MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:
Israel and Iran both say they will stop attacking each other - at least for now.
LEILA FADEL, HOST:
In a major escalation, they exchanged missile fire for several hours and then called it off as abruptly as it began.
MARTIN: NPR's Greg Myre is covering this story in Tel Aviv. Hello, Greg.
GREG MYRE, BYLINE: Hi, Michel.
MARTIN: First, let me ask about another development. A U.S. military helicopter went down in the region. What do we know about this?
MYRE: So two crew members of an Army Apache helicopter crashed as they were patrolling near the coast of Oman and also near the Strait of Hormuz. Now, U.S. Central Command said the two were rescued within approximately two hours of the crash and are in stable condition. A statement said the cause was under investigation, and we've heard no reports of hostilities in that area. U.S. forces are operating close to the strait, but not necessarily inside the strait itself. They're enforcing this U.S. blockade of ships going to and from Iranian ports, and Iran, of course, is also enforcing its own blockade.
MARTIN: So let's go to the - this missile exchange between Israel and Iran. It escalated very quickly and then ended the same way. What should we take away from this?
MYRE: Yeah. So, Michel, it came after days of shooting exchanges that were increasing on two separate fronts - the U.S. and Iran in and around the Gulf, and Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon. And this all boiled over on Sunday. Israel and Hezbollah were trading fire, and then Iran intervened and fired missiles at Israel. Israel then launched missiles at Iran. As you noted, this ended very quickly, as Israel and Iran agreed to stop attacking each other. But nothing was resolved, and both sides set conditions that could lead to another round at any time. Israel says its forces will keep operating in Lebanon, and just this morning it ordered the evacuation of remaining residents in the Lebanese coastal city of Tyre. And Iran says further attacks in Lebanon could lead to another and larger Iranian response.
MARTIN: You know, Greg, we've been focusing so much on the U.S.-Iran confrontation, but the Israel-Hezbollah conflict is now getting more attention. Does this make it harder to end the fighting across the region?
MYRE: Yeah. It certainly seems so. Iran sees Lebanon as a way to pressure Trump and Israeli leader Benjamin Netanyahu and to divide them. Remember, just last week Iran said it would stop negotiations with the U.S. if Israel went ahead with a threat to bomb Hezbollah and Beirut. Trump then had an angry phone call with Netanyahu and told him, don't do it. And then when Israel and Iran were trading missiles on Monday, Trump intervened again and told both sides to stop. So we're seeing a public rift between Trump and Netanyahu over Lebanon. Netanyahu says he won't tolerate attacks on northern Israel. Trump is telling him not to escalate in Lebanon because that's making it harder for Trump to get a deal with Iran.
MARTIN: Greg, before we let you go, President Trump continues to say that an agreement with Iran could come soon. Is there evidence to support this?
MYRE: Well, not really. Trump said again last night he thinks there's a good chance of a deal in two or three days, but it's not clear why. Iran's decision to fire on Israel was a bold move. It could have spiraled out of control very quickly. So this episode demonstrates Iran is - feels it's in a strong position. And combined with the aggressive statements we see every day from Iranian officials, Iran just doesn't seem to be in the mood or the position for the kind of compromises Trump is demanding.
MARTIN: That is NPR's Greg Myre in Tel Aviv. Greg, thank you.
MYRE: Sure thing, Michel. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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