Iran Launches Historic Missile Strike Against Israel for First Time Since April Cease-Fire
Israel had launched an attack on the outskirts of the Lebanese capital, Beirut, earlier on Sunday, which led to threats of Iranian retaliation. There were no immediate reports of casualties resulting from this attack.
Iran fired ballistic missiles at northern Israel on Sunday, according to the Israeli military, marking the first such attack since a cease-fire temporarily halted the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran two months ago.
Iranian officials had threatened to retaliate earlier on Sunday after Israel bombarded the southern outskirts of the Lebanese capital, Beirut, as part of an Israeli campaign against the Iranian ally Hezbollah.
There were no immediate reports of casualties from the Iranian missile fire, which was a significant development in the ongoing conflict.
The United States and Israel attacked Iran in late February, engaging in a blistering air war for several weeks that killed thousands of people, mostly in Iran and Lebanon, and had a profound impact on the global economy. In response, Iran fired waves of ballistic missiles and drones at Israel and the U.S.'s Arab allies in the Persian Gulf, effectively shutting down maritime traffic in the vital Hormuz Strait.
Since early April, the three countries have been observing a shaky truce while the Trump administration seeks to reach a longer-term deal with Iranian negotiators to end the war. However, the talks have yet to reach a breakthrough, despite President Trump's repeated pronouncements that an agreement could be imminent.
Following the Iranian strike on Sunday, Israel's minister of education, Yoav Kisch, announced that schools nationwide would be closed on Monday.
In an interview with Fox News, President Trump stated that the Israeli strikes in Lebanon earlier Sunday had not been coordinated with the United States. "I'm not happy about it," Fox News quoted him as saying, highlighting the complexities of the situation.
The Iranian ballistic missile attacks on Israel appear to have come to a halt, at least for the moment, after about 45 minutes of successive air-raid sirens in the country's north.
An Israeli military spokesman reported that about 10 missiles had been fired by Iran, all of which were intercepted by Israel. There were no reports of casualties by medics or health officials, which was a significant relief.
Shortly after the Israeli military said it had intercepted all projectiles launched from Iran but detected additional launches headed to Israel, it issued another statement saying that residents could leave protected spaces, suggesting the danger had passed. However, the military warned residents to stay close to shelters and protected spaces, as the situation remained volatile.
President Trump advised Iran to stop its response to Israel's attacks on Lebanon, saying, "What I would suggest to Iran: You've shot your missiles, that's enough. Get back to the table and make a deal," in an interview with Trey Yingst, a reporter with the network.
Israeli officials have yet to issue public comments about Iran's missile launches, but some members of the governing coalition have pushed for a harsh response.
"Tehran must burn tonight," Itamar Ben-Gvir, a hard-line cabinet minister, wrote on social media, reflecting the strong sentiments among some Israeli officials. Amit Halevi, a lawmaker in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's party, wrote that Israel's retaliation must be "the immediate renewal of full-on fighting."
In a "Meet the Press" interview that aired earlier Sunday, President Trump said that he was not demanding that a ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon be part of a final deal to end the U.S.-Israel war with Iran. "I think they'd like to see it, but I'm not demanding," he said in the interview, which was taped on Friday.
The White House did not respond to questions about the Iranian strikes, or if officials were briefed before the initial Israeli attack in Lebanon, highlighting the lack of transparency in the situation.
Although the Iranian missiles fired thus far have been aimed at northern Israel, an Israeli Super League basketball game was cut short in Tel Aviv on the instructions of the homefront command, the Israeli police said in a statement, reflecting the widespread impact of the conflict.
Mohsen Rezaei, an adviser to Iran's supreme leader, said on social media that Iran had repeatedly warned it would not tolerate violations of the cease-fire or aggression against Lebanon. "Tonight, the aggressors received their response," he wrote, adding that any further action would be met with "a more crushing response and heavier costs."
