Israel, Iran trade fire despite Trump's call for restraint

TEHRAN

TOPSHOT - First responders inspect damage at the site of an Israeli airstrike targeting apartments in a residential building in Beirut's southern suburbs on June 7, 2026. (AFP)

Israel and Iran traded fire on June 8, seriously testing a fragile truce and threating hopes for a deal to end the Middle East war.

The new attacks, including a strike on an Iranian petrochemical complex, came hours after U.S. President Donald Trump called on Israel to refrain from retaliating against Tehran's missiles.

The attacks further rattled a fragile April 8 truce as the war entered its 100th day, with the United States struggling to conclude a deal with Tehran to end the conflict.

On the morning of June 8, journalists reported explosions over Jerusalem as Israel said it was working to intercept a new wave of Iranian missiles.

The Israeli army wrote on Telegram it had "identified missiles launched from Iran" and was working to intercept the threat.

Explosions were heard in three cities, including Tehran, according to Iranian state TV, as the Israeli military said it struck targets in western and central Iran.

The Israeli barrage was tit-for-tat action against Iran's assault on Sunday of 11 missiles, all of which were intercepted, with no casualties.

Trump had sought to rein in Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as Israel accused Tehran of making a "grave mistake."

"I am going to call Bibi right now and tell him not to retaliate," Trump was quoted as saying by Axios journalist Barak Ravid in a phone interview, using Netanyahu's nickname.

"Israel had its strike and Iran had its strike. We don't need another one," Trump reportedly said.

Ravid later posted that a U.S. official said Trump spoke with Netanyahu, although the White House and Trump have yet to comment.

British Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper joined the pleas for restraint.

"The resumption of conflict between Iran and Israel is in no one's interest," she wrote on X, calling for diplomacy.

Tehran has insisted any deal to permanently end the war must also halt the parallel conflict in Lebanon, where Israel is pursuing a campaign against the Iran-backed movement Hezbollah, and has warned that any new attacks on Beirut would trigger a "full-scale resumption" of hostilities.

Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Ali Safari told Al-Mayadeen television that Tehran's strikes came after weeks of restraint against Israeli aggression, local media reported.

Iran's powerful Revolutionary Guards called the attack a "warning" after Israel struck Beirut's southern suburbs earlier in the day, threatening wider strikes in the event of repeated aggression.

A separate Iranian attack targeting the headquarters of "terrorist groups" in Iraqi Kurdistan on Monday added yet more strain to hopes for a lasting peace.

The Iranian government accuses the armed Kurdish parties of serving Western or Israeli interests.

The Israeli army also said Monday it was working to intercept a missile launched from Yemen, where rebels have previously launched attacks on Israel.

On Sunday, Netanyahu's office announced the army had "struck a militant command center in Beirut's Dahiyeh district, in response to Hezbollah's fire towards Israeli territory."

The raid killed two people and wounded 20 more, Lebanon's health ministry said.

Israel had warned it would hit the area should Hezbollah attack northern Israel, and the group later confirmed having launched missiles and drones at a pair of Israeli army barracks early Sunday.

Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, Iran's parliament speaker and its chief negotiator in talks with Washington, accused the United States of having given a "green light" for the Beirut attack, saying U.S. and Israeli assets were now "legitimate targets."

The head of Iran's military central command said Israel had "crossed all red lines" with the Beirut strike, demanding it halt its campaign in Lebanon.

"Tonight's operation (against Israel) was a warning," the Revolutionary Guards said. "If such aggressions are repeated, the responses will be broader and will cover all U.S.-Zionist targets in the region."

Shortly after the attack, Iran announced it was closing its airspace over the country's west, while neighboring Iraq and nearby Syria followed suit.

Tehran also suspended all incoming flights to its international airport, local media reported Sunday.

The sharp escalation sent crude prices surging as hopes dimmed on any imminent reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, the crucial waterway for oil and gas transit that has been effectively shut by Iran.

There were some weekend signs of ongoing diplomatic efforts, with Pakistan Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi visiting Tehran.

Naqvi said upon his arrival Saturday that he would deliver a "special letter" from Pakistan's army chief to Iran's supreme leader, as well as a message from the prime minister, according to Iranian state television.

Pakistani military leader Syed Asim Munir has played a key role in mediating between Iran and the U.S. following an initial round of direct negotiations in Islamabad.

Mohsen Rezaei, military adviser to Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, had told CNN negotiations with the United States "are at a deadlock, and Trump must break this deadlock," calling for the release of some $24 billion in frozen Iranian assets.

But Trump said he would not unfreeze Iranian assets before reaching an initial agreement with Tehran, telling NBC on Sunday: "If they behave, if they do a good job, we start talking."