude oil in the Middle East.
In volatile trading, crude futures slumped more than five percent after Trump announced a ceasefire.
Israel, in announcing it had agreed to Trump's plan, said it had achieved all its military objectives.
Iran initially stopped short of officially accepting the proposal, but President Masoud Pezeshkian later said that if "the Zionist regime does not violate the ceasefire, Iran will not violate it either".
Israel had accused Iran of firing missiles at it after the truce was meant to have come into effect -- which Tehran denied -- vowing to respond.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office later said Israel had "destroyed a radar installation near Tehran" in retaliation, but had "refrained from further strikes" following a phone call between Trump and the premier.
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!"
Both Israel and Iran appeared to claim victory following the announcement of the truce.
The Israeli government said Netanyahu had convened his cabinet "to announce that Israel had achieved all the objectives of Operation Rising Lion and much more".
It added that it had removed "an immediate dual existential threat: nuclear and ballistic", while vowing to respond forcefully to any violations of the ceasefire.
Iran's top security body, meanwhile, said the Islamic republic's forces had "compelled" Israel to "unilaterally" stand down.
Its Revolutionary Guards also hailed a missile salvo fired at Israel "in the final moments before the ceasefire", saying it taught "a historic and unforgettable lesson to the Zionist enemy".
Israeli rescuers reported four people killed when a missile struck a residential building in the southern city of Beersheba early Tuesday.
In Iran, state television said an overnight Israeli strike in the north killed nuclear scientist Mohammad Reza Seddighi Saber, who was under US sanctions.
- Strikes on US base -
Israel first launched its campaign against Iran on June 13, hitting nuclear and military sites as well as residential areas, and prompting waves of Iranian missile attacks on Israel. While Iran and Israel have been locked in a shadow war for decades, this has been by far the most destructive confrontation between the arch-foes.
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