This blog has now closed. Our live coverage of the US-Israel war on Iran continues here.
Two bodies recovered in Haifa after missile attack - reports
Israeli rescuers have recovered the bodies of two people killed after an Iranian ballistic missile hit the northern Israeli city of Haifa, Israeli media is reporting.
The fire and rescue service said the two had been trapped and were found under rubble without signs of life, the Times of Israel is reporting.
Rescue efforts were continuing to reach two other people who were trapped or unaccounted for, it quotes the service as saying.
Haaretz reported that a missile fired from Iran struck a residential building in Haifa on Sunday, igniting a fire and leaving the six-story structure at risk of collapse.
The Times has just now said rescue forces were responding to reports of a fresh ballistic missile attack in the Haifa area.
The impacts triggered a car fire and flipped over another vehicle, the report said, but there were no immediate reports of injuries.
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Kuwait’s air defences have been working to stop incoming missile and drone attacks, the army is saying.
It also posted on X (in a translation):
The General Staff of the Army notes that if explosion sounds are heard, they are the result of air defense systems intercepting the hostile attacks.
Everyone is requested to adhere to the security and safety instructions issued by the competent authorities.
Over the weekend Iran expanded its attacks on energy infrastructure around the Gulf, launching drone and missile strikes on petrochemical facilities in Kuwait, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates.
Deal for 45-day truce in discussion – report
The US, Iran and a group of regional mediators are discussing the terms for a potential 45-day ceasefire that could lead to a permanent end to the war, according to a report from Axios that cites “four US, Israeli and regional sources with knowledge of the talks”.
The chances of reaching such a deal over the next 48 hours are slim, the sources are also quoted as saying in the report, which adds that “this last-ditch effort is the only chance to prevent a dramatic escalation in the war”.
The report could not be independently verified.
As mentioned earlier, Donald Trump has threatened to obliterate Iranian power plants and bridges if it doesn’t agree by 8pm Tuesday (US Eastern Time) to fully reopen the strait of Hormuz.
And as just posted, the Iranian military warned in response of “much more devastating and widespread” retaliation if its civilian targets are bombed.
About a fifth of the world’s oil supply usually passes through the Hormuz strait and its effective closure is having a crippling effect on the global economy.
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Iran threatens 'much more devastating' response if civilian targets hit
More after the last post: Iran’s central military command has warned of far more “devastating and widespread” retaliation if its adversaries hit Iranian civilian targets.
“If attacks on civilian targets are repeated, the next stages of our offensive and retaliatory operations will be much more devastating and widespread,” a spokesperson for the Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters said in a statement posted by state broadcaster Irib on Telegram.
The warning, cited by AFP, came after Donald Trump threatened to destroy Iran’s power plants and bridges if Tehran didn’t make a deal by Tuesday to fully reopen the strait of Hormuz.
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Iran is reportedly threatening “much more devastating” retaliation if its civilian targets are hit.
More on this as it comes to light.
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In Australia a government minister said he wouldn’t comment on Donald Trump’s expletive-laden social media threats to Iran but noted that Australia too wanted the strait of Hormuz to reopen.
Energy minister Chris Bowen was asked about Trump’s remarks and told Australian Broadcasting Corporation radio on Monday morning:
Well, for the last 10 years, I haven’t made a habit of commenting on every social media comment of president Trump, and I don’t intend to start now because we’d all keep ourselves very busy. We want to see the strait of Hormuz open.
When pressed if that level of retort from Trump warranted a comment from the Australian government, Bowen added:
We are not participants in this war. We didn’t participate in the decision to begin the war, but we are – like many like-minded countries – calling for it to end in the best interest of the people of the Middle East, obviously, but also in the best interest of the world economy.
Donald Trump has faced sharp criticism after threatening to wipe out Iran’s power plants and bridges in an expletive-riddled social media post.
The US president told Iran on Sunday: “Open the Fuckin’ Strait, you crazy bastards, or you’ll be living in Hell.” Separately, he suggested there was a “good chance” of an agreement to end the five-week war on Monday, telling US media that negotiations were happening.
Trump’s post drew criticism from Capitol Hill. Chuck Schumer, a senior Senate Democrat, said: “The president of the United States is ranting like an unhinged madman on social media … He’s threatening possible war crimes and alienating allies. This is who he is, but this is not who we are. Our country deserves so much better.”
Marjorie Taylor Greene, a former staunch Trump ally turned critic, said everyone in the Trump administration who claimed to be a Christian needed to “beg forgiveness from God” and intervene in the president’s “madness”.
There’s more in this wrap of the day’s main Trump administration stories here:
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Israel’s deadly strikes in Lebanon on Sunday came a day after Israel threatened to hit Lebanon’s main border crossing with Syria, forcing it to close.
Israel said on Saturday it would target the Masnaa border crossing between Lebanon and Syria, the main gateway between the two countries.
“Due to Hezbollah’s use of the Masnaa crossing for military purposes and smuggling of combat equipment, the [Israeli military] intends to carry out strikes on the crossing in the near future,” said the military’s Arabic-language spokesperson Avichay Adraee, urging people to leave the area.
The border post was quickly evacuated on the Lebanese side, AFP reports.
In Syria, borders and customs public relations director Mazen Aloush insisted the crossing was exclusively used by civilians but said it would close temporarily due to the threats.
Masnaa is a vital trade route for both countries and a key gateway to the rest of the region for Lebanese people.
At least 15 killed in latest Israeli strikes on Lebanon – authorities
Israeli attacks in Lebanon on Sunday killed at least 15 people, the health ministry said, while Israel’s military chief visited troops in southern Lebanon and pledged to intensify strikes against Hezbollah.
One of Israel’s strikes in Beirut on Sunday killed at least five people and wounded 52 in the Jnah neighbourhood, the Lebanese ministry said.
