Tehran (AFP) – Israeli strikes hit Iran’s largest petrochemical complex Monday, as the Islamic republic defied threats from US President Donald Trump to devastate civilian infrastructure if it does not reopen the Strait of Hormuz. A separate Israeli strike also killed a senior Revolutionary Guards commander, while Iran launched drone and missile attacks against Israel, Kuwait, and the United Arab Emirates. Iran said “much more devastating” attacks would come if Trump followed through on his threat to hit civilian targets.
The US leader had on Sunday threatened to destroy Iranian bridges and power plants if Tehran does not bow to his demand to reopen the Strait of Hormuz to shipping by Tuesday 8:00 pm (0000 GMT Wednesday). Iran has all but blocked Hormuz, a vital energy chokepoint, sending oil and gas prices soaring and pushing countries around the world to enact measures to contain the fallout. In a stark, expletive-laden social media post on Sunday, Trump demanded: “Open the Fuckin’ Strait, you crazy bastards, or you’ll be living in Hell.”
On Monday, Israel said it had struck Iran’s largest petrochemical facility in Assaluyeh on Iran’s Gulf coast, where local media reported multiple explosions. The site accounted for about 50 percent of the country’s petrochemical production worth “tens of billions of dollars,” Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz said. Ahead of the latest strikes, Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said Hormuz “will never return to its former status, especially for the US and Israel.” The Guards posted on Telegram Monday that their intelligence chief Majid Khademi had been killed at dawn in US-Israeli strikes.
“We will reach anyone who seeks to harm us,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said, after Katz confirmed the country’s military was behind the strike. Israel’s defense ministry also said it would ramp up production of Arrow missile interceptors, part of the country’s multi-layered air defenses.
While the violence continued to spiral, reports surfaced of a potential push to halt the fighting. Citing US, Israeli, and regional sources, US news website Axios said a deal mediated by Pakistan, Egypt, and Turkey for a 45-day ceasefire to allow for negotiations on a more permanent peace was under discussion. Egypt’s Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty had on Sunday confirmed he was engaging in talks with governments across the region, as well as US envoy Steve Witkoff and Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi.
“Views and proposals were exchanged on ways to deescalate the military situation in the region given the delicate juncture it is currently facing,” a statement from his ministry said. Trump told Fox News that Iran was “close” to making a deal, but Tehran has repeatedly denied it is engaged in any negotiations with the US or Israel. European Council chief Antonio Costa, one of the EU’s top officials, called in an X post for a “diplomatic solution.” “Any targeting of civilian infrastructure, namely energy facilities, is illegal and unacceptable,” Costa said.
The war, which erupted on February 28 with US-Israeli strikes on Iran that killed supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has engulfed the Middle East and roiled the global economy. A worldwide oil squeeze has hit aviation, with Indonesia on Monday saying it would increase a jet fuel surcharge and low-cost carrier Air Asia X announcing ticket price hikes of up to 40 percent. South Korea will send ships to fetch oil from Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea port of Yanbu, avoiding Hormuz altogether, a ruling party MP said, while Taiwan’s government said it too would take the Red Sea route.
In Tehran, many residents seemed outwardly indifferent to Trump’s invective, with young Iranians exercising, flying kites, and holding picnics in a large park in the city’s west on Sunday. Trump is due to give details in a press conference later Monday on the rescue of an airman whose fighter jet was downed by Iran. Gulf nations allied with the US have also been sucked into the war.
From Sunday to Monday, they reported a wave of fresh strikes, with Kuwait saying six were hurt in an attack on a residential area. The UAE said Monday its air defenses were responding to a missile and drone attack, and that one person was injured in an industrial area of Abu Dhabi. In Jordan, the government agreed to begin compensating people whose property has been damaged by falling debris from drones and missiles, local media reported.
Iran has continued to launch attacks at Israel, where the military and medics said four bodies were recovered from a residential building in the northern city of Haifa that was struck by a missile. In retaliation, Israel’s army said Monday it had completed a wave of strikes against targets in Tehran. Iranian media reported several attacks on residential areas of Tehran, while the state broadcaster said gas outages hit parts of the capital after a strike on a university.
On another front, Lebanon has increasingly been dragged into the war since the Iran-backed armed group Hezbollah targeted Israel on March 2. Israel has struck back and invaded parts of southern Lebanon, with army chief Lieutenant General Eyal Zamir visiting troops there Sunday and pledging to intensify strikes. AFP journalists saw a large plume of smoke rising over Beirut’s southern suburbs on Monday after an Israeli strike that the army said targeted Hezbollah.
© 2024 AFP
