Jerusalem, Israel. Israel struck military targets in western and central Iran on Monday, despite a direct appeal from US President Donald Trump to refrain from further attacks as Washington continued efforts to secure a peace deal with Tehran.
Trump said the latest exchanges would not affect negotiations, even as fighting widened to include attacks involving Lebanon and Yemen.
Trump urges restraint
Trump spoke by telephone with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for less than half an hour on Sunday from his golf club in Bedminster, New Jersey, urging him not to launch strikes because “we are close to doing something good in terms of a deal,” according to a US official cited by Axios.
Hours later, Israel’s defence forces said they had struck Iranian military targets. Trump said the action would not affect the talks.
“It’s not going to have any impact on the deal,” he told the Financial Times. “I call the shots. I call all the shots. He doesn’t call the shots.”
In a recorded interview with NBC News’ Meet the Press marking 100 days of the conflict, Trump said: “We’re very close to a deal, or I’m going to blow the hell out of them.”
Israel and Iran exchange attacks
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said Israel used air-launched ballistic missiles in the strikes. They said Iran retaliated by targeting Ramat David air base near Nazareth.
The Israeli military said it had identified and intercepted the incoming missiles.
Israel’s ambassador to the United States, Yechiel Leiter, defended the strikes on X, saying Iran had fired 11 ballistic missiles at Israel.
“Everyone has had enough of this maniacal Iranian regime. No self-respecting country in the world would tolerate such an attack, and neither will Israel,” he said.
He added that Israel was targeting Iran’s surface-to-surface missile launch sites and non-energy infrastructure.
Conflict expands beyond Iran
The latest escalation began on Sunday when Israel struck Beirut’s southern suburbs, the Dahiyeh district, a Hezbollah stronghold, for the first time since Washington announced a truce plan for Lebanon the previous week.
Netanyahu said those strikes were ordered in response to Hezbollah firing toward Israel.
Iran then launched a missile salvo at Israeli targets, its first attack on Israel since the wider war’s ceasefire began in April.
Air raid sirens sounded in Tel Aviv, according to a Reuters witness. The Israeli military also said it had identified a missile launched from Yemen toward its territory, the first such attack from Yemen since the 8 April truce.
Warnings and market reaction
Iran’s chief peace negotiator, parliamentary speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf, said US bases and Israeli assets were legitimate targets because of hostile acts, including what he called the “violation of agreements over Lebanon.”
Oil prices rose more than 3% in early Monday trading, with benchmark Brent futures climbing back above $96 a barrel.