A strike targeting an apartment building in Ain Saadeh town east of Beirut killed three people and injured three others, while a strike in the southern town of Kfar Hatta – far from the border with Israel, killed seven people including a four-year-old girl, the ministry said, quoted by AFP.
Meanwhile in southern Lebanon – where Israeli troops are expanding a ground invasion – Lieut Gen Eyal Zamir, Israel’s military chief, visited troop in the Ras el-Bayada area. He said Israel was striking the Iran-backed Hezbollah “extensively and across multiple fronts”, according to a military statement.
Zamir said:
Over 1,000 Hezbollah terrorists have been eliminated, and that number will continue to rise. The damage to Hezbollah will intensify.
Hezbollah on Sunday claimed to have fired a cruise missile at an Israeli warship off the coast, but the Israeli military told AFP it was “not aware” of such an incident.
Israeli attacks on Lebanon since the start of the war have killed more than 1,400 people, including 126 children, and displaced more than 1 million, according to Lebanese authorities.
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The United Arab Emirates’ air defences have been trying to fend off more Iranian air attacks, according to the ministry of defence.
It said early on Monday that the defences were “currently engaging with missile attacks and incoming drones from Iran”.
The ministry also said in the post on X that it “confirms that the sounds heard in scattered areas of the country are the result of the UAE Air Defence systems intercepting ballistic missiles, cruise missiles and drones”.
Netanyahu suggests Israel helped US with airman's rescue
Benjamin Netanyahu has suggested Israel assisted the US with its rescue of a downed airman in Iran.
The Israeli prime minister posted on X early on Monday that he had spoken with Donald Trump and “congratulated him on his bold decision and a perfectly executed American mission to rescue the downed pilot from enemy territory”.
“The President expressed his appreciation for Israel’s help,” Netanyahu said, adding:
I am deeply proud that our cooperation on an off the battlefield is unprecedented, and that Israel could contribute to saving a brave American warrior.
The crew member of a downed F-15E fighter jet was rescued from an Iranian mountain by US commandos overnight at the weekend, ending a two-day search after the warplane crashed in south-west Iran.
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Oil prices rise after Trump threat
Crude oil prices opened higher on Monday after Donald Trump threatened that Iran would be “living in Hell” if it didn’t open the strait of Hormuz.
West Texas Intermediate – the US benchmark – rose 1.86% to $113.62 a barrel while North Sea Brent crude was also higher at the week’s market opening, climbing 1.16% to $110.30 a barrel.
Trump has set a Tuesday deadline for Iran to reopen the crucial oil and gas waterway, threatening in an expletive-laden social media post on Sunday to hit the country’s power plants and bridges if it does not not comply.
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Pierre Mouawad, a prominent official within the Lebanese Forces party, was reportedly killed alongside his wife on Sunday during an Israeli airstrike on an apartment complex in Ain Saadeh, a mountain village east of Beirut, according to the state-run National News Agency.
According to Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency and the Ministry of Health, the strike also claimed the life of another woman and left three others injured.
The incident has significantly heightened regional anxieties, as the Lebanese Forces party – a Christian-based political group – is a vocal opponent of Hezbollah and has frequently blames the militant group for bringing Lebanon into a new war with Israel.
Oil prices rose again on Sunday, with US crude climbing above $114 per barrel following a series of aggressive social media posts and interviews from Trump setting a new deadline for Iran to reopen the strait of Hormuz.
By Sunday evening, US crude (WTI) had jumped more than 2% to $114.16 per barrel, while international benchmark Brent crude rose 1.72% to $110.91. The unstable costs follow an expletive-laden post on Truth Social where Trump warned that Iran would be “living in Hell” if the blockade is not lifted. He specifically threatened to target the country’s power plants and bridges, later posting a deadline: “Tuesday, 8:00 P.M. Eastern Time!”
Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) has released a statement condemning the Israeli strike targeting an apartment in a residential building near Beirut on Sunday.
“We are seeing elderly people and adolescents arriving with critical injuries to the head, chest, and abdomen, including shrapnel wounds,” Dr. Luna Hammad, MSF medical coordinator, said in a statement. “When strikes hit crowded residential areas without warning, the consequences are severe, both in human casualties and in hospitals’ capacity to respond.”
The statement said the strike resulted in a “mass-casualty influx” and that within the first hour, four people were killed and nearly 40 were injured.
“MSF condemns this attack on civilians in a highly populated area and calls for the protection of civilians and health facilities,” the statement said. “Strikes this close to a hospital spread fear and can stop people from seeking lifesaving care. Civilians cannot be collateral damage.”
Royal Air Force shoots down Iranian drones overnight, UK defense says
The UK’s Royal Air Force said it shot down “multiple Iranian drones” overnight, in an update posted by the UK Ministry of Defense.
According to the update, UK Typhoon and F-35 fighter jets are continuing defensive missions over the Eastern Mediterranean, Jordan, Bahrain and the UAE. It adds that “force protection measures in the region continue to be at the highest levels” and that it is “continuing to work closely” with its allies.
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Donald Trump said “I don’t want to talk about that” when asked about targeting civilian infrastructure in Iran, and threatened that the “whole country” would be “gone” if it doesn’t accept a deal.
In an interview with ABC’s Rachel Scott:, reportedly Trump said: “Well, I don’t want to talk about that. But the civilians want me to do it. Okay, the civilians, you know, when they’re most unhappy, when they don’t hear bombs going off because they’re living in hell.”
When asked if he would move back his deadline for Iran, he said “I don’t want to talk about it, they have plenty of time to make a deal. If they don’t want to make a deal — their whole country is gone,” he said.
India’s external affairs minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar posted on social media that he received a call from Iranian foreign minister Abbas Araghchi, where they discussed the ongoing conflict in the Middle East.
