By Mona Hojat Ansari Courtesy Teheran Times

TEHRAN – The war between Iran and Israel appeared to grind to a halt on Tuesday, after a dizzying 12 days in which the world watched President Donald Trump demand the evacuation of Tehran’s 10 million residents, threaten to assassinate Iran’s Leader, advocate for “regime change,” launch strikes on Iranian nuclear sites, and then claim he harbored no beef with the Iranian government and even wish for God to “bless Iran.”

Iran and Israel haven’t signed a ceasefire deal, but have only agreed to halt fighting, according to Iranian Foreign Minister Seyyed Abbas Araghchi. He stated on X that Iran will hold back from striking Israel as long as the regime refrains from further aggression. 

This war brought the region to the edge of a full-scale conflict, especially after American forces directly joined the fight and faced retaliatory strikes from Iran. Regional leaders watched with anxiety, fearing that the flames ignited by Trump would engulf them as well. For now, it seems the region might be safe. However, given the well-documented history of Israel and Washington breaking their word and even violating official ceasefire agreements, the threat of renewed conflict remains a very real possibility for every country in West Asia.

Meanwhile, Western media outlets have been working overtime to paint Iran as defeated, censor the grim reality unfolding in Israel, and conveniently ignore the elephant in the room: Israel and the U.S. not only failed to achieve their objectives, but faced unexpected and unprecedented consequences.

Below, we examine some key aspects of this conflict.

How did the war break out?

The war ignited in the early hours of June 13 when Israel, with U.S. backing, initiated bombings of residential buildings in Tehran, nuclear facilities in Natanz and Esfahan, and military sites throughout Iran. The regime also assassinated several of Iran’s top military generals and nuclear scientists on that day.

These attacks caught Iranians off guard, as they were preparing to attend a sixth round of nuclear negotiations with the United States in a matter of days.

Iran launched its retaliatory strikes on the night of June 13, carrying out 22 waves of missile and drone attacks against the occupied territories. The last round was fired just minutes before the fighting was supposed to cease on June 24.

Initially, American officials claimed they had no involvement in the Israeli assaults, but on June 22, they directly intervened by striking nuclear sites in Natanz, Esfahan, and Fordow.

For full Reort

Everything you need to know about the Iran-Israel war – Tehran Times