Iran launches missiles at Israel after Israeli strike on Beirut

Iran launched missiles at Israel on Sunday, according to Israel and Iran's state broadcaster, in the first such bombardment since a fragile ceasefire took effect in early April.

Israel's military said it was working to intercept the missiles, while sirens sounded in several areas of the country and explosions were heard in northern Israel. The attack complicated mediation efforts for a deal to end the war.

The launch came after Israel struck Beirut's southern suburbs without warning, in defiance of Washington's request days earlier to stand down, according to the report. Israel said the strike was retaliation for Iranian-backed Hezbollah firing at northern Israel earlier in the day.

Israel's attack on Beirut followed a ceasefire agreement reached days earlier in U.S.-hosted talks between the Lebanese and Israeli governments, although Hezbollah rejected the deal. Lebanon's health ministry said the strike on a residential building killed two people and wounded 20.

Iran had warned that an attack on Beirut would renew full-scale war across the Mideast, even as Pakistan tried to restart talks between Tehran and Washington. Iran wants any agreement to include ending the war in Lebanon.

Israel's strikes and ground invasion in Lebanon, along with Hezbollah's refusal to disarm, have complicated an overall deal to end the war in the Middle East. Iran says any deal must include an end to fighting in Lebanon.

The White House did not comment on Israel's strike in Beirut. Israel had announced on Monday that it would strike the southern suburbs of Lebanon's capital, but urgent talks via Washington halted that on the condition that Hezbollah stop targeting Israeli border towns.

Hezbollah did not immediately claim responsibility for firing at Israel earlier Sunday.

Hezbollah wants direct talks between Lebanon and Israel to end and instead supports Iran's position that an overall ceasefire deal between Tehran and Washington should include the situation in Lebanon.

Mediation efforts on that larger deal continued Sunday as Pakistan's interior minister visited Iran, and Egypt said its foreign minister and his Qatari counterpart discussed proposed elements of a potential agreement, without giving details.

U.S. President Donald Trump did not comment on the war Sunday, but in an interview with NBC's Meet the Press that aired after a Friday taping he said he would like to see a more surgical attack on Hezbollah. He also said he was not demanding that Lebanon be part of an overall ceasefire deal in the Iran war.

Meanwhile, Iran continued to assert its grip on the Strait of Hormuz and the U.S. continued its blockade of Iranian ports, with shipments of oil, natural gas and fertilizer affected and the global economy under strain.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who faces elections later this year, wants to press ahead with Israel's offensive until he believes Hezbollah no longer poses a threat.

Pakistan's interior minister visits Iran

Pakistan's interior minister was in Tehran on Sunday. Mohsin Naqvi was delivering a message to Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei from Pakistan's army chief Field Marshal Asim Munir, according to Iran's state-run IRNA news agency. There were no details on the message's contents.

Khamenei has not been seen in public since he was named the Islamic Republic's ruler after his father was killed on Feb. 28, the first day of the war.

Naqvi met with Iranian Interior Minister Eskandar Momeni late Saturday and Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi on Sunday, according to official Iranian media.

Pakistani authorities have said Islamabad, with support from regional countries including Qatar, Turkey and Egypt, is working to help bridge differences between the United States and Iran.