Israeli airstrikes have killed at least 11 people on Sunday, according to media reports.
An Israeli airstrike on Kfarhata, a village in south Lebanon, killed seven people on Sunday, including a 4-year-old child, Lebanon’s health ministry said in a statement. Another Israeli attack on the Jnah neighbourhood in Beirut killed four people and injured 39 others, the ministry added.
The strike on Kfarhata followed an overnight evacuation order by the Israeli military instructing residents to leave the village.
As Lebanese Christians, who make up roughly a third of the population, marked Easter Sunday, the country experienced one of its most violent days since fighting with Israel erupted early last month.
An Iranian missile hit a building in Haifa, Israel, on Sunday, seriously wounding an 82-year-old man and lightly injuring 24 others – including a 10-month-old baby, Israeli media reported.
Three or four people were still believed to be missing and rescuers searched the partially collapsed seven-storey building into the night. Local police commander Boaz Smocha told Haaretz that those missing were a couple in their 60s and their son. A foreign worker may have also been in their apartment with them. “No one from this family is responding. We really hope we can locate them,” he said.
The Israeli emergency service Magen David Adom said a number people were wounded when the building sustained a direct hit.
A military spokesperson told Agence France-Presse the building was hit by the “direct impact of a missile” minutes after a military warning was issued in the early evening.
A man employed by the US defense contractor V2X has been killed in a drone attack on Erbil airbase, amid concerns from colleagues that they are being placed in harm’s way and pressured to remain in Iraq despite security risks, five sources said.
The worker, from Kenya, died in a night attack in his sleeping quarters on the base on 24 March. Another five workers were injured. They are from Kenya and India, and are among a group of about 45 workers employed by V2X who have remained on the base. One of the workers is in a critical condition with severe burns, sources said.
“The company has messed up here bad,” said a source speaking on the condition of anonymity. “He didn’t have to die. The company thought it was more important to keep the mission going rather than get people to safety.”
Key events of the day so far
It is about to be 11pm in Tehran, and 10.30pm in Tel Aviv and Beirut. Here is a quick recap of events:
The US president, Donald Trump, used expletive-laden language to call on Iran to let ships through the strait of Hormuz as he threatened to further attack Iranian energy and transport infrastructure. Writing on Truth Social, Trump said: “Open the Fuckin’ Strait, you crazy bastards, or you’ll be living in Hell.”
Iran’s parliament speaker responded with a warning that the US president’s “reckless moves” would mean “our whole region is going to burn”. Mohammad-Bagher Ghalibaf, added in a social media post: “Make no mistake: You won’t gain anything through war crimes. The only real solution is respecting the rights of the Iranian people and ending this dangerous game.”
The US president was sharply rebuked by US politicians, including Republican former ally Marjorie Taylor Greene, who called on the administration to “intervene in Trump’s madness”, adding the president “has gone insane, and all of you are complicit”. Top Senate Democrat Chuck Schumer wrote “the President of the United States is ranting like an unhinged madman on social media”. Schumer added: “He’s threatening possible war crimes and alienating allies. This is who he is, but this is not who we are. Our country deserves so much better.”
The second crew member of a downed F-15E fighter jet was rescued by the US overnight, ending a two-day search after the warplane crashed in south-west Iran. Trump said the crew member was “seriously wounded” but “safe and sound” after a mission that was reportedly made possible with the help of CIA subterfuge.
At least five people were reported to have been killed in US-Israeli attacks in south-west Iran during the rescue operations.
On Sunday, Iran said it struck a petrochemicals complex in Bahrain. Video footage showed thick black smoke rising from the site.
The Kuwait Petroleum Corporation said a number of its facilities had been targeted by Iranian drone attacks, resulting in fires and “significant material losses”. Kuwait also reported that two power and water desalination plants sustained “significant material damage” after being attacked by Iranian drones.
Israel has launched deadly airstrikes on Lebanon and Gaza as its assault on both countries continues. An Israeli airstrike on southern Lebanon’s Kfar Hatta killed at least seven people, including a four-year-old girl, according to Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency.
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Analysis: fighter jet crew rescue is propaganda coup - but also shows Iran can still fight back
Donald Trump will inevitably claim the rescue of the second crew member of the downed F-15 fighter as a propaganda triumph, though the 48-hour drama is a reminder that an undefeated Iran is able to fight back and inflict costs on the US.
It also ought to be a caution for a White House still contemplating whether to launch a ground operation in Iran to seize an island in the Persian Gulf – particularly if there a serious ambition to extract Iran’s highly enriched uranium from deep underground.
The US-Israeli bombing of Iran has been so heavily skewed in the attackers’ favour that a single shoot-down, five weeks into the war, immediately became a significant problem for the Americans because it is so rare – and memorable. The last time a US warplane was shot down by hostile forces was in 2003, during the Iraq war.
Though it is not exactly clear how the F-15E was brought down, the fact that it was is a reminder that the air superiority achieved by the US and Israeli air forces is not entirely absolute, even as they bomb Iran about 300 to 500 times a day.
An Israeli strike targeted an apartment in a residential building in Ain Saadeh on Sunday, a town east of Beirut in the hills overlooking the city, the state-run National News Agency reported.
The area had until now been spared clashes between Hezbollah and Israel, which on Sunday stepped up its strikes on the Lebanese capital’s southern suburbs, including an attack that killed four people near the main public hospital.
Members of Opec+ said on Sunday that repairing energy facilities damaged in recent attacks would be costly and take a long time, and would potentially hit global oil supplies well into the future. They also stressed the “the critical importance of safeguarding international maritime routes to ensure the uninterrupted flow of energy”.
