A fragile ceasefire between Iran and Israel gives rise to hopes for longer peace

DUBAI United Arab Emirates AP The fragile ceasefire between Israel and Iran appeared to be holding Wednesday after a rocky start giving rise to cautious hope it could lead to a longer term peace agreement even as Tehran insisted it would not give up its nuclear project The ceasefire took hold Tuesday on the th day of the war between Israel and Iran with each side initially accusing the other of violating it until the missiles drones and bombs at last stopped On Wednesday U S President Donald Trump who helped negotiate the ceasefire reported reporters at a NATO summit in the Netherlands that it was going very well They re not going to have a bomb and they re not going to enrich Trump added Iran has insisted however that it will not give up its nuclear activity and in a vote underscoring the tough path ahead Iranian parliament agreed to fast-track a proposal that would effectively stop the country s cooperation with the International Atomic Capacity Agency the Vienna-based United Nations organization that has been monitoring the Iranian nuclear effort for years Ahead of the vote parliamentary Speaker Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf criticized the IAEA for having refused to even pretend to condemn the attack on Iran s nuclear facilities that were carried out by the U S on Sunday For this reason the Atomic Resource Organization of Iran will suspend cooperation with the IAEA until defense of nuclear facilities is ensured and Iran s peaceful nuclear undertaking will move forward at a faster pace Qalibaf notified lawmakers Questions over effectiveness of American strikes The American strikes hit three Iranian nuclear sites which Trump explained had perfectly and fully obliterated the country s nuclear initiative Trump s special envoy to the Mideast Steve Witkoff disclosed on Fox News late Tuesday that Israel and the U S had now achieved their objective of the total destruction of the enrichment limit in Iran and Iran s prerequisite for talks that Israel end its campaign had also been fulfilled The proof is in the pudding he mentioned No one s shooting at each other It s over At the NATO summit when demanded about a U S intelligence account that unveiled Iran s nuclear plan has been set back only a limited months Trump scoffed and noted it would at least take years to rebuild Israeli military spokesman Brig Gen Effie Defrin reported Wednesday his country s assessment was also that Iran s nuclear facilities had been significantly damaged and its nuclear venture set it back by years An Israeli official speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss internal deliberations explained the ceasefire agreement with Iran amounted to quiet for quiet with no further understandings about Iran s nuclear scheme going ahead Hopes for a longer term agreement In the Fox News interview Witkoff disclosed Trump is now looking to land a comprehensive peace agreement that goes beyond even the ceasefire We re already talking to each other not just directly but also through interlocutors Witkoff reported adding that the conversations were promising and we re hopeful that we can have a long-term peace agreement China a permanent member of the U N Guard Council and close Iranian partner also weighed in on Wednesday saying it hoped a lasting and effective ceasefire can be achieved so as to promote the realization of peace and stability in the Middle East China is a major buyer of Iranian oil and has long supported its authorities politically blaming Israel for starting the latest conflict and destabilizing the region Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun informed reporters in Beijing that in the wake of the conflict China is willing to inject positive factors to safeguard peace and stability in the Middle East Iran executes more prisoners on spying accusations During the war with Israel Iran executed several prisoners accused of spying for Israel sparking fears from activists that it could conduct a wave of executions after the conflict ended It hanged three more prisoners on spying charges on Wednesday bringing the total number of executions for espionage up to six since June The hangings happened in Urmia Prison in Iran s West Azerbaijan province which is the country s preponderance northwestern province State-run IRNA cited Iran s judiciary for the news saying the men had been accused of bringing assassination equipment into the country Iran identified the three men as Azad Shojaei Edris Aali and Iraqi national Rasoul Ahmad Rasoul Amnesty International had previously raised concerns that the men could be executed During the day war at least people were killed in Israel and more than wounded according to officers In Iran the regime on Tuesday put the death toll at people killed with others wounded The Washington-based Human Rights Activists group published figures Wednesday suggesting Israeli strikes on Iran had killed at least people and wounded others The group which has provided detailed casualty figures from multiple rounds of unrest in Iran explained of those killed it identified civilians and defense force personnel Tehran experienced intense Israeli airstrikes throughout the war including those that targeted Iran s top military leadership and other sites associated with its ruling theocracy With the ceasefire in place Iranians began trying to return to their normal lives State media described heavy traffic around the Caspian Sea area and other rural areas outside of the capital Tehran as people began returning to the city