Trump announces ceasefire ending Israel-Iran conflict quickly

U.S. President Donald Trump announced on June 23 that Israel and Iran had agreed to a “complete and total ceasefire.” Both countries confirmed the agreement shortly after, effectively halting the military conflict that began with Israel’s strike on Iran 12 days earlier and had raised global tensions.

The ceasefire is expected to be a major foreign policy achievement for Trump, who returned to office in January. On June 21, he had launched a bold airstrike operation dubbed “Midnight Hammer,” targeting three key nuclear facilities in Iran with B-2 stealth bombers and GBU-57 bunker buster bombs. Analysts believe this show of force played a significant role in compelling Iran to come to the negotiating table.

Trump revealed the ceasefire agreement on Truth Social at 6:02 p.m., stating, “Twenty-four hours from now, the world will celebrate the end of the ‘12-day war.’” About four hours later, he posted again, claiming credit for the deal: “Israel and Iran both came to me and said, ‘Peace.’ I knew this was the moment.”

Just before Trump’s announcement, Iran fired missiles toward the U.S. Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar. However, Iran had notified both the U.S. and Qatar in advance, clarifying it did not intend to escalate the conflict. Trump thanked Iran for the warning and confirmed that there were no U.S. casualties.

With fears of war subsiding, global oil prices dropped sharply. On the same day, West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures on the New York Mercantile Exchange fell by 7.2 percent. Stock markets around the world also rallied in response to the news.

Still, the risk of renewed conflict remains. Iran’s parliamentary National Security Committee passed a bill to completely halt cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), fueling speculation that Iran may withdraw from the IAEA to accelerate its nuclear weapons development. Meanwhile, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other hardline conservatives continue to insist that Iran’s nuclear capabilities must be entirely eliminated.


Jin-Woo Shin niceshin@donga.com