The group, which consists Opec members and other oil-producing countries, reportedly agreed in principle to raising output by 206,000 barrels a day in May, according to Reuters. However, the agreement remains largely symbolic while Iran continues to effectively block the strait of Hormuz.
The strait is a vital trade artery though which about 100 tankers would typically pass each day. Approximately 20% of the world’s total crude oil goes through the narrow waterway and Iran’s blockade has severely constrained distribution.
The conflict has now resulted in the largest disruption to oil supplies in history.
The price of Brent crude has soared, rising more than 50% since the start of the year in response to the war and hitting a peak of $119.50 a barrel in March. It is now trading at about $109 a barrel.
In a significant escalation of the US-Israel war in Iran, Iranian forces shot down two US military jets in recent days. Three pilots involved in the loss of an F-15 Strike Eagle and an A-10 Warthog ground attack plane have been rescued, but the incidents put the US on notice that Iranian air defenses may not be as degraded as the Trump administration has broadly claimed.
Here’s a timeline of what we know so far:
The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) has reported multiple splashes from projectiles in close proximity to a container ship in the United Arab Emirates, in a warning issued Sunday.
The UAE Sharjah government said that Khor Fakkan port was targeted and that no casualties were reported so far, according to a statement on social media by the government’s media office.
The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) denounced Trump for “mocking Islam” and invoking Allah in his Truth Social post threatening Iran. CAIR released the following statement on Sunday:
“President Trump’s deranged mocking of Islam and his threats to attack civilian infrastructure in Iran are reckless, dangerous, and indicative of a mindset that shows indifference to human life and contempt for religious beliefs.
“These statements are not made in a vacuum. They follow a long pattern of anti-Muslim rhetoric and policies that have dehumanized Muslims at home and abroad. The casual use of ‘Praise be to Allah’ in the context of violent threats reflects a disturbing willingness to weaponize religious language while simultaneously denigrating Islam and its followers.
“Congress must not remain on vacation while the President openly promises to commit war crimes that could trigger even more regional and global conflict. Lawmakers have a duty to reconvene and to reassert their authority over matters of war and peace, and to ensure that no president can unilaterally drag our nation into war.”
Mehdi Tabatabaei, deputy for communications at the Iranian president’s office, has said Iran will open the Strait of Hormuz only after receiving compensation for war damages, paid via a “new legal regime” based on transit fees.
Tabatabaei also said Trump has resorted to profanity “out of sheer desperation and rage” and accused the US president of sparking an “all-out war in the region.”
“The Strait of Hormuz will reopen only when, under a new legal regime, the damages from the imposed war are fully compensated from a portion of the transit toll revenues,” Tabatabaei posted on social media.
Donald Trump said his deadline for Iran to open the Strait of Hormuz or face attacks on critical infrastructure is Tuesday evening, according to an interview he gave to the Wall Street Journal published on Sunday.
“If they don’t do something by Tuesday evening, they won’t have any power plants and they won’t have any bridges standing,” Trump told the Journal. In a social media post earlier on Sunday, Trump had said Iran would face infrastructure attacks and the country will be “living in Hell” if it did not open the strait by Tuesday.
Trump also cryptically posted “Tuesday, 8:00 P.M. Eastern Time!” on Truth Social on Sunday afternoon, probably referencing his new deadline for Iran.
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Iran's parliament speaker says 'our whole region is going to burn' due to Trump's actions
Mohammad-Bagher Ghalibaf, the speaker of the Parliament of Iran, responded to Trump’s threats in a social media post.
“Your reckless moves are dragging the United States into a living HELL for every single family, and our whole region is going to burn because you insist on following Netanyahu’s commands,” he wrote.
“Make no mistake: You won’t gain anything through war crimes. The only real solution is respecting the rights of the Iranian people and ending this dangerous game.”
Former Iranian foreign minister Ali Akbar Velayati also warned that “if the White House repeats its foolish mistakes, it will quickly realize that the flow of energy and global trade can be disrupted with a single signal.”
Velayati further criticized Washington’s strategies, stating that while “the United States has learned history from Iran, it has yet to learn the geography of power.”
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Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy is concerned that a prolonged US-Israeli war on Iran could erode America’s support for Ukraine as Washington’s global priorities shift.
Zelenskyy told the Associated Press that Ukraine urgently needs more Patriot air defense systems from the US as Kyiv tries to fend off relentless Russian aerial attacks. He says he fears there will be reduced deliveries as resources are diverted to the Middle East.
“We have to recognize that we are not the priority for today,” Zelenskyy said. “That’s why I am afraid a long (Iran) war will give us less support.”
He also said that Russia benefits economically from the war and is sharing intelligence with Iran. Zelenskyy has offered Ukraine’s expertise in countering Iranian drones and defense cooperation with Gulf Arab states.
Top Senate Democrate condemns Trump for 'threatening possible war crimes'
Senator Chuck Schumer, the Senate Democratic Leader responded to Trump’s rant by writing: “Happy Easter, America. As you head off to church and celebrate with friends and family, the President of the United States is ranting like an unhinged madman on social media.
“He’s threatening possible war crimes and alienating allies. This is who he is, but this is not who we are. Our country deserves so much better,” Schumer wrote.
House minority leader Hakeem Jeffries, meanwhile, posted his gratitude for the rescue of the second US crew member. “Thankful that the second Air Force officer whose fighter jet was shot down in Iran has been heroically rescued by US Special Operations. What a blessing on Easter Sunday morning. May God continue to watch over our troops.”
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Democrats are responding to Trump’s expletive-laden rant on Truth Social this morning.
Senator Bernie Sanders called it “dangerous and mentally unbalanced,” writing on his X account: “One month after starting the war in Iran, this is the statement of the President of the United States on Easter Sunday. These are the ravings of a dangerous and mentally unbalanced individual. Congress has got to act NOW. End this war.”
