Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Monday that Israel would refrain from additional strikes against Iran as long as both sides kept the latest exchange contained. In a televised address, he warned that Israel would respond with “overwhelming force” if Iran resumed attacks, framing the position as self-defense. Earlier, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps indicated through a statement carried by semi-official Fars that it had halted fire.
The pause followed the most serious Israel-Iran exchanges since an April cease-fire. Iranian state media reported a new missile wave toward Israel on Monday morning, after Israel struck targets in several Iranian cities and a petrochemical facility in Bandar-e Mahshar. Israel said the strikes followed its interception of ballistic missiles launched from Iran on Sunday night. Tehran described its missiles as a warning over continued Israeli operations in Lebanon despite a recently announced cease-fire there.
International leaders urged restraint and a return to negotiations. President Donald Trump wrote that final peace negotiations were continuing, while also making clear in a Financial Times interview that he expected Israel to accept any U.S.-negotiated agreement with Iran. The renewed strikes nonetheless underscored tensions between Washington and Jerusalem, after reports that Trump had urged Netanyahu to avoid actions that could complicate a prospective U.S.-Iran deal.
The conflict also risked widening regionally. Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi movement claimed missile launches toward Israel and announced a ban on Israeli maritime navigation in the Red Sea. Any renewed Houthi attacks on commercial shipping could disrupt global trade routes and add pressure to energy and commodity prices.