The Israeli military said its Air Force had so far intercepted all missiles launched from Iran but has identified additional launches fired toward Israel, indicating the ongoing nature of the conflict.
In northern Israel, at least four loud blasts were heard overhead since the Israeli military announced it had detected missile launches from Iran. Previous Iranian attacks had agitated many in the region, who feared that Hezbollah, the Iran-backed armed group just beyond the border in Lebanon, would launch missiles in sync with its patron. However, there have been no reports of such attacks originating from Lebanon.
The cease-fire between the United States, Israel, and Iran had increasingly frayed over the past few weeks — even before Iran fired on Israel on Sunday night. In recent weeks, Israel expanded its campaign against Hezbollah in Lebanon, where Iran had demanded a halt to the war as part of the truce. Additionally, Arab countries in the Persian Gulf said Iran had launched volleys of missiles and drones at their territory, while American forces engaged in low-level skirmishes with Iran in the Persian Gulf.
The Israeli military said that Iran has launched at least three barrages of missiles at Israel so far on Sunday night in retaliation for Israel's bombardment of the outskirts of the Lebanese capital, Beirut.
There have been no immediate reports of casualties or major damage, but the country was already preparing for the possibility of further escalation. Schools will be closed nationwide on Monday, Israel's education minister, Yoav Kisch, said on social media, highlighting the impact on daily life.
When Israel and the United States attacked Iran in late February, some Iranian opponents of the Islamic Republic hoped that it would bring an end to decades of theocratic rule they saw as oppressive. However, after devastating strikes and amid a teetering cease-fire, those hopes have been snuffed out. Feelings of disillusionment and despair have taken their place, driven by a reported death toll of 1,700 civilians, vast destruction, and an economic implosion that has made daily life a struggle.
A cease-fire has provided some relief from bombs, but an economic war has sent the prices of basic goods skyrocketing. The crippling of critical industries and the effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz — a key trading route for Iran's most precious export, oil — have tipped the already troubled economy into free fall.
The on-again, off-again peace talks, along with U.S. proclamations that the war is over when it's not, has left both supporters and opponents of the government confused and anxious, according to interviews using voice apps with more than 20 Iranians in Tehran, Isfahan, Ahvaz, and Mashhad in recent days.
"I'm angry. I feel alone," Kimia, a 25-year-old designer, said in an interview from Tehran. "We don't matter to the world at all; we're only seen as tools for war and negotiation, while we are human beings."
For some of those desperate for regime change, learning that Israel and the United States had initially planned to install a former hard-line president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, as the country's new ruler was a painful indignity. In interviews and in social media posts, several said that the disclosure of the plan by The New York Times left them feeling like bystanders in a geopolitical game with direct impact on their lives.
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the country's longtime supreme leader, was killed in strikes on the first day of the war in February and has since been replaced by his son.
"What was this all for?" asked Amirali, a 62-year-old engineer in Tehran, in an interview. "They bombed and destroyed our country, our airports, roads, and factories in the name of regime change so they could bring Ahmadinejad? This shows the goal was never to make Iran better or free."
Like all the Iranians interviewed, Kimia and Amirali asked to be identified only by their first names to avoid any possible retaliation.
It has been a tumultuous year for Iranians. The United States and Israel struck Iran first in June 2025 in a short war and then attacked again starting in late February, hitting factories, airports, seaports, bridges, universities, and densely populated residential neighborhoods. President Trump said this latest war was meant to create conditions to displace the regime and to ensure Iran could never get a nuclear weapon.
Negotiations to end the conflict appear to be at a standstill, with one of the main sticking points being the Strait of Hormuz.
Iran shut down internet service to the general public from the start of the war until late May, saying it was for national security reasons. Now that more people are back on social media, many of them are able to communicate with the world and with one another. Their messages paint a dire picture.
