After consecutive barrages from Iran toward Israel, and amid an Israeli official’s warning that “the response will be harsh,” U.S. President Donald Trump offered a muted response Sunday night to the ayatollahs’ regime, urging it to return to the negotiating table.
“You've shot your missiles, that's enough. Get back to the table and make a deal,” Trump said in an interview with Fox News. He added that the U.S. and Iran are “very close to a deal.”
Footage of the launches from Iran
CENTCOM activity footage
(Video: CENTCOM)
Trump also said he was “not happy” with the Israeli strike in Beirut. “I would say an agreement would be signed on Monday, Tuesday or Wednesday of this coming week. And now this takes place,” he said. Axios reported that Trump planned to call Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and tell him “not to retaliate.” The two later spoke, after which Netanyahu convened a security assessment.
According to Trump, “the Iranian strikes didn't hurt anybody. Hopefully Israel is not going to retaliate. If Bibi strikes them back, it's just gonna keep going like the last 47 years, or the last 3,000 years.”
The U.S. president repeated that the sides are “very close to a final deal,” saying, “I don't want it to blow up because of what is happening now.” Before the Iranian fire, U.S. Central Command released footage of its forces preparing for a possible resumption of fighting.
Meanwhile, senior Iranian officials praised the fire toward Israel and threatened a harsher response if they are attacked again. The Tasnim news agency claimed that missiles are ready to be launched at targets in Israel if it attacks, and Ali Abdollahi, commander of Iran’s Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters, said Israel, “with U.S. support, crossed all red lines, intensified its attacks in southern Lebanon and struck Dahieh.”
“We have warned in the past that if the scope of the crimes in Dahieh expands, we will strike targets deep inside Israel,” he said. “The Israeli army must stop its attacks on southern Lebanon and Dahieh. If it expands the attacks or responds to the Iranian operation, it will face even more severe and regrettable blows.”
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Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi in an X post showing the flags of Iran and Lebanon
Maj. Gen. Majid Mousavi, commander of the Revolutionary Guards’ aerospace force, said, “The promise was fulfilled!” Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi posted on X an image of the Iranian flag alongside the Lebanese flag.
Senior Iranian official Mohsen Rezaei added, “The aggressors received their response. Any new action will be met with a more crushing response and heavier costs.” Senior Houthi official Mohammed al-Farah also said the Iranian strikes against Israel “canceled the equation of immunity that the Israeli enemy sought to establish.”
Earlier, Netanyahu held a security discussion with the heads of Israel’s defense establishment. Participants assessed that Iran does not want to “break the rules” and will try to settle for a measured and limited response on the northern front.
However, an Israeli official made clear that Jerusalem does not intend to absorb even such a response. “Iran can forget about us containing this. The response will be harsh. We will not allow them to create equations and violate our sovereignty.”