ERBIL, Kurdistan Region of Iraq – Iran on Sunday night announced that it launched strikes against Israel in retaliation for recent Israeli strikes on Lebanon, with the Israeli military saying that the country's aerial defense systems are working to intercept the oncoming threats.

Iran's Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters warned in a statement that Israel will "face more crushing and regrettable blows" unless it stops its operations in Lebanon, adding that it had previously warned Tel Aviv of strikes should the aggression in southern Lebanon continue. 

The Israeli military said it identified “missiles were recently launched from Iran towards the territory of the State of Israel,” adding that the Home Front Command had issued warning alerts to citizens through mobile phone notifications.

The military later reported that it has "intercepted all the missiles launched from Iran so far" but new launches have been detected, adding that "the air defense array is continuously identifying and intercepting threats."

Iranian Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei said in an X post moments later that "the shaky Zionist regime's breath has run out." 

Iranian state media later reported that Lebanese Hezbollah has begun conducting strikes on northern Israel in conjunction with its ally.

The attacks come as a ceasefire has held between the US, Israel, and Iran since April. Israel, however, has continued its operations targeting Hezbollah in Lebanon, while Tehran has insisted that any ceasefire between the adversaries must also include its Lebanese allies.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz issued a joint statement earlier in June, saying they have instructed the military to strike suspected targets in Beirut’s southern suburbs.

Shortly after the Israeli army’s announcement, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi posted a photo of the Iranian and Lebanese flags side by side without a caption. 

The Israeli Minister of National Security, the far-right Itamar Ben-Gvir shortly after the attacks, wrote in an X post that “tonight Tehran must burn!”

US President Donald Trump told Axios reporter Barak Ravid in a phone call after the Israeli strikes that he will call Netanyahu and tell him not to “attack Iran in response.”

The US president told the Axios journalist that Washington is “very close to a final deal with Tehran,” noting “I don’t want it to blow up because of what is happening now"

“Israel had its strike and Iran had its strike. We don't need another one,” he added

"What I would suggest to Iran: You've shot your missiles, that's enough. Get back to the table and make a deal," Trump told Fox News in a separate statement.

Iraq’s Kataib Hezbollah warned that if the US intervenes in the conflict, it will target American bases and interests in Iraq and the region.

Erbil International Airport Director Ahmed Hoshyar told The New Region shortly after the strikes that airports across the Kurdistan Region and Iraq had been shut down in light of the hostilities. The western part of Iran’s airspace as well as Syria’s southern air corridors were also closed.

The attack comes after Iran said in early June that it had halted communications through mediators with the US and moved to “completely” blockade the Strait of Hormuz in protest of Israel’s “brutal” operations in Gaza and Lebanon.

The breakdown in diplomacy comes after US President Donald Trump’s said in late May that an agreement was “largely negotiated” with the Iranian side and awaited finalization, following a series of indirect negotiations through Pakistani mediators.

Updated with airspace closures, Khamenei’s statement, and Trump comments to Axios and Fox News at 11:23 PM

This is a developing story...