Pakistan with urgent appeal to Trump and Iran

Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz has threatened to destroy Iran’s infrastructure if rocket attacks on Israeli civilians continue. “We have hit the steel infrastructure and the petrochemical industry hard – and today and every day it will continue to do so,” said Katz, according to his office.

The defense minister said after new missile attacks by Iran on Israeli cities, including the coastal metropolis of Tel Aviv, that they would “further dismantle Iran’s national infrastructure and wear down and collapse the terror regime – as well as its ability to promote terror and fire on the state of Israel.”

The Jerusalem Post reported that Israel and the United States have drawn up a comprehensive list of strategic targets to be attacked in Iran if the Islamic Republic does not meet the requirements of US President Donald Trump’s ultimatum.

Israeli rescue workers have recovered two more bodies from a house in the port city of Haifa that was largely destroyed in an Iranian missile attack on Sunday, according to the military. A total of four people who were buried under the rubble were found dead. The Israeli army said dozens of reservists were on site throughout the night. They used various technological tools to find those trapped as quickly as possible.

According to media reports, the victims were an older couple, around 80 years old, as well as their 40-year-old son and his 35-year-old partner. The difficult rescue work took around 18 hours. According to reports, an 82-year-old was seriously injured in the attack. He has undergone surgery, is currently sedated and is being artificially ventilated. Two other women and a ten-month-old baby also suffered injuries.

The building suffered massive damage in Sunday’s attack, although the rocket’s warhead, which contained hundreds of kilograms of explosives, did not detonate upon impact, according to Israel’s Kan broadcaster. The missile defense tried in vain to intercept the projectile, the broadcaster reported, citing military circles.

The head of the secret service of the so-called Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, Majid Chademi, is said to have been killed in a US-Israeli airstrike. This is reported by the Iranian state news agency Tasnim.

It is not clear from the report where exactly Chademi was killed. However, the Israeli Air Force bombed several residential areas in the Iranian capital Tehran on Monday night.

According to a media report, the USA, Iran and regional mediators are currently negotiating the conditions for a possible 45-day ceasefire. This could lead to a permanent end to the war, the news portal Axios reported on Sunday (local time), citing four US, Israeli and regional insiders who are familiar with the relevant discussions. An agreement will be discussed in two phases.

First, the 45-day ceasefire should come into force in order to negotiate a final end to the fighting. In the second phase, a corresponding agreement should then be concluded, according to the report. The ceasefire could be extended if necessary. The Reuters news agency was initially unable to independently verify the report. The White House and the US State Department did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Against the backdrop of the Iran war, the price of oil continued to rise on Monday. At the start of the week, the price for a barrel of the US reference variety WTI rose by 1.86 percent to 113.62 dollars (98.71 euros). The North Sea Brent rose by almost 1.16 percent to $ 110.30.

Donald Trump followed up on his midday post in which he insulted Iran as “crazy bastards” – and threatened again. In a conversation with Axios reporter Barak Ravid, Trump said the chances of a negotiated solution were good, but warned: “If they don’t make a deal, I’ll blow up everything over there.”

In a post on Truth Social, he also gave a new deadline for his demand to open the Strait of Hormuz – Tuesday evening at 8 p.m. in Washington. Trump had previously set the deadline until Monday. Read more about Trump’s threats and the Iranian response here.

Donald Trump threatened Iran and insulted the country. The US President wrote on Truth Social: “Tuesday will be Power Plant and Bridge Day in Iran. There will never have been anything like this!!! Open the fucking Strait (of Hormuz, editor’s note), you crazy bastards, or you will live in hell – just wait! Praise Allah.” On Saturday, Trump ended a post with the words “Praise God.”

Trump had previously threatened that if Iran did not open the strait completely to shipping traffic “without threats,” he would have Iranian power plants destroyed. He postponed his ultimatum again last week. The US President announced that there would be no attacks on Iranian power plants until April 6th (US local time; the night of April 7th German time), citing “very good” talks. In recent days, however, there have continued to be violent attacks from both sides. Shipping traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, which is important for global oil and gas trade, remains largely at a standstill.

You can read older news about the war in the Middle East here.