Iran fired missiles at Israeli targets after Israel launched strikes near Beirut, prompting President Donald Trump to say he would urge Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu not to retaliate.
The Israeli military said it identified missiles launched from Iran and that its air defence systems intercepted them. Details on possible damage in Israel were not immediately available.
Trump was briefed on the Iran-Israel escalation while spending the weekend at his golf club in Bedminster, New Jersey, a US official told Reuters. The White House did not immediately comment.
“It’s certainly not going to help negotiations,” Trump told Fox News after the Iranian launches. He urged Iran to return to talks and said he was “not happy” about the earlier Israeli strike near Beirut.
Axios reported that Trump planned to call Netanyahu and press him not to strike back. Israel had earlier hit the Beirut area for the first time since Washington announced a truce plan for Lebanon last week.
Iran has said any peace deal with the United States depends on a ceasefire holding in Lebanon, where Israel invaded in March while pursuing Iran-backed Hezbollah fighters.
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Iran’s chief peace negotiator, parliamentary speaker Mohammed Baqer Qalibaf, said US bases and Israeli assets were legitimate targets because of hostile acts, including what he called violations of Lebanon agreements.
An Israeli official told Reuters that Israel would retaliate against any attacks on its territory from Iran and could treat such attacks as “an opportunity to renew the campaign.”
Washington and Tehran have shown little progress toward a deal to end the war that Trump launched in February with air strikes alongside Israel against Iran.
