Iran Rejects, Accepts & Then Breaks Trump-Brokered Ceasefire Deal With Israe
Hours after Donald Trump claimed that a 'total ceasefire' has been reached between Iran and Israel, authorities in Tehran have completely rejected the truce reports. News agency Fars citing sources said, "the ceasefire plan proposed by US President Donald Trump is completely false and was put forward with the aim of diverting public opinion from the recent humiliation of the United States in attacking its bases in the region."
The Iranian media agency also said that while Trump has claimed that both sides have agreed to the truce, "no official or unofficial proposal for a ceasefire has been received from Iran. In fact, the official sources in Tehran told Fars, "The Islamic Republic of Iran will show the Zionist regime the falsehood of this claim in a practical and field manner in the coming hours."
00:00David Chalian is CNN's bureau chief in Washington. I mean, he's not going to like this, is he? But it is quite telling.
00:08It is quite telling, and I think it sort of gets behind why he was so amped up this morning before getting on the plane.
00:16He is so eager to have this ceasefire take hold, wrap this up with a bow, and put it to the side.
00:22We know that the facts on the ground may not allow for that, but I think he's aware that it's a wary American public watching this unfold.
00:31So you did the top-line results there about the 56 percent disapproving his action.
00:36You can look at that bipartisanship as well, Max, because, as you might suspect, Republicans pretty much overwhelmingly support the action.
00:46Democrats oppose it, you see there. But look at that middle line.
00:50Independents, the so politically important middle-of-the-road voters, 60 percent oppose. Only 40 percent are in favor.
00:58And the other thing that we asked is, do you think that these strikes in Iran actually make Iran more of a threat or less of a threat to the United States?
01:07And nearly 6 in 10 Americans, 58 percent, say after the strikes, they believe Iran is more of a threat to the United States.
01:16That actually includes a chunk of Republicans who were in favor of the strikes.
01:21So there are real questions that the American people are asking or at least watching carefully here before they come up with a final judgment here.
01:30And, of course, how things unfold will determine that.
01:34But in the immediate aftermath of the strikes, this is an unpopular action by President Trump.
01:39Yeah, I'm wondering, though, David, what you think, how personal this is.
01:44Is it, you know, a question of Donald Trump's decision making or just, you know, people in America have got their own problems right now.
01:52They don't want to get involved in a protracted war.
01:55They're thinking back to Iran and Afghanistan.
01:56And they just don't like the idea of dealing with other people's problems when there are so many at home.
02:02That is precisely the argument we've heard from many inside the Republicans' base, his base of support in the MAGA movement.
02:10Marjorie Taylor Greene, the congresswoman from Georgia, a stalwart supporter of President Trump's.
02:15And you were just giving voice in your question, Max, to the exact argument she's been making, that there has been a series of endless wars.
02:24Donald Trump promised to turn the country away from that kind of involvement.
02:29And there's concern that this could grow to that.
02:31Now, obviously, we don't know.
02:33Perhaps this will not grow into something like an expanded, wider conflict here.
02:38And Donald Trump can call it a success.
02:40We're just not at the place that we know that.
02:42And in the interim, he knows that the public is watching carefully for precisely the reason you say, which is not only are they concerned about this particular moment,
02:51but there have been decades of history here that suggests that this could potentially be a slippery slope.
02:58Absolutely.
02:58David, thank you so much.
02:59A fascinating study.
03:01Israel's prime minister has just addressed the nation, declaring what he called an historic victory in this conflict.
03:08But as Israel continues its war in Gaza, Benjamin Netanyahu said he wouldn't get complacent.
03:15Even that we have tremendous achievements, we are not going to be complacent.
03:21We're going to be the other way around.
03:22We have no intention to remove our food from the gas.
03:30Clarissa Ward joining us from Tel Aviv.
03:31Very much aimed at the domestic audience there, unlike other speeches, Clarissa.
03:39Definitely.
03:40This was a sort of mission accomplished speech for the Israeli public.
03:45Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu saying that Israel's strikes against Iran had thwarted its nuclear and missile capabilities,
03:54but also warning that they would act again with the same force if they see Iran try to reconstitute their nuclear program or their missile programs.
04:05I mean, what's interesting here, he obviously went on to thank President Trump as well and to say that this was a historic cooperation
04:11and that this is the best friend to Israel that has ever been in the White House.
04:17And also, we've heard basically from the IDF now, Max, saying that the focus really becomes Gaza again now,
04:24that they need to focus on toppling Hamas, on returning the hostages.
