US renews threat to Iranian infrastructure: President Donald Trump renews threats to target Iranian power and desalination facilities if the Strait of Hormuz is not reopened. The White House press secretary says the move is aimed at pressuring Tehran into a deal. (Source: Al Jazeera)
Iran rejects direct US talk claims: Tehran denies holding direct negotiations with Washington, calling reported proposals “unreasonable” and insisting communication has only taken place through intermediaries. (Source: Al Jazeera)
UN peacekeepers killed in Lebanon blast: Two UNIFIL peacekeepers were killed and two others injured after an explosion destroyed their vehicle in southern Lebanon, while an Indonesian peacekeeper was killed in Israeli strikes earlier. (Source: Al Jazeera, CNN)
IRGC confirms naval commander’s death: Iran acknowledges the death of senior IRGC naval commander Alireza Tangsiri, who had overseen vessel movement through the Strait of Hormuz. (Source: BBC)
Lebanon displacement crisis: Around 20 percent of Lebanon’s population has been displaced within three weeks, with nearly 19,000 children forced from their homes each day as bombardment and damaged infrastructure cut off access to basic services. (Source: CNN)
Aluminium prices hit four-year high: Global aluminium prices hit a four-year high after Iranian strikes on key Middle East smelters raised concerns over prolonged supply disruptions and reduced production capacity. (Source: DAWN)
Spain shuts airspace to US warplanes: Spain blocks US military aircraft involved in strikes on Iran from using its airspace, forcing rerouting of flights while exempting emergency operations. (Source: Al Jazeera)
President Donald Trump warned on Monday that Iran’s energy plants and oil wells would be obliterated if it did not open the Strait of Hormuz, after Tehran described US peace proposals as “unrealistic” and fired waves of missiles at Israel.
Israel’s military said two drones from Yemen had also been intercepted on Monday, two days after the Iran-aligned Houthis entered the war by firing missiles at Israel, and that Lebanon’s Hezbollah had fired rockets at Israel.
Israeli forces carried out missile strikes on what they called military infrastructure in Tehran and infrastructure used by Iran-backed Hezbollah in Beirut, leaving black smoke hanging over the Lebanese capital.
Turkey’s defence ministry said a ballistic missile launched from Iran entered Turkish airspace before being shot down by NATO air and missile defences deployed in the eastern Mediterranean, the fourth such incident since the start of the war.
US Reinforcements Arrive in Region
Thousands of soldiers from the US Army’s elite 82nd Airborne Division have started arriving in the Middle East, two US officials told Reuters on Monday, part of a reinforcement that would expand Trump’s options to include the deployment of forces inside Iranian territory.
Tehran remained defiant in the month-old war, which began with US-Israeli attacks on Iran on Feb 28 and has spread across the region, killing thousands, disrupting energy supplies and hitting the global economy. The majority of those reported killed were in Iran and Lebanon, and many were civilians.
Iran confirmed on Monday the death of Revolutionary Guards Navy Commander Alireza Tangsiri, the latest of its leaders killed including Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who has been replaced by his son Mojtaba Khamenei.
The Iranians have effectively blocked the Strait of Hormuz, a narrow waterway which normally carries about a fifth of global oil and liquefied natural gas supplies.
Iran said on Monday it had received US peace proposals via intermediaries, following talks on Sunday between the foreign ministers of Pakistan, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Turkey.
But Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei said the proposals were “unrealistic, illogical and excessive”.
“Our position is clear. We are under military aggression. Therefore, all our efforts and strength are focused on defending ourselves,” he told a press conference.
Soon after Baghaei’s remarks, Trump said in a social media post that the United States was in talks with a “more reasonable regime” to end the war in Iran, but he also issued a new warning over the Strait of Hormuz.
“Great progress has been made but, if for any reason a deal is not shortly reached, which it probably will be, and if the Hormuz Strait is not immediately ‘Open for Business,’ we will conclude our lovely ‘stay’ in Iran by blowing up and completely obliterating all of their Electric Generating Plants, Oil Wells and Kharg Island,” Trump wrote