Tehran
Israel and Iran exchanged attacks on Monday for the first time since a ceasefire in the Middle East war took effect two months ago, despite US President Donald Trump calling for restraint.
The flare-up, which also drew in other countries in the region, saw Israel striking Iran after the Islamic republic targeted it in vengeance for an airstrike on Beirut´s southern suburbs, where its proxy Hezbollah holds sway.
It followed weeks of negotiations seeking to bring about a definitive end to the regional war sparked by US and Israeli strikes on Iran on February 28.
No casualties have been reported so far in either Israel or Iran.
The attacks included a strike on an Iranian petrochemical complex and a missile attack on Israel by Yemen’s Houthi rebels.
The Israeli military said it struck and dismantled Iranian defence systems deployed across several areas in the country.
AFP journalists in Jerusalem and the West Bank city of Ramallah heard a series of explosions and the Israeli army said it worked to intercept a new wave of Iranian missiles.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said they had struck Israel’s Nevatim and Tel Nof air bases “in response to a missile attack launched by the Zionist regime”.
Tehran blamed Washington for the resumption of fighting and said the flare-up would affect peace talks.
“No one believes that the Zionist regime would carry out any action without prior coordination and cooperation with the United States,” foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei said at a press conference in Tehran attended by AFP.
“It is perfectly natural that the diplomatic process initiated to put an end to this imposed war would be affected.”
Nonetheless, “diplomatic consultations are naturally continuing in all circumstances”, Baqaei added.