A retired professor in Tehran who was critical of the government said in an interview that people had simply given up on political change and were focused on surviving day to day. A manager of a plastic bottle factory near Mashhad said production was shut down and all employees furloughed because it lacked raw materials after Israeli airstrikes on Iran's petrochemical industry. A doctor in Isfahan said pharmacies were rationing medicine, and that the health ministry had advised doctors to prescribe only essential medications because of shortages.
Amin Afshar, the head of Iran's hemophilia association, recently told Iranian media that the country had no reserves of the medicine that people with the bleeding disorder needed, and that importing medication had become very challenging.
Social media in Iran is awash with tragedy. One story that has spread widely is that of Hamed Mirzaei, who posted that he lost 12 members of his family in an Israeli airstrike in March on Resalat Square, a densely populated residential area in Tehran. Mr. Mirzaei wrote that he is the sole survivor of the attack that killed his wife of one year, his parents, grandparents, uncle, cousins, and other relatives, according to his Instagram posts and Iranian media reports.
"Until the last day I'm alive, I will not let your names be forgotten, I will speak of each and every one of you. I will not let you die in vain," Mr. Mirzaei wrote in a post where he shared his wedding photographs.
Many Iranians — even those who have opposed the theocratic regime — say they oppose the war and have suffered enough. They are increasingly looking at diplomatic negotiations as a means for stabilizing the country and the economy.
"I am definitely in favor of negotiations right now given the circumstances," said Lida, a 44-year-old environmental expert in Tehran who has been opposed to the government. "We lost a lot of lives and lost a lot of our infrastructure. We lost a lot of human resources and, to be honest, I don't think that war is in our best interest."
Analysts say that the huge airstrikes led many Iranians who initially supported the war to change their minds.
"This is a moment of Iranians taking stock of the reality and calculating things that have worked and have not worked," said Ellie Geranmayeh, a senior fellow at the European Council on Foreign Relations. "Accepting the resilience of the regime despite all your hopes is a very bitter moment for those opposing the regime to digest. It has arguably left the regime more powerful than it was."
Mr. Trump's contradictory remarks about Iran have further inflamed confusion and fury, analysts and several people interviewed said. He initially said help was on the way to Iranian protesters, then threatened to annihilate Iran's ancient civilization. On Thursday in comments to the media, Mr. Trump said that he would "be honored" to meet Iran's new supreme leader, Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, if a deal was reached with Tehran.
That comment became an instant news headline in Iran, and people flooded social media with commentary and jokes, some referring to the fact that the ayatollah has not been seen in public since the war started. "Well, 90 million people in Iran want to see him too, but it's a shame they don't have that fortune. And now you're arriving late and you want to get ahead of the line?" Ahmad Mosaddegh wrote on social media.
But as the war drags on, some government supporters are also losing patience with their leaders.
Mehdi, a 52-year-old government employee, said in an interview that he had attended pro-government rallies with his wife and children. But he said his salary runs out by the middle of the month, and he cannot afford to buy beef or chicken to feed his family.
"I bought some groceries on loan from a shop in our neighborhood; he told me to pay when I get my paycheck," Mehdi said. When he returned to pay, "the bill had doubled because the prices of everything had gone up. Everybody is angry over the economy and if the government doesn't fix things, there will be trouble."
And Hamed, a pro-government conservative, said in an interview that "the rising prices don't distinguish between supporters and opponents of the government; it's affecting us all."
Iran's official statistics center announced last week that inflation had spiked compared with this period last year. The report said the price of cooking oil had increased by 430 percent, eggs by 345 percent, rice by 287 percent, and milk by 139 percent.
"Nobody is thinking of them or taking their opinions into consideration," Sanam Vakil, the Middle East and North Africa director for Chatham House, said, adding that Iranians she reached inside the country kept asking her what would happen to them. "They are just a casualty in this conflict that is beyond their influence and grasp."
Sanam Mahoozi, Rozhin Razavi, and Shirin Hekmat contributed reporting.
Israel said it bombed a Hezbollah site on the southern outskirts of the Lebanese capital, Beirut, on Sunday after the Iran-backed group attacked northern Israel.
