Israel and Iran traded military strikes early Monday in the most serious escalation since their April 8 ceasefire, raising fears of a return to full-scale war across the Middle East.
Israel launched strikes on central and western Iran, targeting truck-based surface-to-air missile launchers. Iran’s Revolutionary Guard responded with waves of missile fire, claiming it struck two Israeli military bases in what it called “Operation Nasr.” Explosions were heard in central Israel as air defenses intercepted incoming fire, with sirens also sounding across Jordan.
Monday marked the 100th day of the broader Iran war, which began February 28 when Israel and the United States killed Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. The ceasefire reached in April has been strained by Iran’s continued grip on the Strait of Hormuz and renewed fighting between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon.
Yemen’s Houthi rebels added to the tension, claiming an attack on Israel and threatening to again target shipping in the Red Sea — a corridor through which roughly $1 trillion in goods flowed annually before previous disruptions.
Diplomats from Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Pakistan, and Qatar scrambled to salvage the ceasefire, pressing both Washington and Tehran to de-escalate. Regional mediators expressed particular frustration over Israel’s earlier strike on Beirut’s southern suburbs, which they said undermined active negotiations.
President Trump insisted he was not coordinating with Israel, saying he had urged Netanyahu to hold off on retaliation and was “not happy” about the Beirut strike. “I call the shots. I call all the shots,” Trump told the Financial Times.
Iran squarely blamed Washington regardless, with its Foreign Ministry stating the U.S. “bears responsibility for the consequences of any escalation.”
