Trump swears in angry outburst at Iran and Israel
Donald Trump said that Israel has to “calm down” after he said both Israel and Iran violated a ceasefire he tried to broker.
“I gotta get Israel to calm down now,” Trump said as he left the White House, Reuters reports.
“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.
“We basically have two countries that have been fighting so long and so hard that they don’t know what the fuck they’re doing.”
Key events
Iran president says will respect ceasefire if Israel does
Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian said on Tuesday that it will respect a ceasefire announced by Donald Trump, provided that Israel also upholds its terms, AFP reports.
“If the Zionist regime does not violate the ceasefire, Iran will not violate it either,” Pezeshkian said during a phone conversation with Malaysian prime minister Anwar Ibrahim, according to the presidency’s website.
The Revolutionary Guards said they had arrested a European citizen who had entered Iran as a tourist and gone to southern Hormozgan province to gather intelligence at sensitive and military sites, the semi-official news agency Tasnim reported on Tuesday.
It gave no details on the person’s nationality, according to Reuters.
Gaza rescuers say Israeli forces killed 25 more people waiting for aid
Gaza’s civil defence agency said Israeli forces killed 25 people waiting for aid in the south of the Palestinian territory in the second such incident on Tuesday, bringing the number of aid seekers killed to 46.
Civil defence spokesman Mahmud Bassal told AFP that 25 people were killed and dozens wounded when “Israeli forces targeted civilian gatherings near Al-Alam and Al-Shakoush areas with bullets and tank shells as they attempted to reach an aid centre in northwest Rafah, about two kilometres from a US-backed aid distribution point.”
The Israeli army did not respond to an AFP request for comment.
The following statement from the office of the Israeli prime minister was released today (Tuesday, 24 June 2025) [translated from Hebrew]:
The ceasefire was set for 07.00 this morning. At 03.00, Israel forcefully attacked in the heart of Tehran, struck regime targets and eliminated hundreds of Basij and Iranian security forces personnel.
Shortly before the ceasefire was due to take effect, Iran launched a barrage of missiles, one of which took the lives of four of our citizens in Be’er Sheva. The ceasefire took effect at 07.00.
At 07.06, Iran launched one missile at Israeli territory, and two additional missiles at 10.25. These missiles were either intercepted or fell in open areas, and caused neither casualties nor damage.
In response to Iran’s violations, the Air Force destroyed a radar installation near Tehran.
Pursuant to the conversation between President Trump and Prime Minister Netanyahu, Israel has refrained from additional attacks.
In the conversation, President Trump expressed his great appreciation for Israel, which achieved all of its objectives for the war, as well as his confidence in the stability of the ceasefire.
‘Fragile’ Israel-Iran ceasefire should get parties back at the table, EU’s Kallas says
The ‘fragile’ reprieve in fighting between Israel and Iran is good news and should make all parties return to the negotiating table, EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said on Tuesday.
In a post on X she said:
The announced reprieve in fighting between Israel and Iran is good news but remains fragile. All sides should stand by this and refrain from further violence. All further escalation must be avoided.
The EU stands in solidarity with all those affected, including Qatar last night. This is the moment to return to the negotiating table. Let this be a turning point for the whole region. I will continue to work towards this end with all sides.
Red Cross says fifth ICRC colleague killed in Gaza
The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) announced on Tuesday that one of its workers had been killed in the Gaza Strip – the fifth since the start of the Israel-Hamas war.
“Mahmoud Barakeh, who worked supporting logistics at the Red Cross Field Hospital in Rafah, was killed on Sunday,” the ICRC said in a statement, adding: “This heartbreaking loss is yet another stark reminder of the immense challenges our colleagues, and the people of Gaza, face each day.”
Iranian media reported on Tuesday that an Israeli strike the day before had killed a senior commander of Iran’s Basij paramilitary force, linked to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), according to AFP.
“The commander of Basij counterintelligence protection forces was martyred in a Zionist regime attack,” the Fars news agency said, citing a statement from the IRGC.
Israel destroyed a radar installation near Tehran on Tuesday in response to Iran violating the ceasefire, but refrained from further strikes after prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke with Donald Trump, Reuters reports citing Netanyahu’s office.
We have more details coming to us from AFP regarding explosions heard in Iran.
The Etemad and Ham Mihan newspapers said explosions were heard and air defences were activated in Babol and Babolsar, two towns about 200 kilometres (124 miles) northeast of Tehran on the Caspian Sea.
The source of the explosions was not immediately clear.
Trump says he does not want ‘regime change’ in Iran
Donald Trump said on Tuesday he does not want to see “regime change” in Iran, which he said would lead to chaos.
Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One en route to a Nato summit, Trump said Iran is not going to have a nuclear weapon and that Russian president Vladimir Putin had called him and offered to help with Iran, Reuters reports.
Donald Trump claimed that Iran will never be able to rebuild its nuclear programme.
In a post on Truth Social he said:
IRAN WILL NEVER REBUILD THEIR NUCLEAR FACILITIES!
Two explosions were heard in the Iranian capital on Tuesday, the judiciary news outlet Mizan and the Shargh newspaper reported, after Donald Trump called on Israel not to bomb Iran after a ceasefire was reached early on Tuesday.
Both outlets reported that the northern city of Babolsar is being “attacked by Israel”, according to Reuters.
Israeli army radio said Israel had struck an Iranian radar site near Tehran.
Martin Farrer
A special Australian Defence Force flight has left Tel Aviv with 119 Australians and their family members on board after they became stranded by the suspension of flights out of Israel amid its conflict with Iran.
The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade said late on Tuesday night (AUS time) that Australian defence personnel and diplomats “have supported an Australian Defence Force assisted departure flight” out of the Israeli city.
Commercial flights out of Israel have in the meantime resumed with some restrictions after a ceasefire was agreed between Israel and Iran.
Photographs posted on social media by the foreign minister, Penny Wong, showed people being taken by bus to the airport.
Here is Donald Trump swearing in a visibly angry outburst at Israel and Iran (see earlier post).
Aletha Adu
UK prime minister Keir Starmer has called for the Israel-Iran ceasefire to continue, warning that the region cannot afford further escalation.
Speaking in Amsterdam ahead of talks with the Dutch prime minister, Starmer said:
I want the ceasefire to continue, and therefore, obviously, the sooner we get back to that, the better.
Starmer said he would press the message of de-escalation with fellow leaders during the Nato summit, stressing that maintaining the ceasefire aligned with his long-standing calls for restraint.
He also revealed that he had exchanged messages with the Emir of Qatar following Sunday’s attack – an unusual disclosure pointing to the UK’s quiet diplomatic efforts to stabilise the region.
The UK is walking a delicate line amid fears of wider conflict, with Starmer seeking to position himself as a steady hand on the global stage just days after committing 5% of GDP to national security.
Donald Trump called Israel’s prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu and asked him not to attack Iran, an Axios reporter said in a X post on Tuesday, citing an Israeli official, Reuters reports.
Netanyahu told Trump that he was unable to cancel the attack and that it was needed because Iran violated the ceasefire, the Axios reporter said.
The attack would be significantly scaled back and would not hit a large number of targets but only strike one target, according to the report.