Iran’s senior officials pushed back Monday against President Trump’s online ultimatum to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, adopting a defiant tone as U.S.-Israeli and Iranian forces exchanged strikes across the region.
Trump posted a demand on social media that the strait be reopened by Tuesday evening and followed with profanity-laced threats warning Iran it would face severe consequences if it did not comply. International law experts note that deliberately attacking civilian infrastructure that does not contribute to military action can constitute a war crime under the Geneva Conventions.
Iranian spokesmen condemned the threats. Seyyed Mehdi Tabatabai, a spokesman for the president, called the comments a sign of “sheer desperation and anger” and said the strait would reopen only after war-related damages were addressed under a new legal framework, financed in part by transit fees. The foreign ministry warned it was prepared to defend national security and sovereignty “with all might,” and Esmail Baghaei told a state-linked news agency that Tehran would not be intimidated. Iran’s U.N. mission accused Trump of trying to “drag the region into an endless war” and said his statements amounted to public incitement and evidence of intent to target civilians.
Diplomatic efforts were under way to de-escalate. Envoys from Egypt, Pakistan and Turkey submitted a proposal to both Washington and Tehran for a 45-day ceasefire that would include measures to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, according to the Associated Press. The plan was presented to Iran’s foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, and to U.S. Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff. Qatar’s prime minister urged a return to negotiations, and Oman said its diplomats met Iranian counterparts to discuss options for ensuring safe passage through the strait; experts from both sides reportedly presented proposals for study.
The tensions intensified on the ground after Israel said it had killed Majid Khadami, whom Iran identified as an intelligence official within the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. Israel’s defense minister, Israel Katz, vowed to continue targeting Iranian leaders and threatened to strike Iran’s infrastructure if attacks on Israeli civilians continued. Israeli officials said they were accelerating production of interceptors after using large numbers to shoot down incoming missiles.
U.S. and Israeli jets, officials said, struck Iranian petrochemical, steel and other industrial sites that they described as supporting Iran’s missile production. Iran retaliated with missiles and drones aimed at Israel and at oil facilities in the Persian Gulf that Tehran said supply fuel and products used by the U.S. military.
Iranian missiles struck areas including Tel Aviv, towns in central Israel and the northern port city of Haifa. Iranian officials said one target was an oil refinery supplying fuel for Israeli jets. In Haifa, a multi-story residential building was hit and set ablaze; emergency teams searched rubble and authorities reported fatalities. Israeli emergency medical services treated civilians injured in the strikes, and footage showed smoke and fires in residential neighborhoods.
Across the Gulf, Iran-backed drones struck Kuwait’s Shuwaikh oil sector complex, which houses the Kuwait Petroleum Corporation headquarters and the oil ministry; Kuwaiti officials reported fires, substantial material damage and disruption to operational facilities run by the national petroleum company and petrochemical industries. Kuwaiti authorities also said two power and desalination plants were struck over the weekend, knocking out generation units.
The United Arab Emirates reported that a telecom building and a commercial port were targeted. UAE air defenses intercepted multiple ballistic missiles, around 50 drones and a cruise missile fired by Iran, and said defenses remained active into Monday.
An adviser to Iran’s newly appointed supreme leader, Aliakbar Velayati, warned the next possible target could be the Bab al-Mandeb Strait — the chokepoint between Yemen and the Horn of Africa that links the Red Sea and Suez Canal to the Gulf of Aden. He said Iran viewed Bab al-Mandeb “with the same intensity as Hormuz” and noted that Iran-aligned Houthi militants, who recently entered the conflict by launching attacks from Yemen, could disrupt global energy and trade routes.
The exchanges have prompted hurried diplomatic activity aimed at preventing broader escalation, even as the United States, Israel and Gulf states contend with direct attacks on energy and civilian infrastructure and Iran insists it will defend its sovereignty.