Middle East crisis live: Israel and Iran exchange fresh round of strikes as attacks intensify
Despite Donald Trump’s calls for calm, Israeli military says it struck military targets in central and western Iran in response to attacks by Tehran
Hello and welcome to our live coverage of the crisis in the Middle East.
Israel launched airstrikes early on Monday targeting central and western Iran in response to missile fire from Tehran, attacks that threatened to drag the wider Middle East back into a regional war.
Iran’s attacks appeared to be in retaliation for Israel strikes on Beirut’s Dahiyeh southern suburb area targeting Hezbollah infrastructure despite the truce agreement with Lebanon. Two people were killed and 20 wounded in Beirut, the Lebanon health ministry said.
A missile was launched from Yemen towards Israeli territory, the Israeli military said, adding its aerial defence systems were operating to intercept the threat. Israel’s rescue services say there were no reports of casualties or impacts.
Oil prices jumped more than 3% after Iran’s strikes, with the price of Brent crude – the international benchmark – rising 3.29% to $96.15 a barrel in early trading on Monday.
Iran’s missile barrage was the the first since a fragile ceasefire took effect in early April. Iran’s parliament speaker, Mohammad-Bagher Ghalibaf, said US bases and assets in the region were now “legitimate targets”.
The strait of Hormuz will be opened but under new conditions to be set by Iran and Oman, including a transit fee, Iran’s ambassador to Moscow, Kazem Jalali, told the Russian newspaper Izvestia – a position Trump strongly opposes.
Trump said Netanyahu would have no choice but to accept whatever deal the US negotiated with Iran because “I call the shots”, the Financial Times reported. “He won’t have any choice,” Trump said. “I call the shots. I call all the shots. He [Netanyahu] doesn’t call the shots.”
Continue reading...
