Opening summary
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.
Iranian state TV reported the sound of explosions being heard in the cities of Isfahan, Karaj, Tabriz and Tehran. A witness in Tehran described hearing at least one large blast somewhere to the west of the capital.
Iran closed the airspace around Tehran’s Imam Khomeini international airport – the main airfield in the country – after the Israeli attack.
Multiple explosions were heard over Jerusalem later on Monday as Israel said a new wave of Iranian missiles was incoming. The Israeli military said it “identified missiles launched from Iran” and was working to intercept the threat.
Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guards said Israel used air-launched ballistic missiles in its attack on Iran.
The Israeli military at dawn in Iran issued a short statement as its strikes started, saying: “A short while ago, the Israeli air force struck military targets belonging to the Iranian terror regime in western and central Iran.” It did not provide further details.
US officials said Donald Trump earlier spoke with Benjamin Netanyahu and urged the Israeli prime minister not to immediately retaliate over Iran’s missile launches against Israel, which upended the fragile ceasefire in place since April.
We will bring you all the latest developments here. Meanwhile:
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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.
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A missile was launched from Yemen towards Israeli territory on Monday, 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.
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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.
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Iran’s barrage was the first since the 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”.
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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.
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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.”
Key events
Houthis confirm attack on Israel as group ‘bans’ Israeli shipping in Red Sea
Patrick Wintour
Yemen announced that it had joined the war for the first time since the 8 April ceasefire. The Houthi leadership fired missiles towards Jaffa Israel and said Israeli linked commercial shipping would be blocked entering the Red Sea, a decision that will unnerve other shipping.
Iranian officials had earlier suggested the revival of the blockade of Bab al-Mandab strait for Israeli linked shipping was being considered by the Houthi leadership.
In a statement Yemen’s Houthi leadership also known as Ansar Allah Yemen said “We declare a complete and absolute ban on maritime navigation for the Israeli enemy in the Red Sea and believe that any enemy movement from the moment this statement is announced will be a military target for our armed forces.
“We will respond to escalation with escalation, and our military operations will be increasingly coordinated with events, battles, and participation in the axis of jihad and resistance”.
The Houthis for internal reasons has been reluctant to join the US-Iran conflict preferring to hold talks with Saudi Arabia about reuniting Yemen.
Aliakbar Velayati adviser to Iran’s supreme leader Mojtaba Khamenei had earlier warned “today’s security of the Ban al-Mandan strait should not cause the enemy to make a miscalculation; the resistance rings have the power to close both waterways
“The choice is yours; stop the folly or enter into a regulated balance of the two straits”. The joint closure of the strait of Hormuz and Bab al-Mandab has the capacity to sabotage the flow of East West flow of commercial naval traffic.
Iranian officials admitted Israeli strikes hit the Karun Petrochemical Company in the Petrochemical Special Economic Zone.
Iran said the attacks did not result in any casualties, but “the extent of damage and possible injuries is under investigation.”
Abbas Araghchi the foreign minister through the night was in contact with fellow diplomats to explain Iran’s decision to restart its assault on Israel. He spoke with the Uk foreign minister Yvette Cooper and the Turkish foreign minister Hakan Fidan as well as the Saudi foreign minister
Iran’s state media is reporting that the capital Tehran’s Mehrabad airport has suspended all flights until further notice.
Israel and Iran continued to fire at each other on Monday while a missile reportedly targeted a part of Saudi Arabia housing a US military base. It’s the most serious escalation since a ceasefire began two months ago and now threatens to plunge the Middle East back into war.
Yemen’s Houthis claim missile attack on Israel
Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthi rebels have claimed an attack on Israel and say Israel-affiliated vessels would again be a target in the Red Sea, Associated Press reports.
The statement from Brig Gen Yahya Saree was broadcast on the Houthis’ al-Masirah satellite news channel on Monday.
It’s another new escalation as the nominal ceasefire in the Iran war is being challenged by crossfire between Israel and Iran.
The Houthi threat to target vessels again puts the Red Sea, the Gulf of Aden and the narrow Bab el-Mandeb Strait connected them in danger.
The Houthis during the Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip killed at least nine mariners and sunk four ships across over 100 attacks. Those assaults upended shipping in the Red Sea , through which about $1 trillion of goods passed each year before the war.
The EU’s top diplomat has urged calm after Iran and Israel traded strikes, testing the fragile truce and threatening to drag the Middle East region back into war.
“Overnight, we have seen escalation again,” Kaja Kallas said on Monday.
I think the region does not need an escalation, but actually that parties sit down to a negotiation table and agree.”
Opening summary
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.
Iranian state TV reported the sound of explosions being heard in the cities of Isfahan, Karaj, Tabriz and Tehran. A witness in Tehran described hearing at least one large blast somewhere to the west of the capital.
Iran closed the airspace around Tehran’s Imam Khomeini international airport – the main airfield in the country – after the Israeli attack.
Multiple explosions were heard over Jerusalem later on Monday as Israel said a new wave of Iranian missiles was incoming. The Israeli military said it “identified missiles launched from Iran” and was working to intercept the threat.
Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guards said Israel used air-launched ballistic missiles in its attack on Iran.
The Israeli military at dawn in Iran issued a short statement as its strikes started, saying: “A short while ago, the Israeli air force struck military targets belonging to the Iranian terror regime in western and central Iran.” It did not provide further details.
US officials said Donald Trump earlier spoke with Benjamin Netanyahu and urged the Israeli prime minister not to immediately retaliate over Iran’s missile launches against Israel, which upended the fragile ceasefire in place since April.
We will bring you all the latest developments here. Meanwhile:
-
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 on Monday, 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 barrage was the first since the 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.”
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