Iran and Israel halt strikes as new attacks threatened return to full-scale war

Jon Gambrell, Associated Press

Israel and Iran traded fire on Monday in their first attacks since the US struck a ceasefire with Tehran two months ago.

The Iranian military said hours later that it was halting offensive strikes, while Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned that Israel would retaliate against further attacks.

In a videotaped statement, Mr Netanyahu implied that the current round of fighting was over. But he also warned that if Iran “makes the mistake and returns to attacking us, we will respond with force”.

The renewed hostilities between Israel and Iran raised concerns that the Middle East could be plunged back into a full-scale war.

Since the US and Israel began striking Iran on February 28, the war has shaken the global economy, driven energy prices up around the world and made many basics, including food, more expensive.

Officials have been unable to turn the ceasefire, agreed on April 8, into a deal to permanently end the conflict.

During the truce, Iran has maintained its stranglehold on the Strait of Hormuz — a crucial passage for the world’s oil and natural gas and the primary reason global fuel prices skyrocketed.

Israel has continued to strike Hezbollah, Iran’s ally in Lebanon, and pushed deeper into that country. And on Monday, Yemen’s Houthi rebels, another Iranian ally, fired at Israel and warned they would target Israel-affiliated ships in the Red Sea.

With little apparent progress in the peace talks, Israel and Iran firing at each other again, and the Houthis joining the fight, the risk of the war fully erupting again appeared higher than at any point since the ceasefire.

In the wake of the new attacks, US President Donald Trump wrote online: “Israel and Iran must immediately stop ‘shooting’.”

Shortly after, the Iranian military’s joint command issued its statement.

It said that if Israel or its supporters carried out any further “aggression and hostile acts”, including in southern Lebanon, then “much more severe and crushing measures than before will follow”.

Mr Netanyahu said Israel is continuing to operate in Lebanon against the militant group Hezbollah and that Israel “has full right to self-defence, and we will exercise it to the full extent necessary”.

Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif expressed concern on Monday over the surge in violence. In a post on X, Mr Sharif urged all parties to “exercise restraint and give peace a little more chance”.

Two regional officials said diplomatic efforts were under way to salvage the ceasefire.

Officials from Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Pakistan and Qatar urged the Trump administration to pressure Israel to rein in its strikes on Iran and Beirut. They have also urged Iranian officials to stop attacks on Israel, they said.

Mr Trump said talks were ongoing for a ceasefire between Israel and Iran, though he gave no details.

Iran launched waves of attacks on Israel on Monday, and Israel launched strikes on central and western Iran. It was their first exchange of fire since the ceasefire.

Wounded

Iranian state media reported at least 15 people were wounded after explosions sounded in Tehran and other cities. There were no immediate reports of fatalities.

The semi-official Fars and Mehr news agencies said Israeli strikes hit a petrochemical factory in the city of Mahshahr in the province of Khuzestan. They did not elaborate on any damage. The Israeli military confirmed the strike on the plant, saying it targeted sites that produce materials for ballistic missiles. Israel said it also targeted truck-based missile launchers.

Israel said its strikes were in response to an Iranian missile attack. Tehran had warned on Sunday it would retaliate after Israel struck Beirut’s southern suburbs without warning. When Israel hit back, Iran fired again.

Explosions could be heard in central Israel as air defences sought to intercept incoming Iranian fire. Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard said it had targeted two military bases in Israel.

Iran blamed the United States for the escalation.

“No one believes that the Israeli regime would take any action without co-ordination with the United States,” Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei said during a briefing with journalists in Tehran. “The United States bears responsibility for the Israeli regime’s aggression.”

‘Shoulder to shoulder’

Mr Trump and Mr Netanyahu launched the war in a closely co-ordinated attack, with Israeli officials proudly boasting of unprecedented “shoulder to shoulder” co-operation throughout the conflict, which reached 100 days on Monday.

But since the first strikes, the two men have moved in opposite directions, with tensions sometimes spilling out into the open.

Mr Netanyahu appears to have openly defied Mr Trump with his strike on Sunday in Beirut and subsequent attacks in Iran, while Mr Trump has voiced his displeasure with Israel, occasionally cursing or belittling Mr Netanyahu by declaring to the Financial Times that “I call all the shots”.

The differences between the leaders appear to be rooted in the domestic considerations of each. Mr Netanyahu faces elections this autumn and is under heavy public pressure to strike back against ongoing Hezbollah attacks on northern Israel. He also is wary of appearing too subservient to Mr Trump.

The US president, meanwhile, also faces elections — for Congress in November — and is eager to wrap up a war that has jolted the global economy and raised prices for consumers.

Target

Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels claimed an attack on Israel on Monday and said Israel-affiliated vessels would again be a target in the Red Sea, putting the waterway, as well as the Gulf of Aden and the narrow Bab el-Mandeb Strait connecting them, in danger.

The statement from Brigadier General Yahya Saree was broadcast on the Houthis’ al-Masirah satellite news channel.

The threat might serve to further drive up oil prices since Saudi Arabia is using its East-West Pipeline to export oil through the Red Sea as an alternative to the Strait of Hormuz.

The Houthis made a similar threat during the Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip and killed at least nine mariners and sank four ships in more than 100 attacks, often targeting vessels with tangential or no ties to Israel. The assaults upended shipping in the Red Sea.