President Donald Trump warned the U.S. will “obliterate” Iran’s power plants if it doesn’t fully open the Strait of Hormuz within 48 hours, prompting Tehran to say it would respond to any such strike with attacks on U.S. and Israeli energy and infrastructure assets.
Iranian missiles, meanwhile, struck two communities in southern Israel late Saturday, leaving buildings shattered and dozens injured in dual attacks not far from Israel’s main nuclear research center.
The developments signaled the war was moving in a dangerous new direction at the start of its fourth week. Trump — who is facing increasing pressure at home to secure the strait as oil prices soar — issued the ultimatum in a social media post while he spent the weekend at his Florida home.
The death toll from the war has risen to more than 1,500 people in Iran, more than 1,000 people in Lebanon, 15 in Israel and 13 U.S. military members, as well as a number of civilians on land and sea in the Gulf region. Millions of people in Lebanon and Iran have been displaced.
Here is the latest:
NATO chief downplays Trump’s rift with alliance
Mark Rutte, NATO’s secretary-general, acknowledged that Trump has been angry at other countries over his push to get allies more involved in reopening the Strait of Hormuz.
But Rutte stressed during an interview with Fox News Sunday that more than 20 countries now are “coming together to implement his vision” to ensure the shipping channel can function.
Rutte, who said he spoke with Trump several times this week, said it was “crucial” that the U.S. was taking military action in Iran since its nuclear and ballistic missile programs posed an “existential” threat to the world.
Israel destroys a bridge on the southern Lebanese coastal highway over the strategic Litani River
The Israeli military has been destroying bridges over the river, which link large swaths of southern Lebanon to the rest of the country.
Israel says Hezbollah militants have been using these routes to move into southern Lebanon, where fighting has intensified in recent days as Israel keeps up its ground operations and airstrikes.
Israeli military spokesperson Avichay Adraee issued a warning an hour before the Qasmiyeh bridge near the coastal city of Tyre was struck.
The Israeli army also said Sunday it was launching new strikes in Lebanon targeting Hezbollah infrastructure.
Turkey’s top diplomat meets with Iranian, European and US officials
Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan held meetings with the foreign ministers of Iran and Egypt, as well as the European Union’s foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas and unspecified U.S. officials, the Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs reported Sunday.
The topic of discussion was steps which can be taken to end the war.
Qatar is not engaged in mediation efforts aimed at ending the war, diplomat says
The small Gulf country has a long history of mediating disputes and has good ties with the United States.
It also maintained businesslike relations with Iran before the war, positioning it to serve as a potential mediator. But those ties have deteriorated following Iranian strikes on natural gas facilities and other Qatari targets.
The diplomat says Qatar is “currently focused on defending our country” and addressing the gas crisis.
“We are not currently engaged in any mediation efforts,” the diplomat said, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media.
— By Josef Federman in Jerusalem
Iranian Health Ministry says patients evacuated from a ‘heavily damaged’ hospital
Ministry spokesman Hossein Kermanpour says the evacuations from the Imam Ali Hospital in the southwestern city of Andimeshk came after an airstrike a day earlier.
“Suffering patients in the city of Andimeshk were forced to leave the only hospital in the city,” Kermanpour wrote on X.
He posted images showing a hospital ward with a partially collapsed ceiling, a corridor with broken glass, and debris scattered across the floor.
Kermanpour said the patients have been evacuated to another city.
International law bars targeting purely civilian targets like power plants, expert says
Rachel VanLandingham, a professor at Southwestern Law School, says plants that are confirmed to be dual-use — meaning they also benefit the military — can be targeted only if the strategic advantage outweighs the harm it causes to civilians.
Causing excessive suffering to civilians makes it a war crime under international law, said VanLandingham, a retired lieutenant colonel in the U.S. Air Force who served chief legal adviser for international law at U.S. Central Command.
Trump said on Saturday that he would give Iran 48 hours to open the vital Strait of Hormuz or face a new round of attacks. He said the U.S. would destroy “various POWER PLANTS, STARTING WITH THE BIGGEST ONE FIRST!”
VanLandingham said: “It could be lawful, but the way he said it sounds awful because he doesn’t provide any kind of nuance.”
