Iran has launched a barrage of missiles towards Israel, after warnings from Tehran that Israel must halt its ongoing assault on southern Lebanon or face more attacks.
Multiple rounds of strikes targeted Israel starting at about 10pm local time (19:00 GMT) on Sunday, triggering sirens in locations across the country, the Israeli army said in a series of Telegram posts.
Recommended Stories
list of 4 itemsend of list
The army said it “intercepted all missiles from Iran thus far”, with the Home Front Command advising residents they could leave protected spaces about an hour later.
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) confirmed it targeted Israel’s Ramat David airbase with ballistic missiles in a statement circulated by Iranian media, calling the attack a response to “the widespread killing and displacement of the oppressed people of the Tyre and Nabatieh regions” of southern Lebanon.
“Tonight’s operation was a warning, and if the aggressions are repeated, the responses will be broader and will encompass all American-Zionist targets in the region,” the IRGC statement said.
Shortly after the launches began, Mohsen Rezaee, the military adviser to Iran’s supreme leader, wrote on X that Iran “repeatedly stated that it will not tolerate violations of the ceasefire and aggression against Lebanon”.
“Tonight, the aggressors received their response,” he said. “This response is a warning to stop their evil; any new action will be met with a more crushing response and heavier costs.”
US President Donald Trump said he was going to call Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu “right now” to tell him not to hit back at Iran.
Speaking to Channel 12’s Barak Ravid, Trump said: “The Iranian strikes didn’t hurt anybody. Hopefully, Israel is not going to retaliate. If Bibi strikes them back, it’s just gonna keep going like the last 47 years, or the last 3,000 years.”
Trump added, “We are very close to a final deal with Iran. It is going to be a good deal. I don’t want it to blow up because of what is happening now.
“I am going to call Bibi right now and tell him not to retaliate. Each of them had their fun. Israel had its strike and Iran had its strike. We don’t need another one.”
“I don’t want to see an additional attack tonight,” Trump reportedly added.
Ravid suggested it is “not clear” that the US would support Israel if it decides to attack Iran. Decision-makers will need to think twice before doing so, Ravid added, noting that a senior US official has told him that “we’re not in this” – in apparent reference to a new escalation.
Channel 12 notes that Israeli officials said earlier on Sunday they were indeed planning a “forceful response”.
Prior warnings
The strikes followed multiple Iranian warnings over Israel’s ongoing invasion of southern Lebanon, which has continued apace despite Israel and Lebanon agreeing to a ceasefire earlier this week in Washington, DC.
Israel crossed “all red lines” by continuing to target the southern suburbs of Beirut, known as Dahiyeh, the IRGC’s Khatam al-Anbiya headquarters said in a statement on Sunday.
“We had previously warned that if the crime in the suburbs of Beirut spreads, we will attack targets in the occupied territories,” it said.
Khatam al-Anbiya added that if Israel “expands its attacks on that region or responds to Iran’s actions, it will face more crushing and regrettable blows and destructive attacks will begin against the regime and its supporters”.
Israel’s latest wave of strikes on Dahiyeh killed at least two people and injured 11 more in a densely populated civilian neighbourhood on Sunday afternoon.
Netanyahu and Defence Minister Israel Katz said in a joint statement that the army hit a Hezbollah command centre.
Iran’s top negotiator and Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf said Tehran would “not only halt the path of negotiations”, but also come “in direct confrontation with the enemy” over violations of the ceasefire agreement.
Israeli attacks have killed more than 3,500 people in Lebanon since March 2.