Senator Chris Murphy called it completely unhinged, posting on social media: “If I were in Trump’s Cabinet, I would spend Easter calling constitutional lawyers about the 25th Amendment. This is completely, utterly unhinged. He’s already killed thousands. He’s going to kill thousands more.”
Representative Becca Balint said during an appearance on MS Now: “If President Biden or President Obama had said anything remotely like this, it would be nonstop coverage on every single channel and everyone on the other side of the aisle would be howling about it and demanding that they step down.”
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A US official has told investigative journalist Michael Weiss some interesting details about the high-stakes rescue mission of the weapon systems officer from the F-15E aircraft shot down over Iran:
In a post on X this morning, Oman’s foreign ministry said Oman and Iran held talks at the deputy foreign minister level to discuss options for ensuring the smooth transit of vessels through the strait of Hormuz, which in normal times carries about a fifth of the world’s oil and gas supplies.
“During the meeting, experts from both sides presented a number of visions and proposals that will be studied,” the ministry said in a post.
Iran has allowed a trickle of ships through from nations it deems “non-hostile”, such as Thailand, China, Pakistan and India.
An Iranian parliamentary committee last week approved a proposal to collect a toll on vessels travelling through the strait of Hormuz but said ships from the US, Israel and countries that imposed sanctions on Iran would not be permitted.
Iran and Oman are reportedly drafting a protocol to “monitor transit” through the strait of Hormuz. Donald Trump claims the US is unaffected by its closure because it doesn’t rely heavily on oil imports via the vital waterway. However, this ignores the fact that oil is an internationally traded commodity and that US consumers are being directly hit by a surge in energy prices resulting from the effective closure of the strait (you can read about the rising cost of gas here).
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Trump says deal with Iran possible by Monday - report
In an interview with Fox News, the US president, Donald Trump, said he believes he can reach a deal with Iran by Monday. We will bring you quotes from the interview on this when we have them.
Trump has threatened Iran that he would begin bombing its infrastructure Tuesday morning if the vital strait of Hormuz, which Tehran has effectively closed as leverage in the war, is not reopened.
Its closure is having a crippling effect on the global economy and has sent the price of energy soaring, including in the US. This fact is likely to hurt the Republicans in the midterms in November.
Trump has previously boasted of diplomatic progress in talks with Tehran, although Iran has denied any direct negotiation has taken place, only mediation efforts undertaken by intermediaries.
In the interview with Fox News, Trump also said the US sent guns to the Iranian demonstrators during the nationwide protests against the rising cost of living and the government in January.
The protests posed a major threat to the Iranian regime and an estimated 7,000 people were killed by security forces in a brutal crackdown, according to HRANA.
“We sent guns to the protesters, a lot of them,” Trump told Fox News’ chief foreign correspondent Trey Yingst. “And I think the Kurds took the guns.”
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Former Trump ally Marjorie Taylor Greene condemns latest social media threat
Former Trump ally Majorie Taylor Greene has said everyone in the Trump administration who claims to be a Christian needs to “beg forgiveness from God” and intervene in the president’s “madness”.
In a lengthy post on X, which came after the US president again threatened Iran’s infrastructure if the strait of Hormuz remains closed, the former congresswoman wrote:
I know all of you and him and he has gone insane, and all of you are complicit. I’m not defending Iran but let’s be honest about all of this.
The Strait is closed because the US and Israel started the unprovoked war against Iran based on the same nuclear lies they’ve been telling for decades, that any moment Iran would develop a nuclear weapon.
You know who has nuclear weapons? Israel. They are more than capable of defending themselves without the US having to fight their wars, kill innocent people and children, and pay for it. Trump threatening to bomb power plants and bridges hurts the Iranian people, the very people Trump claimed he was freeing.
After years of loyalty, Greene broke from Trump last year as she questioned his strikes on Iran last June. She has said Trump, who campaigned on an “America first” slogan, has concentrated too much on foreign policy at the expense of domestic issues, such as those around affordability.
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US-Israeli airstrikes hit an airport in southwestern Iran earlier today, state media has reported.
“The Shahid (Qasem) Soleimani international airport was hit in an airstrike carried out by” US and Israeli forces, the official IRNA news agency said, citing the deputy governor of Khuzestan province, Valiollah Hayati. We have not been able to independently verify these claims yet.
Lebanon’s national news agency has said an Israeli airstrike on the Jnah area of southern Beirut has killed four people and injured 39 others.
In an earlier post, we cited a report of a child being among seven people killed in an Israeli airstrike on Kfar Hatta in southern Lebanon.
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Summary of the day so far...
It has just gone past 16:45pm in Tehran, and 16:15pm in Tel Aviv and Beirut. Here is a quick recap of events:
The US president, Donald Trump, used abusive language to call on Iran to let ships through the strait of Hormuz as he threatened to further attack Iranian energy and transport infrastructure.
The second crew member of a downed F-15E fighter jet was rescued by the US overnight, ending a two-day search after the warplane crashed in south-west Iran.
Trump said the crew member was “seriously wounded” but “safe and sound” after a mission that was reportedly made possible with the help of CIA subterfuge.
At least five people were reported to have been killed in US-Israeli attacks in south-west Iran during the rescue operations.
The Kuwait Petroleum Corporation said a number of facilities were targeted by Iranian drone attacks earlier today, resulting in fires and “significant material losses”.
Israel has launched deadly airstrikes on Lebanon and Gaza as its assault on both countries continues. An Israeli airstrike on southern Lebanon’s Kfar Hatta killed at least seven people, including a four-year-old girl, according to Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency.
Hezbollah said it launched missiles towards northern Israel, which the IDF says it has intercepted, according to reports.
