New Iran missile launches on Israel threaten war escalation

Israel said Sunday that Iran has launched missiles at it for the first time in two months as the war reached its 100th day, further threatening the fragility of a ceasefire that initially took hold two months ago.

President Donald Trump, according to Axios, said he was going to call Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and “tell him not to strike back.” And Fox News’ Trey Yingst said Trump told the news outlet, “It’s certainly not going to help negotiations” and he urged Iran to get back to the negotiating table.

The Israeli military, which launched war against Iran jointly with the U.S. on Feb. 28, said sirens were sounded in several areas of the country and Iran reportedly confirmed the launch of missiles. “Tonight’s operation was a warning, and if aggressions are repeated, the responses will be broader,” Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps said in a statement, according to The New York Times.

In addition to Sunday’s fresh strikes, military clashes continued across the region and talks between the two sides have stalled, four Middle East officials and diplomats told MS NOW.

Trump continues to say a deal is close. “I think we’re very close. We have a couple of points,” he told NBC News in an interview that aired Sunday. “They don’t even seem like big points.”

Over the weekend, U.S. commandos seized an Iranian oil tanker and shot down multiple Iranian drones. Clashes between Israeli forces and Hezbollah in Lebanon also intensified.

Four Middle East officials and diplomats told MS NOW that significant disagreements remain. All of them spoke on condition of anonymity citing the sensitivity of the talks.

A senior official in the region told MS NOW on Friday that three issues remain unresolved: The sequencing of the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, American demands regarding Iran’s nuclear program and Iranian demands to receive relief funds up front as part of the agreement.

A senior Middle East diplomat also said on Friday that negotiations have regressed.

“There are no meaningful negotiations taking place between the two countries as they stand,” the diplomat told MS NOW.

Trump administration officials say that talks are progressing and dismissed the statements from officials in the region. 

“This is grossly inaccurate, as MS NOW always is when they rely on mysterious ‘Middle Eastern diplomats’ who have no idea what they are talking about,” said Anna Kelly, a White House spokeswoman.

A Pakistani foreign ministry source with knowledge of the talks expressed optimism as well. They told MS NOW that this weekend’s visit of Pakistan’s interior minister to Iran was “extremely positive” and “Iran showed signs of progress towards agreeing on a framework.” 

Nicole Grajewski, an assistant professor at Sciences Po in Paris and an associate at Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government, told MS NOW that the continued military clashes between the two sides are not aiding negotiations.

“The persistent strikes between the U.S. and Iran across the region is hardly helping the situation,” she said. “If anything, it’s making it harder to separate the negotiations from a pending resumption of war.”