Israel says it has launched airstrikes inside Iran after Tehran fired missiles at Israel, turning Sunday’s Lebanon flare-up into the sharpest test yet of the fragile April ceasefire.
The Associated Press reported early Monday that Israel struck central and western Iran in response to missile fire. Iranian state television reported explosions in Isfahan, Tabriz and Tehran, while Iran closed airspace around Tehran’s Imam Khomeini International Airport.
The new angle is the speed of the chain reaction. A Beirut strike, Iranian missile fire and Israeli strikes inside Iran all unfolded within hours, raising the risk that the U.S.-Iran peace track could be overtaken by events on the Israel-Lebanon front.
How the Escalation Started
The confrontation began after Israel struck Beirut’s southern suburbs on Sunday following Hezbollah fire toward northern Israel. Israel said it was responding to attacks by the Iran-backed group. Tehran had already warned that strikes on Beirut could draw a direct Iranian response.
Axios reported that Iran launched missiles at Israel in retaliation for the Beirut strike, marking the first direct Iranian missile attack since the April 8 ceasefire. The Israeli military said sirens sounded in northern Israel and that air defenses were operating against the incoming threat.
AP’s earlier report said Iran’s state broadcaster confirmed the launches and that Iran closed western airspace as it braced for a possible response. The Revolutionary Guard warned that further Israeli attacks could bring broader retaliation against American and Israeli targets in the region.
Trump Tried to Stop a Retaliation
The diplomatic scramble was immediate. Axios reported Sunday night that President Trump told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu not to retaliate against Iran and to give diplomacy more time. A senior U.S. official and an Israeli source told Axios that Trump argued Washington was close to progress on a deal.
That restraint effort now appears to have collided with Israel’s military response. AP reported that Israel’s early Monday strikes targeted areas in central and western Iran after the missile fire. The immediate scale of damage was not clear.
The timing is dangerous for Washington because the Trump administration has been trying to convert the April truce into a more durable settlement. Iran has tied those talks to Lebanon, arguing that Israel’s campaign against Hezbollah violates the spirit of the ceasefire. Israel rejects that framing and says Hezbollah attacks require a military answer.
Why This Matters
The crisis is no longer confined to the Strait of Hormuz, U.S.-Iran talks or isolated Lebanon exchanges. It is now a direct Iran-Israel strike cycle again, with U.S. diplomacy trying to keep pace after the fact.
That makes the next few hours critical. If Iran answers the Israeli strikes, the April ceasefire could collapse into open regional fighting. If both sides stop here, mediators may still have room to salvage negotiations, but the cost of another misfire has clearly risen.
For now, the clearest fact is that a war everyone was trying to freeze has found a new trigger point: Beirut.