Iran yesterday signaled an end to its military operations against Israel just after US President Donald Trump said the two sides were looking to agree to an immediate ceasefire following a series of tit-for-tat strikes that threatened to derail talks aimed at ending the war in the Middle East.
Iran’s central military command said that if Israel continued to attack, including in southern Lebanon, “much harsher and more crushing actions than before will be on the way,” the semi-official Fars news agency reported, citing a statement.
The decision, which underscores how much the conflict in Lebanon has become a wedge issue in negotiations, came just after Trump said in a Truth Social post that final talks on a truce were “proceeding, subject to ignorance or stupidity getting in its way.”
Photo: Reuters
Trump had earlier demanded an end to the fighting after the Islamic Republic fired volleys of ballistic missiles at Israel on Sunday and yesterday, and Israel responded with strikes on military targets in western and central Iran.
Israel also struck Iran’s Karun petrochemical company in Mahshahr yesterday. Tehran said it would target all oil and gas facilities linked to Israel, the US and their allies in the region if attacks on its own energy infrastructure continue, Fars reported.
Iran began its offensive after Israeli strikes on Lebanon’s capital, Beirut. The attacks mark a rare example of Tehran coming to the defense of allied militant group Hezbollah.
The fighting poses the most serious challenge yet to a ceasefire that took effect on April 8, halting a war that began in February when the US and Israel started bombing Iran.
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