Despite U.S. President Donald Trump’s claims of a looming ceasefire, Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said on Tuesday that no agreement has been reached to halt hostilities with Israel.
“As Iran has repeatedly made clear: Israel launched war on Iran, not the other way around,” Araghchi said in a post on X, rejecting Trump’s earlier statement that Tehran and Tel Aviv would begin a 12-hour ceasefire starting midnight Washington time.
Araghchi did signal conditional restraint, saying Iran had “no intention to continue our response” if Israel ends its “illegal aggression against the Iranian people no later than 4 a.m. Tehran time.” However, he noted that a final decision regarding Iran’s military operations would come at a later time.
Tensions remained high on the ground as Iranian ballistic missiles continued to strike Israeli territory. On Tuesday morning, sirens wailed across central and southern parts of Israel as multiple salvos of missiles hit. The Israeli military reported that six missiles had been fired from Iran, with one striking an apartment building in Be’er Sheva.
Three people—a woman and two men—were killed in the blast, according to Israel’s ambulance service. Several others were injured, including one in moderate condition and five with minor wounds.
The intensifying exchange comes after nearly two weeks of escalating retaliatory strikes between the two nations. Israel initially launched what it described as a preemptive attack on Iran’s nuclear infrastructure. Iran responded with missile launches, including a recent barrage targeting a U.S. airbase in Qatar.
While Trump announced the ceasefire as a done deal on his Truth Social platform—framing it as a peace breakthrough that “could have destroyed the entire Middle East”—Iranian media and officials dismissed the claim as misinformation. Mehr news agency called the announcement an “imaginary plan” by a “liar Trump,” quoting former nuclear team adviser Mohammad Marandi who said, “No ceasefire. Fake news.”
Meanwhile, Israel warned it is prepared for more days of strikes on Tehran, keeping the region on edge as hopes for de-escalation remain uncertain.