Trump urges Iran to return to the negotiating table and asks Israel not to retaliate

After Iran launched missile strikes against Israel on Sunday (June 7th) in response to the situation in Lebanon, US President Trump called on Iran to stop such actions, return to the negotiating table, and asked Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu not to retaliate.

Xinhua News Agency quoted Trump as telling Fox News: "My advice to Iran is: You have already launched the missiles. That's enough. Go back to the negotiating table and reach an agreement."

Trump said that before Iran launched missiles at Israel, the US and Iran had "very nearly" reached an agreement. He originally estimated that the agreement could be signed around the 8th to 10th. He also said that earlier that day, Israel carried out an airstrike in the southern suburbs of Beirut, the capital of Lebanon, without prior coordination with the US. He was displeased about this. The latest developments "definitely do not help the negotiations."

Trump later told the US news website Axios that he would immediately call Netanyahu to persuade him not to take retaliatory actions against Iran.

Trump said: "The strikes by Iran did not harm anyone. I hope Israel will not retaliate. If Netanyahu retaliates against Iran, the situation will only continue as it has for the past 47 years or the past 3,000 years."

Trump also said that the United States is "very close" to reaching a final agreement with Iran, and he "doesn't want the current situation to cause the agreement to fall apart."

Axios later reported that Trump had a phone call with Netanyahu.

The Wall Street Journal reported that Iran fired at least four waves of missiles at Israel on the evening of the 7th. Other US media stated that Iran launched a total of at least 10 ballistic missiles. This was the first direct attack on Israel by Iran since the ceasefire between the US and Iran about two months ago. The military advisor to the supreme leader of Iran, Rezaei, told the semi-official Iranian Students' News Agency that firing missiles at Israel was "a warning to Israel to stop its hostile actions in Lebanon". While the Israeli Defense Forces stated that they had intercepted all incoming missiles and said that Israel would continue to strike Hezbollah in Lebanon.