In retaliation for Israel bombing Beirut and continuing to occupy southern Lebanon, Iran launched a wave of ballistic missiles at Israel on Sunday night and Israel responded with airstrikes on Iranian targets, collapsing an already fragile ceasefire to the Iran War, which entered its 101st day Monday.
Israeli Telegram channels reported ballistic missile impacts, though the Israeli media has yet to confirm the hits, while Iranian media reported explosions across the country. Meanwhile, the Yemeni Houthis announced Monday “a complete and total ban on Israeli maritime navigation,” adding that they will “consider all enemy movements to be legitimate military targets for our armed forces.”
Axios’ Barak Ravid had said, citing “an Israeli source familiar with details of the call” and one anonymous U.S. official, that President Donald Trump told Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu Sunday not to retaliate against Iran’s missile attack. But Iran’s Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Esmail Baghaei said Monday that “no one in the region believes that the Zionist regime [Israel] carries out any action without prior coordination and cooperation with the United States… the consequences of any escalation will also fall on Washington,” indirectly dismissing the Axios report.
Trump posted on Truth Social Monday morning, “Both sides, Israel and Iran, are looking to do an immediate CEASEFIRE!” and that “Final negotiations on ‘Peace’ are proceeding, subject to ignorance or stupidity getting in its way.” Trump said that the U.S. naval blockade of the Strait of Hormuz “will remain in place, and in full force and effect, until a ‘Final Deal’ is reached.”
The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps released a statement on Monday saying that if Israeli “aggression and evils continue, including in southern Lebanon, much more severe and crushing measures will be on the way.” Iran’s Speaker of Parliament Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf wrote on X Monday morning that Iran “disrupted the equation of a ceasefire on paper and its repeated violations in the field,” adding, “As long as you lack the genuine will to build trust, Iran’s response will be exactly this.”
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Drop Site News, citing a senior Iranian official, reported that Israel’s bombing of Lebanon and expanded occupation of the country’s southern region as well as Trump’s refusal to unfreeze Iranian funds are the two central issues preventing any wider deal to end the conflict. “For nearly 20 days, the draft of a potential agreement has been on [Trump’s] desk,” the official told Drop Site, adding that “the primary person responsible for the current situation is Donald Trump himself,” referring to his failure to restrain Israel’s attacks against Lebanon and Iran’s retaliatory strikes against Israel.
The price of Brent Crude oil rose to $98 a barrel earlier on Monday, before falling to roughly $94.70 on the announcement that Iran had halted strikes on Israel. Gas prices remained elevated, with AAA reporting the national average price of regular gas at $4.16 per gallon.
