Trump: I will pressure Israel to show restraint after Iran retaliates for Beirut attack

U.S. President Donald Trump said on Sunday he would tell Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu not to retaliate after Iran fired a salvo of missiles at Israeli targets in retaliation for an attack on the outskirts of Beirut, news portal Axios reported, Reuters said.

Iran has long argued that any peace deal with the U.S. would depend on a ceasefire that also applies in Lebanon and concerns Hezbollah.

Israel earlier on Sunday launched attacks in the Beirut area for the first time since the United States announced a ceasefire plan for Lebanon last week.

The Israeli military later said it had identified missiles launched from Iran and that its defense systems had intercepted them. Details on whether Israel suffered any damage are not yet available.

Trump, who spent the weekend at his golf club in Bedminster, New Jersey, was briefed on the escalation between Iran and Israel, a U.S. official told Reuters.

"That certainly won't help negotiations," he told Fox News after the launch of Iranian missiles. "What I would suggest to Iran: You have fired your missiles, that's enough, come back to the negotiating table and make a deal."

Asked about the earlier Israeli attack on Beirut, he said: "I'm not happy about it."

Trump told Axios he would call Netanyahu and pressure him not to retaliate.

Iran's chief peace negotiator, parliament speaker Mohammed Baqer Qalibaf, said U.S. bases and Israeli assets are legitimate targets due to hostile acts, including "violation of the agreement on Lebanon."

"They have shown they only understand the language of force," he wrote on social media platform X.

Ebrahim Rezaei, spokesman for the Iranian parliament's national security committee, posted on X that Iran would give a "decisive and painful response" to Sunday's Israeli attacks on Lebanon.

Iran has not directly targeted Israel since the ceasefire in the broader war in April, although Hezbollah has done so.

An Israeli official, reacting to the apparent threat, told Reuters that Israel would retaliate against any attacks on its territory from Iran and would consider it "an opportunity to renew the campaign."