Iran launched fresh attacks across the Middle East on Monday and threatened âdevastatingâ retaliation, after US President Donald Trumpâs expletive-laced warning that Tehran must reopen the Strait of Hormuz.
Israel, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates reported a barrage of missile and drone strikes early Monday.
The attacks came as Tehran ramped up rhetoric against Trump, with Tehranâs central military command warning of âmuch more devastatingâ retaliation if its adversaries hit civilian targets.
The warning came hours after Trump threatened to destroy Iranâs civilian infrastructure, demanding Tehran bow to his demands for a deal to reopen the Gulf to shipping.
Iran has effectively blocked the Strait of Hormuz, a vital energy chokepoint, provoking Trump to demand Sunday: âOpen the Fuckinâ Strait, you crazy bastards, or youâll be living in Hell.â
In a terse follow-up post, the president apparently set a new deadline for Iran to comply: âTuesday, 8:00 PMâ (0000 GMT Wednesday).
As Christians marked Easter, Trump revived warnings of air strikes on Iranian power plants and bridges, after celebrating the rescue of a wounded airman whose fighter jet went down inside Iran.
Iranian images showed wreckage of several aircraft, but Tehran did not deny US forces rescued the officer, who sheltered in a mountainous area while American special forces and Iranian troops raced to find him.
Trump said in a Truth Social post announcing the airmanâs rescue that he would give a news conference on Monday.
Nothing like it!
The war, which erupted on February 28 with deadly US-Israeli strikes on Tehran, has engulfed the Middle East and strained the global economy.
Iranian missiles have hit Israeli cities and economic infrastructure in the Gulf, sending world energy prices soaring.
Oil opened higher in early trading in Asia, with US benchmark West Texas Intermediate up 1.86 percent to $113.62 a barrel and Brent above $110.
While Trump told Fox News Iran was âcloseâ to making a deal, security analyst Danny Citrinowicz said âthe prospect of a negotiated agreement with Iran, at least under current conditions, is close to nonexistent.â
âTuesday will be Power Plant Day, and Bridge Day, all wrapped up in one, in Iran. There will be nothing like it!!!â Trump declared, prompting Tehran to accuse Trump of taking orders from Israelâs Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Iranâs parliament speaker, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, posted on social media that âour whole region is going to burn because you insist on following Netanyahuâs commands.â
Iranâs ally Russia also condemned Trumpâs threat.
Moscow said Washington should abandon âthe language of ultimatumsâ and return to negotiations, according to a Russian readout of Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrovâs latest call with his Iranian counterpart.
Many residents of Tehran seemed indifferent to Trumpâs invective, with young Iranians exercising, flying kites and holding picnics in a large park in the cityâs west on Sunday.
US Airman Rescue
The New York Times reported that the rescued US airman, a weapons systems officer, was equipped with a pistol, a beacon and a secure communications device to coordinate with rescuers.
Two of the aircraft meant to transport him and his rescuers to safety were stuck inside Iran and had to be destroyed to prevent them from falling into Iranian hands, The Times and CBS reported.
US forces used three other planes to carry out the airman and his rescuers, reports said.
Iranâs military said it destroyed four US aircraft involved in the operation, which it said used an abandoned airport.
Iranian media reported five people were killed in strikes during the operation.
Footage released by Iranâs Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps was presented as showing charred, smoking wreckage of an American aircraft scattered across a desert area.
Iran claims it downed the fighter jet and the crew ejected, while US media reported only the plane was shot down. Washington has not confirmed what caused the plane to come down.
Gulf nations reported a wave of fresh strikes from Sunday to Monday, with Kuwait saying it was working to intercept a barrage of missiles and drones fired towards the territory.
The United Arab Emirates also said on Monday that its air defences were responding to a missile and drone attack.
It came after UAE authorities in Sharjah said they were dealing with an âincidentâ in the key port of Khor Fakkan following an Iranian strike.
Israelâs army also said Monday it had identified a fresh wave of missiles launched from Iran towards the country.
UAE presidential adviser Anwar Gargash warned Iran that targeting its Arab neighbours âwill actually concretise the American role,â adding the UAE was ready to âjoin any American-led effort, international effort to secure navigation in the Strait of Hormuz.â
Choose Peace
In Iran, local media reported several attacks on residential areas in Tehran on Monday, while the state broadcaster said that gas outages hit parts of the capital after a strike on a university.
Israelâs army said early Monday it had completed a wave of strikes against âregime targetsâ in Tehran.
On another front, Lebanon has increasingly been dragged into the conflict since Iran-backed Hezbollah resumed targeting Israel.
Israel has struck back and pushed forces into southern Lebanon, with the army chief Lieutenant General Eyal Zamir visiting there Sunday and pledging to intensify strikes against Hezbollah.
UN peacekeepers in Lebanon have warned that attacks by Israel and Hezbollah near their positions âcould potentially draw return fire.â
The Israeli military and medics said a missile fired from Iran hit a residential building in the northern city of Haifa, wounding four people.
The war cast a shadow over Easter celebrations, with Pope Leo XIV using his first Easter blessing as pontiff to urge leaders to âchoose peaceâ.
AFP
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