Within hours, Iran retaliated, firing ballistic missiles at northern Israel, the Israeli military said, in the first such attack since a cease-fire paused the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran two months ago. The escalation was the latest setback to the Trump administration's efforts to broker a truce in Lebanon, as well as to forge a broader peace deal with Iran.
Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, the Iranian Parliament speaker and chief negotiator in talks to end the war with the United States, said Israel's attack on Sunday on the southern suburbs of Beirut, known as Dahiya, had turned "U.S. and Israeli bases and assets in the region into legitimate targets."
"As always, our armed forces remain free to act," Mr. Ghalibaf said on social media, highlighting the ongoing tensions in the region.
Israel struck at least two apartment buildings in Dahiya on Sunday, according to Lebanon's state-run media. The neighborhood on the southern edge of Beirut has long been dominated by Hezbollah and is mostly populated by its Shiite Muslim base.
Avichay Adraee, an Israeli military spokesman, said Israeli forces had attacked a "Hezbollah command center." Israeli officials sometimes issue warnings to allow civilians time to flee, but did not do so in this case.
At least two people were killed and several wounded, Lebanese state media reported, highlighting the human cost of the conflict.
Iran has demanded an end to Israeli attacks on its ally, Hezbollah, as part of its negotiations with the United States to end the war. Backed by Iran, Hezbollah's armed fighters and political clout have long overshadowed the Lebanese government.
President Trump has tried to rein in Israeli attacks on Lebanon, particularly with regards to attacking Beirut, as part of his efforts to end the war with Iran. Last week, Mr. Trump and Mr. Netanyahu held a tense phone call in which Mr. Trump later said he had repeatedly used expletives to convey his frustration over Israel's military campaign in Lebanon.
"I was a little bit perturbed at his constantly fighting with Lebanon," Mr. Trump later told The New York Post, highlighting the complexities of the situation.
In a television interview with NBC News aired on Sunday, Mr. Trump said that he would prefer for Lebanon to "have a better life." Asked whether he and Mr. Netanyahu saw eye to eye on the issue, Mr. Trump said they disagreed on "a couple" of things.
"I'd like to see a more surgical attack on Hezbollah. I think it should be more surgical," Mr. Trump said in the interview, which was recorded Friday, highlighting the nuances of the conflict.
Israel and Hezbollah's long-running conflict flared up after U.S. and Israeli forces bombed Iran in late February. Hezbollah struck Israel in retaliation. Israel responded with a sweeping ground invasion of Lebanon.
Last week, Israeli and Lebanese government officials reached a new cease-fire deal after talks in Washington. However, Hezbollah rejected the agreement as tantamount to a surrender, as it would have to refrain from attacking Israel without immediate concessions from Israel.
Israeli leaders warned last week that if Hezbollah attacked Israeli territory again, they would order military attacks on Beirut.
Then on Sunday, air-raid sirens warning of incoming rocket fire blared in two Israeli communities in northern Israel. Hours later, Mr. Netanyahu said he had ordered the attack on Dahiya.
Since the war between Israel and Hezbollah began three months ago, Israeli forces have seized swathes of southern Lebanon and systematically razed homes in villages close to the border with Israel.
More than 3,600 people have been killed and one million people displaced in Lebanon, according to the Lebanese authorities, highlighting the devastating impact of the conflict.
Israeli leaders have vowed to continue the campaign until Hezbollah is disarmed. However, Hezbollah has emerged from the war appearing more formidable than it did before, firing cable-borne drones that are difficult to jam at exposed Israeli soldiers.
Military analysts said the attack on Beirut on Sunday was unlikely to deter Hezbollah or compel it to compromise.
The war appears to have galvanized the group, which has argued that the Israeli attacks prove that only their armed fighters can be entrusted with the protection of Lebanon.
Thirty Israeli soldiers have been killed in the war with Hezbollah, according to Israeli tallies, raising the domestic pressure on Mr. Netanyahu to act forcefully.
