DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Israel and Iran appeared to back away from further strikes Monday, hours after they traded fire for the first time since the U.S. agreed to a ceasefire with Tehran two months ago. Both countries warned that they were ready to launch retaliatory attacks if provoked.
The renewed hostilities raised concerns that the Middle East could plunge back into a full-scale war.
Since the U.S. and Israel began striking Iran on Feb. 28, the war has shaken the global economy, driven up energy prices around the world and made many basics, including food, more expensive. Officials have been unable to turn the April ceasefire into a deal to permanently end the conflict.
The new attacks prompted U.S. President Donald Trump to call for an immediate stop to fighting between Israel and Iran.
Soon after, the Iranian military’s joint command issued a statement that said it was halting offensive strikes. The statement said further “aggression and hostile acts” by Israel and its supporters, including in southern Lebanon, would be met with “much more severe and crushing measures than before.”
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, speaking in a videotaped statement, implied that the current round of fighting was over. But he also warned that if Iran “makes the mistake and returns to attacking us, we will respond with force.”
Netanyahu said Israel is continuing to operate in Lebanon against the Iranian-backed militant group Hezbollah, and that Israel “has full right to self-defense, and we will exercise it to the full extent necessary.”
Both countries lift restrictions
Both countries lifted restrictions they had imposed as safety precautions. The Israeli military said most schools in Israel that closed Monday would reopen. Iran’s official Mizan news agency reported that the Islamic Republic had lifted airspace restrictions affecting civilian flights.
During the truce, Iran has maintained its stranglehold on the Strait of Hormuz — a crucial passage for the world’s oil and natural gas whose closure was the primary reason global fuel prices skyrocketed. Israel has continued to strike Hezbollah, Iran’s ally in Lebanon, and pushed deeper into that country.
The U.S. military continues to impose a blockade on Iranian ports. U.S. Central Command said its forces on Monday fired on and disabled a Palau-flagged oil tanker, the M/T Marivex, in the Gulf of Oman after the ship attempted to breach the blockade.
Officials in India said the tanker’s crew of 24 Indian sailors were all reported safe after a fire broke out on the vessel. It was the seventh commercial vessel the U.S. military has disabled to enforce its blockade, which began in mid-April.
Diplomats race to save the ceasefire
Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif expressed concern Monday over the surge in violence. In a post on X, Sharif urged all parties to “exercise restraint and give peace a little more chance.”
Two regional officials said Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Pakistan and Qatar had all urged the Trump administration to pressure Israel to halt strikes on Iran and Beirut.
Those countries also pushed for Iran to stop attacking Israel, the officials said. Both spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to reporters.
Iran’s ambassador to the United Nations said Monday that Iran and the U.S. are still working to negotiate a peace deal. After speaking at a U.N. Security Council meeting, Amir Saeid Iravani told The Associated Press he was hopeful that “very soon” the two sides would reach “a conclusion.”
Explosions sound in Tehran and central Israel
Iran launched waves of attacks on Israel on Monday, and Israel launched strikes on central and western Iran.
