Updated June 8, 2026 at 4:22 AM CDT
TEL AVIV — Israel and Iran exchanged missile fire in the first such attacks between the two bitter rivals since a Middle East ceasefire was declared two months ago.
The exchange marked a major escalation in the already tense region. But this was only part of increased military action in recent days that has also included the U.S., several Arab Gulf countries and the militant Lebanese group Hezbollah.
All the shooting has further complicated efforts to end the war in Iran, which began on Feb. 28 and marked its 100th day on Monday. President Trump says an agreement is within reach — a claim he has made repeatedly in recent weeks.
"We are very close to a final deal with Iran. It's is going to be a good deal. I don't want it to blow up because of what is happening now," Trump told Axios on Sunday.
Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps said its missiles late Sunday night and Monday morning targeted three military air bases in Israel, two in the center of the country and one in the north.
The Israeli military said it had shot down all the incoming fire. Falling debris ignited brush fires, but no damage or injuries were reported. Israel ordered schools closed on Monday as a precautionary measure.
Trump told Britain's Financial Times that his message to Israeli leader Benjamin Netanyahu was not to fire back on Iran, and Netanyahu had no option but to accept.
"He won't have any choice," Trump said of Netanyahu. "I call the shots. I call all the shots. He doesn't call the shots."
But Israel made clear it would hit back.
"Iran fired 11 ballistic missiles at Israel," Israel's ambassador to the U.S., Yechiel Leiter, said on X. "No self-respecting country in the world would tolerate such an attack, and neither will Israel. Israel is now targeting Iranian surface-to-surface missile launch sites."
In the early hours of Monday, Israel unleashed missile strikes on Iran. Dozens of Israeli warplanes took part in the operation, Israel's military said.
Iranian citizens reported explosions in the capital Tehran, as well as Isfahan and Tabriz. The Iranian media reported that the country's airports had been shut down.
The Israeli military said it hit several targets at a huge petrochemical complex in Mahshahr, in southwestern Iran. The workers at the plant were evacuated, the Iran media said.
Israel also targeted at least three radar sites in Iran, according to its Revolutionary Guard Corps.
In another development, the Houthis in Yemen said they fired missiles at Israel, prompting another round of sirens in the Tel Aviv area. There were no reports of the missiles hitting any targets.
The Houthis also said they would prevent Israeli-linked ships from sailing in the Red Sea. The Houthis disrupted shipping traffic in the Red Sea for two years, from the fall of 2023 to the fall of 2025, in a show of solidarity with the Palestinians over the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza.
A recent increase in attacks
A ceasefire, declared on April 8, has been fraying with missile and drone attacks picking up in recent days across the region.
Most of the shooting exchanges had involved either the U.S. and Iran, or Israel and Hezbollah.
The direct attacks between Israel and Iran further complicate the efforts to end the fighting.
The Israel-Hezbollah conflict has been particularly intense. Israel and the Lebanese government met in Washington last week and agreed to renew the earlier ceasefire that had collapsed.
However, the Lebanese government army is not strong enough to control Hezbollah, which rejected the agreement, saying it amounted to the group's surrender.
Israel, meanwhile, now has a large force operating in southern Lebanon.
Iran had been warning it might act against Israel due to its ongoing attacks against Hezbollah, a group Iran helped establish more than four decades ago and still supports.
A series of events escalated rapidly on Sunday. In the morning, Hezbollah fired rockets into northern Israel.
Hours later, Israel launched airstrikes against Hezbollah strongholds in the southern suburbs of Beirut.
By late night, Iran unleashed its missile barrage against Israel, and Israel fired back early Monday morning.
Officials in countries throughout the region — including Pakistan, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Turkey — have been holding a series of phone calls in an attempt to calm the region.
Copyright 2026 NPR