Reham Mourshed, Heedo Abu Laban, Johnatan Reiss, and Sanam Mahoozi contributed reporting.
Iran fired ballistic missiles at northern Israel on Sunday, according to the Israeli military, marking the first such attack since a cease-fire temporarily halted the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran two months ago.
Iranian officials had threatened to retaliate earlier on Sunday after Israel bombarded the southern outskirts of the Lebanese capital, Beirut, as part of an Israeli campaign against the Iranian ally Hezbollah.
There were no immediate reports of casualties from the Iranian missile fire, which was a significant development in the ongoing conflict.
The United States and Israel attacked Iran in late February, engaging in a blistering air war for several weeks that killed thousands of people, mostly in Iran and Lebanon, and had a profound impact on the global economy. In response, Iran fired waves of ballistic missiles and drones at Israel and the U.S.'s Arab allies in the Persian Gulf, effectively shutting down maritime traffic in the vital Hormuz Strait.
Since early April, the three countries have been observing a shaky truce while the Trump administration seeks to reach a longer-term deal with Iranian negotiators to end the war. However, the talks have yet to reach a breakthrough, despite President Trump's repeated pronouncements that an agreement could be imminent.
Following the Iranian strike on Sunday, Israel's minister of education, Yoav Kisch, announced that schools nationwide would be closed on Monday.
In an interview with Fox News, President Trump stated that the Israeli strikes in Lebanon earlier Sunday had not been coordinated with the United States. "I'm not happy about it," Fox News quoted him as saying, highlighting the complexities of the situation.
The Iranian ballistic missile attacks on Israel appear to have come to a halt, at least for the moment, after about 45 minutes of successive air-raid sirens in the country's north.
An Israeli military spokesman reported that about 10 missiles had been fired by Iran, all of which were intercepted by Israel. There were no reports of casualties by medics or health officials, which was a significant relief.
Shortly after the Israeli military said it had intercepted all projectiles launched from Iran but detected additional launches headed to Israel, it issued another statement saying that residents could leave protected spaces, suggesting the danger had passed. However, the military warned residents to stay close to shelters and protected spaces, as the situation remained volatile.
President Trump advised Iran to stop its response to Israel's attacks on Lebanon, saying, "What I would suggest to Iran: You've shot your missiles, that's enough. Get back to the table and make a deal," in an interview with Trey Yingst, a reporter with the network.
Israeli officials have yet to issue public comments about Iran's missile launches, but some members of the governing coalition have pushed for a harsh response.
"Tehran must burn tonight," Itamar Ben-Gvir, a hard-line cabinet minister, wrote on social media, reflecting the strong sentiments among some Israeli officials. Amit Halevi, a lawmaker in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's party, wrote that Israel's retaliation must be "the immediate renewal of full-on fighting."
In a "Meet the Press" interview that aired earlier Sunday, President Trump said that he was not demanding that a ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon be part of a final deal to end the U.S.-Israel war with Iran. "I think they'd like to see it, but I'm not demanding," he said in the interview, which was taped on Friday.
The White House did not respond to questions about the Iranian strikes, or if officials were briefed before the initial Israeli attack in Lebanon, highlighting the lack of transparency in the situation.
Although the Iranian missiles fired thus far have been aimed at northern Israel, an Israeli Super League basketball game was cut short in Tel Aviv on the instructions of the homefront command, the Israeli police said in a statement, reflecting the widespread impact of the conflict.
Mohsen Rezaei, an adviser to Iran's supreme leader, said on social media that Iran had repeatedly warned it would not tolerate violations of the cease-fire or aggression against Lebanon. "Tonight, the aggressors received their response," he wrote, adding that any further action would be met with "a more crushing response and heavier costs."
The Israeli military said its Air Force had so far intercepted all missiles launched from Iran but has identified additional launches fired toward Israel, indicating the ongoing nature of the conflict.