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Trump uses abusive language in new post threatening Iranian infrastructure
In a follow-up post on Truth Social, Trump has used abusive language to call on Iran to let ships through the Strait of Hormuz, and threatened to further attack Iranian energy and transport infrastructure. He said:
Tuesday will be Power Plant Day, and Bridge Day, all wrapped up in one, in Iran. There will be nothing like it!!! Open the Fuckin’ Strait, you crazy bastards, or you’ll be living in Hell - JUST WATCH! Praise be to Allah. President DONALD J. TRUMP
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Donald Trump has posted a new message on his Truth Social platform about the rescue of the second US airman, in which he says Iran was “getting close” to finding the F-15 crew member. He also announced a news conference with the military at the Oval office on Monday.
We have rescued the seriously wounded, and really brave, F-15 Crew Member/Officer, from deep inside the mountains of Iran. The Iranian Military was looking hard, in big numbers, and getting close. He is a highly respected Colonel.
This type of raid is seldom attempted because of the danger to ‘man and equipment.’ It just doesn’t happen! The second raid came after the first one, where we rescued the pilot in broad daylight, also unusual, spending seven hours over Iran.
“An AMAZING show of bravery and talent by all! I will be having a News Conference, with the Military, at the Oval Office, on Monday, at 1:00 P.M. God Bless our great MILITARY WARRIORS! President DONALD J. TRUMP
Iranian drone attacks cause 'significant material losses' at Kuwait energy facilities
The Kuwait Petroleum Corporation said a number of its facilities were targeted by Iranian drone attacks on Sunday, resulting in fires and “significant material losses”.
It said facilities at the Kuwait National Petroleum Company and the Petrochemical Industries Company were targeted. There were no reports of any injuries and specialised teams are working to contain the fires, according to a statement posted on X.
Kuwaiti state media has also reported that two power and water desalination plants sustained “significant material damage” after being attacked by Iranian drones.
Child among seven people killed by Israeli airstrike in southern Lebanon - report
Lebanon’s national news agency is reporting that an Israeli airstrike on southern Lebanon’s Kfar Hatta killed at least seven people, including a four-year-old girl.
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The rescue of the second F-15E crew member was made possible with the help of CIA subterfuge, according to reports in the US media. Here is some detail from the Guardian’s defence and security correspondent, Dan Sabbagh, who has filed a story about the mission:
The CIA took more than a day to locate the missing airman, according to a report in Axios, and launched a disinformation campaign in Iran to give the impression that he had been found in order to fool Iranian forces on the ground. After more than a day the intelligence agency located him, the report added.
Uncrewed Reaper drones were used to protect the airman once he had been located, by “striking Iranian military-aged males believed to be a threat who got within three kilometer” according to a correspondent with the US Air & Space Forces Magazine, who said he had been briefed on the operation.
We have some images of what appears to be the wreckage of a destroyed helicopter in central Iran. It is not clear what make the aircraft is or the circumstances under which it was reportedly shot down. The US has not commented on the images yet.
The Associated reports that US troops blew up two transport planes due to a technical malfunction, forcing them to bring in additional aircraft to complete the rescue of the missing American crew member of the F-15E fighter jet that was shot down over southern Iran on Friday.
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Israel reportedly strikes building in south Beirut after warning
Israel has hit a building in south Beirut after issuing an evacuation warning (see previous post), according to reporting in Lebanese state media.
“The enemy targeted the threatened building in the Ghobeiry area towards Bir Hassan-Jnah,” Lebanon’s state-run national news agency reported. We will bring you more on this as soon as we have it.
Israel orders residents of Beirut’s southern suburbs to flee ahead of an attack
In a post on X, the Israeli military’s Arabic-language spokesperson Avichay Adraee sent out an “urgent” warning for people in Beirut’s southern suburbs, particularly in the Ghobeiry neighbourhood, to flee ahead of a military attack.
Below the post is a graphic featuring a building marked in red which Adraee said is “affiliated” with Hezbollah, without providing any evidence to support his claim. He said everyone in that building – and the ones adjacent to it on the map – should leave immediately (before airstrikes).
Israel has repeatedly launched deadly strikes on Beirut’s densely populated southern suburbs since its renewed assault on Lebanon that began on 2 March – killing over 1,360 people, including at least 125 children, injuring over 4,130 others, and displacing over a million, according to the Lebanese health ministry.
The renewed Israeli war on Lebanon was launched after Hezbollah – the Iranian-backed Lebanese militant group – fired rockets into northern Israel in response to the killing of the former Iranian supreme leader, Ali Khamenei, in joint US-Israeli airstrikes.
Bahrain’s defence force has said its air defence systems have intercepted and destroyed 466 drones and 188 missiles since 28 February, when Israel and the US started the war with a a series of strikes on Iran, killing the former supreme leader Ali Khamenei.
In response, Iran has since launched retaliatory airstrikes against Israel and at Gulf countries, where they have targeted American military bases as well as striking civilian and energy infrastructure.
In its latest update, published on Sunday, Gaza’s health ministry said at least 72,292 Palestinian people have been killed and 172,073 others injured in Israeli attacks on Gaza since 7 October 2023.
At least 716 Palestinian people have been killed in Israeli attacks since a ceasefire came into effect in October 2025, according to the ministry, whose figures the UN generally find reliable.
Most of the people killed have been civilians and the true death toll is likely much higher given the number of those still buried under rubble across the Gaza Strip.
Local health authorities said an Israeli airstrike killed at least four Palestinian people in the northern Gaza Strip on Sunday. Medics said the airstrike targeted a group of people in Jaffa Street, near the Darraj neighbourhood in Gaza City.
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Bahrain’s Gulf Petrochemical Industries Company has said a fire at its operating units has been brought under control following an Iranian drone attack, with no injuries reported.
In an earlier post, we reported that Bahrain’s civil defence officials were working to contain a fire after an Iranian attack.
