He showed off the muscles, and that seemed to be enough for him. This Monday, the Iranian government announced the end of its strikes against Israel. After having fired on its enemy around thirty times since Sunday, the command of the Iranian armed forces announced “the cessation of the operation”. Iran obviously wanted to inflict a “severe response” to the Israeli fire which targeted Beirut and Lebanon. The end of a conflagration that shook the whole world? Not sure. But the calls for calm launched by many leaders, Donald Trump at the head, have probably made it possible to find appeasement.
This heavy shooting was considered “the worst escalation” since the fragile ceasefire agreement on April 8. This Monday, Iranian President Massoud Pezeshkian assured that his country had left “neither the battlefield nor the negotiating table.”
Donald Trump, who has not hidden his disagreements with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in recent days, had just before slammed his fist on the table. “Israel and Iran must immediately stop shooting,” he urged on his social network.
Closed schools and alerts in Israel
The American president is looking for a way out of a very unpopular conflict in the United States, as the mid-term elections approach. Israel had still not reacted to the Iranian and American comments. In the country, alarms sounded and schools were closed. Some airspaces had been closed. The Iraqi neighbor announced the reopening of its airspace early Monday afternoon.
The situation remains explosive. While journalists were attending a press conference, a powerful explosion was heard in the morning in Tehran. Several sites, including petrochemical factories, had been targeted by the two enemy camps.
This resumption of hostilities “will affect” the talks with the United States even if negotiations via the Pakistani mediator continue, assures Iranian diplomacy, which was confirmed by Donald Trump, regretting that the process is slowed down by “ignorance or stupidity”. The Middle East “does not need an escalation”, regretted the head of diplomacy of the European Union Kaja Kallas, while Paris called “all parties to exercise maximum restraint”.
Our file on the war in the Middle East
The firing of Houthi rebels from Yemen, allies of Iran, against Israel has also added fuel to the fire. A ban on navigation in the Red Sea was imposed against Israeli ships. In this febrile context, oil prices, which have already soared in recent months due to the blockage of the Strait of Hormuz, have started to rise again. Control of the Strait of Hormuz is one of the thorny discussions between the different camps.
