Israel and Iran halt counterstrikes

{"text":[[{"start":10.55,"text":"Israel and Iran halted strikes against one another after the first flare-up between the foes in two months threatened to derail Donald Trump’s push for a deal to extend a US ceasefire with the Islamic republic and reopen the Strait of Hormuz. "}],[{"start":25.85,"text":"After the clashes erupted late on Sunday, with Iran firing barrages of missiles at Israel and Israeli fighter jets bombing Iran, the US president said on Monday that both sides “must immediately stop shooting”. "}],[{"start":38.85,"text":"In a separate post on his Truth Social platform, Trump said Israel and Iran were “looking to do an immediate ceasefire”, while adding that negotiations on a US deal with Tehran were “proceeding”. "}],[{"start":51.75,"text":"The fighting began after Iran launched missiles at Israel in retaliation for Israeli strikes on a building in the southern suburbs of Beirut, a stronghold of Hizbollah, the Iranian-backed Lebanese militant group."}],[{"start":null,"text":"

"}],[{"start":null,"text":""}],[{"start":64.45,"text":"Israel responded by conducting what it said was a “large-scale strike” on “strategic defence systems” in the Islamic republic and bombing several targets at a petrochemical plant in Mahshahr in southern Iran."}],[{"start":77.25,"text":"Iranian state television reported explosions in Tehran, Tabriz and Isfahan as the exchange of fire threatened to fully reignite a conflict that spread across the Middle East and triggered the worst global energy crisis in decades. "}],[{"start":92.75,"text":"Oil prices, which had surged when the fighting flared, dropped after Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said it was stopping its attacks. But the guards also warned that any further strikes by Israel or hostile actions against Lebanon would trigger “a far stronger and more forceful response”."}],[{"start":110.75,"text":"Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a statement: “At the moment, the fire on this front has ceased, because after we struck the terror regime in Tehran, it stopped attacking us.” He added that if Iran resumes attacks against Israel “we will respond with force”."}],[{"start":128,"text":"The international oil benchmark Brent crude, which was trading above $98 a barrel earlier on Monday, fell to trade around $95."}],[{"start":136.35,"text":"Iran has insisted that the Israeli-Hizbollah conflict should be part of the broader truce, and had previously warned that it would retaliate if Israel struck Beirut."}],[{"start":146.2,"text":"The clashes came as Trump seeks a deal with Iran to extend the truce by 60 days and reopen the Strait of Hormuz, a crucial artery for energy supplies, which has been closed since the US and Israel launched the war against Iran on February 28. The deal would also lay the framework for talks on Tehran’s nuclear programme. "}],[{"start":null,"text":""}],[{"start":null,"text":""}],[{"start":166.39999999999998,"text":"The US president has repeatedly said Washington and Tehran are close to a deal, but mediators have struggled to bridge gaps amid deep distrust. "}],[{"start":174.79999999999998,"text":"Trump told the FT that Netanyahu would have to accept any deal the US agrees with Iran. “He won’t have any choice,” he said after Israel-Iran clashes erupted on Sunday night. “I call the shots. I call all the shots. He [Netanyahu] doesn’t call the shots.” "}],[{"start":193.39999999999998,"text":"Trump had said on Sunday that he was “not happy” that Israel had struck Beirut and that he had called Netanyahu to urge him not to retaliate for the Iranian barrage. "}],[{"start":204.79999999999998,"text":"In a sign of the volatile situation, Israeli defence minister Israel Katz warned that any attack on Israel’s northern border region with Lebanon would lead to Israel’s strikes on the southern suburbs of Beirut. "}],[{"start":216.85,"text":"“Any Iranian attempt to link Lebanon and Iran and attack Israel will be met with great force,” Katz said. "}],[{"start":224.25,"text":"The Israel-Hizbollah conflict erupted after the militant group fired across the border shortly after Trump and Netanyahu launched their war against Iran."}],[{"start":233.8,"text":"Israel has been expanding its offensive in Lebanon, with Israeli forces taking over hundreds of square kilometres of Lebanese territory and forcing more than 1mn people from their homes. Israel continued to launch strikes in southern Lebanon, while Hizbollah also mounted attacks."}],[{"start":250.5,"text":"At least 3,613 people have been killed in Lebanon, while almost 30 Israeli soldiers and three civilians have been killed in Israel as Hizbollah has fired constant barrages of drones and rockets at northern Israel. "}],[{"start":263.65,"text":"Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said the Islamic republic would “not retreat in the face of any threat”, but added that Tehran had not “abandoned” peace negotiations."}],[{"start":274.5,"text":"“Diplomacy and defence are the two wings of national power; we have neither abandoned the field nor the negotiating table,” he said on X. "}],[{"start":288.3,"text":""}]],"url":"https://audio.ftcn.net.cn/album/a_1780967409_7212.mp3"}