President Donald Trump lashed out at Israel and Iran on Tuesday for launching attacks after he had announced a ceasefire, highlighting the fragility of the deal that seeks to end 12 days of deadly fighting.

In expletive-laced remarks to reporters, Trump said he was “not happy”. He sharply criticised Israel for firing on Iran “right after we made the deal” and said that the two adversaries didn’t know what they were doing. A White House official said Trump had spoken with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel on Tuesday morning and was “firm and direct” about what needed to happen to sustain the ceasefire. He also said that a nuclear weapon was the last thing on Iran’s mind now.

Netanyahu’s office said that Iran had fired missiles after the ceasefire took effect, and that the Israeli military had retaliated by striking a radar system near Tehran. Iran’s military denied violating the ceasefire, and Netanyahu’s statement indicated that Israel’s retaliation was limited. That appeared to suggest that the two sides — both of which claim to have prevailed in the conflict — want the truce to hold. Later, the military announced that all regions of Israel would return to “full activity level” from 8pm on Tuesday.

In a Truth Social post, Trump said Israel “is not going to attack Iran” and that “all planes will turn around and head home while doing a friendly ‘Plane Wave’ to Iran”.

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said on Tuesday that Tehran would not violate the ceasefire deal unless Israel does, Iran’s state-run Nournews said. Tehran is prepared to talk and defend the rights of the Iranian people at the negotiating table, Pezeshkian said.

Trump’s comments came before he left Washington for a Nato summit in the Netherlands. The truce, if it holds, could give him a chance to claim a diplomatic achievement in a conflict that had threatened to escalate.

As he boarded Marine One to begin a journey to The Hague for the Nato summit, Trump appeared to reserve greater criticism for Israel’s actions in the hours after the agreement was reached.

“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. I’m not happy with Israel,” he said, adding that he would be “really unhappy” if Israel attacked Iran on Tuesday in retaliation for what the President described as “one rocket that didn’t land”.

New York Times News Service