AILSA CHANG, HOST:
President Trump wants the war with Iran to end and the Strait of Hormuz to reopen. But today marks the 100th day of war, and that war has flared up again, with Iran firing missiles at Israel and Israel striking Iran. But less than 24 hours into this exchange of fire, the two announced - hours apart - that the fighting was over, at least for now. Joining us now to talk about all this is NPR international correspondent Aya Batrawy in Dubai. Hi, Aya.
AYA BATRAWY, BYLINE: Hi, Ailsa.
CHANG: Hi. OK, so these earlier attacks between Iran and Israel - they didn't begin in either country, right? They started in Lebanon. Can you just tell us more about what happened?
BATRAWY: Yeah. So for weeks now, Israel has been expanding its invasion of Lebanon and its war with Hezbollah. That's the group backed by Iran. Israeli soldiers are now deeper into Lebanon than they've been in nearly three decades. And in parts of the south, Israel has been leveling entire villages in controlled demolitions. And its attacks have killed more than 3,600 people in the past three months, according to Lebanon's health ministry.
So Hezbollah is attacking Israel's army in southern Lebanon, where Israel says 22 soldiers have been killed. It's also fired at Israel. Hezbollah yesterday said it launched a drone at an army post in northern Israel. Israel then bombed a target, but it wasn't in southern Lebanon. It was in Lebanon's capital of Beirut, in a suburb there where Hezbollah has offices. And that is when Iran got involved.
CHANG: Right. OK, but why did Iran attack Israel now, specifically - because this isn't the first time that Israel has bombed Beirut in recent weeks, right?
BATRAWY: Right. I mean, but the big picture here is Iran is telling Trump he cannot have an end to the war in the Gulf and keep the war in Lebanon raging. Iran has insisted since April's ceasefire deal with the U.S. that it has to include an end to Israel's war in Lebanon, and it has been warning against Israel's escalations there. So last night, after Israel's bombing of Beirut, Iran launched missiles at Israeli air force bases and other sites and continued attacking Israel this morning, making clear again that Lebanon is a redline for them.
And once again, sirens rang out, with people sheltering in bunkers in parts of Israel. Now, Iran's decision to launch these attacks have drawn mixed reactions inside Iran. There were people rallying last night in Tehran in support of these attacks on Israel. I want you to have a listen to this clip from one of those rallies aired by Iran's press TV.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
UNIDENTIFIED PROTESTORS #1: (Chanting in non-English language).
UNIDENTIFIED PROTESTORS #2: (Chanting in non-English language).
UNIDENTIFIED PROTESTORS #1: (Chanting in non-English language).
UNIDENTIFIED PROTESTORS #2: (Chanting in non-English language).
BATRAWY: So while you're hearing people there rallying into Tehran for war with Iran, NPR also reached people in Iran today who said their government has sacrificed their safety for Hezbollah and for these endless wars.
CHANG: Yeah. I mean, almost immediately after Iran's attacks, Israel hit back. Can you talk about how does Israel explain what it did?
BATRAWY: So earlier this morning, Israel says it struck an Iranian petrochemical plant and sites in Tehran and other areas of the country. It also says that it intercepted a missile fired by Yemen's Houthis. Now, that group has mostly stayed out of this war, but today, the Houthis say they fired those missiles at Israel as part of the, quote, "axis of resistance."
But, Ailsa, by early afternoon, in the Gulf, Iran said it was suspending this offensive, saying Israel had, quote, "learned a lesson." And then hours later, Israel's prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, released a video in Hebrew saying Israel, too, would hold fire. But he said Israel will defend itself to whatever extent is required. And Netanyahu said that he said this to Trump as well. And let me make clear here - there were no casualties in Israel from all of this and only one person hospitalized in Iran.
CHANG: OK. Do we know if the U.S. was involved in any of these attacks?
BATRAWY: So it doesn't appear that it was. Actually, Trump was very clear in comments to several news outlets yesterday that he did not want Israel to retaliate, saying that this would blow up hopes for a deal with Iran. And he told the Financial Times that he is the one calling the shots, not Netanyahu. But hours later, Israel did fire back at Iran. And this morning, Trump posted online that final negotiations to end the war with Iran were proceeding, subject to what he said, quote, was "ignorance or stupidity getting in the way."
But we know that Trump and Netanyahu started this war in Iran together, and we know, Ailsa, that they're at odds. Trump has admitted to cursing at Netanyahu in a call, calling him crazy over Israel's continued bombing of Lebanon. But what we saw today is Netanyahu railing against those diplomatic efforts. You know, he - expanding that war in Lebanon, which health authorities say killed another seven people today, can quickly engulf the region and derail Trump's negotiations with Iran.
CHANG: That is NPR's Aya Batrawy in Dubai. Thank you, Aya.
BATRAWY: Thanks, Ailsa. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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