In northern Israel, at least four loud blasts were heard overhead since the Israeli military announced it had detected missile launches from Iran. Previous Iranian attacks had agitated many in the region, who feared that Hezbollah, the Iran-backed armed group just beyond the border in Lebanon, would launch missiles in sync with its patron. However, there have been no reports of such attacks originating from Lebanon.
The cease-fire between the United States, Israel, and Iran had increasingly frayed over the past few weeks — even before Iran fired on Israel on Sunday night. In recent weeks, Israel expanded its campaign against Hezbollah in Lebanon, where Iran had demanded a halt to the war as part of the truce. Additionally, Arab countries in the Persian Gulf said Iran had launched volleys of missiles and drones at their territory, while American forces engaged in low-level skirmishes with Iran in the Persian Gulf.
The Israeli military said that Iran has launched at least three barrages of missiles at Israel so far on Sunday night in retaliation for Israel's bombardment of the outskirts of the Lebanese capital, Beirut.
There have been no immediate reports of casualties or major damage, but the country was already preparing for the possibility of further escalation. Schools will be closed nationwide on Monday, Israel's education minister, Yoav Kisch, said on social media, highlighting the impact on daily life.
When Israel and the United States attacked Iran in late February, some Iranian opponents of the Islamic Republic hoped that it would bring an end to decades of theocratic rule they saw as oppressive. However, after devastating strikes and amid a teetering cease-fire, those hopes have been snuffed out. Feelings of disillusionment and despair have taken their place, driven by a reported death toll of 1,700 civilians, vast destruction, and an economic implosion that has made daily life a struggle.
A cease-fire has provided some relief from bombs, but an economic war has sent the prices of basic goods skyrocketing. The crippling of critical industries and the effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz — a key trading route for Iran's most precious export, oil — have tipped the already troubled economy into free fall.
The on-again, off-again peace talks, along with U.S. proclamations that the war is over when it's not, has left both supporters and opponents of the government confused and anxious, according to interviews using voice apps with more than 20 Iranians in Tehran, Isfahan, Ahvaz, and Mashhad in recent days.
"I'm angry. I feel alone," Kimia, a 25-year-old designer, said in an interview from Tehran. "We don't matter to the world at all; we're only seen as tools for war and negotiation, while we are human beings."
For some of those desperate for regime change, learning that Israel and the United States had initially planned to install a former hard-line president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, as the country's new ruler was a painful indignity. In interviews and in social media posts, several said that the disclosure of the plan by The New York Times left them feeling like bystanders in a geopolitical game with direct impact on their lives.
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the country's longtime supreme leader, was killed in strikes on the first day of the war in February and has since been replaced by his son.
"What was this all for?" asked Amirali, a 62-year-old engineer in Tehran, in an interview. "They bombed and destroyed our country, our airports, roads, and factories in the name of regime change so they could bring Ahmadinejad? This shows the goal was never to make Iran better or free."
Like all the Iranians interviewed, Kimia and Amirali asked to be identified only by their first names to avoid any possible retaliation.
It has been a tumultuous year for Iranians. The United States and Israel struck Iran first in June 2025 in a short war and then attacked again starting in late February, hitting factories, airports, seaports, bridges, universities, and densely populated residential neighborhoods. President Trump said this latest war was meant to create conditions to displace the regime and to ensure Iran could never get a nuclear weapon.
Negotiations to end the conflict appear to be at a standstill, with one of the main sticking points being the Strait of Hormuz.
Iran shut down internet service to the general public from the start of the war until late May, saying it was for national security reasons. Now that more people are back on social media, many of them are able to communicate with the world and with one another. Their messages paint a dire picture.
A retired professor in Tehran who was critical of the government said in an interview that people had simply given up on political change and were focused on surviving day to day. A manager of a plastic bottle factory near Mashhad said production was shut down and all employees furloughed because it lacked raw materials after Israeli airstrikes on Iran's petrochemical industry. A doctor in Isfahan said pharmacies were rationing medicine, and that the health ministry had advised doctors to prescribe only essential medications because of shortages.
