ADDS MORE STATEMENTS BY US PRESIDENT
By Zehra Nur Celik
US President Donald Trump on Tuesday voiced displeasure with Israel, saying both Tel Aviv and Tehran violated a ceasefire agreement.
“Israel, as soon as we made the deal, they came out and they dropped a load of bombs, the likes of which I've never seen before, the biggest load that we've seen,” Trump told reporters at the White House before departing for the NATO summit in The Hague, Netherlands.
“We basically have two countries that have been fighting so long and so hard that they don't know what the f*ck they're doing,” said Trump, noting that he needs to get Israel to "calm down."
Trump also touched on the US bombing of three key Iranian nuclear facilities at Fordo, Natanz, and Isfahan early Sunday, saying: “Iran will never rebuild its nuclear (weapon) from there, absolutely not. That place is under rock. That place is demolished.”
Trump praised the role of B-2 stealth bomber pilots, saying: “The B-2 pilots did their job. They did it better than anybody could even imagine.”
The statements came after reports of violations of the Iran-Israel ceasefire.
A ceasefire between Israel and Iran came into effect at 0400GMT Tuesday, ending "the 12-day war."
However, Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz ordered his army earlier Tuesday to launch intense strikes on Tehran, claiming that Iran violated the truce. Iran denied the claim, vowing a resolute response to any new strikes.
The ceasefire was initially announced by Trump, who said it would involve a phased halt to operations – with Iran beginning the ceasefire first and Israel following 12 hours later. A full end to hostilities was to be declared at the 24-hour mark.
On Monday, Iran launched a barrage of missiles at the US military’s Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar, marking a dramatic escalation in tensions following US strikes on three Iranian nuclear sites on Sunday.
The US attacks came as part of a US-backed Israeli military assault on Iran that began on June 13 and prompted Tehran to launch retaliatory attacks on Israel.