Associate Press reports Israel and Iran traded fire early Monday, the first exchange since the U.S. struck a cease-fire deal with Tehran two months ago. Israel said its strikes were in response to an Iranian missile attack against two military bases in Israel.
Explosions were heard in Isfahan, Karaj, Tabriz and Tehran, and a couple of Iranian news agency said the strikes hit a petrochemical factory in Mahshahr. Israel confirmed hitting the plant as they were targeting sites that could help in the production of ballistic missiles.
Israel's military action has not gone over well in Washington, D.C. as Trump has wanted Netanyahu to show restraint.
Tensions have been growing between the two men as Netanyahu appears to have openly defied Trump with the strike Sunday in Beirut and subsequent attacks in Iran. Trump has voiced his displeasure with Israel, including belittling Netanyahu by declaring to the Financial Times "I call all the shots."
Robert Knight is a columnist for the Washington Times.
"Israel is a lot closer to Iran than America is, and they have an existential threat to their very existence. They'll do whatever it takes to defend themselves,” says Knight. “I don't think President Trump ought to be criticizing them for doing what they think is necessary."
He says this is not “The Art of the Deal.”
"Buying and selling companies and building things is different from defeating a totalitarian enemy. And make no mistake, the Iranian mullahs are a totalitarian enemy that has to be defeated," Knight states.
He understands that the president doesn't want to send any ground troops into Iran.
"I don't know any Americans who want that to happen anyway, but I'd like to see more about our cooperating with the resistance in Iran and finding ways to see how they can overthrow their totalitarian government," Knight says.
