What you need to know

• Israel and Iran have fired missiles at each other in a new escalation
• It comes after Israel struck Iran early Monday in response to an Iranian attack on northern Israel
• US President Donald Trump has called for an immediate halt in fighting
• The Iran-backed Houthis have threatened to target Israel-linked ships in the Red Sea
• The EU's top diplomat has urged all parties to return to the negotiating table

Read below for a roundup of news related to the Iran war and the wider Middle East on Monday, June 8, 2026.

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Iran says it is ending attacks on Israel

The Iranian military announced on Monday that it was halting its offensive operations against Israel after a day of reciprocal missile exchanges.

The Tehran regime's joint command said "much more severe and crushing measures than before will follow" if Israel or its allies carry out any further "aggression and hostile acts," including in southern Lebanon.

The traded missile fire marked the most serious confrontation since a ceasefire took effect in April.

Lebanon: Israel has breached ceasefire 3,500 times

Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam has claimed that Israel has carried out nearly 3,500 air strikes on Lebanon and hundreds of controlled explosions since a fragile US-brokered ceasefire came into effect in mid-April.

In comments published by his office after a cabinet meeting, Salam said that Israeli forces had since carried out 3,491 air strikes, 407 controlled demolitions and six "razing" operations which have reportedly left some villages in southern Lebanon entirely flattened.

The Israeli military is yet to respond to Salam's figures but regularly claims that it only targets premises and infrastructure belonging to the Iran-backed Islamist group Hezbollah.

Israel: Iran has fired nearly 30 missiles since Sunday

An Israeli military official has claimed that Iran has fired nearly 30 missiles toward Israel since the resumption of hostilities between the two countries on Sunday.

"Last night the Iranian regime began firing ballistic missiles towards Israel ... they fired close to 30 ballistic missiles towards Israel," the official told journalists on Monday, adding that Yemen's Houthi rebels have fired two missiles at the country in separate attacks.

Iran has stated that it launched two waves of missiles at targets in Israel in response to Israeli air strikes on the Lebanese capital, Beirut, over the weekend.

Trump demands stop to Israel-Iranian attacks

US President Donald Trump has demanded an immediate cessation of the renewed hostilities between Israel and Iran after the two countries began exchanging missile fire again.

"Israel and Iran must immediately stop 'shooting,'" Trump wrote on social media.

He said Iran and Israel wanted a ceasefire and that peace negotiations were ongoing, "subject to ignorance or stupidity" getting in the way.

The statements come after a phone interview with the Financial Times in which Trump claimed that he "calls the shots" in the conflict in the Middle East, not Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Furthermore, an Israeli official said on Monday that Lieutenant General Eyal Zamir, the head of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), had been in contact with the head of US Central Command (CENTCOM) twice in the past 24 hours.

"Over the past day, the IDF chief of the general staff has spoken twice to the commander of CENTCOM and they are discussing the situation," the official said, without elaborating.

Israel appears to have ignored requests from Washington in an overnight phone call not to launch retaliatory strikes against Iran, according to media reports.

Israel targets Iranian air defenses, explosions heard in Tehran

The Israeli military claimed on Monday to have completed a successful attack on Iranian air defense installations involving "dozens" of aircraft.

"A short time ago, dozens of Israeli air force fighter jets carried out a large-scale strike against strategic air defense systems," said a statement, adding that the targets had been destroyed.

According to the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), the systems targeted had been deployed across Iran as part of efforts to "reestablish detection and defense capacity" following earlier Israeli strikes several months ago.

Meanwhile, central Tehran was rocked by a huge explosion followed by repeated blasts believed to have come from air defense systems.

The AFP news agency reported that the initial explosion shook the premises of the Iranian Foreign Ministry.

"The exact location and source of this explosion are still unknown," reported the local Fars state news agency. "Simultaneously, air defense was also activated in some parts of Tehran."

