Following a day of fresh clashes between Israel and Iran, Tehran’s top negotiator has issued a warning to the US and Israel against any further ceasefire violations. Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, who is also the speaker of Iran’s Parliament, accused Washington and Tel Aviv of forging a ceasefire “on paper” and “violating” it “in the field.”
Israel and Iran fired fresh strikes at each other on Monday, in what constituted the first such exchange since a ceasefire two months ago.
Iran had struck Israel on Sunday after warning of action over Netanyahu’s repeated attacks on Lebanon. Israel, last week, targeted the southern suburbs in Beirut, seen as Hezbollah’s stronghold, drawing a warning from Iran.
Ghalibaf said Iran had “disrupted the equation of a ceasefire on paper and its repeated violations in the field.”
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“As long as you lack the genuine will to build trust, Iran’s response will be exactly this,” the Iranian negotiator warned.
The Israeli military said Iran had fired nearly 30 missiles at Israel overnight. Israel responded by targeting Iran’s military sites, triggering a fresh escalation amid a fragile ceasefire.
Iran, Israel halt strikes after first clash since truce
After firing at each other on Monday, both Iran and Israel said they were putting hostilities on hold and halting the strikes. After Iran said it had ended its latest military operation, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also announced that the “fire on that front is contained.”
Iran has, since the start of the conflict, maintained that its ceasefire with the US should include the halting of fighting on all fronts, including Israeli attacks on Lebanon. However, Netanyahu has sought to keep the two separate, continuing to strike southern parts of Lebanon despite a ceasefire.
Netanyahu, after the pausing of attacks, also issued a warning, saying if Iran makes “the mistake of resuming attacks against us, we will respond with full force.”
Israel’s defence minister, Israel Katz, earlier today, also insisted that the country’s military campaign against Lebanon would continue. Katz added that Israel would strike Hezbollah-dominated southern suburbs of Beirut for each attack on northern Israel by the group.
Netanyahu had earlier said that US President Donald Trump had approved such retaliatory strikes. Trump on Sunday had urged a “more surgical attack” on Hezbollah.
However, the US President earlier today urged both sides to stop “shooting”, and said that “final negotiations” towards achieving peace would proceed “subject to ignorance or stupidity getting in its way.”
