Iran’s state-run IRNA news agency said Tehran rejected the latest ceasefire proposal and wants a permanent end to the war. The agency said it has conveyed its response to the U.S. through Pakistan, a key mediator.
“We only accept an end of the war with guarantees that we won’t be attacked again,” Mojtaba Ferdousi Pour, head of the Iranian diplomatic mission in Cairo, told The Associated Press on Monday.
Also Monday, Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said Israel attacked the South Pars petrochemical plant at Asaluyeh in Iran. He made the announcement after Iran said the facility had been attacked. An Israeli attack in March on South Pars facilities sparked major Iranian attacks targeting oil and gas infrastructure across the Gulf Arab states.
Meanwhile, Israel and the United States carried out a wave of attacks on Iran, killing more than 25 people. Iran responded with missile fire on Israel and its Gulf Arab neighbors.
And U.S. President Donald Trump’s deadline for Tehran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz loomed. Trump gave Tehran a deadline that expires Monday night Washington time, saying if no deal was reached to reopen the strait, the U.S. would hit Iran’s power plants and other infrastructure targets and set the country “back to the stone ages.” Following Trump’s expletive-laced threat on Easter Sunday, Iran’s parliamentary Speaker Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf called the threats of targeting Iran’s infrastructure “reckless.”
Here is the latest:
Trump says he’d prefer to ‘take the oil’
President Trump said that he’d prefer to use U.S military power to take control of Iran’s vast oil reserves, but acknowledged there’s not much appetite for such a move among the American electorate.
“Take the oil because it’s there for the taking,” Trump said. “There’s not a thing they can do about it. Unfortunately, the American people would like to see us come home. If it were up to me, I’d take the oil. I’d keep the oil. I would make plenty of money.”
Trump warns Iran they’re making a mistake by not capitulating
Shortly after state media reported Iran had rejected a ceasefire proposal, Trump offered a new harsh warning to Iran.
“They just don’t want to say ‘uncle,‘” Trump told reporters as he and first lady Melania Trump hosted the White House Easter Egg Roll. “They don’t want to cry as the expression goes ‘uncle,’ but they will. And if they don’t, They’ll have no bridges. They’ll have no power plants. They’ll have no anything.”
He added another ominous warning, “I won’t go further because there are other things that are worse than those two.”
A regional official involved in the ceasefire talks says the efforts haven’t collapsed
“We are still talking to both sides,” he says, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss the closed-door diplomacy.
Israeli leader Benjamin Netanyahu says petrochemical attack weakens Iran’s Revolutionary Guard
He said Monday’s strike on an Iranian petrochemical facility is part of a systematic campaign aimed at destroying the Guard’s “money machine.”
“We are destroying factories, we are eliminating activists and we continue to eliminate senior figures,” he said in a videotaped statement.
Netanyahu said he also spoke to President Trump about the U.S. rescue of two downed crew members in Iran. He said the president thanked Israel for assisting in the mission.
An Iranian university student asks the world: ‘Stop this war’
A resident of Tehran in his early twenties says U.S.-Israeli strikes on civilian infrastructure and Trump’s intensifying threats have “terrified” people.
“Everyone is very anxious and scared that the water, power and gas will be cut,” he said, speaking anonymously for his security.
The student first spoke with The Associated Press on the eve of the war, when he participated in anti-government protests at his Tehran university’s campus. At the time, he described heated disagreements with friends who said they hoped a threatened Israeli-U.S. attack would overthrow the Islamic Republic.
“Those who were supporting the war are no longer supporting it,” he said Monday.
Sunday, he heard the sound of “a lot of explosions” around the city from his home in the Sattar Khan area. He said he’d turned to taking sleeping pills to get through nightly bombardments.
— Amir-Hussein Radjy
Key Federal Reserve official open to possible rate hikes amid gas price spikes
Beth Hammack, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland, said Monday in an interview with The Associated Press that if inflation remains persistently above the Fed’s 2% target, the central bank should consider lifting its benchmark interest rate.
While Hammack also said the Fed might have to cut its rate if higher gas prices caused the economy to slow and unemployment to rise, a potential rate hike is a noticeable shift for the Fed from before the Iran war, when officials forecast two rate cuts this year. A hike could lift longer-term interest rates for things like mortgages and auto loans.