04:29Though I do think it's interesting, 50 hostages still inside Gaza.
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04:54On Iran, that potentially some kind of space can be created to try to come up with some kind of a ceasefire agreement inside Gaza.
05:05And obviously, as we have been talking about, Max, the world has been very consumed, understandably, with this conflict between Israel and Iran.
05:13But during this 12-day period, more than 860 people have been killed inside Gaza, more than 70 in the last 24 hours alone.
05:22The U.N. still warning of a man-made famine as a result of the dire humanitarian situation inside.
05:30So certainly, a lot of people will be hoping that potentially, out of this space created with this fragile ceasefire holding here, that that might be a new direction.
05:43And one other thing I just would add, Max, is that the Home Front Command here in Israel has lifted the state of emergency.
05:50Airport is opening, schools are opening, and some sense of normalcy returning now, Max.
05:55One of his main missions was apparently to destroy the nuclear sites, Clarissa.
05:59But we've now got this reporting, haven't we, from CNN, saying early U.S. intel suggests the strikes on Iran didn't destroy the nuclear sites.
06:08Does that change Benjamin Netanyahu's ideas here?
06:12Because it wouldn't be mission accomplished if he hadn't achieved the goal.
06:18Well, it's interesting.
06:20First of all, I should just say, Israel has never fully stated what its strategic objective was, or what the mission accomplished metric was.
06:28Was it the complete decimation of the nuclear program?
06:32Was it regime change, as so many people had been speculating?
06:35I noticed when we saw Prime Minister Netanyahu give that mission accomplished speech, so to speak, you know, he didn't really, the word he used was thwarted.
06:46We have thwarted Iran's.
06:48That's kind of a vague word, and it's definitely different from what we've heard President Trump talk about total obliteration.
06:53Yesterday, we heard the IDF talk about it being set back years, but I think what's really emerging, honestly, is that we are only just starting to get pieces of the fuller picture as to the extent of the damage.
07:10But Israel, for now, seems, you know, intent upon upholding the ceasefire, spinning this internally as a massive success for Israel and for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
07:21OK, Clarissa, in Tel Aviv, thank you so much.
07:26...strikes last weekend, and that's according to an early assessment from the U.S. intelligence community.
07:32President Trump and Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth have repeatedly insisted that the nuclear sites were obliterated in the strikes,
07:38but one intelligent source told CNN that the centrifuges are largely intact,
07:44and the strikes may have only set Iran's nuclear program back by a matter of months.
07:49CNN senior White House correspondent Kristen Holmes is with me.
07:54What sort of political reaction are we getting to this? It's only just happened, of course.
08:00Well, we haven't heard from President Trump himself, but this, of course, goes directly at odds of what he has been saying.
08:05And just to give a little more context here, this was done by the Defense Intelligence Agency,
08:09which is the intelligence portion of the Pentagon.
08:13Now, the White House itself did acknowledge this, but I do want to read you the statement here so you can understand how they acknowledge this.
08:19Press Secretary Carolyn Leavitt wrote,
08:21The leaking of this alleged assessment is a clear attempt to demean President Trump and discredit the brave fighter pilots
08:38who conducted a perfectly executed mission to obliterate Iran's nuclear program.
08:43Everyone knows what happens when you drop 14, 30,000-pound bombs perfectly on their targets.
08:49Total obliteration.
08:51Obviously, we've heard from the military as well, who has said that this was a success.
08:55Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has said the same lines.
08:58Total obliteration.
09:00We are still waiting to see what the end result looks like.
09:04This is still based on preliminary information, and we are being clear here.
09:08This is the early assessment based by three people who have been briefed on this assessment.
09:13And this could change.
09:15We could get more information as we try to look into this.
09:18But as you said, the real key takeaway here is that Iran still has, according to these sources, the enriched uranium,
09:25as well as the centrifuges are still intact.
09:28In fact, President Trump has continued to say that this was a total annihilation, obliteration,
09:33that everything is gone, that they were set back years.
09:37But we've been waiting to see what these actual intelligence assessments look like.
09:42We know how fortified these nuclear sites were.
09:45And one of the things that makes this so fascinating is that President Trump himself,
09:51when he was making the decision to launch these strikes,
09:53spent so much time asking people privately around him, will this take out their nuclear facilities?
09:59That was one of the things that he wanted to ensure that they would do,
10:03that they wouldn't just waste their time on a strike that wouldn't do anything.
10:07And he was assured by the people around him that it would take out these nuclear facilities.
