Iran, Israel halt strikes on each other for now

Iran and Israel said on Monday they had halted attacks on each other after an appeal from US President Trump that they immediately “stop ‘shooting’”, though Tehran said it would resume strikes if Israel continued to hit Hezbollah in Lebanon.


The wave of attacks over 24 hours were the most direct confrontation between Iran and Israel since an April ceasefire, threatening to wreck Washington’s efforts to reach an agreement with Tehran to end their more than three-month-old war. Oil prices — which had risen by as much as 5% after the flurry of attacks — pared gains when Iran’s military said its first wave of strikes on Israel was over. The dollar retreated from its highest level in nearly two months.


A source briefed on the matter said Israel had also decided to halt its attacks on Iran.

Tehran fired missiles towards Israeli territory late on Sunday, calling them retaliation for Israeli attacks on strongholds of the Iranian backed Hezbollah militia on the outskirts of Beirut. Israel then hit a petrochemical plant in southwest Iran that it said was used to produce ballistic missiles. Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said it had retaliated with a strike aimed at a similar Israeli plant in the city of Haifa.


Iran’s military said it had “delivered a painful response” against Israel for its attacks on Lebanon. “Accordingly, the operations of the armed forces are hereby declared halted; ho wever, it is emphasised that if the aggressions and acts of mischief continue — including in southern Lebanon — much more severe and crushing actions than before will follow.”


Hours after Iran’s announcement, sirens sounded in the Zar’ it area of northern Israel when a projectile was identified as falling in an area of southern Lebanon. Israeli defence minister Israel Katz said that Israel would strike Hezbollah’s Dahiyeh stronghold in so uthern Beirut once more if there were attacks on northern Israel. An Israeli official said Trump had spoken with PM Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday. Earlier, an Israeli military official said Israel was prepared to continue operations for “as long as it takes”.


Iranian officials struck a similarly defiant tone. A military source said that Tehran was ready for a prolonged conflict and could renew strikes against US interests in the region.
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