“My baseline is that we’re on hold for quite some time,” Hammack said, “but I can foresee scenarios where we would need to reduce rates ... if the labor market deteriorates significantly. Or I could see where we might need to raise rates if inflation stays persistently above our target.”
Houthis claim they hit military sites in Israel
The Iran-backed Houthis said they launched a barrage of cruise missiles and drones at several military sites in southern Israel, “successfully achieving its objectives,” according to the group’s military spokesperson.
Brig. Gen. Yahya Saree, the military spokesperson for the Houthis, said in a statement Monday that the missiles were launched as part of a joint operation with the Iran’s Revolutionary Guard and the Islamic Resistance in Lebanon.
Iranian president lauds role of slain intelligence chief
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian praised Maj. Gen. Majid Khademi, intelligence chief of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard, according to Iran’s state media.
Iran’s media reported Pezeshkian lauded Khademi’s intelligence role and security efforts “against all kinds of conspiracies of enemies.”
“His martyrdom speaks to the fact that the security and independence of Islamic Iran is indebted to the sacrifice and selflessness of the brave sons who, in the most difficult circumstances, work tirelessly for the honor and peace of this land,” he said.
Iran’s state-run IRNA news agency says Tehran has rejected the latest ceasefire proposal
The agency said it had has conveyed its response to the U.S. through Pakistan, a key mediator.
“We won’t merely accept a ceasefire,” Mojtaba Ferdousi Pour, head of the Iranian diplomatic mission in Cairo, told The Associated Press on Monday. “We only accept an end of the war with guarantees that we won’t be attacked again.”
The response came ahead of a deadline by President Trump to begin bombing Iranian energy and infrastructure.
Israel to ramp up production of air defense interceptors
Israel’s ministry of defense said Monday that the country’s defense industries would “significantly increase” production and stockpiling of missile interceptors as the war with Iran stretches on.
In a statement, the ministry said production of missile interceptors for the Arrow system, which defends against long-range ballistic missiles, would be sped up. Arrow has been critical in Israeli air defense during the current war, throughout which Israeli authorities have maintained there’s no shortage of interceptor missiles.
Lebanese Christian political leader criticizes government for not confronting Hezbollah
Samir Geagea, who leads the Lebanese Forces political party, made the remarks in statement after an Israeli strike hit an apartment building in the town of Ain Saadeh late Sunday, killing a party official, his wife and a woman visiting them.
The strike heightened existing tensions between host communities and more than a million displaced Lebanese, largely Shia from southern Lebanon, deeply divided over Hezbollah and their position on the war.
“Taking responsibility from the outset would have been better for everyone,” he said, talking about the Lebanese security agencies’ sluggish disarmament process of Hezbollah.
Israel’s military says it struck three Tehran airports overnight
The military says the strikes hit dozens of helicopters and aircraft it said belonged to the Iranian Air Force. It said the strikes targeted Bahram airport, Mehrabad airport and Azmayesh airport.
US-Israeli assault brings ‘destruction and bloodshed’ to Iran’s capital, resident says
A resident of central Tehran has described living with “anxiety and fear” as U.S.-Israeli strikes pummel the capital.
“Constantly, there is the sound of bombs, air defenses, drones,” she said, speaking on condition of anonymity for her safety.
At least one strike hit near her home, waking her on Wednesday, she said. Rushing into the neighboring street, she saw it “filled with people in pajamas, some of them wrapped in blankets, some of them crying with fear.”
She also described her anger at the popular satellite channel, Iran International, which is based abroad. She said its coverage had amplified exiled Iranian voices supporting strikes on the Islamic Republic. “Some people thought war might bring good things, but war doesn’t bring anything but destruction and bloodshed.”
Iranian authorities have moved to ban any contact with several Persian-language satellite channels based abroad. Many viewers inside Iran say the frequencies are often disrupted.
— Amir-Hussein Radjy
US stocks hold steady while crude oil prices waver ahead of Trump’s Iran deadline
The U.S. stock market is making only hesitant moves, while oil prices are unsettled as mediators try to forge a ceasefire agreement ahead of a deadline President Trump has set to bomb Iranian power plants.
The S&P 500 rose 0.1% in early trading Monday. The index is coming off its first winning week in the last six. The Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 107 points, and the Nasdaq composite rose 0.4%.