Amin Afshar, the head of Iran's hemophilia association, recently told Iranian media that the country had no reserves of the medicine that people with the bleeding disorder needed, and that importing medication had become very challenging.
Social media in Iran is awash with tragedy. One story that has spread widely is that of Hamed Mirzaei, who posted that he lost 12 members of his family in an Israeli airstrike in March on Resalat Square, a densely populated residential area in Tehran. Mr. Mirzaei wrote that he is the sole survivor of the attack that killed his wife of one year, his parents, grandparents, uncle, cousins, and other relatives, according to his Instagram posts and Iranian media reports.
"Until the last day I'm alive, I will not let your names be forgotten, I will speak of each and every one of you. I will not let you die in vain," Mr. Mirzaei wrote in a post where he shared his wedding photographs.
Many Iranians — even those who have opposed the theocratic regime — say they oppose the war and have suffered enough. They are increasingly looking at diplomatic negotiations as a means for stabilizing the country and the economy.
"I am definitely in favor of negotiations right now given the circumstances," said Lida, a 44-year-old environmental expert in Tehran who has been opposed to the government. "We lost a lot of lives and lost a lot of our infrastructure. We lost a lot of human resources and, to be honest, I don't think that war is in our best interest."
Analysts say that the huge airstrikes led many Iranians who initially supported the war to change their minds.
"This is a moment of Iranians taking stock of the reality and calculating things that have worked and have not worked," said Ellie Geranmayeh, a senior fellow at the European Council on Foreign Relations. "Accepting the resilience of the regime despite all your hopes is a very bitter moment for those opposing the regime to digest. It has arguably left the regime more powerful than it was."
Mr. Trump's contradictory remarks about Iran have further inflamed confusion and fury, analysts and several people interviewed said. He initially said help was on the way to Iranian protesters, then threatened to annihilate Iran's ancient civilization. On Thursday in comments to the media, Mr. Trump said that he would "be honored" to meet Iran's new supreme leader, Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, if a deal was reached with Tehran.
That comment became an instant news headline in Iran, and people flooded social media with commentary and jokes, some referring to the fact that the ayatollah has not been seen in public since the war started. "Well, 90 million people in Iran want to see him too, but it's a shame they don't have that fortune. And now you're arriving late and you want to get ahead of the line?" Ahmad Mosaddegh wrote on social media.
But as the war drags on, some government supporters are also losing patience with their leaders.
Mehdi, a 52-year-old government employee, said in an interview that he had attended pro-government rallies with his wife and children. But he said his salary runs out by the middle of the month, and he cannot afford to buy beef or chicken to feed his family.
"I bought some groceries on loan from a shop in our neighborhood; he told me to pay when I get my paycheck," Mehdi said. When he returned to pay, "the bill had doubled because the prices of everything had gone up. Everybody is angry over the economy and if the government doesn't fix things, there will be trouble."
And Hamed, a pro-government conservative, said in an interview that "the rising prices don't distinguish between supporters and opponents of the government; it's affecting us all."
Iran's official statistics center announced last week that inflation had spiked compared with this period last year. The report said the price of cooking oil had increased by 430 percent, eggs by 345 percent, rice by 287 percent, and milk by 139 percent.
"Nobody is thinking of them or taking their opinions into consideration," Sanam Vakil, the Middle East and North Africa director for Chatham House, said, adding that Iranians she reached inside the country kept asking her what would happen to them. "They are just a casualty in this conflict that is beyond their influence and grasp."
Sanam Mahoozi, Rozhin Razavi, and Shirin Hekmat contributed reporting.
Israel said it bombed a Hezbollah site on the southern outskirts of the Lebanese capital, Beirut, on Sunday after the Iran-backed group attacked northern Israel.
