Tehran (AFP) – Iran launched fresh attacks across the Middle East on Monday and threatened “devastating” retaliation, after US President Donald Trump’s expletive-laced warning that Tehran must reopen the Strait of Hormuz.
Israel, Kuwait, and the United Arab Emirates reported a barrage of missile and drone strikes early Monday. The attacks came as Tehran ramped up rhetoric against Trump, with Tehran’s central military command warning of “much more devastating” retaliation if its adversaries hit civilian targets. The warning came hours after Trump threatened to destroy Iran’s civilian infrastructure, demanding Tehran bow to his demands for a deal to reopen the Gulf to shipping.
Iran has effectively blocked the Strait of Hormuz, a vital energy chokepoint, provoking Trump to demand Sunday: “Open the Fuckin’ Strait, you crazy bastards, or you’ll be living in Hell.” In a terse follow-up post, the president apparently set a new deadline for Iran to comply: “Tuesday, 8:00 PM” (0000 GMT Wednesday).
As Christians marked Easter, Trump revived warnings of air strikes on Iranian power plants and bridges, after celebrating the rescue of a wounded airman whose fighter jet went down inside Iran. Iranian images showed wreckage of several aircraft, but Tehran did not deny US forces rescued the officer, who sheltered in a mountainous area while American special forces and Iranian troops raced to find him. Trump said in a Truth Social post announcing the airman’s rescue that he would give a news conference on Monday.
The war, which erupted on February 28 with deadly US-Israeli strikes on Tehran, has engulfed the Middle East and strained the global economy. Iranian missiles have hit Israeli cities and economic infrastructure in the Gulf, sending world energy prices soaring. Oil opened higher in early trading in Asia, with US benchmark West Texas Intermediate up 1.86 percent to $113.62 a barrel and Brent above $110.
While Trump told Fox News Iran was “close” to making a deal, security analyst Danny Citrinowicz said “the prospect of a negotiated agreement with Iran, at least under current conditions, is close to nonexistent.” “Tuesday will be Power Plant Day, and Bridge Day, all wrapped up in one, in Iran. There will be nothing like it!!!” Trump declared, prompting Tehran to accuse Trump of taking orders from Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Iran’s parliament speaker, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, posted on social media that “our whole region is going to burn because you insist on following Netanyahu’s commands.” Iran’s ally Russia also condemned Trump’s threat. Moscow said Washington should abandon “the language of ultimatums” and return to negotiations, according to a Russian readout of Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov’s latest call with his Iranian counterpart. Many residents of Tehran seemed indifferent to Trump’s invective, with young Iranians exercising, flying kites, and holding picnics in a large park in the city’s west Sunday.
The New York Times reported that the rescued US airman, a weapons systems officer, was equipped with a pistol, a beacon, and a secure communications device to coordinate with rescuers. Two of the aircraft meant to transport him and his rescuers to safety were stuck inside Iran and had to be destroyed to prevent them from falling into Iranian hands, The Times and CBS reported. US forces used three other planes to carry out the airman and his rescuers, reports said. Iran’s military said it destroyed four US aircraft involved in the operation, which it said used an abandoned airport. Iranian media reported five people were killed in strikes during the operation. Footage released by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps was presented as showing charred, smoking wreckage of an American aircraft scattered across a desert area. Iran claims it downed the fighter jet and the crew ejected, while US media reported only the plane was shot down. Washington has not confirmed what caused the plane to come down.
Gulf nations reported a wave of fresh strikes from Sunday to Monday, with Kuwait saying it was working to intercept a barrage of missiles and drones fired towards the territory. The United Arab Emirates also said on Monday that its air defences were responding to a missile and drone attack. It came after UAE authorities in Sharjah said they were dealing with an “incident” in the key port of Khor Fakkan following an Iranian strike. Israel’s army also said Monday it had identified a fresh wave of missiles launched from Iran toward the country.
UAE presidential adviser Anwar Gargash warned Iran that targeting its Arab neighbors “will actually concretize the American role,” adding the UAE was ready to “join any American-led effort, international effort to secure navigation in the Strait of Hormuz.”
In Iran, local media reported several attacks on residential areas over Tehran Monday, while the state broadcaster said that gas outages hit parts of the capital after a strike on a university. Israel’s army said early Monday it had completed a wave of strikes against “regime targets” in Tehran. On another front, Lebanon has increasingly been dragged into the conflict since Iran-backed Hezbollah resumed targeting Israel. Israel has struck back and pushed forces into southern Lebanon, with the army chief Lieutenant General Eyal Zamir visiting there Sunday and pledging to intensify strikes against Hezbollah. UN peacekeepers in Lebanon have warned that attacks by Israel and Hezbollah near its positions “could potentially draw return fire.”
The Israeli military and medics said a missile fired from Iran hit a residential building in the northern city of Haifa, wounding four people. The war cast a shadow over Easter celebrations, with Pope Leo XIV using his first Easter blessing as pontiff to urge leaders to “choose peace.”
© 2024 AFP
