We are not going to fight or negotiate, but we are going to fight on our own time
After four months of open conflict that has claimed thousands of lives across the Middle East, Iran and Israel have agreed to pause their exchange of strikes — a fragile stillness brokered in part by an American president who believes a nuclear agreement may be within reach. The ceasefire is less a resolution than a held breath: both sides have warned of devastating retaliation should the other move first, and the deeper questions of Lebanon, nuclear ambition, and regional sovereignty remain entirely unresolved. History has seen such pauses before — moments when exhaustion and diplomacy briefly outpace grievance — and what follows depends, as it always has, on whether those with power choose to spend it wisely.
- A weekend of missile exchanges between Iran and Israel — including strikes on Beirut, Mahshahr, and Tyre — left dozens dead or wounded before both sides announced they were standing down.
- Trump intervened directly, warning Netanyahu that Israel risked fighting alone if strikes resumed, framing the halt as essential to preserving a nuclear deal he claims is days from completion.
- Both governments have publicly threatened severe retaliation if the ceasefire is broken, making the pause feel less like peace and more like two adversaries catching their breath.
- Hezbollah has rejected the US-brokered ceasefire terms and Iran is conditioning any nuclear agreement on an Israeli withdrawal from Lebanon, complicating Trump's optimistic timeline.
- The human cost of the war — now over 10,700 dead since late February — continues to grow even as diplomats negotiate, with casualties reported in the same hours as ceasefire announcements.
The guns fell quiet on Monday, at least temporarily, as both Iran and Israel announced they were halting strikes after a weekend of intense exchanges. Netanyahu said Israel was pausing operations "at the moment," while Iran declared it had delivered its response to an Israeli attack on Beirut — but warned of crushing retaliation if struck again. The pause followed Israeli strikes on a petrochemical complex in Mahshahr, believed to produce ballistic missile components, and an attack on the Lebanese city of Tyre that killed five people, including four Red Cross workers.
President Trump claimed a central role in stopping the cycle, saying he called Netanyahu directly to demand a halt and warning the Israeli leader that continued strikes could leave Israel fighting without American support. Trump framed the intervention as essential to protecting what he described as a near-complete nuclear deal with Iran — one he believes could be finalized within days and would reopen the Strait of Hormuz, blockaded since the war began. Netanyahu, for his part, pushed back against the suggestion he had been ordered to stand down, insisting Israel retained its full right to self-defense.
The ceasefire is deeply conditional. Iran's chief negotiator signaled Tehran views the pause as a tactical choice, not a concession, saying his country would fight and negotiate on its own terms. Hezbollah has rejected the US-brokered agreement between Israel and Lebanon, demanding a full Israeli withdrawal — a demand Iran has tied to any nuclear deal. Trump's confidence that an agreement is imminent sits uneasily against these entrenched positions and the profound mistrust between the parties.
The war, which began on February 28 with a US-Israeli strike that killed Iran's Supreme Leader, has now killed more than 10,700 people across the region. Whether this pause becomes something more durable depends on whether diplomacy can outpace the grievances that have already cost so many their lives.
The guns have gone quiet, at least for now. On Monday, both Iran and Israel announced they were holding their fire after four months of escalating strikes that had pulled the entire Middle East into open conflict. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel was pausing its operations "at the moment," though he made clear the fight was far from over. Iran's military, having launched a wave of missiles at Israel on Sunday in retaliation for an Israeli strike on Beirut, declared it had delivered its "painful response" and would stop—but warned of "more severe and crushing measures" if Israel struck again.
The fragile pause came after a weekend of intense exchanges. On Sunday, Tehran fired missiles at Israel following an Israeli attack on the Lebanese capital. Israel responded in the early hours of Monday with its own strikes, targeting what it said were military installations inside Iran. One Israeli operation hit a petrochemical complex in the southwestern city of Mahshahr, where officials said chemicals for ballistic missiles were produced. The strikes injured at least 14 people in Mahshahr and one in Tehran. In Lebanon, an Israeli strike on the southern city of Tyre killed five people and wounded eight, including four Red Cross rescuers. Hezbollah, the Iran-backed militia that has been fighting Israeli forces in southern Lebanon since March, fired its own rocket barrage at Israeli military positions that same morning.
President Donald Trump claimed credit for stopping the cycle. In a call with the BBC, he denied that Netanyahu had defied his wishes by launching the strikes, saying the Israeli prime minister had simply acted on orders already in motion. But Trump also said he had called Netanyahu directly to demand a halt, framing the intervention as essential to preserving negotiations on what he described as "a very powerful deal"—one that would eliminate Iran's nuclear weapons program. "All I did is say, 'We have to use sense'," Trump told reporters. He also told Netanyahu, according to reporting by Axios, that Israel risked fighting alone if it resumed hostilities: "Bibi, you better be careful, or you will be on your own very soon."
