Iran and Israel announced today that they were stopping striking each other after US President Donald Trump called on both sides to immediately "cease fire", although Tehran said it would resume its strikes if Israel continued to carry out attacks on the pro-Iranian Shiite armed movement "Hezbollah" in Lebanon, Reuters reported, quoted by BTA.
The wave of attacks in the past 24 hours marks the most direct confrontation between Iran and Israel since a ceasefire began in April, threatening to derail Washington's efforts to reach a deal with Tehran to end the war that has been going on for more than three months.
Oil prices - which jumped as much as 5 percent after the series of attacks - fell after the Iranian military said the first wave of strikes on Israel had ended.
A source familiar with the matter told Reuters that Israel had also decided to stop its attacks on Iran.
Israel struck a number of Iranian targets after Tehran fired missiles at its territory last night. Tehran said the strikes were in response to Israeli attacks on Hezbollah strongholds. in the southern suburbs of Beirut.
Israel has struck a petrochemical plant in southwestern Iran that it said was being used to produce ballistic missiles. Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said it retaliated by attacking a similar Israeli plant in the city of Haifa.
Iran's military command said it had "dealt a painful retaliatory blow" to Israel for its attacks on Lebanon, including yesterday's strikes on the outskirts of Beirut.
"On this basis, a cessation of operations of the armed forces is announced. "However, it is emphasized that in the event of continued aggression and hostile actions, including in southern Lebanon, measures will follow that will be significantly harsher and more destructive than before," the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said in a statement.
This exchange of blows has complicated Trump's efforts to end the war, which began with US-Israeli strikes on Iran on February 28, and highlights how easily the conflict can escalate into a wider regional confrontation. The ceasefire announced on April 8 led to a halt to full-scale hostilities, but sporadic clashes in the Gulf continued.
In one of his posts on social networks, Trump said that both Israel and Iran want an “immediate CEASEFIRE! The final negotiations for “peace” continue unless ignorance or stupidity prevents them". He stressed that the blockade of Iranian ports would remain in place until a final agreement was reached.
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei said Tehran was maintaining correspondence with Washington in an atmosphere of "extreme suspicion". He added that Israel's actions in Lebanon, whether carried out with the knowledge and consent of the United States or not, were aimed at sabotaging diplomatic efforts.