Oil prices flipped between gains and losses as uncertainty continued about what will happen in the war with Iran and how long it will slow the flow of oil and natural gas.
Red Cross president says wartime destruction of essential civilian infrastructure must stop
In a statement released Monday, Mirjana Spoljaric, the president of the International Committee of the Red Cross, raised alarm about destruction of civilian infrastructure and nuclear facilities in the Iran war.
“Across the Middle East, our teams are seeing the destruction of infrastructure essential for civilian life,” including hospitals, schools, power plants, water systems and more, Spoljaric wrote.
“Most alarming are potential threats to nuclear facilities. Any miscalculation can cause irreversible consequences for generations to come.”
Turkish and Iranian foreign ministers discuss the war
Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan and his Iranian counterpart, Abbas Araghchi, held a telephone conversation Monday, during which they discussed “the state of the war” and other developments, a Turkish official said. The official provided the information on condition of anonymity in line with government rules and did not elaborate.
The call came as two Middle East officials said mediators from Egypt, Pakistan and Turkey sent Washington and Tehran a proposal calling for a 45‑day ceasefire and for the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz.
— Suzan Fraser
Iran confirms communication with mediators
Iran’s foreign ministry spokesperson, Esmail Baghaei, has told journalists in Tehran that messages are being exchanged, but “negotiations are entirely incompatible with ultimatums, crimes and threats of war crimes.”
Loud booms and sounds of air defenses heard in Jerusalem
It comes after Israel’s military said Iran had launched missiles toward the country.
Israeli military and Mossad helped rescue downed American airman in Iran, Huckabee says
U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee wrote in a social media post on Monday that Israel’s military and Mossad secret service had assisted in the U.S. effort to rescue an airman whose plane was downed by Iran.
Huckabee thanked Israel for helping the U.S. military and intelligence agencies in the post to X.
Israeli officials have said Israel provided support, including intelligence, in the rescue, but troops weren’t actively involved on the ground.
Iranian adviser warns the Mideast will go ‘dark’ if Iran’s power plants are attacked
A former Iranian foreign minister and adviser to the supreme leader called for Arab countries to discourage U.S. President Donald Trump from striking Iran’s power plants.
Ali Akbar Velayati warned the entire region would go “dark” if Trump fulfilled his threat and bombed Iran’s power plants.
“The rulers of #Arab_countries should, in order to prevent the region from going dark, make Trump understand that the #Persian_Gulf is not a place for gambling,” he wrote on social media.
UN watchdog confirms strikes close to Bushehr nuclear facility
The United Nations nuclear watchdog on Monday confirmed recent strikes struck close to Iran’s Bushehr nuclear power plant, with one hitting just 75 meters (82 yards) from the facility’s perimeter.
The International Atomic Energy Agency said in a social media post that its own analysis showed the plant was not damaged as of Sunday.
IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi called for ceasing such attacks, which cause “a very real danger to nuclear safety.”
Iran’s Atomic Energy Organization has reported four attacks close to the facility since the war started Feb. 28. The last strike Saturday killed a security guard and damaged a support building, the organization said.
The Bushehr nuclear power plant uses low-enriched uranium from Russia, along with Russian technicians, to supply about 1,000 megawatts of power for Iran.
Israeli military says 4 people killed in Haifa strike were members of same family
Israel’s military confirmed four people found dead at the site of a missile strike in Haifa were members of the same family.
Search and rescue teams found two bodies underneath the rubble Sunday. After 18 hours digging they found two more “deep under the debris” Monday,” Lt. Col. Nadav Shoshani said.
He said the warhead that hit the building had not exploded on impact, complicating rescue efforts and posing a continued threat.
They were found after hours of overnight rescue efforts, the military said.
Israeli military says it killed leader of Quds Force undercover unit
Israel’s military said Monday it killed the leader of the paramilitary Revolutionary Guard’s undercover unit in its expeditionary Quds Force.
Lt. Col. Nadav Shoshani, a military spokesman, confirmed the killing of Asghar Bakeri in a briefing to reporters.
He said Bakeri had planned attacks on Israeli and American targets as well as operations in Israel, Syria and Lebanon.
