Hours after Iran launched ballistic missiles at Israel on June 7, the Israeli military said it conducted strikes against military targets in the western and central region of Iran.
Several explosions were heard in the Iranian cities of Tehran, Tabriz, and Isfahan, local media reported early on June 8. The strikes by the Israeli military occurred after Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said it had targeted the Ramat David Airbase in northern Israel with ballistic missile fire on the evening of June 7.
The Israel Defense Forces said it identified missiles fired from Iran toward northern Israel and “defensive systems are operating to intercept the threat.” Sirens were sounded in several areas across the country after the missiles were detected, according to the Israel Defense Forces.
The IRGC said the Israeli military must halt attacks on Lebanon and warned that if Israel retaliates, it will face “more crushing and regretful blows.”
“We had previously warned that if the crimes in the Dahieh area of Beirut expand, we will attack targets in the occupied territories,” IRGC’s top joint military command said.
The strikes marked the first such attack since a ceasefire took effect in early April, and raising fears of renewed escalation in the region. Iran’s attack occurred after Israel struck the outskirts of Beirut on June 7.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the strike on Beirut’s southern outskirts, a district known as Dahieh that has long been a Hezbollah stronghold, was ordered in response to Hezbollah firing toward Israel.
President Donald Trump was briefed on the latest development between Iran and Israel. It was not immediately clear whether the Iranian missile attack caused damage in Israel.
Trump criticized Israel’s strikes on Beirut, saying he was “not happy about it,” Fox News reported. He also told Axios’ Barak Ravid that he was going to call Netanyahu and tell him “not to attack Iran in response.”
Iran has not targeted Israel directly since the United States and Iran agreed to the fragile ceasefire on April 7, though Hezbollah has continued attacks. Tensions have remained high since the ceasefire, and the two sides have launched attacks on each other multiple times in recent weeks.
Ebrahim Rezaei, a lawmaker who serves as spokesperson for the Iranian parliament’s national security committee, posted on X that Iran would deliver a “decisive and painful response” to Israel’s strikes on Lebanon on June 7. The IRGC said its attacks on Israel were a “warning” of a broader response that would encompass all U.S. and Israeli targets in the region if “aggressions” are repeated.
Peace talks between the United States and Iran have shown little progress toward ending the war, which began in February with a joint U.S.-Israeli air campaign. Trump has repeatedly threatened to resume strikes if an agreement is not reached soon.
“We’re very close to a deal, or I’m going to blow the hell out of them,” Trump told NBC News’ “Meet the Press” in a contentious interview that was broadcast on June 7. The comments came as he has also pressured Israel to scale back its military operations in Lebanon amid mediation efforts.
Following Iran’s strikes on Israel, Trump told Fox News that Iran needs to “get back to the table and make a deal,” and noted that the attack was “certainly not going to help negotiations.”
“We’re very close. I would say an agreement would be signed on Monday, Tuesday, or Wednesday of this coming week. And now this takes place,” Trump said, according to Fox News. “You’ve shot your missiles, that’s enough. Get back to the table and make a deal.”
Iranian officials have warned the conflict could widen, with the country’s Parliamentary Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, calling U.S. bases and Israeli assets legitimate targets because of hostile acts, including the “violation of agreements over Lebanon.”
“They showed that they only understand the language of power,” he wrote on X, signaling the potential for further escalation.
An Israeli official confirmed to Reuters that Trump, who was spending the weekend at his golf club in Bedminster, New Jersey, had spoken with Netanyahu by phone for a little less than half an hour. The official did not provide additional details on the call.
Earlier, Trump told news outlet Axios that he was going to call Netanyahu and press him not to retaliate against Iran.
“Israel had its strike and Iran had its strike. We don’t need another one,” Trump said, according to Axios. “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.”
Shortly after midnight local time, the Israeli military said in a statement citing Eyal Zamir, the chief of the general staff of the Israel Defense Forces, that the military had not been directed to attack Iran but would do so “with determination” once given the order.
In an interview with The Financial Times published on June 7, Trump said Netanyahu will have no choice but to accept any deal the United States reaches with Iran because the Israeli prime minister “doesn’t call the shots.”
“He won’t have any choice,” Trump told The Financial Times. “I call the shots. I call all the shots.”
The president added that Iran’s strikes on Israel are “not going to have any impact on the deal,” according to the British newspaper.
“We’ll see how it ends up. But they were attacks that did not kick at all. It’s one of those things that’s been going for 3,000 years, or 47 years, depending on how you count,” he said in the interview.
Israel’s strike in the Beirut area was the first attack since the United States brokered a truce plan for Lebanon last week. On June 1, Trump moved to keep negotiations going with Iran after the country said it would halt even indirect talks with the United States over Israel’s intensifying military campaign in Lebanon.
Iran has said any end to the war will be contingent on relief from Israeli attacks on Lebanon. Netanyahu previously said he would refrain from striking Beirut only as long as Hezbollah does not strike at Israel, but noted that the Israeli campaign in southern Lebanon will continue.
Many attacks from Hezbollah, which is backed by Iran and heavily based in southern Lebanon, were in response to Israeli operations. Israel’s campaign in Lebanon has killed thousands of people and driven hundreds of thousands from their homes, according to Reuters.
Earlier on June 7, the Israeli military said it had intercepted two projectiles fired over the border and issued an evacuation order for the southern Lebanese city of Tyre, along with surrounding areas, ahead of possible strikes.
Following Iran’s strikes on Israel, Syrian and Iraqi officials announced temporary airspace closures. Iran has also suspended flights at the Imam Khomeini International Airport until further notice, state media reported. The U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem has directed all employees and their family members in Israel to shelter in place.
Though a temporary ceasefire was reached in early April, military officials on the two sides have each reported strikes in recent weeks.
Both the United States and Iran have said they are close to a preliminary agreement that would reopen the Strait of Hormuz, the main transit route for Middle East oil, despite escalations in recent days that have included attacks on nearby Arab states hosting U.S. bases.
The U.S. military struck Iranian coastal radar sites in Goruk and Qeshm Island, both located in the strait, early on June 6 after shooting down drones launched by Iran that U.S. Central Command said posed a threat to maritime traffic. Two more Iranian attack drones that were threatening shipping in the strait were shot down, the U.S. military said late on June 6.
The IRGC also said it retaliated against U.S. bases in Kuwait and Bahrain. Kuwait’s army said it engaged seven ballistic missiles that passed over residential areas, resulting in material damage but no casualties.
Contributing: Christopher Cann, Michael Loria, and Joey Garrison, USA TODAY; Reuters
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