India: Expansion of Gulf crisis would be 'worrying'

An expansion of the war in the Middle East to other areas is a cause for concern, according to Indian Oil Minister Hardeep Singh Puri.

"It may remain a conflict not ​confined to that theater ... you know you ⁠could ​have problems ​elsewhere," he told local broadcaster CNN-News18 on ​Monday.

"Maybe some ​other theater starts ‌off. That would be ​worrying."

Puri said that India has total ‌oil and gas reserves ‌to ​last 76-80 days.

China 'deeply concerned' by Middle East escalation

The Chinese Foreign Ministry said on Monday that Beijing was "deeply concerned" by the renewed hostilities between Israel and Iran and expressed hope that a fragile truce in the conflict would be respected.

"Resuming hostilities is not in any party's interest," spokesman Lin Jian told a news briefing, adding: "It is hoped all relevant parties will fulfil their commitment to a ceasefire."

China's focus, however, was on North Korea on Monday as President Xi Jinping arrived in Pyongyang for a rare state visit — his first in seven years.

Iran says US responsible for escalation with Israel

The Iranian Foreign Ministry said on Monday that it holds the United States "responsible for the consequences of any escalation" in Middle East.

"Israel['s] actions cannot be separated from US policies," said a Foreign Ministry spokesman, adding: "[The] US holds direct responsibility [for] recent ceasefire breaches."

The spokesman also took aim at the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), accusing the UN nuclear watchdog of "disregard[ing] realities of the conflict" and of political bias in the ongoing crisis.

The renewed Israeli strikes on Iran have come despite US President Donald Trump reportedly warning Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to refrain from further attacks.

"I call the shots. I call all the shots. He [Netanyahu] doesn't call the shots," claimed Trump, speaking to the Financial Times, insisting that the renewed hostilities were "not going to have any impact" on a peace deal.

A senior US official told The Associated Press (AP) on Sunday that Trump had urged Netanyahu not to retaliate immediately for the Iranian missile attack, which itself came in response to Israeli strikes on the Lebanese capital, Beirut.

AP also reported that officials from Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Pakistan and Qatar involved in mediation efforts between Iran and the US were "furious" at the Israeli strikes on Beirut, which came while the Pakistani interior minister was in Tehran in a bid to encourage negotiations.

The mediators reportedly told the US administration that the Beirut strike was designed "to disrupt our efforts to reach a deal" and that "Trump has to stop Netanyahu's reckless maneuvers."

Yemen: Houthis announce 'ban' on Israeli Red Sea shipping

The Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen have declared a ban on Israeli shipping in the Red Sea and claimed a missile strike on Israel.

"We declare a complete and total ban on Israeli maritime navigation in the Red Sea," read a Houthi statement. "We consider all enemy movements to be legitimate military targets for our armed forces from the moment this statement is issued."

The Houthis, who had previously harassed cargo ships in the Red Sea during Israel's war with Hamas in Gaza, joined the current Middle East war in support of Iran in March – but had not conducted any attacks on Israel since a fragile ceasefire began on April 8.

On Monday morning, however, they said they "launched a missile barrage targeting sensitive Israeli enemy targets," claiming the strikes "achieved their objectives with precision."

The Israeli military said earlier that it had "identified the launch of a missile from Yemen toward Israeli territory" and that "aerial defense systems are operating to intercept the threat."

Along with Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon, the Houthis form part of the so-called "Axis of Resistance" grouping of pro-Iran forces opposed to Israel and the United States.

With the Strait of Hormuz closed, the Red Sea passage between the Bab al-Mandab Strait and the Suez Canal has acquired additional importance for commercial shipping, but is vulnerable to attacks from Houthi-controlled parts of Yemen.

Middle East 'does not need further escalation' — EU's Kallas

The European Union's foreign policy chief, Kaja Kallas, has criticized the latest exchanges of missile fire between Israel and Iran and called for all parties to negotiate.