Trump Lashes Out at Israel, Iran as Ceasefire Teeters

Israel bombed a target near Tehran on Tuesday despite a furious rebuke from US President Donald Trump for launching airstrikes hours after agreeing to a ceasefire deal with Iran.

- REUTERS

Trump scolded both Iran and Israel for early violations of the truce that he had announced at around 0500 GMT, but directed particularly stinging criticism at Washington's close ally over the scale of its strikes, telling it to "calm down now".

He said Israel called off further attacks at his command to preserve the deal to end a 12-day air war with Iran, the biggest ever military confrontation between the West Asian arch-foes that had raised fears of global repercussions. Following those remarks, however, two witnesses reached by telephone in the Iranian capital said they heard two loud blasts.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office acknowledged that Israel had bombed a radar site near Tehran in what it said was retaliation for Iranian missiles fired three-and-a-half hours after the ceasefire had been due to begin. It said Israel had decided to refrain from further attacks following a call between Netanyahu and Trump, but did not explicitly say whether the strike on the radar site took place before or after they spoke.