Iran and Israel have exchanged missile strikes following a deadly Israeli attack on Beirut’s southern suburbs on Sunday, jeopardizing a fragile ceasefire and raising fears of a wider regional conflict.
The escalation defies a direct appeal from US President Donald Trump, who had urged Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu not to retaliate while negotiations with Iran were underway to reach a peace deal.
Escalation Trigger
Iran launched waves of missiles into northern Israel late on Sunday, in retaliation for an Israeli strike on Beirut’s southern suburbs (Dahiyeh) earlier in the day, which killed at least two people and injured 20 others.
Netanyahu and Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said in a statement that the strike on Beirut was in response to Hezbollah fire into northern Israel.
The Iranian strikes on Israel marked the first since a ceasefire took effect between the US and Iran on April 8. Sirens sounded across northern Israel, sending millions to shelters. The Israeli military said it intercepted all of the missiles, with no casualties reported.
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said in a statement that its Aerospace Force had targeted Israel’s Ramat David Air Base.
The attack was intended to serve as a “warning” of a broader response that would encompass all US and Israeli targets in the region if “aggressions” were repeated, the IRGC stated.
Israeli Response
The Israeli military responded to Iranian missiles by hitting targets in Iran, including the Karun petrochemical complex in Mahshahr, in southwestern Iran and a military center in Tabriz. Explosions were also heard in Tehran, Isfahan, Karaj and Kermanshah.
Iran’s IRGC said that Israeli attacks used air-launched ballistic missiles. Iranian authorities suspended flights at the Mehrabad International Airport in Tehran and the Kermanshah International Airport in western Iran until further notice.
The Israeli attacks on Iran came despite a warning from Trump against retaliation. In a phone call on Sunday, Trump reportedly told Netanyahu not to respond to Iranian missiles.
The Israeli Ambassador to the US, Yechiel Leiter, defended Israel‘s strikes on Iran, saying that “no self-respecting country” would tolerate such attacks by what he called “maniacal Iranian regime.”
“Israel is now targeting Iranian surface-to-surface missile launch sites, as well as infrastructure facilities unrelated to the energy sector,” he posted on X.
Operation Nasr
The Iranian strikes continued through Monday, with the IRGC announcing “Operation Nasr (Triumph)” against key facilities in Israel’s Tel Nof and Nevatim airbases.
In a statement, it said that the operation came in response to Israeli missile attacks on several radar sites in three locations across Iran.
“All combat and operational units of the IRGC are in full readiness to carry out a large-scale deterrent and punitive operation, with plans prepared for various scenarios,” the statement added.
Houthis Join the Fray
Israel said Monday that it detected a missile launched from Yemen – home to Iranian-backed Houthi militias. According to Iran’s Tasnim News Agency, the Houthi missile attack forced Israel to halt flights at Ben Gurion International Airport.
In a statement by the group’s spokesperson Yahya Saree, carried by al-Masirah satellite news channel, the Houthis claimed responsibility for the attack and warned that it would again target Israel-affiliated vessels in the Red Sea, marking a new escalation in the conflict.
Impact on Peace Talks
Following Iran’s Sunday strikes on Israel, Trump said that the renewed attacks would not impact his ongoing negotiations with Iran. “It’s not going to have any impact on the deal,” he told the Financial Times.
Trump also said that Netanyahu “won’t have any choice” but to accept any deal the US reaches with Iran. “I call the shots. I call all the shots. He (Netanyahu) doesn’t call the shots,” he noted.
Trump tried to restrain Netanyahu from further attacks and allow more time for diplomacy, telling him “we are close to doing something good in terms of a deal,” Axios reported, citing a US official.
