Fragile Iran-Israel ceasefire appears to hold; U.S. report says strikes did not destroy Iran nuclear program

A fragile ceasefire between Iran and Israel appeared to take hold on Tuesday after initially faltering, and U.S. President Donald Trump expressed frustration with both sides, saying they had fought "for so long and so hard" that they do not know what they are doing.

But even as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu claimed that Israel had brought Iran's nuclear program "to ruin," a new U.S. intelligence report found that the program has been set back only a few months after U.S. strikes over the weekend.

According to the report, which was produced by the Defense Intelligence Agency, the strikes sealed off the entrances to two of the facilities, but did not collapse underground buildings, Reuters reported, citing one of the people familiar with its findings.

Some centrifuges still remained intact after the attacks, the Washington Post said, citing an unnamed person familiar with the report.

The White House said the intelligence assessment was "flat out wrong."

Trump's administration told the United Nations Security Council on Tuesday that its weekend strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities had "degraded" Iran's nuclear program, short of Trump's earlier assertion that the facilities had been "obliterated."

Nonetheless, Netanyahu said on Tuesday that Israel's attacks on Iran had removed the threat of nuclear annihilation and Israel was determined to thwart any attempt by Tehran to revive its weapons program.

"We have removed two immediate existential threats to us: the threat of nuclear annihilation and the threat of annihilation by 20,000 ballistic missiles," Netanyahu said.

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said his country was willing to return to negotiations over its nuclear program, but that his country would continue to "assert its legitimate rights" to the peaceful use of atomic energy.

Earlier on Tuesday, both Iran and Israel signaled that the air war between the two nations had ended, at least for now, after Trump publicly scolded them for violating a ceasefire he announced at 0500 GMT.

Israel's military lifted restrictions on activity across the country at 8 p.m. local time (1700 GMT), and officials said Ben Gurion Airport, the country's main airport near Tel Aviv, had reopened. Iran's airspace likewise will be reopened, state-affiliated Nournews reported.

In a message to the Iranian people on Tuesday after the ceasefire came into force, Pezeshkian appreciated the Iranian people for their unity and resilience, calling on them to strive to maintain the consensus and cohesion that has been created.

Meanwhile, Pezeshkian called on all institutions to focus their efforts on reconstruction work from this day forward in the message.

The 12-day tit-for-tat air strikes between Israel and Iran caused substantial casualties. Iran reported 610 fatalities and 4,746 injuries, while Israel confirmed 28 deaths.

However, the truce appeared fragile as both Israel and Iran took hours to acknowledge they had accepted the ceasefire and accused each other of violating it.

Though both Israel and Iran claimed a victory and accepted the ceasefire, Wang Jin, director of the Center of Strategic Studies at Northwest University, said whether the ceasefire can hold is a major question given the deep mistrust between the two foes.

Wang also pointed out two other reasons making the ceasefire quite "fragile." One is that the ceasefire is a verbal agreement, not a formal document, so it may be difficult to maintain in the face of many uncertainties, Wang added. 

The other one is that there is no strong oversight and control mechanism for the ceasefire; in case of any issues in its implementation, there is no responsible third party, Wang said, adding that given the current situation, the ceasefire process is still likely to be filled with many uncertainties.

Fu Cong, China's permanent representative to the United Nations, urged all parties to faithfully abide by the ceasefire. 

"No more deceptions this time," Fu urged when responding to a question by CMG reporter Xu Dezhi ahead of a related Security Council meeting on Wednesday. 

(With input from agencies)