The Egyptian foreign minister, Badr Abdelatty, has spoken by phone with US envoy Steve Witkoff, and Iranian foreign minister Abbas Araghchi, as well as with his Turkish and Pakistani counterparts.
The Egyptian foreign ministry said earlier today that Abdelatty on Saturday discussed “ideas and proposals to achieve the required calm” and warned of an “unprecedented explosion” in the Middle East, without elaborating on what that meant.
Egypt, Turkey and Pakistan have emerged as active intermediaries in trying to de-escalate regional tensions, reopen the strait of Hormuz and ultimately bring the US-Israeli war on Iran to an end.
On Saturday, Donald Trump threatened to rain “hell” down on Iran if it refuses to “make a deal or open up the Hormuz Strait” in the next 48 hours.
Iran has rejected any proposal for a temporary ceasefire and wants a permanent end to the war with robust guarantees the US won’t attack again, according to a report in Axios.
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At least five people killed by US-Israeli attacks during US pilot rescue operations in Iran - report
At least five people were killed in US-Israeli attacks in south-west Iran during rescue operations for the then missing US crew member from the downed F-15 jet, a local governor has been quoted as having said by the Tasnim news agency, which is affiliated to the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps.
The governor of the mountainous provinces of Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad said all five people were killed after an attack in the “black mountain” area of Kohgiluyeh.
As we have been reporting, both crew members from the downed F-15 fighter jet have now been rescued. The US president, Donald Trump, said no Americans were killed or injured in the rescue mission, about which few details have been officially confirmed.
Hezbollah, the Iranian-backed Lebanese militant group and political party, said that its fighters targeted an Israeli warship 68 nautical miles off the coast of Lebanon early this morning, according to the Tasnim news agency.
Hezbollah was quoted as saying that the warship was preparing to launch attacks on Lebanese territory.
“The targeting operation was carried out with a naval cruise missile after hours of monitoring the target, and a direct hit was confirmed,” it added in a statement. We have not yet been able to independently verify the information in this report. The IDF says it is unaware of the alleged incident.
Operations at petrochemicals company Borouge’s factory in Abu Dhabi have been suspended because of fires that started by falling debris after successful interceptions by air defense systems, but production at the plant has halted.
The plant is in Ruwais, near the UAE’s western border with Saudi Arabia. It is a joint venture of the Abu Dhabi National Oil Co. and Borealis of Australia.
Authorities in the UAE capital said on Sunday no injuries had been reported, according to Reuters.
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Aid groups are warning that the war in the Middle East has upended their ability to get food and medicine to millions of people around the world who are in need, and that the suffering will deepen if the violence continues.
The conflict has cut vital shipping routes, creating a global energy crisis and forcing aid groups to use costlier, more time-consuming routes.
Important pathways such as the strait of Hormuz have been effectively closed and routes from strategic hubs such as Dubai, Doha and Abu Dhabi have also been affected.
The World Food Program says it has a huge amount of food stuck in transit, while the International Rescue Committee has $130,000 worth of pharmaceuticals intended for war-torn Sudan stranded in Dubai and about 670 boxes of therapeutic food meant for severely malnourished children in Somalia stuck in India. The UN Population Fund says it’s delayed sending equipment to 16 countries.
More images of the conflict engulfing the Middle East have come into the newsroom today.
Iranian media has claims that a US aircraft was destroyed while searching for the crew member of a missing US F-15 fighter jet.
“An American enemy aircraft that was searching for the pilot of a downed fighter jet was destroyed by the fighters of Islam in the southern region of Isfahan,” the Tasnim news agency quoted Iran’s Revolutionary Guards as saying. The Guardian was unable to verify their claim.
US President Donald Trump said that the second crew member from the jet that crashed inside Iran was “SAFE and SOUND” after a search and rescue operation. Trump said the US rescued both airmen “without a SINGLE American killed, or even wounded”.
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A US air force weapons officer whose fighter jet was shot down in Iran on Friday was rescued by US Special Operations forces in a Saturday night mission that took commandos deep into enemy territory, the New York Times has reported.
US commandos extracted the officer – who had been hiding with just a pistol as defence – in an operation that involved hundreds of troops, and dozens of US warplanes and helicopters, the Times reported, citing US officials.
The crew members of the F-15E Strike Eagle, the first lost to enemy fire in the war, ejected from their cockpit on Friday after they were attacked by Iranian forces. The jet’s pilot was soon rescued.
Then, late on Saturday night, US attack aircraft reportedly dropped bombs and opened fire on Iranian convoys as US forces converged on the airman’s location and engaged in a firefight with the enemy, two former senior military officials briefed on the operation told the Times.
Emirati air defences are responding to missile and drone attacks, the United Arab Emirates’ defence ministry has said, as Iran said it was targeting “aluminium industries” in the Gulf nation.
“UAE Air Defences … are actively engaging with missiles and UAV threats,” the ministry posted on X, providing no details about the origin of the attack.
Iran’s army said it was targeting “aluminum industries” in the UAE and US military infrastructure in Kuwait, the official IRNA news agency reported on Saturday.
Trump confirms on Truth Social rescue of second F-15 crew member
US President Donald Trump has confirmed on Truth Social that the US has rescued the second crew member from a F-15 fighter jet shot down over Iran on Friday.
Identifying the crew member as a colonel, Trump wrote that US forces were monitoring his location “24 hours a day” and planning for his rescue.
“WE GOT HIM! My fellow Americans, over the past several hours, the United States Military pulled off one of the most daring Search and Rescue Operations in U.S. History, for one of our incredible Crew Member Officers, who also happens to be a highly respected Colonel, and who I am thrilled to let you know is now SAFE and SOUND!”
Trump said that at his direction, “the US Military sent dozens of aircraft” to retrieve him, and claimed “not a single American” was killed during the operation.
