U.S. President Donald Trump said Monday he's "not at all" concerned about committing possible war crimes as he again threatened to destroy Iran's bridges and power plants if Tehran does not meet his Tuesday 8 p.m. ET deadline to reopen the Strait of Hormuz.
Speaking to reporters at the White House, the president refused to say whether any civilian targets would be off-limits.
Iran on Monday rejected a 45-day ceasefire proposal and said it wants a permanent end to the conflict.
“We only accept an end of the war with guarantees that we won’t be attacked again,” Mojtaba Ferdousi Pour, head of the Iranian diplomatic mission in Cairo, told The Associated Press.
Israel and the United States carried out a wave of attacks on Iran on Monday, killing more than 25 people. Iran responded with missile fire on Israel and its Gulf Arab neighbors.
Here is the latest:
Malaysian commercial vessel allowed to pass in Strait of Hormuz
Malaysia’s Foreign Ministry said Tuesday that one of seven Malaysian commercial vessels stranded in the Strait of Hormuz has been allowed to pass and is now heading to its destination.
The ministry said this followed diplomatic talks with Iranian officials led by Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim. It didn’t give further details.
Malaysia reaffirmed its support for safe and open sea routes under international law, the Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
It called for continued dialogue to maintain peace and stability in the region.
Japan says a Japanese national detained in Iran has been released
Japan said Tuesday a Japanese national who had been detained in Iran since January has been released on bail.
Chief Cabinet Secretary Minoru Kihara told reporters in Tokyo that his release was confirmed Monday and that Japan is demanding a full release from Iranian authorities.
He said the Japanese ambassador to Iran met the person released and that he was in good health without providing further details.
The person is believed to be a journalist at Japan’s NHK public television.
Another Japanese national, who was detained in Iran last June, was released and returned to Japan in March.
Iran official calls for youths to form human chains around power plants ahead of threatened Trump strikes
An Iranian official early Tuesday issued a video message calling on youths of the Islamic Republic to form “human chains” around power plants in the country ahead of threatened strikes by U.S. President Donald
Alireza Rahimi, identified by Iranian state television as the secretary of the Supreme Council of Youth and Adolescents, issued the video call in a newscast.
“I invite all young people, athletes, artists, students and university students and their professors,” he said.
Gather “Tuesday at 2 p.m. around the power plants that are our national assets and capital, regardless of any taste or political viewpoint, belong to the future of Iran and to the Iranian youth.”
Iran has formed human-chain demonstrations, also known as human shields, in the past around its nuclear sites at times of heightened tensions with the West.
Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein’s had similar human-shield demonstrations during the 1991 Gulf War. He also dispersed foreign nationals held by his security services to possible targets of the U.S.-led campaign during the war.
Dwindling naphtha stocks strain medical supplies in South Korea
South Korean officials say the country has about three months’ worth of materials to produce intravenous fluid bags as the war in the Middle East threatens to strain critical hospital supplies.
Senior Health Ministry official Jeong Kyung-sil said Tuesday that the country has about three months’ stock of syringes, and materials for roughly two more months of production.
Health Minister Jeong Eun Kyeong said Tuesday the government is prioritizing medical supplies as it seeks to secure more naphtha, a key petroleum product used in plastics manufacturing, amid supply disruptions caused by the war.
“We will continue to secure additional supplies going forward and we are also reviewing alternative supply sources to ensure there are no issues,” the minister said.
South Korea last week said it imported 2.7 tons of naphtha from Russia as it looks to address the shortage.
South Korean chemical giant LG Chem shut down a major industrial plant in Yeosu last month, citing naphtha supply disruptions.
Israel claims recent wave of airstrikes targeting Tehran
Israel claimed the recent wave of airstrikes targeting Iran’s capital, Tehran, but offered no immediate details on what had been targeted.
Already, Israel had faced one missile barrage from Iran on Tuesday.
New Zealand describes US threats against Iranian infrastructure as ‘unhelpful’
New Zealand Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has described Trump’s recent threats against Iranian civilian infrastructure as “unhelpful.”
“Unhelpful because more military action’s not necessary,” Luxon told Radio New Zealand on Tuesday.
“I think the bottom line is that the focus needs to be on not seeing this conflict expand any further,” Luxon said.
“We got threats from the president over the weekend. Any of those actions including bombing bridges and reservoirs and civilian infrastructure would be unacceptable as well,” Luxon added.
New Zealand Foreign Minister Winston Peters’ message to U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio at a meeting in Washington, scheduled this week, would be to de-escalate the conflict, Luxon said.
Peters would “certainly be encouraging the U.S. and Iran to de-escalate quickly,” Luxon said.
UN to vote Tuesday on watered-down resolution on Strait of Hormuz
The U.N. Security Council scheduled a vote Tuesday on a resolution aimed at reopening the Strait of Hormuz that was watered down for a second time because of opposition from Russia and China.
The original Bahrain-sponsored resolution would have authorized countries to use “all necessary means” – U.N. language that can include military action – to ensure transit through the vital waterway, which Iran has largely blocked, and deter attempts to close it.
The sixth revision of the initial text that will be voted on only “strongly encourages” countries using the Strait of Hormuz to coordinate defensive efforts to contribute to safe navigation in the strait.
It says this should include escorting merchant and commercial vessels, and deterring attempts to close, obstruct or interfere with international navigation through the strait.
The vote is scheduled at 11a.m. EDT, hours before an 8 p.m. EDT deadline set by Trump for Iran to open the strategic waterway, where one-fifth of the world’s oil normally passes, or face attacks on its power plants and bridges.
