The ceasefire between Israel and Iran, announced by US President Donald Trump, appears to be holding for second day, despite an Iranian missile attack and an Israeli assault on Tehran after the truce came into effect.
This comes after Trump publicly scolded both sides for violations and ordered Israel to end its bombing operations and bring its fighter jets home.
As the ceasefire between Iran and Israel appeared to hold for a second day, the US Embassy in Israel lifted all restrictions and resumed regular consular services.
In a statement posted on the embassy’s website, the US government said that “shelter in place orders” for government employees and their family members have also been lifted.
Passport and other consular service appointments are back to normal scheduling, the statement added, while visa operations will resume in both Jerusalem and Tel Aviv on Monday, June 30, 2025.
US government employees and their family members, however, are still restricted from travel outside the greater Tel Aviv area, including Herzliya, Netanya, and Even Yehuda, as well as Jerusalem, and Beersheva “until further notice.”
Both Israel and Iran have claimed victory, with Iranians holding celebrations in Tehran and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu claiming a triumph that will stand for generations.
Now in Iran, there is this concern about whether the Israel is going to be committed to the ceasefire or not.
According to Sina Azodi, Director of the Middle East studies programme at George Washington University, battle of the ‘victory’ narratives continues between Israel and Iran, saying that Israel has claimed victory over Iran, but Tehran has also claimed victory over Israel.
Amid these competing narratives, Azodi sensed that many in Israel were unhappy with “how the war evolved.”
He stated that Israel has gone after Iranian military infrastructure, decapitation of their senior military command, some of the nuclear facilities and other government institutions.
He added that Israel can also claim that Iran’s missile programme has been weakened “because Iran has used many of its missiles, and it will be difficult for Iranians to replace them.”
Iranians, Azodi noted, can also claim victory by suggesting that the “region’s most powerful country in terms of military power – the only country that has nuclear weapons in the region – has been forced to seek a ceasefire with Iranians.”
“Clearly, the Israelis have not been able to achieve their objectives in destroying the Iranian nuclear programme or forcing Iran to capitulate.
“So I don’t think the Prime Minister in the long-term… he may have achieved and can claim some short-term victory, but in the long-term, I don’t think his leadership serves Israel’s interests.”
Sina Azodi
Meanwhile, US Envoy, Steve Witkoff expressed that the US was hopeful about a long-term peace deal.
“We are already talking to each other, not just directly but also through interlocutors. I think that the conversations are promising. We are hopeful that we can have a long-term peace agreement that resurrects Iran.”
Steve Witkoff
Witkoff asserted that now, it’s for the US to sit down with the Iranians and get to a comprehensive peace agreement, “and I am very confident that we are going to achieve that.”
Nonetheless, Witkoff insisted that the US attacks on Iran’s nuclear sites “damaged or destroyed” the country’s centrifuges “in a way that it will be almost impossible for them to resurrect that programme.”
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