AILSA CHANG, HOST:
OK, there have been a lot of developments today in the conflict with Iran, a conflict that the U.S. got directly involved in over the weekend. First, Iran retaliated with strikes aimed at a U.S. air base. Those strikes were telegraphed, and there were no casualties. And then this evening, President Trump said in a post on social media that Iran and Israel have agreed to a ceasefire. Senior White House correspondent Tamara Keith joins us now. Hi, Tam.
TAMARA KEITH, BYLINE: Hi.
CHANG: OK, so what can you tell us about this ceasefire?
KEITH: Yeah. The first we're hearing is from a post on Truth Social from the president at 6 p.m. Eastern. He said that it would begin around midnight Eastern Time or, in other words, morning in the Middle East. He said that it would start in Iran, and then around noon Eastern, Israel would join it. And Trump said it will end what he's now calling the, quote, "12-Day War." He's already naming the war in anticipation that this means it is over. We have not yet heard from Israel or Iran. Trump started his social media post with an all-caps, congratulations to everyone. And certainly, if it holds, it would be a victory for his peace-through-strength mantra.
CHANG: Indeed. OK, do we know what led up to this ceasefire development today, if it indeed exists?
KEITH: Yeah. Vice President Vance was on Fox News right after Trump posted the news, and he said that Trump has been working the phones and had been working on the announcement for a couple of hours. And he said, Iran has basically indicated that it doesn't want to continue fighting.
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VICE PRESIDENT JD VANCE: What the Iranians have showed through their support of terror networks, through their now-failed effort to build a nuclear weapon, is that they're just not very good at war. And I think the president really hit the reset button and said, look, let's actually produce long-term peace for the region.
KEITH: Vance said that Trump hopes to encourage a long-term deal for peace between Israel and Iran. And as you said, earlier in the day, President Trump downplayed the significance of the Iranian retaliatory strikes, noting that the U.S. had gotten a heads-up which minimized damage. He called it weak. Symbolic may be a better word for it, since the Iranians filed (ph) at an airbase in Qatar where President Trump had delivered remarks to troops just last month.
CHANG: OK. Well, up until now, Tam, the White House has been saying that Iran's nuclear program essentially has been destroyed - right? - after U.S. strikes over the weekend. What do we know about that? Is that true?
KEITH: Yeah, outside observers say that is unlikely. Satellite imagery shows that U.S. missiles hit their targets with accuracy, but what is less clear is whether the nuclear materials there were there and whether they were destroyed. But President Trump is out there on social media again, criticizing those who've reported on the lack of clarity as fake news with zero credibility, trying to maintain the narrative of total obliteration, which is what he announced on Saturday.
And one of the interesting parts of Vance's interview on Fox News was when Bret Baier pressed the vice president on whether the administration knows where Iran's stockpile of highly enriched uranium is located now. Here it is.
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VANCE: Well, Bret, I think that's actually not the question before us. The question before us is, can Iran enrich the uranium to weapons-grade level, and can they convert that fuel to a nuclear weapon?
KEITH: Vance said that the U.S. strikes destroyed Iran's ability to enrich the fuel to the level needed to make a weapon.
CHANG: OK, well, what about this issue of regime change? - because the president has also mused on social media that perhaps the leadership of Iran should be replaced and even at one point threatened the Supreme leader. Is that threat still out there?
KEITH: In the Fox News interview, Vice President JD Vance was asked whether there is a risk of mixed messages on this issue, and he sidestepped that as well.
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VANCE: Well, I think what the president is saying very clearly, Bret, is if the Iranian people want to do something about their own leadership, that's up to the Iranian people. What the American national security interest here is very simple - it's to destroy the nuclear program. That's what we've done.
KEITH: And in terms of actions speaking louder than messaging, President Trump is now attempting to broker a peace with the existing regime. You know, a lot of his supporters didn't want the president to get the U.S. involved in Israel's conflict with Iran, and at this moment, it looks like he has found a way for this to be a one-and-done strike and not a wider war.
CHANG: That is NPR's Tamara Keith. Thank you so much, Tam.
KEITH: You're welcome.
CHANG: Late tonight, Iran's foreign minister posted a tweet saying that there is no ceasefire deal as long as Israel continues firing against Iran. There was no word on the ceasefire deal from Israel's Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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