TEL AVIV — Israel said it struck military targets in Iran, hours after Tehran fired a barrage of missiles toward the country for the first time since a ceasefire took effect in early April.
The exchange of fire threatened to further complicate efforts to broker a lasting peace deal to end the months-long U.S.-Israeli war with Tehran and raised the prospect of a return to open conflict.
The Israeli Air Force hit sites in western and central Iran, its military said on social media early Monday local time, without providing further details.
Iran’s attack on Sunday followed Israeli military strikes on what Israel said were suspected Hezbollah positions in Beirut’s southern suburbs earlier in the day.
Around 10 p.m. local time Sunday, the Israel Defense Forces said it had identified missiles inbound from Iran. Another barrage was launched soon after, officials said, triggering sirens across the country. The IDF intercepted all incoming missiles from Iran, it said.
“Israel will respond forcefully,” an Israeli official told The Washington Post, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive matters.
“The Iranian terror regime made a grave mistake when it chose terror once again,” IDF spokesperson Effie Defrin said in a statement to the media. He added that “the IDF will continue to operate all across Lebanon … we will not allow fire toward Israel.”
Earlier Sunday, President Donald Trump told Axios that he planned to call Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and urge him not to retaliate. “I am going to call Bibi right now and tell him not to retaliate. Each of them had their fun. Israel had its strike, and Iran had its strike. We don’t need another one,” Trump told the outlet.
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said it targeted Ramat David Air Base in northern Israel, which it called the “source” of aggression against southern Lebanon and Beirut’s southern suburbs, according to a statement published by the semiofficial Tasnim News.
Trump told Fox News that he is “not happy” about Israel striking Beirut’s suburbs, and that the Iranian missile fire towards Israel is “certainly not going to help negotiations” aimed at ending the war. U.S. and Iranian officials had said in recent weeks that they were “close” to reaching a peace agreement.
“What I would suggest to Iran: You’ve shot your missiles, that’s enough, get back to the table and make a deal,” Trump told the network.
Defense Minister Israel Katz said last week that the IDF has refrained from powerful strikes in Lebanon’s capital, “except for targeted assassinations,” following a U.S. request. He warned then that Israel would strike Dahiyeh, a southern Beirut suburb where Hezbollah holds sway, if Israel’s northern communities are targeted.
Israel’s strikes on Sunday killed two and injured 20, according to the Lebanese Ministry of Health. Israel launched the attack days after the announcement of a U.S.-brokered ceasefire deal with Lebanon, a deal that was contingent on Hezbollah ending its attacks.
Hezbollah had called the ceasefire agreement a “farce,” and both sides continued attacks.
After Israel’s attack on Sunday, chief Iranian negotiator Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf posted on social media that as a result of the ongoing U.S. naval blockade against Iranian ports and what he alleged was “America’s green light today” for Israel to attack Hezbollah, U.S. and Israeli bases and assets in the region were “legitimate targets.” Iran launched its retaliatory strikes against Israel hours later.
The Islamic Revolutionary Guard said “tonight’s operation was a warning, and if aggressions are repeated, the responses will be broader and will include all” U.S.-Israeli targets in the Middle East, its statement said.
Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters, the command center of Iran’s armed forces, said in a statement that Iran “had previously warned that if crimes continue in the Dahieh district of Beirut, we would strike targets” within Israel, according to the semiofficial Fars News agency.
“If [Israel’s military] expands its attacks on that region or responds to Iran’s actions, it will face more crushing and regrettable blows and destructive attacks will begin against the regime and its supporters,” the headquarters said.
The Israeli military announced that schools will be canceled across Israel and gatherings will be limited.
The attack marked the first time Iran launched attacks toward Israel since the April 8 U.S.-brokered ceasefire, which followed 40 days of strikes between Israel and Iran after the U.S. and Israel launched the war on Iran on Feb. 28. Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and other top Iranian officials were killed in hostilities and a consortium of human rights groups estimated nearly 1,443 Iranian civilians were also killed. Some 20 Israelis were reportedly killed by Iranian missiles.
Earlier Sunday, NBC’s “Meet the Press” aired a Friday interview with Trump in which he detailed the status of the ceasefire negotiations. “I think we’re very close,” he said.
Trump said the U.S. would not lift sanctions on Iran or unfreeze its assets up front as part of any peace deal with Tehran and would consider doing so only if other conditions are met.
“If they behave, if they do a good job, we start talking,” Trump told NBC’s Kristen Welker in an interview aired Sunday.
The question of economic relief for Iran has emerged as a major sticking point as the two sides pursue an agreement to end the war, which began Feb. 28, and reopen the Strait of Hormuz. In recent weeks, both sides have signaled they are “close” on a deal, but one has yet to emerge.
An Iranian official, who spoke with The Washington Post late last month, said an agreed-upon memorandum of understanding that would open the Strait of Hormuz includes a first phase that would unlock $12 billion in frozen Iranian assets and lift the U.S. naval blockade of Iran’s ports. CNN and others have reported that Tehran wants an additional $12 billion to be unfrozen in a subsequent phase.
At the time, a diplomat familiar with the talks said that Iran’s frozen assets would not be released until it begins giving up its highly enriched uranium, a key U.S. demand.
Asked by Welker why Iran hasn’t agreed to the U.S. ceasefire terms, which include the removal of its highly enriched uranium, Trump said: “Because they’re strong. They’re proud.”
“There are things they never thought they’d be doing that they’re going to have to do. They’ve got no choice,” he added. “And it takes a little while.”
The Trump administration has made limiting Iran’s capacity to build a nuclear weapon a top goal, and Tehran’s openness to turning over its enriched uranium is another significant point of contention in the talks.
If a deal is reached, Trump said, the U.S. will work with Iran, using U.S. equipment, to remove and destroy its highly enriched uranium. “If we make a deal that now we’re friendly, we’ll all go together,” he said.
“Now, if we don’t make a deal, then we’re going to take them out militarily, very harshly. And we’ll wait until we do that before we go, in which case we’ll have safety either way,” he said.
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