Iran remains defiant ahead of Trump’s ceasefire deadline

Hours before a deadline set by US President Donald Trump, Iran and Israel exchanged fresh attacks this morning, with Tehran refusing to reopen the Strait of Hormuz or sign on to a ceasefire agreement.

Iran turned down a US proposal, brokered by Pakistan, calling for an immediate ceasefire and an end to its effective blockade of the strait, followed by negotiations on a wider peace settlement within 15 to 20 days, according to a source familiar with the plan.

Tehran’s reply included ten clauses, among them a demand for an end to conflicts across the region, a protocol to guarantee safe passage through the Strait of Hormuz, the lifting of sanctions, and reconstruction, the official IRNA news agency reported.

Yesterday, Mr Trump said “the entire country can be taken out in one night, and that night might be tomorrow night”.

Donald Trump has given Iran until tomorrow to reopen the Strait of Hormuz

If no agreement is reached, Mr Trump said “every bridge in Iran will be decimated” by midnight EDT (5am Irish time) tomorrow and “every power plant in Iran will be out of business, burning, exploding, and never to be used again”.

Fighting unabated

Early today, the Israeli military said it had carried out a wave of airstrikes aimed at Iranian government infrastructure in Tehran and elsewhere.

It said air defence systems were also being used to intercept missiles fired from Iran.

Saudi Arabia said it intercepted ballistic missiles headed toward its eastern region, with debris falling near energy facilities, though its defence ministry did not say who launched them.

Since the US and Israel launched the war on Iran on 28 February, Saudi Arabia has faced hundreds of Iranian missiles and drones, most of them intercepted, authorities have said.

Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain all issued public safety alerts at the same time this morning.

Mr Trump dismissed questions over whether his threat to destroy Iranian power plants could amount to war crimes, saying he was “not at all” concerned by that prospect.

Anti-war demonstrators gathered outside the US Embassy in Tel Aviv

“I hope I don’t have to do it,” he said.

Iran’s envoy to the United Nations said yesterday that Mr Trump’s threat to strike was “direct incitement to terrorism and provide clear evidence of intent to commit war crimes under international law”.

Iran’s deputy sports minister Alireza Rahimi urged artists and athletes to form human chains at power plants around the country, while the top military command described Mr Trump as “delusional”.

A synagogue in central Tehran was heavily damaged by a US-Israeli projectile, according to the semi-official news agency Mehr.

Chokehold

Oil prices hovered at about $110 (€95) a barrel this morning as Mr Trump’s deadline approached and there was little sign the Strait of Hormuz — one of the world’s most critical oil transit chokepoints — would reopen, deepening inflation concerns globally.

Iran has effectively shut Hormuz, a route for about a fifth of the world’s oil and natural gas supply, giving Tehran a powerful point of leverage it appears unwilling to surrender.

Mr Trump was nearing a political crisis as Iran emerged as a far more resilient adversary than he had predicted at the outset of the conflict, which he said was intended to stop the country from building nuclear weapons and developing missiles capable of delivering them.

Iranian missiles were shot down over Tel Aviv yesterday

With 13 US service members killed since the conflict began, the situation became even more perilous for Mr Trump after a US F-15E fighter jet was shot down on Friday and one of its two airmen was left stranded deep inside Iranian territory.

A rescue mission by US commandos to bring the stranded weapons specialist officer to safety helped head off what could have become a disastrous escalation of Mr Trump’s political crisis.

Thousands have been killed across the Middle East since the war began, including 3,546 in Iran, according to the US-based rights group HRANA, and nearly 1,500 in Lebanon, where Israel has targeted the Iran-backed Hezbollah militia.