By Sherif Tarek, Galit Altstein and Eltaf Najafizada
Iran fired several rounds of missiles toward Israel, as President Donald Trump pushed to preserve a faltering ceasefire in the US’s 100-day conflict with Tehran.
“At this time, the Israeli Air Force is operating to intercept and strike threats where necessary,” the Israel Defense Forces said, before warning of an additional volley of missiles. The military said it intercepted all the missiles and emergency services reported no casualties.
Mohsen Rezaee, a military adviser to Iran’s supreme leader, told the semi-official Iranian Students’ News Agency that the missile launch toward Israel was a “warning to cease their hostile actions” in Lebanon.
The fresh attack follows hard on the heels of an escalation between Israel and Hezbollah. Early Sunday, the Lebanese militia attacked targets in northern areas of the Jewish state, whose army responded with a strike in Beirut’s southern suburbs killing two and injuring 11. At the same time, the US and Iran appear to be making little progress toward an interim deal to end the war.
Trump told Fox News after the attack that he still wants a negotiated solution as he urged Iran to resume negotiations. “You shot your missiles,” he was quoted as saying. “That’s enough.”
Trump also criticised Israel for its Beirut strikes on Sunday. He said in an interview with Axios he would press Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu not to retaliate against Tehran.
Separately, the US president told the Financial Times that his Israeli counterpart would have to accept any deal the US strikes with Iran. “I call the shots. I call all the shots,” he said. Netanyahu “doesn’t call the shots.”
As warning sirens sounded in several areas, Israel said it canceled school across the country for Monday.
The past week saw the worst flare-up in tensions since the truce started around April 8. Negotiations between Washington and Tehran are bogged down over the fate of billions of dollars of frozen Iranian assets and a parallel conflict between Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah in Lebanon.
Hezbollah last week rejected a US-brokered ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon announced by the State Department just hours before.
Iran has demanded a ceasefire in Lebanon before an accord can be reached with the US. A military adviser to Iranian Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei told CNN “the ball is in Trump’s court” when it comes to a deal.
In Washington, Trump’s team is floating a plan to steer Iranian assets frozen in the US toward helping Persian Gulf allies rebuild from damage inflicted by the Islamic Republic.
Trump said in an interview broadcast Sunday that he would not unfreeze any Iranian assets or lift any sanctions against Iran as part of an initial deal.
Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi poured cold water on the idea, saying in a post on X that his country’s assets “are neither Washington’s war spoils nor a fund for paying its allies.” He also noted that Iran is still demanding “full compensation” for its own damages from the war Israel and the US started on Feb. 28.
The dispute risks derailing the discussions on a truce extension, reopening the Strait of Hormuz and future talks over Iran’s nuclear program.
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