Iran says it has finished striking Israel, after Trump says both countries ‘must immediately stop’

JTA – Iran says it has completed its attack on Israel after its missile barrage on Sunday night launched the first direct exchange of hostilities since April. 

Iran’s military command said the barrage, which did not do any major damage in Israel, represented its “painful response” to an Israeli attack on a Hezbollah installation in Lebanon. The statement was published in English on Iranian state media, which attributed the halt to pressure from US President Donald Trump. 

Trump had denounced the Iranian strike and publicly urged Israel not to respond. On Monday morning, after it did, he posted on his Truth Social account, “Israel and Iran must immediately stop ‘shooting.’” 

Israel responded to the initial barrage with a large-scale airstrike on Monday morning local time. 

The Israeli military announced that the strike targeted Iran’s strategic defence systems and hit several targets in Iran’s petrochemical complex in Mahshahr in southwestern Iran. The military said the systems had been “degraded” during the February Operation Roaring Lion war and that “the strike led to the destruction of these systems”. 

Shortly after the Israeli strike, Iran launched a second round of missiles into Israel, sending families into shelters. Schools were already cancelled for Monday following Sunday night’s attacks. 

According to local Israeli media, explosions were heard in Isfahan and Kermanshah, and Iranian Foreign Minister Esmaeil Baghaei blamed the United States for Israel’s response. 

The Israeli response came after Trump told Axios on Sunday night that he would tell Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to not respond to the attacks. “I am going to call Bibi right now,” Trump told the news site, “and tell him not to retaliate.” 

He added that both countries had “had their fun. Israel had its strike, and Iran had its strike. We don’t need another one.” 

In a second Truth Social post on Monday, Trump wrote that “ignorance and stupidity” were hampering the already fragile Iran-Israel ceasefire negotiations. “The blockade will remain in place, and in full force and effect, until a ‘final deal’ is reached,” he wrote. 

The US Navy imposed a blockade on 13 April on ships travelling to and from Iran. Trump made the decision after the collapse of talks aimed at permanently ending the five-week war the US launched against Iran on 28 February and Iran closed the Strait of Hormuz on 2 March. 

Meanwhile, on Monday morning the Iran-backed Houthi terror group in Yemen launched a single missile into Israel. No injuries were reported. Later, the Iranian-backed group said it would impose a complete naval blockade on Israeli ships in the Red Sea.