President Trump warned on Monday that the United States would carry out a “complete demolition” of every bridge and power plant in Iran if Tehran did not agree by Tuesday at 8 p.m. ET to reopen the Strait of Hormuz.
With that deadline imminent, Iranian officials dismissed U.S. demands and released a 10-point counterproposal, according to the New York Times. Tehran’s plan called for guarantees that Iran would not be attacked again, an end to Israeli strikes on the Iranian-backed Hezbollah in Lebanon, and the lifting of sanctions in exchange for reopening the strait. The proposal also sought to levy a $2 million fee on each ship transiting the waterway.
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian posted on social media that “more than 14 million brave Iranians have so far declared their readiness to sacrifice their lives to defend Iran. I too have been, am, and will be sacrificing my life for Iran.” The post followed a call from Deputy Minister of Sports and Youth Alireza Rahimi urging citizens — “young people, cultural and artistic figures, athletes” — to form human chains beside power plants nationwide. “We will stand hand in hand next to power plants across the country, with every belief and taste, to say: attacking public infrastructure is a war crime,” Rahimi wrote.
Iran’s ambassador to Islamabad, Reza Amiri Mughadam, said Pakistan’s mediation efforts were entering a “critical, sensitive” phase. He described Tehran’s main demand as “a complete cessation of the war” and a guarantee that aggression would not be repeated, and warned Gulf states to reassess ties with Iran, asserting the U.S. would “sooner or later” leave the region having accepted defeat.
The U.N. Security Council is expected to take up a Bahraini-sponsored resolution on Tuesday at 11 a.m. ET that would demand the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz.
Meanwhile, the conflict widened across the region. Israel said it struck one of the last petrochemical facilities in Shiraz that it says was producing materials for ballistic missiles and explosives, along with a ballistic missile site in northwestern Iran and other infrastructure. Israeli authorities also posted warnings on X advising Iranians to avoid train travel and railway tracks.
Iran responded by firing missiles into central Israel, Saudi Arabia and Bahrain. The exchanges prompted the temporary closure of the King Fahd bridge linking Saudi Arabia and Bahrain. Saudi officials said they were assessing damage to an energy facility from falling debris after their air defenses intercepted dozens of ballistic missiles and drones. The United Arab Emirates reported intercepting incoming missiles and drones with its own air-defense systems.
Reporters Daniel Estrin in Tel Aviv, Diaa Hadid in Mumbai and Tina Kraja in Washington, D.C. contributed to this report.