Netanyahu doesn’t say whether Israel will strike Iran’s energy grid
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was noncommittal when asked about Trump’s threats to strike Iran’s power plants if the Strait of Hormuz isn’t opened, and whether Israel would join.
“I think President Trump knows exactly what he’s doing. And whatever we do we do together and as far as possible in confidence,” Netanyahu Israeli prime minister said Sunday.
Trump’s warning to Iran points to importance of Strait of Hormuz
A warning from U.S. President Donald Trump that the United States will “obliterate” Iran’s power plants if Tehran fails to fully open the Strait of Hormuz in 48 hours underscores how the small strip of water is a vital artery of the world economy.
On a typical day, ships carrying about a fifth of the world’s oil sail out of the Persian Gulf through the narrow passageway between Iran and Oman toward the Indian Ocean.
The war with Iran means it’s effectively closed, hemming in more than 90% of that crude and refined products, according to the International Energy Agency.
Israeli leader calls on international community to join the war against Iran
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said missile attacks on Israeli cities, near Jerusalem’s holy sites, and toward a U.K. military base in the Indian Ocean, along with the near-closure of the Strait of Hormuz, are all evidence that Iran is a threat to the world.
“Israel and the United States are working together for the entire world,” Netanyahu said in the southern town of Arad, which was hit by an Iranian missile, wounding dozens of people.
“It’s time to see the leaders of the rest of the countries join us.” he told to foreign journalists.
Netanyahu claimed that some are “beginning to move in that direction” but more are needed.
Qatar confirms death of 7th person in helicopter that crashed off its coast
Qatar’s Interior Ministry says rescuers found the body of a seventh person who initially had been missing.
The Defense Ministry said four Qatari forces and three Turkish nationals — including a military officer and two civilians — were on board the helicopter that crashed Saturday in Qatari territorial waters.
All seven people on board have now been accounted for.
German defense chief demands Iran immediately stop de-facto closure of Strait of Hormuz
Defense Minister Boris Pistorius says joint efforts to secure trade routes through the Strait of Hormuz can come only after a ceasefire is achieved.
Pistorius urged Iran to ensure freedom and safe passage in the strait.
He made the comments Sunday during a trip to Japan for talks with his Japanese counterpart, Shinjiro Koizumi.
Netanyahu tours site of Iranian missile strike in southern Israel
Dozens of people were wounded and several buildings were heavily damaged in the strike in the southern town of Arad.
Netanyahu says it was a “miracle” that no one was killed by the blast. He said that if all residents had rushed to shelters, no one would have been hurt.
Netanyahu urged all Israelis to heed warnings and rush into shelters as soon as they hear a siren.
End to war would require “guarantees” Iran won’t be attacked again, foreign minister says
Abbas Araghchi called on “independent nations” to pressure both the U.S. and Israel to stop their war against Iran.
The top Iranian diplomat says any efforts to end the war should include “guarantees” that the U.S. and Israel won’t once again attack the Islamic Republic, according to the state-run news agency IRNA.
Iran needs guarantees that its “sovereignty and national security won’t be violated again,” according to IRNA.
Araghchi’s comments came in a phone call Saturday with Indian Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, the news agency said.
Over 170 people treated at hospital in southern Israel after missile strikes
Dr. Roy Kessous, deputy director of the Soroka Medical Center in the southern city of Beersheba, has said injuries from the two strikes late Saturday included shrapnel wounds as well as trauma.
Kessous says the hospital is trained for such events, but the scale — including entire families wounded together and in some cases left homeless — added to the pressure.
He said the hospital already is prepared for a similar emergency, telling The Associated Press: “We are ready to receive wounded from the area again right now.”
Israel orders destruction of all bridges over Lebanon’s Litani River
Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz expanded the military’s list of targets in Lebanon to include all bridges over the country’s Litani River, a focal point of the renewed Israel-Hezbollah conflict.
Katz on Sunday accused Lebanon’s Iran-backed militant group of using the crossings over the waterway, about 30 kilometers (18.5 miles) north of Israel’s border, to move fighters and weapons into southern Lebanon.
Katz also ordered the military to accelerate its destruction of Lebanese homes near Israel’s northern border “to eliminate threats to Israeli communities.”
After Hezbollah fired rockets into Israel earlier this month, the Israeli military launched an offensive that Lebanese authorities say has killed over 1,000 people and displaced over 1 million. Hezbollah has fired hundreds of rockets and drones into Israel.