Israeli strike kills anti-Hezbollah politician in Lebanon
The hilly Christian town of Ain Saadeh, east of Beirut, was in shock Monday after an Israeli missile crashed into an apartment building, killing an anti-Hezbollah politician, his wife and another woman.
Israel said it targeted a Hezbollah militant, but the third-story apartment was empty.
The strike blew out the walls and windows of the floor below, killing Pierre Mouawad, an official in the Lebanese Forces, a Christian political party opposed to the Iran-backed Hezbollah group, and his wife, Flavia Mouawad.
“This is the first time something like this has happened here,” family friend Nadine Naameh said. “We had always felt safe here.”
Neighbors wept outside the collapsed apartments as crews swept away the rubble.
“The people who live here are against violence. They don’t want this war,” according to municipal official Pierre Said.
Israel said it was investigating “reports that several uninvolved individuals were harmed.”
Israel says it attacked South Pars plant at Asaluyeh
Israel’s defense minister said Monday that Israel attacked the South Pars petrochemical plant at Asaluyeh.
Israel Katz made the announcement in a statement after Iran said the facility had been attacked.
Katz said Israel had “just carried out a powerful strike on the largest petrochemical facility in Iran, located in Asaluyeh, a central target responsible for about 50% of the country’s petrochemical production.”
An Israeli attack in March on South Pars facilities sparked major Iranian attacks targeting oil and gas infrastructure across the Gulf Arab states.
When asked about the South Pars strike, Lt. Col. Nadav Shoshani, Israel’s military spokesperson, said only that there would be “no immunity” for Iran as talks progress.
The White House did not immediately respond when asked about the South Pars strike Monday morning.
Iranian media says attacks target South Pars natural gas field
Attacks targeted facilities Monday at Iran’s South Pars natural gas field, Iranian media outlets reported.
The semiofficial Fars news agency and the judicary’s Mizan news agency both reported the attack, blaming the U.S. and Israel.
Neither country immediately claimed any attack at Asaluyeh in Iran’s southern Bushehr province.
Iran condemned the first Israeli strike on South Pars in March, with Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian warning of “uncontrollable consequences” that “could engulf the entire world.” The attack on South Pars saw Iran increasingly target Gulf Arab oil and natural gas sites.
U.S. President Donald Trump has warned of possible attacks on power plants and bridges this week if the Strait of Hormuz is not opened.
After Israel’s earlier attack, Trump said Israel would not attack South Pars again, but warned on social media that if Iran continued striking Qatar’s energy infrastructure, the United States would retaliate and “massively blow up the entirety” of the field.
Iran shares the South Pars field with Qatar, which refers to its part of the massive offshore field as the North Field.
The field is the world’s largest gas field and sits under the waters of the Persian Gulf.
Pakistan foreign minister calls for ‘urgent de-escalation’
Pakistan Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar spoke with his Japanese counterpart Toshimitsu Motegi by phone and called for “urgent de-escalation.”
A Pakistan Foreign Ministry statement said Dar “reaffirmed Pakistan’s commitment to supporting all initiatives aimed at de-escalation and the achievement of lasting peace and stability.”
Motegi appreciated and supported Pakistan’s “constructive role” in facilitating dialogue and diplomacy for regional peace and stability, the ministry said, adding that the leaders agreed to maintain contact.
Israel warns public against new Iranian missile barrage
Israel’s military warned the public Monday morning of another missile barrage coming from Iran, the fifth such alert of the day.
4 victims found at site of Haifa strike
Israel’s military said four people were found dead at the site of a missile strike in Haifa.
They had been trapped under rubble and were found after hours of overnight rescue efforts, the military said.
European Council president says escalation will not achieve ceasefire
European Council President António Costa said Monday that an “escalation will not achieve a ceasefire and peace,” which was likely a warning aimed at U.S. President Donald Trump.
“Only negotiations will, namely the ongoing efforts led by regional partners,” he added in the statement posted on X.
Costa’s call comes as Trump has threatened to begin bombing power plants and bridges this week if Iran does not open the Strait of Hormuz.
He wrote that “any targeting of civilian infrastructure, namely energy facilities, is illegal and unacceptable.”
“The Iranian civilian population is the main victim of the Iranian regime,” Costa wrote. “It would also be the main victim of a widening of the military campaign.”
