Israel said on Monday it hit a petrochemical plant in Iran’s southwest, along with strikes elsewhere on military targets, after United States (US) President Donald Trump reportedly told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to refrain from further attacks.
The escalation complicates US led efforts to broker a broader deal with Iran, driving oil prices up by nearly 5%, with benchmark Brent futures back above $97 a barrel.
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) blamed the US for the latest exchange of fire with Israel and said further attacks on non-military and energy targets would have consequences for the global economy.
The IRGC said that in retaliation they had launched a missile attack on a similar plant in the Israeli city of Haifa.
In the first hit on an energy site inside Iran since the April 8 ceasefire, Israel said it struck targets at the Mahshahr petrochemical complex, while a provincial official told Iran’s semi-official Fars news agency parts of the plant were damaged.
–Reuters–
