Jerusalem, Jun 08: Iran launched missiles at Israel in the first such escalation since a fragile ceasefire took effect in early April, raising the possibility of a return to heavy fighting and complicating mediation efforts to end 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 without warning earlier Sunday in defiance of Washington’s request days ago to stand down. Israel said the Iranian-backed Hezbollah fired at northern Israel earlier in the day.
“Should these acts of aggression be repeated, the responses will be broader in scope and will encompass all American and Zionist targets throughout the region,” Iran’s Revolutionary Guard said in a statement that referenced attacks in Lebanon and on Iran’s coast and vessels around the Strait of Hormuz.
Sirens sounded in several areas of Israel, sending millions running for shelter. Israel’s military said it intercepted the missiles, and multiple explosions were heard in the north. Less 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 will “strike the enemy with determination as soon as the order is given”.
But Israel’s public broadcaster, Kan, said US President Donald Trump told it that he doesn’t think Israel needs to respond further. Trump also told the Financial Times: “I call all the shots. He (Netanyahu) doesn’t call the shots.”
Netanyahu to hold off attack for time being: US official
A senior US official said Trump had called Netanyahu to urge him not to retaliate immediately for the Iranian missile attack. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to describe a private phone call, said that Trump believed he had convinced Netanyahu to wait.
Trump “got Bibi to hold off for the time being”, the official said. The official would not offer any other details of the call, and there was no immediate comment from Netanyahu’s office.
Iran had warned that an attack on Beirut would renew full-scale war across West Asia, even as Pakistan and other mediators try to restart talks between Tehran and Washington.
“US forces across the Middle East remain vigilant and ready,” the US Central Command posted on X shortly before the missile launches. The US Embassy in Israel later directed employees and family members to shelter in place.
Israel’s attack on Beirut came a few days after the Lebanese and Israeli governments agreed to a ceasefire in US-hosted talks, though Hezbollah rejected the deal. The strike on a residential building killed two people and wounded 20, Lebanon’s health ministry said.
“The army will continue 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 end the war in the West.
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 were not coordinated with the US and “I’m not happy about it”.
Israel last week had announced it would 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 end. Instead, it supports Iran’s stance that an overall ceasefire deal between Tehran and Washington include the situation in Lebanon.
Netanyahu, who seeks reelection later this year, is under heavy domestic pressure to respond to both Iran and the Hezbollah threat, which has paralysed life for thousands of residents along Israel’s northern border.
But Trump has made clear he does not want to see the war resume.
Trump said earlier Sunday in an interview with NBC’s “Meet the Press” that he would like to see a “more surgical attack on Hezbollah”. He also said he was “not demanding” that Lebanon be part of an overall ceasefire deal in the Iran war.
Iran continues to assert its grip on the Strait of Hormuz and the US continues its blockade of Iranian ports, with shipments of oil, natural gas and fertilizer affected and the global economy in pain.
Iran since the ceasefire took effect has launched missiles and drones at Gulf nations and said it was targeting the US 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.
All flights from Tehran’s main international airport were suspended, the civil aviation authority said, according to the official Mizan news agency.
