Iran fired missiles at Israel on Sunday, threatening a fragile ceasefire that has been in place since early April and sending oil prices and stock futures sharply lower, according to a report by CNBC.
The Israeli Defense Forces said they were operating defensive systems after identifying the missiles. The Associated Press reported that Israel said Iran had launched the attack. CNBC noted it could not independently confirm the missile fire.
The Iranian Parliamentary Speaker, MB Ghalibaf, posted on X that the U.S. "naval blockade and violation of agreements regarding Lebanon" amounted to violations of the ceasefire. He said that military activity in Lebanon and the ongoing U.S. blockade made "American and regime bases and assets in the region into legitimate targets." In a statement to The New York Times, Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said the ceasefire "was conditional on a cease-fire on all fronts." The statement continued: "Tonight's operation was a warning, and if aggressions are repeated, the responses will be broader."
The White House confirmed that President Donald Trump was briefed on the renewed fighting. Trump told Fox News on Sunday that the missile attacks are "certainly not going to help negotiations." In a later phone call with the Financial Times, Trump said Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu "won't have any choice" but to accept a deal that the U.S. negotiates with Iran, because the U.S. president "calls the shots." Axios reported that Trump was going to call Netanyahu to urge him not to strike back at Iran.
A White House official, granted anonymity to speak candidly, told CNBC that the situation exposed serious problems inside the administration. "The recent negotiations with Iran in many ways have exposed a fundamental miscalculation from Trump and the White House," the official said. The official also said that Iran's "erratic behavior" has placed the president in an incredibly challenging situation with no imminent off-ramp.
An Iranian official linked to the talks between Washington and Tehran told CNBC that "a deal with President Trump is no longer feasible at this stage." The official blamed Trump for the situation in Lebanon and the current escalation in hostilities.
The breakdown comes as negotiators have struggled to bridge wide gaps between the two sides. Iran has demanded an end to hostilities in Lebanon and a halt to the U.S. blockade of its ports and ships. The U.S. has demanded that Iran hand over its nuclear material and agree to never obtain a nuclear weapon.
The conflict rippled quickly through financial markets. Reuters reported that oil prices rose more than two dollars on Israel strikes on Lebanon. MarketWatch reported that U.S. stock-index futures were erasing early losses on Sunday after a massive tech selloff on Friday had already interrupted Wall Street's two-month rally. Bloomberg reported that Japan's stocks were set to sink on the combination of the tech selloff and Middle East worries, with the Tokyo Stock Exchange pulled lower as escalating tensions revived concerns over energy supplies.
The ceasefire between the U.S. and Iran has been in place since early April. Fighting between Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah in Lebanon has complicated the temporary peace throughout that period. Whether Iran still wants to make a deal with the U.S. remained unclear as of Sunday evening.
