Trump Rebukes Israel After Strikes on Beirut as Iran Deal Talks Falter

Overview

• Israeli strikes reportedly hit Hezbollah positions in Dahiyeh, a Beirut suburb, prompting President Donald Trump to call Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and tell him to stop further attacks.
• Trump said the Beirut strike “should not have happened,” described it as small with no casualties, and said he would ask Iran not to respond with missile fire.
• Journalists and some U.S. aides circulated reports that a U.S.-brokered agreement with Iran was expected imminently, but Iranian officials publicly downplayed a same-day signing and Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf condemned U.S. actions.
• The military exchanges follow earlier narrow U.S. and Iranian strikes in the Gulf and have repeatedly complicated mediated talks that include Gulf states and Pakistan and that aim to curb Iran’s nuclear program and reopen regional shipping routes.
• Analysts warn the strikes risk collapsing a fragile ceasefire, raising the chance of wider escalation and further damage to regional trade and energy flows if diplomacy cannot be quickly restored.