Iran halts military operations against Israel, warns of harsher attacks if strikes on Lebanon persist

Iran on Monday said it was ending its latest military operation against Israel after the first exchanges of fire between the foes since a shaky ceasefire began, but warned it could inflict a more “crushing” response.

United States President Donald Trump earlier on Monday told both Iran and key ally Israel to stop fighting, against the background of reports of an increasingly testy relationship between the US leader and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Iran fired dozens of missiles at Israel overnight and Israel responded by targeting military sites in the Islamic republic, sparking fears the escalation could usher in a new full-scale conflict after the April 8 truce.

“Israel and Iran must immediately stop ‘shooting.’ President DONALD J. TRUMP,” the US leader wrote on his Truth Social network.

Minutes later, he added in a new post that “final negotiations” towards peace were proceeding “subject to ignorance or stupidity getting in its way.” Iran’s military command then said it was halting the operation against Israel after delivering a “painful response”.

But it warned “that should acts of aggression and hostility continue, including in southern Lebanon, much more severe and crushing measures than before will follow”.

Shortly after, Israel’s army intercepted three projectiles fired from Lebanon, according to an AFP journalist near their shared border, with the military confirming the munitions had targeted its forces operating in Lebanon’s south.

“Some of the projectiles were intercepted prior to crossing into Israeli territory, and an additional projectile fell near IDF soldiers. No injuries were reported,” the military said.

Tehran’s earlier strikes followed attacks by Israel against targets of the Lebanese group Hezbollah in the southern suburbs of Beirut.

Iran had repeatedly warned it would strike Israel if the Lebanese capital was targeted.

‘People frustrated’

On Monday in Tehran, there was little sign of any return to war, with cafe terraces packed.

Traffic seemed lighter than usual for a weekday, suggesting that some people had stayed home and there were also many more people queuing at gas stations.

Maryam, 41, an accountant in Tehran, described “a sense of uncertainty and confusion”.

“You don’t know if there’s going to be a war, nor do you know if the peace agreement will last. Nothing is clear. People are frustrated,” she said.

Residents of Tel Aviv meanwhile went to shelters as sirens went off.

“I hope it will be short, but you can never know. Last time we thought it will be short and then it was a month, so I don’t know,” said Jonathan Ariel, 30.

Oil prices surged more than five per cent on worries that war could break out again, with hopes now punctured of a rapid end to the standoff that has seen shipping limited through the key Strait of Hormuz trade bottleneck.

The strikes also came at a critical moment with diplomatic efforts to end the conflict involving mediator Pakistan on a knife-edge.

Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei warned at a press conference in Tehran attended by AFP that diplomacy was continuing but risked being “affected” by the escalation.

As he was speaking at the foreign ministry, a huge explosion shook the building, followed by repeated explosions believed to be from air defence systems, the AFP reporter said.

Pakistan Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi visited Tehran to deliver what he said was a “special letter” to Iran’s supreme leader Mojtaba Khamenei, according to Iranian state television.

He has since travelled back to Pakistan, an official Pakistani source said on Monday.

Iranian President Masoud Pezehskian wrote on X that Tehran was still “at the negotiating table”.

‘Prepared for long-term war’

No casualties have been reported in either Israel or Iran after the exchange of fire.

The Israeli military said it struck and dismantled Iranian defence systems deployed across several areas in the country. Iran fired nearly 30 missiles towards Israel since Sunday night, an Israeli military official said.

An AFP correspondent also saw a missile fall in agricultural land in the area of Najha, in the countryside of the Syrian capital Damascus, causing a fire around the impact site but no reported human casualties.

“Material damage is minor, but the psychological impact is significant. The area is home to children, farm caretakers, livestock and solar power installations,” said Fadil Ataya, a local farmer.

A military source told the Tasnim news agency that “Iran is prepared for a long-term war with the Zionist regime and for strikes against US interests” in the region.

It also remains unclear who is leading decision-making in Tehran with Mojtaba Khamenei, said to have been wounded in a US-Israeli strike, yet to appear in public after taking over from his father Ali Khamenei who was assassinated on the first day of the war on February 28.

The European Union’s top diplomat Kaja Kallas called on both sides to “sit down to a negotiation table and agree”, adding that “the region does not need an escalation.”

Israeli strikes on Iran ‘fully coordinated’ with US, says Tehran

Iran said on Monday that the recent wave of Israeli strikes against the country was “fully coordinated” with US forces.

Tehran’s statement comes after Israel and Iran exchanged attacks for the first time since the shaky ceasefire in the Middle East war took effect on April 8, despite Trump calling for restraint.

The flare-up, which also drew in other countries in the region, saw Israel striking Iran after the latter targeted it in vengeance for an airstrike on Beirut’s southern suburbs. No casualties have been reported so far in either Israel or Iran.

“The direct responsibility of the United States for the actions of the Zionist regime is clear, and the consequences of escalating tensions will also fall on the United States,” Baqaei told a new briefing, according to state news agency IRNA.

“No one believes that the Zionist regime would carry out any action without prior coordination and cooperation with the United States,” Baqaei said.

“It is perfectly natural that the diplomatic process initiated to put an end to this imposed war would be affected,” the official observed.

Nonetheless, Baqaei said that Pakistan’s mediation efforts to end the war with the US were continuing even after fighting resumed with Israel.

“Diplomatic consultations are naturally continuing in all circumstances,” the spokesman said.

Baqaei further stressed that it had “been frequently repeated by us together with the Pakistani mediator that Lebanon is part and parcel of the [ceasefire] agreement”, according to Al Jazeera.

“We cannot allow the Zionist entity or the United States to undermine this part of the part of the deal,” he was quoted as saying.

“These events [of the past day] will definitely intensify suspicions. We were already exchanging messages with the American side in an atmosphere of extreme suspicion,” the Iranian official noted.

“The US’s contradictions to date — whether intentional or unintentional — have caused enough chaos in the diplomatic process. The incidents that have occurred in the past 24 hours will only fuel this chaotic situation in the diplomatic process,” he added.

Baqaei also reiterated Tehran’s stance that the head of the United Nations’ nuclear watchdog was disregarding the realities of the conflict and held biased views.

He contended that International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General Rafael Grossi was “acting with deliberate bias against Iran and the Iranian nuclear issue”, according to Al Jazeera.

Tit-for-tat strikes after Iran’s warning

Earlier on Monday, an Israeli airstrike targeted a petrochemical firm in southwestern Iran, causing partial damage to the industrial complex, Iranian officials said.

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said Tehran had retaliated against the attack by striking similar industrial targets in Israel’s Haifa.

Israel’s attacks had followed missile launches by Iran, whose military said it targeted Israel’s Ramat David Airbase with ballistic missiles in response to Israeli attacks in southern Lebanon and Beirut.

The statement warned that any further attacks would be met with “a broader and more severe” Iranian response.

Last night, the IRGC demanded that the Israeli army stop its attacks on Lebanon.

“We had previously warned that if the crimes in the Dahieh area of Beirut expand, we will attack targets in the occupied territories,” the IRGC’s top joint military command said.

On late Saturday night, Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi also shared an image on X depicting Iran and Lebanon’s national flags.

Earlier on Saturday, Israel launched strikes in the Beirut area for the first time since the US announced a truce plan for Lebanon last week.

The region has been on edge since the US and Israel launched airstrikes on Iran on February 28, triggering Iranian retaliation on Israel and other regional countries hosting US military sites.

A temporary ceasefire was reached on April 8, but negotiations later stalled amid disputes over its implementation and subsequent regional developments.