Iran halted missile attacks on Israel on Monday, June 8, after President Donald Trump publicly demanded both sides stop firing, the first such exchange since an April truce. The pause is conditional. Major General Ali Abdollahi, who leads Iran’s Khatam al-Anbiya joint military command, said Tehran would resume strikes if Israel continued attacking Hezbollah in southern Lebanon. He described Iran’s missile barrage as a response to those Israeli operations. This matters now because the renewed fire threatened to unravel a ceasefire that ended the 2026 Iran war, a conflict the United States and Israel began on February 28 and that left thousands dead across Iran and Lebanon, according to Britannica’s account of the war. The trigger was Lebanon, not a fresh quarrel between Tehran and Tel Aviv. Israel kept striking Hezbollah positions in the south after April, and Iran called those strikes a violation of the Pakistani-mediated ceasefire signed that month. Tehran warned last week it would suspend talks with Washington unless the attacks ended. When Iran launched ballistic missiles early Monday, Israel hit back, wounding at least 15 people before both governments separately announced a stop. Trump moved fast. He wrote on Truth Social that the two sides “must immediately stop ‘shooting,'” then posted hours later that both were seeking an immediate ceasefire and that peace talks were proceeding. An Israeli official told Reuters that Trump and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke by phone before that second post. A US official, cited by Axios, said Washington had not approved Israel’s strikes and told Netanyahu they had to end. Israeli officials struck a harder tone. Defense Minister Israel Katz said the military would keep operating against Hezbollah in Lebanon and warned that any Iranian attempt to link Lebanon to a strike on Israel would draw a forceful response. The pause looks fragile. Hezbollah fired three rockets at Israeli troops in southern Lebanon shortly after the announcements, the Israeli military said, with two intercepted and no injuries reported. Beirut agreed to a separate ceasefire with Israel, but the Lebanese government does not control Hezbollah, and the group has rejected the terms. Continued fighting could derail Trump’s wider effort to reach an understanding with Tehran on its nuclear program and on lifting the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz.
Iran halted missile attacks on Israel on Monday, June 8, after President Donald Trump publicly demanded both sides stop firing, the first such exchange since an April truce. The pause is conditional. Major General Ali Abdollahi, who leads Iran’s Khatam al-Anbiya joint military co…
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A tanker identified as the Kaifan was struck by an unknown projectile northeast of Oman’s Limah in the Strait of Hormuz, according to a July 21 report from UK Maritime Trade Operations. No ships were observed transiting the strait that day. Attribution of the strike and links to prior incidents have not been confirmed by the vessel’s owner.
Goldman Sachs has projected Brent crude averaging $80 per barrel in the fourth quarter and $75 in the following year, conditional on reduced Middle East tensions, while noting upside risks from potential shipping disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz or Red Sea.
Brent prices rose above $91 per barrel amid recent U.S.-Iran exchanges and Houthi threats to Saudi shipments before edging lower on Tuesday. A senior Iranian official told Reuters that mediators had proposed a 10-day ceasefire to preserve an interim agreement.
US forces struck the tanker Settebello in the Gulf of Oman on June 10, killing three Indian crew members when munitions hit the engine room and adjacent areas. Maritime tracking data indicate the vessel had transported Iranian oil under US sanctions for several years and conducted offshore transfers prior to the strike.
The US military described the action as a precision operation, while reports note the ship was stationary at the time.
Iranian officials reported strikes on US radar and air defense sites in Kuwait and Bahrain, along with the interception of two oil tankers in the Strait of Hormuz. The United States conducted strikes on Iranian targets following the deaths of three US soldiers, with the Pentagon stating the actions aimed to degrade capabilities affecting shipping.
Houthi forces in Yemen announced plans to blockade Saudi ports, while both US and Iranian leaders issued statements on further escalation.