Within hours, Iran retaliated, firing ballistic missiles at northern Israel, the Israeli military said, in the first such attack since a cease-fire paused the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran two months ago. The escalation was the latest setback to the Trump administration's efforts to broker a truce in Lebanon, as well as to forge a broader peace deal with Iran.
Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, the Iranian Parliament speaker and chief negotiator in talks to end the war with the United States, said Israel's attack on Sunday on the southern suburbs of Beirut, known as Dahiya, had turned "U.S. and Israeli bases and assets in the region into legitimate targets."
"As always, our armed forces remain free to act," Mr. Ghalibaf said on social media, highlighting the ongoing tensions in the region.
Israel struck at least two apartment buildings in Dahiya on Sunday, according to Lebanon's state-run media. The neighborhood on the southern edge of Beirut has long been dominated by Hezbollah and is mostly populated by its Shiite Muslim base.
Avichay Adraee, an Israeli military spokesman, said Israeli forces had attacked a "Hezbollah command center." Israeli officials sometimes issue warnings to allow civilians time to flee, but did not do so in this case.
At least two people were killed and several wounded, Lebanese state media reported, highlighting the human cost of the conflict.
Iran has demanded an end to Israeli attacks on its ally, Hezbollah, as part of its negotiations with the United States to end the war. Backed by Iran, Hezbollah's armed fighters and political clout have long overshadowed the Lebanese government.
President Trump has tried to rein in Israeli attacks on Lebanon, particularly with regards to attacking Beirut, as part of his efforts to end the war with Iran. Last week, Mr. Trump and Mr. Netanyahu held a tense phone call in which Mr. Trump later said he had repeatedly used expletives to convey his frustration over Israel's military campaign in Lebanon.
"I was a little bit perturbed at his constantly fighting with Lebanon," Mr. Trump later told The New York Post, highlighting the complexities of the situation.
In a television interview with NBC News aired on Sunday, Mr. Trump said that he would prefer for Lebanon to "have a better life." Asked whether he and Mr. Netanyahu saw eye to eye on the issue, Mr. Trump said they disagreed on "a couple" of things.
"I'd like to see a more surgical attack on Hezbollah. I think it should be more surgical," Mr. Trump said in the interview, which was recorded Friday, highlighting the nuances of the conflict.
Israel and Hezbollah's long-running conflict flared up after U.S. and Israeli forces bombed Iran in late February. Hezbollah struck Israel in retaliation. Israel responded with a sweeping ground invasion of Lebanon.
Last week, Israeli and Lebanese government officials reached a new cease-fire deal after talks in Washington. However, Hezbollah rejected the agreement as tantamount to a surrender, as it would have to refrain from attacking Israel without immediate concessions from Israel.
Israeli leaders warned last week that if Hezbollah attacked Israeli territory again, they would order military attacks on Beirut.
Then on Sunday, air-raid sirens warning of incoming rocket fire blared in two Israeli communities in northern Israel. Hours later, Mr. Netanyahu said he had ordered the attack on Dahiya.
Since the war between Israel and Hezbollah began three months ago, Israeli forces have seized swathes of southern Lebanon and systematically razed homes in villages close to the border with Israel.
More than 3,600 people have been killed and one million people displaced in Lebanon, according to the Lebanese authorities, highlighting the devastating impact of the conflict.
Israeli leaders have vowed to continue the campaign until Hezbollah is disarmed. However, Hezbollah has emerged from the war appearing more formidable than it did before, firing cable-borne drones that are difficult to jam at exposed Israeli soldiers.
Military analysts said the attack on Beirut on Sunday was unlikely to deter Hezbollah or compel it to compromise.
The war appears to have galvanized the group, which has argued that the Israeli attacks prove that only their armed fighters can be entrusted with the protection of Lebanon.
Thirty Israeli soldiers have been killed in the war with Hezbollah, according to Israeli tallies, raising the domestic pressure on Mr. Netanyahu to act forcefully.
Reham Mourshed, Heedo Abu Laban, Johnatan Reiss, and Sanam Mahoozi contributed reporting.
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