The jet’s pilot was rescued on Friday.
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US forces rescue second crew member of downed F-15 fighter jet, Reuters reports
Reuters is reporting it has been told by US officials that US forces have rescued the second crew member of a downed F-15 fighter jet in Iran. On Friday, the pilot was rescued after the F-15E Strike Eagle became the first plane to be downed over Iran during the five-week-long war.
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A former director of the United Nations nuclear watchdog has urged Gulf nations to prevent Donald Trump from turning the region into “a ball of fire”, after the US president’s latest threat to Tehran.
Mohamed El-Baradei, who led the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) from 1997 to 2009, also tagged UN and European Union accounts, as well as French president Emmanuel Macron, in his posts online.
“Nothing can be done to stop this madness?!” he wrote, also tagging the Chinese and Russian foreign ministries.
Trump said Saturday that Iran must make a deal or reopen the vital strait of Hormuz, which Tehran has effectively blocked since the US and Israel launched their war on Iran in February.
“Time is running out – 48 hours before all Hell will reign (sic) down on them.”
El-Baradei, an 83-year-old former Egyptian vice-president, led the IAEA during the start of the public controversy surrounding Iran’s nuclear program. He and his organisation were jointly awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2005 for their efforts to promote the peaceful uses of nuclear energy.
South Korea’s finance minister met with envoys from Gulf countries to shore up energy security and the safety of Korean vessels near the strait of Hormuz, the ministry said on Sunday, as the escalating Iran war disrupts shipping.
In the meeting on Friday, Koo Yun-cheol asked the Gulf Cooperation Council ambassadors to ensure a steady supply of oil, liquefied natural gas, naphtha, urea and other critical resources, and to ensure the safety of Korean vessels and crew near the vital strait, the ministry said in a statement.
The envoys said South Korea is a “top priority” nation and pledged to communicate closely with Seoul to ensure stable supply, the statement said.
Like other Asian economies, South Korea relies heavily on energy imports, including through the strait of Hormuz, which was a conduit for 20% of the world’s oil before the US and Israel launched the war in February.
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Bahrain’s interior ministry has said civil defence officials are working to contain a fire after an Iranian attack.
It comes as the government in Kuwait says energy infrastructure and water desalination plants were damaged in Sunday morning drone attacks by Iran.
The attacks resulted in “significant material damage and the shutdown of two electricity generating units”, Kuwait electricity and water ministry said in a post on X, adding there were no deaths or injuries.
Iran rejects Trump's demand to make a deal within 48 hours
Iran has rejected Donald Trump’s demand that the regime cut a deal in 48 hours or face “all hell”.
On Saturday, the US president posted on social media: “Remember when I gave Iran ten days to MAKE A DEAL or OPEN UP THE HORMUZ STRAIT,” referring to an ultimatum issued on 26 March.
“Time is running out – 48 hours before all Hell will reign down on them.”
Iran’s central military command rejected the ultimatum, with Gen Ali Abdollahi Aliabadi saying Trump’s threat was a “helpless, nervous, unbalanced and stupid action”.
Echoing Trump’s language, he warned that “the gates of hell will open for you”.
Trump later posted a video showing explosions lighting up a night sky along with text that said: “Many of Iran’s Military Leaders … are terminated, along with much else, with this massive strike in Tehran,” without specifying when it took place.
Summary
Welcome to the Guardian’s continuing coverage of the US-Israel war on Iran and the ongoing crisis in the Middle East.
Iran launched missiles and drones at Israel and Kuwait early on Sunday, a day after Donald Trump said the Islamic republic had 48 hours to cut a deal or face “all Hell”.
Kuwait and Israel said their air defences were responding to the latest attacks from Iran, part of the war that erupted more than a month ago with US-Israeli strikes that triggered retaliation by Tehran.
The war has spread conflict throughout the Middle East and convulsed the global economy. Iran’s forces maintain a tight grip on the strait of Hormuz shipping lane – a vital conduit for oil and gas – and strike economic targets in Gulf neighbours they see as linked to the US-Israeli war effort.
Elsewhere today:
The Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, confirmed that Israel attacked Iran’s petrochemical plants after reports from Iranian media saying at least five people were killed in an attack on the Mahshahr petrochemical zone.
US search and rescue efforts for the missing second crew member of the downed F-15E fighter jet continued into a second day as Iran came under heavy bombing. A pilot had been rescued on Friday after the F-15E Strike Eagle became the first US plane to be downed over Iran during the five-week-long war.
American and Israeli fighter jets targeted multiple strategic and civilian sites inside Iran’s capital on Friday afternoon, including Shahid Beheshti University, one of the country’s leading academic institutions, Iranian state media reported.
The death toll in Lebanon has reached 1,422 since the conflict with Israel began on 2 March, according to data from the Lebanese health ministry and reported by the Associated Press. In just the past 24 hours, Israeli strikes have killed 54 people and wounded 156.
The Kuwaiti Ministry of Defense said on Saturday that its air defense forces successfully intercepted eight ballistic missiles and 19 drones over the last 24 hours. However, on Sunday a fire has erupted in the Shuwaikh oil sector complex that houses the oil ministry and Kuwait Petroleum Corporation headquarters, after a drone attack, and Kuwaiti state media reported that two power and water desalination plants sustained “significant material damage” after being attacked by Iranian drones.
A Lebanese security source at the main crossing between Syria and Lebanon, said they were evacuating the crossing after Israel threatened to attack it. The Israeli military said on Saturday it would strike an area near the Masnaa crossing urging residents to evacuate immediately as it continued its attacks across Lebanon.
Residents of southern Lebanon’s Kfar Hatta were told on social media by Israel to immediately leave the area, and warned that the Israeli military would soon act “with force” in the area.
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