President Donald Trump publicly urged Israel and Iran to stop shooting Monday as their first direct exchange since the April ceasefire widened into a new test for U.S.-led diplomacy.
Axios reported Monday morning that Trump called on both sides to immediately stop after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu defied his request to stand down. Axios said Israel struck Tehran and other cities after Iran launched missiles toward Israel, and that the exchanges were threatening negotiations between Washington and Tehran.
The new angle is not just that Israel and Iran are trading fire. It is that Trump is now publicly trying to halt a strike cycle that Israeli officials say could last several days, while the battlefield is already expanding to energy infrastructure, U.S. regional interests and Red Sea shipping.
Trump’s Warning Comes After Israel Struck Again
Axios reported that Trump had asked Netanyahu not to retaliate because Washington was close to progress on a deal with Iran. Hours later, Israel carried out strikes on military targets inside Iran. Axios also cited a U.S. official saying Washington did not agree with or support the Israeli strikes, while two U.S. officials said the U.S. military was not involved in them.
The Associated Press reported that Israel struck Iran after being targeted by missiles, while a U.S. military base in Saudi Arabia came under fire. AP described the exchange as the most serious hostilities since the April ceasefire and said diplomats from Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Pakistan and Qatar were pressing Washington to rein in Israel while urging Iran to stop attacks on Israel.
That diplomatic push is now under pressure from events moving faster than the talks. AP reported that Iran launched waves of attacks on Israel, while Israel struck central and western Iran. Iranian state television reported explosions in Isfahan, Karaj, Tabriz and Tehran.
Energy Sites Enter the Escalation
Reuters, in a report republished by Internazionale, said Israel hit a petrochemical plant in southwestern Iran along with other military targets after Trump reportedly told Netanyahu to refrain from further attacks. Reuters reported that the strike on the Mahshahr petrochemical complex was the first hit on an energy site inside Iran since the April 8 ceasefire.
Reuters also reported that oil prices rose nearly 5%, with Brent futures back above $97 a barrel. Iran’s Revolutionary Guard blamed the U.S. for the latest exchange and warned that attacks on non-military and energy targets would carry consequences for the global economy.
Israel said the Mahshahr target was linked to weapons manufacturing, according to Reuters. Iranian state media reported no injuries and said authorities ordered employees to evacuate while damage was assessed.
Why This Matters
Trump’s public warning changes the political stakes. If Israel continues striking after Washington’s request to stop, the U.S. risks looking unable to control its closest regional partner. If Iran keeps firing, Tehran risks giving Israel and U.S. hawks a new argument for broader military action.
The conflict is also no longer confined to one front. AP and Axios both reported that Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthis have joined the fighting, with threats to Israeli-linked shipping in the Red Sea. That adds maritime risk to an already unstable picture involving Iran, Israel, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia and U.S. forces in the region.
For now, the central fact is blunt: the ceasefire is still technically the diplomatic framework, but the shooting has restarted. Trump is trying to stop it in public before the April truce collapses into another full-scale regional war.