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IRGC gives ‘harsh response’ to Israel’s attacks on Lebanon
Iran won’t retreat against any threat: Pezeshkian
Iran announced the cessation of military operations against Israel on Monday, saying that a "painful response" was delivered to the regime in response to its recent aggression against Lebanon.
The command center of Iran's Armed Forces, Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters, said in a statement that the halt came after Iran's Armed Forces delivered a response to the "atrocities and mischief" of the "savage Zionist regime" in southern Lebanon and the Dahiyeh district, which were carried out with the support of "criminal America".
The headquarters emphasized that while operations have been halted, "much more intense and crushing measures than before" will be taken if aggression and mischief, including in southern Lebanon, continue.
On Sunday, Israel's Ramat David Air Base in northern occupied territories was targeted by the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) after the regime’s attacks on southern Lebanon earlier on the day. The IRGC said the air base had served as the origin of aggressions against Lebanon.
The IRGC also struck Israel's strategic Nevatim and Tel Nof airbases in northern occupied territories with missiles after the regime launched attacks on several Iranian cities in response to the IRGC’s retaliatory attacks.
Israel’s attacks on Iran
According to IRNA, Israel targeted several military and industrial sites in the cities of Tehran, Isfahan, and Khuzestan. The spokesman for Iran’s Red Crescent Society Mojtaba Khaledi said on Monday that the attacks targeted 12 points across the country.
In the southern city of Khuzestan, the attacks damaged part of Karoon Petrochemical Company’s plant in Mahshahr, where 14 people were injured.
In the capital Tehran, at least two explosions were heard early morning. Authorities rejected claims that Tehran’s Mehrabad Airport was targeted by the Israeli military.
The Israeli military claimed it struck Iranian defense systems deployed across several areas in the country.
US President Donald Trump in a social media post earlier on Monday said that both Iran and key ally Israel should stop fighting.
The strikes came at a critical moment with diplomatic efforts to end the conflict between Iran and the United States on a knife-edge.
Iran had earlier warned that it would suspend peace talks with the United States if Israel attacks Beirut. Tehran has insisted that any deal to end the wider war – paused by a separate April ceasefire – must also halt the fighting in Lebanon.
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei warned at a press conference in Tehran that diplomacy was continuing but risked being "affected" by the escalation.
No retreat
President Masoud Pezeshkian in a post on X on Monday reaffirmed Iran’s unwavering stance in the face of any threat, saying Tehran will neither retreat nor hesitate in defending its national security and peace.
Pezeshkian said Iran's top priority remains safeguarding national security and ensuring the Iranian nation’s tranquility.
“We will defend the rights of the nation with authority and will not retreat by any threat."
He said “diplomacy and defense” constitute the two essential components of national power, noting that Iran has neither abandoned the battlefield nor the negotiating table.
The European Union's top diplomat Kaja Kallas also reacted to the developments, calling on both sides to "sit down to a negotiation table and agree", adding that "the region does not need an escalation."