President Trump declared Sunday that recent military exchanges between Israel and Iran will not derail his administration’s ongoing diplomatic efforts with Tehran, emphasizing that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu “doesn’t call the shots.”
The president has pressured Israel to cease its military operations in Lebanon to create space for negotiations aimed at ending the broader conflict with Iran, even using harsh language with Netanyahu during a phone conversation last week. Despite this pressure, Israel conducted strikes in the Beirut area Sunday for the first time since the U.S. revealed a truce proposal for Lebanon last week.
Tehran responded by launching a barrage of missiles targeting Israeli locations, threatening to derail U.S.-Iran diplomatic discussions. However, Trump maintained that reaching an agreement to conclude the broader conflict remains achievable.
“It’s not going to have any impact on the deal,” Trump stated to the Financial Times. “I call the shots. I call all the shots. He doesn’t call the shots.”
Netanyahu had not issued any public statement about the Iranian missile attack five hours after it occurred.
The renewed fighting caused oil prices to surge more than 2% during early Monday trading, pushing benchmark Brent futures back over $95 per barrel.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards reported they had aimed at Ramat David air base, located near Nazareth. Israeli military officials confirmed they detected missiles launched from Iran and that their defensive systems successfully intercepted them.
Trump, who was at his golf club in Bedminster, New Jersey for the weekend, held a phone conversation with Netanyahu on Sunday lasting just under 30 minutes, according to an Israeli official who provided no additional information. Neither the White House nor the Israeli prime minister’s office immediately responded to requests for comment.
During their call, Trump urged Netanyahu to avoid additional strikes because “we are close to doing something good in terms of a deal,” a U.S. official told Axios. The official indicated Trump had “bought a little bit of time,” according to Axios.
Just after midnight Monday, the Israeli military released a short statement quoting Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir, who said his forces had not received orders to strike Iran yet, but would act “with determination” when commanded to do so.
Throughout the U.S.-Iran negotiations designed to stop the war, Israel has maintained its military operations in Lebanon during its conflict with Hezbollah, which Israeli leaders argue should remain separate from any Iranian ceasefire agreement.
Tehran has consistently stated that any peace agreement with the U.S. must include a ceasefire in Lebanon, which Israel entered in March while pursuing Iran-supported Hezbollah militants who launched rockets and drones across the border in support of Tehran.
Iran’s chief peace negotiator, parliamentary speaker Mohammed Baqer Qalibaf, declared that U.S. bases and Israeli assets represent legitimate targets due to hostile actions, including the “violation of agreements over Lebanon.”
Prior to Sunday’s events, Iran had not struck Israel since a ceasefire in the wider conflict began in April, though Hezbollah has continued such attacks.
Trump has consistently claimed that Washington and Tehran are approaching an agreement to end the war.
“We’re very close to a deal, or I’m going to blow the hell out of them,” Trump said during a pre-recorded NBC News “Meet the Press” interview that broadcast Sunday to commemorate 100 days of the conflict.
Israel has never stopped its Lebanon military campaign, which has resulted in thousands of deaths and displaced hundreds of thousands from their homes. Hezbollah, which did not participate in the truce negotiations, has maintained its attacks and declares it will not surrender its weapons unless Israel stops its operations and withdraws from Lebanon.
Netanyahu explained that Sunday’s Israeli strikes on Beirut’s southern suburbs, a district called Dahiyeh that has historically served as a Hezbollah stronghold, were commanded in response to Hezbollah firing toward Israel.
The broader war has remained at a standstill since the U.S. and Israel suspended their attacks on Iran in early April, with Tehran blocking most maritime traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, the primary passage for one-fifth of global oil shipments. Washington has established its own blockade of Iranian ports.
While Washington and Tehran claim they are approaching a preliminary agreement that would reopen the strait, they have continued exchanging strikes, with recent escalations including attacks on neighboring Arab nations hosting U.S. bases.
Trump has indicated any war-ending agreement must stop Iran from creating a nuclear weapon, and he faces pressure to secure terms stricter than those reached in 2015 under then-President Barack Obama in an agreement Trump later abandoned.
Tehran’s requirements include removing U.S. and international sanctions, acknowledging its control over the strait, and releasing billions of dollars in frozen assets.
A source knowledgeable about U.S. plans informed Reuters on Saturday that Washington might make Iranian assets accessible to Gulf neighbors for repairing damage caused by Iran.
Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi stated Sunday that any such redirection of Iranian assets would be unlawful, and Tehran would respond with countermeasures.
Netanyahu faced criticism last week from political opponents regarding a new Lebanese ceasefire ahead of this year’s national election.
