Iran launched missiles at Israel in the primary such bombardment since a fragile ceasefire took effect in early April, raising the opportunity of a return to heavy fighting and complicating mediation efforts to finish the war.
Iran’s state broadcaster confirmed the launches, and Iran closed its western airspace to brace for a possible response. Tehran had warned of retaliation after Israel struck Beirut’s southern suburbs suddenly earlier Sunday in defiance of Washington’s request days ago to face down. Israel said the Iranian-backed Hezbollah fired at northern Israel earlier within the day.
“Should these acts of aggression be repeated, the responses shall be broader in scope and can encompass all American and Zionist targets throughout the region,” Iran’s Revolutionary Guard said in an announcement that referenced attacks in Lebanon and on Iran’s coast and vessels across the Strait of Hormuz.
Sirens sounded in several areas of Israel, sending tens of millions running for shelter. Israel’s military said it intercepted the missiles, and multiple explosions were heard within the north. Lower than an hour later, the military said people could leave areas reinforced against missile attacks.
“Iran has made a grave mistake,” Israel military spokesperson Brig. Gen. Effie Defrin said. The military’s chief of staff, Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir, said it’s going to “strike the enemy with determination as soon because the order is given.”
But Israel’s public broadcaster, Kan, said U.S. President Donald Trump told it that he doesn’t think Israel needs to reply further.
Iran had warned that an attack on Beirut would renew full-scale war across the Mideast, whilst Pakistan and other mediators attempt to restart talks between Tehran and Washington.
“U.S. forces across the Middle East remain vigilant and prepared,” the U.S. Central Command posted on X shortly before the missile launches.
Israel’s attack on Beirut got here a couple of days after the Lebanese and Israeli governments agreed to a ceasefire in U.S.-hosted talks, though Hezbollah rejected the deal. The strike on a residential constructing killed two people and wounded 20, Lebanon’s health ministry said.
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“The military will proceed to act in all of Lebanon,” the Israel military spokesperson said.
Israel’s strikes and ground invasion in Lebanon in pursuit of Hezbollah, and the militant group’s resistance to disarming, have complicated an overall deal to finish the war within the Middle East.
Iran says any deal must include an end to fighting in Lebanon.
Trump told a Fox News Channel reporter that he wanted the Iranians to stop firing missiles and return to the negotiating table. He also said that Israel’s strikes earlier Sunday weren’t coordinated with the U.S. and “I’m not completely satisfied about it.”
Israel on Monday had announced it will strike the southern suburbs of Lebanon’s capital, but urgent talks via Washington halted that on the condition that Hezbollah stop targeting Israeli border towns.
Hezbollah, which claimed responsibility for firing at Israel earlier Sunday, wants the direct talks between Lebanon and Israel to finish. As a substitute, it supports Iran’s stance that an overall ceasefire deal between Tehran and Washington include the situation in Lebanon.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who seeks reelection later this yr, is under heavy domestic pressure to answer each Iran and the Hezbollah threat, which has paralyzed life for hundreds of residents along Israel’s northern border.
But Trump has made clear he doesn’t wish to see the war resume.
Trump said earlier Sunday in an interview with NBC’s “Meet the Press” that he would love to see a “more surgical attack on Hezbollah.” He also said he was “not demanding” that Lebanon be a part of an overall ceasefire deal within the Iran war.
Iran continues to claim its grip on the Strait of Hormuz and the U.S. continues its blockade of Iranian ports, with shipments of oil, natural gas and fertilizer affected and the worldwide economy in pain.
Iran for the reason that ceasefire took effect has launched missiles and drones at Gulf nations and said it was targeting the U.S. military presence. After its launches against Israel, Iraq’s Civil Aviation Authority announced that the country’s airspace would close for 72 hours and Syria’s aviation authority announced a 12-hour airspace closure.
Diplomacy continues before and after missile launches
Pakistan’s interior minister, Mohsin Naqvi, was in Tehran on Sunday delivering a message to Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei from Pakistan’s army chief Field Marshal Asim Munir, based on Iran’s state-run IRNA news agency. There have been no details on the message’s contents.
Khamenei has not been seen in public since he was named the Islamic Republic’s ruler after his father was killed on Feb. 28 as Israeli and U.S. strikes sparked the war.
Pakistani authorities have said Islamabad, with support from regional countries including Qatar, Turkey and Egypt, is working to assist bridge differences.
In Cairo, the Egyptian and Qatari foreign ministers discussed “proposed elements” of a possible agreement between the U.S. and Iran, the Egyptian foreign ministry said, without details.
And after Iran’s missile launches at Israel, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi spoke with counterparts in Britain, Egypt and Turkey in addition to Pakistan’s army chief of staff, Iran’s state TV said.
—Chehayeb reported from Beirut, Magdy from Cairo, Lidman from Tel Aviv, Israel, and Anna from Lowville, Latest York. Associated Press writers Hassan Ammar in Lebanon, Munir Ahmed in Islamabad, Matthew Lee in Washington, Abby Sewell in Beirut, and Michelle L. Price in Bridgewater, Latest Jersey, contributed to this report.
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