10:11So if that is, in fact, not the case, it will be interesting to see what actually was done here.
10:17Is it a matter of months in terms of setting back that nuclear program?
10:20Now, the other part of this, of course, is all of this comes in the backdrop,
10:24as President Trump has been trying to get the Iranians to the table.
10:28And it does seem as though the Iranians are more willing now to negotiate.
10:32The big part of this for President Trump is that he sees this ceasefire as the beginning of,
10:39he saw the strikes, then the ceasefire,
10:41as all the beginning of laying the groundwork for what he wants in the Middle East,
10:44which is an Iranian nuclear deal. So how this plays into it, that's what we're watching very
10:48closely. Of course, we're waiting for Israeli assessments as well to see what the intelligence
10:53is there. But of course, unsurprising if President Trump continues to push back and say there was a
10:58total obliteration, as that's as he often intends to do. Yeah, I mean, obviously, the spokesperson
11:04at the White House talking about this being a low level loser leaking information to CNN. But just to
11:11clarify, it wasn't just one source, was it? And we're pretty confident in what those sources are
11:17telling us.
11:20Well, we're confident in the fact that there was a intelligence assessment that was an early onset
11:25intelligence assessment that we spoke to a number of people who were briefed on this assessment. So
11:31multiple corroborating sources on this. And you hear from the White House there, they are acknowledging
11:36that this assessment does exist. It's not as though they're saying they never heard of this
11:41assessment. They're just simply saying they don't agree with it. They're also saying that it was
11:47classified as top secret, but still somehow was leaking. So again, that's really how this White
11:53House tends to talk. I think that the big question is going to be how this plays out in the next couple
11:59of days. Do we see a final assessment? And this is the truth that this is the final, excuse me,
12:05this is the final subject that, you know, this, they still have this in rich uranium? And how does
12:10that impact a potential deal?
12:12Okay. Thank you so much, Kristen Holmes. So much for so much to juggle every day on this story. I
12:17really appreciate it. Donald Trump saying it would be chaos if the United States tried to impose
12:22regime change in Iran. Mr. Trump had floated the possibility of regime change, of course, over the
12:27weekend. Now he's told reporters that he doesn't want that and wants things to calm down instead. So
12:32what we want to know is Iran ready to compromise. Joining me now, Negar Murtazavi, host of the Iran
12:40podcast and a senior fellow at the Centre for International Policy. Thank you so much for joining us.
12:47I mean, they're weakened, aren't they? So that means they have less room to negotiate. But the
12:55principles that they've laid out in the past were red lines. And it's going to be a big thing for
12:59Iran to allow those red lines to move, isn't it?
13:05I think so. I mean, they are weakened, but they're not powerless. And they have shown that despite the
13:10fact that they're the underdog, the weaker party, they're also prepared to defend themselves,
13:14even though it's very unconventional. So Israel has air supremacy, they don't have much of an air
13:20defense. And the way they're shooting the missiles is essentially their defense. But they have been
13:25able to inflict pain in the past 10 days. And also they retaliated against the US, which I think was
13:30a bold move, again, as the underdog. But I guess that took them to the off-ramp. And we saw sort of a
13:36tit for tatter, one and done, essentially on both sides, and then leading to a de-escalation. So
13:43I'm, my reading of the statements from the Tehran side is that this might not really soften
13:50their position. I'm also not sure if it would harden their position. So I think we're sort of
13:56landing back on square one. There's, of course, a push for more diplomacy, more concessions or
14:02reconciliation from the more moderate and reformist wings of the political structure. And there's also
14:08a push for hardening the position to showing that they're not going to surrender under force
14:13and attacks from the more hardline camps. Now, who is going to win or what part of this
14:19is going to come out as their ultimate position? We have to wait and see. But I don't think they're
14:23going to be able to, at this point, they're not going to be prepared to give up the entirety of
14:28the program or, again, their enrichment, which was their red line, which was zero enrichment. But
14:34maybe somewhere in between more creative ideas, like sort of that consortium that they've talked
14:41about in the past, as far as a fuel cycle with the involvement of other countries and not just
14:46Iran.
14:47We have had this reporting at CNN that early US intelligence assessments suggest that strikes
14:53on Iran didn't destroy the nuclear sites. The White House isn't denying that this report exists.
15:00Obviously, Iran will know how much damage is being done. If it's not as much as they expected, then
15:09they're probably quite relieved and happy for the fighting to stop so they can get into some
15:14sort of negotiation. But it's going to give them confidence, isn't it, if there wasn't as much