Netanyahu, in a televised statement, pushed back gently against the implication that he had been ordered to stand down. He said he had told Trump that "Israel has a full right to self-defence, and we are exercising it as required." The Israeli ambassador to the United States, Yechiel Leiter, posted on social media that no self-respecting country would accept the kind of attack Iran had launched, and neither would Israel. Yet the prime minister did agree to halt operations, at least temporarily.
The ceasefire is fragile and conditional. Both sides have threatened swift retaliation if the other breaks the truce. Iran's top negotiator, Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf, said in a Telegram post that ceasefire violations and what he called the US blockade of Iranian ports had caused recent tensions. He signaled Iran's willingness to negotiate but on its own timeline: "We are not going to fight or negotiate, but we are going to fight on our own time and negotiate on our own time." The statement suggested Tehran sees the pause not as a surrender but as a tactical choice.
Trump, meanwhile, is pushing hard for a broader nuclear agreement. On Tuesday, he told journalists that negotiations were in their "final throes" and could be completed in "two or three days." He said the Strait of Hormuz, which Iran has effectively blockaded since the war began in late February, would reopen immediately after a deal was signed. The president has been pressing Israel to scale back its military campaign in Lebanon to create space for these wider talks, and he has reportedly told Netanyahu that the Israeli leader will have no choice but to accept whatever agreement Washington reaches with Tehran.
The war that began on February 28 with a joint US-Israeli strike that killed Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has already claimed thousands of lives. Iran's government says at least 3,468 of its citizens have been killed, though human rights groups put the figure higher at 3,636, including 1,701 civilians. Lebanon's health ministry reports 3,613 dead from Israeli operations. Israel has suffered 20 civilian deaths from Iranian missile attacks, along with 34 soldiers and civilians killed in fighting with Hezbollah along the Lebanon border. Another 29 people have died in Iranian attacks on Gulf Arab states, and 13 US service members have been killed. The humanitarian toll continues to mount even as diplomats negotiate.
Hezbollah remains a major obstacle to any lasting settlement. The militia has rejected a US-brokered ceasefire agreement between Israel and Lebanon, demanding a full Israeli withdrawal from Lebanese territory. Iran has made the Lebanon conflict a condition of any nuclear deal, insisting that any agreement must address the broader regional war. Trump's confidence that a deal is days away contrasts sharply with the complexity of these demands and the deep mistrust between the parties. The pause in strikes may be real, but whether it holds depends on whether Trump can deliver on promises that may be beyond his power to keep.
Notable Quotes
All I did is say, 'We have to use sense'. We're very close to signing a very powerful deal, a very good deal.— President Trump, explaining his intervention to halt Israeli strikes
Israel has a full right to self-defence, and we are exercising it as required.— Prime Minister Netanyahu, in televised statement
The Hearth Conversation Another angle on the story
Why did both sides agree to stop firing right now, when they've been escalating for months?
Trump essentially told Netanyahu that if Israel kept fighting, it would be on its own—no American backing. For Iran, the pause lets them claim they delivered their response without getting drawn into a wider war they might lose. Both sides are exhausted and watching to see if Trump can actually deliver on a nuclear deal.
Does Trump actually have leverage over Netanyahu, or is the Israeli PM just humoring him?
Netanyahu said publicly that Israel has the right to defend itself, which sounds like pushback. But he did stop the strikes when Trump asked. The real question is whether Netanyahu believes Trump will follow through on supporting Israel if talks collapse. Right now, he seems to be betting that Trump's deal-making will work.
What about Hezbollah? They're still fighting in Lebanon.
Hezbollah rejected the ceasefire agreement entirely. They want Israel completely out of Lebanon. So even if Iran and Israel pause, the fighting on the ground in the south could keep going. That's the fracture line in any deal Trump is trying to make.
How many people have actually died in this war?
At least 10,700 across the region since late February. Iran says 3,468 of its own people, though independent groups count higher. Lebanon has lost 3,613. Israel has lost 54 people total—20 civilians from Iranian attacks, 34 soldiers and civilians in the Lebanon fighting. The numbers are staggering for a conflict that's only been going on for a few months.
If Trump gets a nuclear deal done in three days, does that actually end the war?
Not necessarily. Iran is demanding that any deal cover Lebanon too. Hezbollah won't accept the current ceasefire. And Israel has said it reserves the right to defend itself. A nuclear agreement might stop the direct Iran-Israel strikes, but the fighting in Lebanon could continue indefinitely.