UK says missile fell short of Diego Garcia
The British government is downplaying concerns that Iranian missiles could hit Europe, but won’t say how close they came to striking a U.K.-U.S. military base almost 2,500 miles (4,000 kilometers) from Iran.
The attempt toward the Diego Garcia base overnight Thursday to Friday suggests that Tehran has missiles that can go farther than previously acknowledged — or that it had used its space program for an improvised launch.
Officials confirmed the attempt on Saturday.
The Israel Defense Forces said it shows that Iran has missiles that could reach European capitals.
British Cabinet minister Steve Reed said one missile was intercepted and the other “fell short,” without specifying.
He told the BBC the government has “no specific assessment” that Iran is seeking to target Europe, “let alone that they could if they tried.”
Hezbollah claims responsibility for deadly strike on Israeli border town
The Lebanese militant group said it was behind a rocket salvo that struck a car and killed one person in the town of Misgav Am.
The Israeli military said a civilian was killed in what “seemed to be” a rocket attack. Israeli medics said they found the man dead in his car and released a video showing two vehicles ablaze.
Hezbollah claimed it targeted a gathering of Israeli soldiers with rockets.
It marks the first death in Israel from a Hezbollah rocket strike since Iran-backed Shiite militant group fired at Israel earlier this month in support of Iran’s war with Israel and the United States.
Two Israeli soldiers have been killed in ground fighting with Hezbollah in southern Lebanon this month.
Shoppers flock to Tehran supermarkets for bottled water
Traffic at supermarkets in Tehran has surged on the second day of Iran’s new year. It comes after U.S. President Donald Trump threatened to target more sites in Iran.
A 53-year-old grocery store staffer told The Associated Press that “demand is very high” for water — as it was in the early days of the three-week-old war. Demand for bread has also increased.
A 22-year-old delivery driver said: “Since I started work this morning, about 90% of my deliveries have been water.”
They spoke on condition of anonymity out of fear for their safety.
— Jon Gambrell in Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Bahrain reports new missile and drone attacks
The Persian Gulf country says its air defense systems were responding to missile and drone attacks from Iran.
The Defense Ministry said two missiles and two drones were launched at the island kingdom, which hosts the U.S. 5th Fleet.
It said a total of 145 missiles and 146 drones have now been fired at Shiite-majority Bahrain since the start of the war.
Qatar confirms 6 dead in helicopter crash off its coast
The Qatari Interior Ministry said one person is still missing from the crash on Saturday in the Persian Gulf country’s territorial waters.
A ministry statement on Sunday didn’t clarify the nationality of the dead or say if they were civilian or military.
The Defense Ministry blamed a “technical malfunction” for the crash.
Israeli military says Iran has fired a new missile barrage toward Israel
Israeli security minister cites ‘historic battle’ against Iran
Itamar Ben-Gvir is visiting the southern town of Arad, where dozens of people were hurt by a missile strike overnight. The hard-line national security minister says Israel is waging a “historic battle” against Iran and that it must “continue until victory.”
Sri Lanka increases fuel prices by about 25%
The government said the decision was made due to soaring global oil prices and as the country’s stocks have depleted due to panic buying in recent weeks.
With the latest increase, the second in two weeks, local fuel prices have gone up by about one-third since the war in the Middle East started.
The island nation has taken up other measures including a strict fuel rationing system and closing of schools, universities and government offices on all Wednesdays.
Long lines of vehicles still persist at fuel stations across the country.
Saudi air defenses intercept missiles, drones
Air defenses early Sunday tracked the launch of three ballistic missiles toward Saudi Arabia’s capital, Riyadh, intercepting one, while the other two fell in an uninhabited area, according to the Defense Ministry.
The ministry also said it downed six drones headed toward the kingdom’s eastern region, one of its least densely populated areas near Iran and home to major oil installations.
No casualties or damage were immediately reported.
Projectile hits close to a vessel off UAE coast
A projectile struck close to a bulk carrier off the coast of the United Arab Emirates, causing an explosion, the British military’s United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations center said early Sunday.
The attack occurred about 15 nautical miles north of Sharjah in the UAE.
The UKMTO said the ship’s crew was safe.