Exactly two months after the ceasefire decided in April, Iran and Israel have resumed hostilities, leading to a dangerous escalation in the conflict that began on February 28 with the US and Israeli attacks against Tehran.
Iran fired ballistic missiles at Israel on Sunday evening following an Israeli attack in Lebanon on Hezbollah, the Iranian-backed militant group. Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said the missiles were a response to Israel’s attack on Hezbollah and that all red lines had now been crossed in Lebanon. “Tonight’s operation was a warning and, if the attacks are repeated, the responses will be more incisive,” the Guard Corps said in a statement.
The Israeli military said it intercepted the missiles and announced late Sunday that citizens could leave shelters. The Israeli government has announced that schools will remain closed throughout the country today as a precautionary measure.
Israeli retaliation arrived during the night between Sunday and Monday: the Air Force launched attacks against military targets in central and western Iran. According to Iranian state media, explosions were heard in the Iranian cities of Tehran, Karaj, Isfahan, Tabriz and Kermanshah. In a statement, the army said the Israeli Air Force hit “several targets” in the petrochemical complex in the Mahshahr area.
At dawn on Monday, missile launches towards Israel resumed, also with the participation of the Yemeni Houthis (supported by the Tehran regime), who targeted the central and southern areas of Israel with their launches.
Shortly after the launch of Iranian missiles against Israel, US President Trump spoke on the phone with the Financial Times. In the interview, Trump explained that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will have no choice but to accept whatever deal the United States negotiates with Iran because the US president “decides everything”. “I decide everything. I decide everything. He doesn’t decide anything,” Trump said. Trump added that Iran’s attacks on Israel have not changed his desire to complete negotiations between the United States and Iran. “It will have no impact on the agreement,” he said in the interview Financial Times.
Trump later spoke to the television network Fox News. Trump said the latest Israeli attack on Beirut had not been coordinated with the United States and that he was “not happy about it at all.” As for Iran, Fox reported, Trump said his message was: “You launched your missiles, that’s enough. Get back to the negotiating table and get a deal.”
