US President Donald Trump said Sunday he will call Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to urge him not to retaliate against Iranian missile strikes on Israel, news outlet Axios reported.
“I am going to call Bibi right now and tell him not to retaliate,” Trump was quoted as saying by Axios journalist Barak Ravid in a phone interview, using the Israeli leader’s nickname.
“Each of them had their fun. Israel had its strike and Iran had its strike. We don’t need another one,” Trump said, according to excerpts of which Ravid posted on X.
Sunday’s missile barrage was Iran’s first against Israel since an April ceasefire took hold in the Middle East war, and Trump voiced concern it could set back negotiations.
“The Iranian strikes didn’t hurt anybody. Hopefully Israel is not going to retaliate. If Bibi strikes them back it’s just gonna keep going like the last 47 years, or the last 3,000 years,” the US president said.
“We are very close to a final deal with Iran. It is going to be a good deal. I don’t want it to blow up because of what is happening now,” he added.
Iran’s powerful Revolutionary Guards called Sunday’s attack a “warning” after Israel struck Beirut’s southern suburbs earlier in the day, threatening wider strikes in the event of repeated aggression.
An April 8 ceasefire had halted major hostilities between Iran, Israel and the United States.
But efforts to turn the truce into a settlement have repeatedly stalled, and Sunday’s launches were sure to further dampen hopes for a lasting peace as the war reached its 100th day.
In a separate interview with Fox News, Trump said the Iranian strikes were not going to help negotiations, which were “very close” to reaching an agreement.
“We’re very close. I would say an agreement would be signed on Monday, Tuesday or Wednesday of this coming week. And now this takes place.”
He urged Iran to “get back to the table and make a deal.”
Trump also criticized Israel’s strikes on Beirut on Sunday, saying he was “not happy about it.”
The White House did not immediately respond to an AFP request for comment.
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