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Israel and Iran ceasefire takes effect after Beirut strike; U.S. signs 14-point deal unfreezing Iranian funds
A ceasefire between Israel and Iran took effect after Israel struck a Hezbollah stronghold in Beirut. The U.S.-Iran agreement leaves Iran’s uranium stockpile and ballistic missiles unaddressed.
IA
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Israel struck a Hezbollah stronghold in Beirut on Sunday. Israelis awoke the next morning to news of a ceasefire between Israel and Iran rather than incoming missiles. U.S. And Iran did not address Iran’s stockpile of highly enriched uranium or its arsenal of ballistic missiles.
An Israel Democracy Institute poll released days before the deal showed less than one-third of Israeli Jews thought ending the war under current conditions served Israel’s security interests. Sixty percent of Arabs in Israel thought ending the war was compatible with security interests.
Forty-one percent of Israeli Jews said the country’s security was a central consideration for President Donald Trump, the lowest share since the institute began tracking the question in November 2024. Bezalel Smotrich, Israel’s far-right finance minister, called the agreement a “bad deal for Israel and the entire free world” on Monday.
On Wednesday night, President Donald Trump signed a copy of the 14-point agreement at the Palace of Versailles.
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian co-signed the document. Danny Citrinowicz, a former head of the Iran branch for Israel’s military intelligence and now a researcher at Israel’s Institute for National Security Studies, said the ceasefire deal sidesteps genuine curbs on Iran’s nuclear program and the threat posed by Iran’s ballistic missiles.
President Donald Trump stated on Wednesday that Iran has to have some ballistic missiles.
The deal will unfreeze tens of billions of dollars in Iranian funds held in international banks. Ali Khamenei was assassinated at age 86 by Israeli Air Force strikes. Mojtaba Khamenei is Iran’s new leader and is regarded as even more of a hard-liner than his father.
Amos Harel, a military analyst for Haaretz, labeled the Iran ceasefire deal among Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s biggest failures, second only to the Hamas-led attacks of October 7, 2023. Ehud Olmert, a former prime minister, stated on Wednesday that Netanyahu is alone without the Europeans, Democrats, Republicans, or Trump. Vice-President J.
