Israel Strikes Iranian Petrochemical Plant as Trump Pushes for Deal With Tehran

Israel said on Monday it had struck a petrochemical plant in southwestern Iran, along with other military targets, despite reports that U.S. President Donald Trump had urged Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to avoid further attacks.

In the first reported strike on an energy facility inside Iran since the April 8 ceasefire, Israel said it targeted sites within the Mahshahr petrochemical complex. A provincial official told Iran's semi-official Fars news agency that parts of the facility had been damaged.

Meanwhile, Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthi movement vowed to block Israeli maritime navigation in the Red Sea and claimed responsibility for the first missile attack on Israel since the ceasefire, prompting the Israeli military to activate its air defence systems.

"We consider all enemy movements to be legitimate military targets for our armed forces," the Houthis said in a statement.

Hours earlier, Trump said renewed exchanges of fire between Israel and Iran would not derail his administration's peace negotiations with Tehran, stressing that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu "doesn’t call the shots."

Trump has pressed Israel to curb its operations in Lebanon to create space for a broader agreement to end the conflict with Iran. Last week, he reportedly rebuked Netanyahu during a phone call over continued military action.

Despite that pressure, Israel launched strikes in the Beirut area on Sunday for the first time since the United States announced a truce proposal for Lebanon last week.

Iran responded with missile barrages targeting Israel, but Trump maintained that a wider peace agreement remained achievable.

"It’s not going to have any impact on the deal," Trump told the Financial Times. "I call the shots. I call all the shots. He (Netanyahu) doesn’t call the shots."

A few hours later, the Israeli military said it had struck Iranian military targets. Iran's Revolutionary Guards said Israel used air-launched ballistic missiles in the attacks.

Iran had launched 11 ballistic missiles at Israel, Israeli ambassador to the United States Yechiel Leiter said on X, adding: "Everyone has had enough of this maniacal Iranian regime."

He said Israel was targeting Iran's surface-to-surface missile launch sites and related infrastructure.

The latest escalation pushed oil prices up by more than 3% on Monday, with Brent crude futures climbing back above $96 a barrel.

In a brief statement, the Israeli military said it had struck several targets at Mahshahr.

Iranian state media reported that authorities ordered all employees to evacuate the facility. No injuries were reported, while damage assessments were ongoing. The reports added that five production lines at the complex had been hit since the Iran war began on February 28.

The Revolutionary Guards said they had targeted the Ramat David air base near Nazareth. The Israeli military said it detected missiles launched from Iran and that its air defence systems had intercepted them.

Trump spoke with Netanyahu by phone from his golf club in Bedminster, New Jersey, for just under 30 minutes on Sunday, according to an Israeli official who provided no further details. The White House and Netanyahu's office did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

According to a U.S. official cited by Axios, Trump told Netanyahu during the call to refrain from further strikes because "we are close to doing something good in terms of a deal."

Since negotiations began, Israel has continued military operations in Lebanon against Hezbollah, a conflict Israeli officials say should be treated separately from any ceasefire arrangement involving Iran.

Tehran has long argued that any agreement with Washington would depend on a ceasefire also holding in Lebanon, which Israel invaded in March in pursuit of Iran-backed Hezbollah fighters who had launched rockets and drones across the border in support of Tehran.

Iran's chief negotiator, Parliamentary Speaker Mohammed Baqer Qalibaf, said U.S. bases and Israeli assets remained legitimate targets because of hostile actions, including the "violation of agreements over Lebanon."

Before Sunday's attack, Iran had not launched strikes on Israel since the wider ceasefire took effect in April, although Hezbollah had continued attacks.

Trump has repeatedly insisted that Washington and Tehran are close to reaching an agreement to end the conflict.

"We're very close to a deal, or I'm going to blow the hell out of them," Trump told NBC News' "Meet the Press" in a pre-recorded interview aired on Sunday to mark 100 days of the conflict.

(with Reuters inputs)