Israel launched a wave of retaliatory missiles at Iran overnight,ignoring calls from Donald Trump to do the exact opposite.
Iran and Israel traded strikes starting last Sunday in the first blows since an April cease-fire paused the US and Israel’s war in the Middle East.
Following an Israeli attack against Hezbollah,the Iran-backed militant group,in Dahiyya,Lebanon,Iran responded by launching ballistic missiles.
Iranians celebrated the counter-strike in Qom and at Ferdowsi Square in Tehran until the early hours today.
Footage by Iran’s semiofficial Mehr News Agency shows Iranians cheering,riding motorcycles,playing drums and waving flags.
The Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps,a powerful arm of the Iranian military,said the missiles were a retaliation against Israel’s continued bombing of Lebanon,despite the cease-fire.
The exchange began after Israel fired at Lebanon yesterday (Picture: AFP)
Missiles streaking the skies over the West Bank city of Nablus (Picture: EPA)‘Tonight’s operation was a warning,and if aggressions are repeated,the responses will be broader,’ it added.Some of the drones fired at Israel carried the message,‘We will not abandon Lebanon’ and ‘We are fighting the corrupt people of Epstein Island’,according to the Fars News Agency.Israel’s military asked civilians to shelter before saying at around 11pm local time that it had intercepted the missiles.The tit-for-tat has carried on well into this morning,with the Israel Defense Force saying that more missiles were fired from Iran a ‘short while ago’.Iranian military officials said that Israel used air-launched ballistic missiles into the heart of Iran.Amid a storm,explosions tore through Tehran as well as in Tabriz and Isfahan,while Tasnim News Agency reported blasts near Karaj and Mahshahr.US president Donald Trump is to call Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu to urge him to rein in his attacks.
Donald Trump earlier said he never promised not to get the US involved in new conflicts (Picture: 2026 Getty Images)‘I call the shots,’ Trump said,according to The Financial Times. ‘He doesn’t call the shots.’The Iran war started in February when the US and Israel launched surprise attacks.Trump insisted in a pre-recorded interview broadcast yesterday that he never pledged not to start new wars if elected for a second term.He told NBC on Friday: ‘I didn’t guarantee no war. Why would I have built the strongest military in the world?’As a 2024 candidate, the Republican repeatedly said he would not drag the US into war.And he reminded the world of this during his victory speech: ‘They said,“He will start a war”,I’m not going to start a war. I’m going to stop wars.’Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at .For more stories like this,check our news page.
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