Iran, Israel say they have halted strikes on each other for now

DUBAI/OCCUPIED JERUSALEM: Iran and Israel said on Monday they had halted attacks on each other ​following an appeal from U.S. President Donald 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 the ‌past 24 hours marked 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 war

Oil prices which had risen by as much as 5% after the flurry of attacks - later 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 told Reuters that Israel had also decided to halt its ​attacks on Iran.

Israel struck Iranian targets after Tehran fired missiles towards Israeli territory late on Sunday. Tehran said its strikes were retaliation for Israeli attacks on strongholds of Iran-backed Hezbollah on the outskirts of ​Beirut.

Israel hit a petrochemical plant in southwestern Iran that it said was used to produce ballistic missiles. Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said it retaliated with a strike ⁠aimed at a similar Israeli plant in the city of Haifa.

‘Painful response’

Iran’s military headquarters said it had “delivered a painful response” against Israel for its attacks on Lebanon, including Sunday’s strikes on the outskirts of Beirut.

“Accordingly, the operations ​of the armed forces are hereby declared halted; however, it is emphasized that if the aggressions and acts of mischief continue — including in southern Lebanon — much more severe and crushing actions than before will follow.”

The exchange has complicated ​Trump’s push to end the war, launched by the U.S. and Israel on February 28, and underscores how easily the conflict could widen into a broader regional confrontation. A ceasefire announced on April 8 had paused all-out warfare but flare-ups in the Gulf have continued.

In one of several posts on social media, Trump said Israel and Iran both wanted “an immediate CEASEFIRE! Final negotiations on ‘Peace’ are proceeding, subject to ignorance or stupidity getting in its way.” He added that a U.S. blockade of Iranian ports would remain in ​place till a final deal was reached.