Iran's top officials pushed back Monday against President Trump's deadline to open the Strait of Hormuz, striking a defiant tone as the warring sides traded missile attacks. The U.S. and Israel targeted oil facilities inside Iran, while Iran hit several towns in Israel and oil refineries across the Gulf countries.
In a media post on Sunday, Trump gave Iran an ultimatum to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, a deadline, which he said, is set to expire on Tuesday at 8 pm ET.
A few hours earlier, Trump had issued a profane social media post: "Tuesday will be Power Plant Day, and Bridge Day, all wrapped up in one, in Iran," and adding, "Open the F***in' Strait, you crazy bastards, or you'll be living in Hell - JUST WATCH!"
Attacking civilian infrastructure that doesn't contribute to military action is considered a war crime under the Geneva Convention.
Iranian officials reacted to Trump's threats.
A spokesman for Iran's president, Seyyed Mehdi Tabatabai, called Trump's statement a reaction of "sheer desperation and anger."
"The Strait of Hormuz will open when all the damages caused by the imposed war are compensated through a new legal regime, using a portion of the revenue from transit fees," Tabatabai said in a post on social media on Sunday.
Iran's ministry of foreign affairs echoed the statement: "We are determined to defend our national security and sovereignty with all might," Esmail Baghaei told Iran's Wana news agency.
Iran's Mission to the U.N. said on Sunday "Trump seeks to drag the region into an endless war."
"This is direct and public incitement to terrorise civilians and clear evidence of intent to commit war crimes," it said on a post on X. "The international community and all States have legal obligations to prevent such atrocious acts of war crimes."
Here are more updates on the war in Iran today:
Diplomatic initiatives | Israel kills intel chief | Strikes in Iran, Israel and Gulf | Bab al-Mandeb Strait
Diplomatic initiatives under way
Egyptian, Pakistani and Turkish envoys are said to have submitted to the U.S. and Iran a proposal for a 45-day ceasefire and the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, according to the Associated Press.
The proposal was submitted on Sunday to Iran Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and U.S. Mideast envoy Steve Witkoff, AP reports.
Qatar's Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al-Thani called on Monday for a return to negotiations and Oman said it engaged with Iranian diplomats over the weekend to discuss the proposal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz as the U.S. and Iran traded threats and strikes on day 38 of the war.
A statement from Qatar's foreign ministry said Al-Thani "emphasized the need to strengthen coordination, intensify joint efforts, return to the negotiating table, and prioritize reason and wisdom to contain the crisis, thereby ensuring global energy security, freedom of navigation, environmental safety, and preserving regional stability" during a call with India's foreign minister.
The foreign ministry of Oman said its representatives engaged with Iranian diplomats in a meeting "where possible options were discussed regarding ensuring the smooth flow of passage through the Strait of Hormuz during these circumstances witnessed in the region."
In a post on X on Sunday, the ministry said that "experts from both sides presented a number of visions and proposals that will be studied."
Israel says it has killed the intelligence chief of Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps
Iran has confirmed the killing of Majid Khadami, intelligence chief of the paramilitary Revolutionary Guard Corps.
Israel's defense minister, Israel Katz, said Israel would continue to "hunt down" Iran's leaders one by one and threatened to destroy Iran's national infrastructure if Iran continues firing at civilians in Israel.
As Israel burns through its stockpile of interceptors that shoot down missiles, it has announced a plan to speed up production.
U.S. and Israel strike Iran oil and steel plants as Iran targets oil refineries, telecom in the region
Israeli officials said on Monday that U.S. and Israeli jets struck Iran's petrochemical industry, steel plans and other infrastructure and disabled their operations. Defense Minister Katz said the targeted sites supported Iran's missile production industry.
Iran launched missiles and drones in Israel and across the Persian Gulf oil refineries overnight, which it says produce fuel and products used by the U.S. military.
Iranian missiles hit Tel Aviv, other towns in central Israel and the northern port city of Haifa on Monday. Iran said it targeted the oil refinery, which it said supplies fuel to Israeli jets. The Magen David Adom rescue teams in Haifa said their paramedics were treating four people for mild injuries and the organization's footage from the scene showed smoke and fire in a residential area.
Four people were killed in Haifa on Sunday after an Iranian missile struck a six-floor residential building, which was engulfed in flames.
Iranian drones also struck the oil sector complex in Shuwaikh on Sunday, where Kuwait Petroleum Corporation headquarters and the country's ministry of oil are located. A statement by KPC said the strikes caused fire at the complex, causing "substantial material damage."
It also said that "a number" of operational facilities managed by Kuwait's National Petroleum Company and the Petrochemical Industries were hit by drones, with fire erupting in several facilities.
Authorities said emergency teams were on site to contain the fires. Over the weekend, Iran also hit two power and water desalination plants in Kuwait, knocking out power generation units.
Meanwhile, a telecom building and a port were targeted in the UAE on Monday. That port is vital for food imports as its main port in Dubai remains inaccessible. Officials in the United Arab Emirates reported to have intercepted nine ballistic missiles, 50 drones and a cruise missile fired by Iran on Sunday. UAE's ministry of defense said the country's air defenses were engaged through Monday to intercept Iranian missiles and drones.
Bab al-Mandeb Strait as a target
Aliakbar Velayati, an adviser to the newly appointed supreme leader Mojtaba Khamenei, warned that Iran may target another key location in the Middle East for the passage of vessels, Bab al-Mandeb Strait. Tucked between Yemen and the Horn of Africa, connecting the Red Sea, the Gulf of Aden and Arabian Sea to the Suez Canal, Bab al-Mandeb Strait could become a target of the Iran-backed Houthi militants, who entered the Iran war last week by attacking Israel, and operate out of Yemen.
An estimated 10 % of the global trade moves through the Red Sea, a key route for transporting oil from the Arabian Gulf to Mediterranean and connecting Europe to Asia.
Velayati said Iran's regime "views Bab al-Mandab with the same intensity as Hormuz."
"And if the White House contemplates repeating its foolish mistakes, it will quickly realize that the flow of energy and global trade can be disrupted with a single signal," Velayati wrote on X. America, he added, "has yet to learn the geography of power."
Carrie Kahn and Daniel Estrin contributed to this report from Tel Aviv, Aya Batrawy from Dubai and Tina Kraja from Washington, DC
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