US Central Command says it struck over 13,000 targets
The U.S. military’s Central Command said early Tuesday that it had struck over 13,000 targets in the war so far.
Latest reports of live fire in the war
Activists reported new strikes targeting Iran’s capital, Tehran, early Tuesday morning.
The United Arab Emirates began firing its air defense Tuesday morning, while Bahrain sounded its missile alert sirens in the kingdom, with both Gulf Arab countries facing a new barrage of Iranian fire.
Filipina killed in missile attack in Israel, Philippines says
The Philippine government says a Filipino national was killed in a missile attack in the northern Israeli port city of Haifa over the weekend.
The Department of Foreign Affairs in Manila did not immediately identify the Filipina but said she was killed with her Israeli husband and parents-in-law in a residential area in Haifa on Sunday.
On Feb. 28, a Filipina caregiver, Mary Ann de Vera, was killed in a missile strike in Tel Aviv while helping bring her charge to a bomb shelter in the first known Philippine casualty of the war in the Middle East.
About 30,000 Filipinos live and work — many as caregivers — in Israel.
Drone strike kills 2 in Iraq
Two people were killed in the Kurdish region of Iraq after a home was hit by a drone that authorities said had been launched from Iran.
The drone hit the home in the village of Zargazawi in Irbil province early Tuesday, the Counter Terrorism Directorate of the northern Kurdish region said in a statement. Officials condemned the attack, calling it a violation of international law.
The strike came as Iranian forces and allied militias targeted areas across northern Kurdistan with a wave of drones, rockets and missiles.
US special forces were on the ground in Iran as part of rescue mission
The special operators were part of the teams sent in to retrieve the pilot and weapon systems officer of a downed fighter jet, according to a U.S. official who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss a sensitive military operation.
During a briefing Monday, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said, “Our special operators, pilots and support crews performed with near perfection under fire,” but he stopped short of confirming that U.S. troops set foot on Iranian soil.
Hegseth and Trump have said they haven’t ruled out boots on the ground but also repeatedly argued that the conflict was limited in scope.
Hegseth has lambasted previous presidents who oversaw the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, insisting that the Iran war “is different. It’s laser-focused.”
— Konstantin Toropin
Shooting by Israel-backed group at a shelter in Gaza is followed by an Israeli strike, killing 8
An Israel-backed armed group in Gaza kidnapped children from a school-turned-shelter on Monday, according to a witness, after which Israel launched an airstrike on the site, health authorities said.
The Israeli military had no response when reached for comment.
An anti-Hamas Palestinian group called Abu Nusseirah posted on social media that they killed five Hamas fighters at the shelter in Maghazi.
An elderly displaced woman sheltering at the school told the AP that dozens of men stormed the site, clashed with people there and forced kids — including girls — into vehicles. Speaking anonymously for fear of reprisals, she said her son was killed in the fighting.
Bodies were taken to al-Aqsa hospital, where health officials said some had been killed in an Israeli airstrike on the school after the clashes. AP footage showed dozens of mourners gathered at the morgue.
Many displaced Palestinians say they fear the Iran war has overshadowed Gaza’s dire humanitarian situation.
3 US troops injured during fighter jet shootdown and rescue
Those injured were the weapon systems officer from the U.S. Air Force F-15E fighter jet that was shot down in Iran late last week as well as two aircrewmen from a helicopter that took fire during the initial rescue for the pilot from the downed jet.
That’s according to a U.S. official, who spoke Monday on condition of anonymity to discuss a sensitive military operation.
After rescuing the pilot, the HH-60 Jolly Green II helicopters were “engaged by every single person in Iran who had a small arms weapon, and one of the aircraft, the trailing aircraft, took several hits,” said Gen. Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
At the same White House briefing, Trump said the jet’s downed weapons officer was “bleeding profusely” but still able climb mountainous terrain and communicate his location.
— Konstantin Toropin
A 12-hour drive through Iran offers glimpses of destruction, defiance and daily life
A black banner hangs over a border crossing and portraits of Iran’s killed supreme leader stare down, promising vengeance against the United States and Israel.
But on the 12-hour drive south to the capital, Tehran, daily life continues, with only occasional signs of the ongoing war, including a Shiite religious center that officials say was damaged by a recent airstrike.
Associated Press reporters made the journey on Saturday after crossing into Iran from Turkey. They gained a glimpse of the country at the center of a regional war that has jolted the world economy and shows no sign of ending.
US stocks drift higher ahead of Trump’s deadline to bomb Iranian power plants
The S&P 500 rose 0.4% Monday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average added 0.4%, and the Nasdaq composite climbed 0.5%.
Like stock indexes, oil prices seesawed through the day amid continued uncertainty about what will happen in the war with Iran and how long it will slow the global flow of crude oil.
Treasury yields held relatively steady in the bond market.
The US and Egypt are pushing Israel not to strike the main Lebanon-Syria border crossing, official says
That’s according to Lebanon’s General Security chief, Hassan Choucair, who said those “ongoing contacts” by Washington and Cairo aim to protect and reopen the Masnaa border crossing.
It’s been closed since Saturday after Israel warned it could be targeted over alleged weapons smuggling by the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah. Officials in Lebanon and Syria deny that claim, saying vehicles are thoroughly inspected.
The crossing’s closure has forced travelers to take a longer northern route. More than 200,000 people have crossed from Lebanon into Syria since the war escalated five weeks ago, many of them fleeing the conflict.
Trump details the rescue of US airmen shot down in Iran
The United States relied on dozens of aircraft, hundreds of personnel, secret CIA technology and a dose of subterfuge to rescue a two-man F-15E fighter jet crew downed deep inside Iran.
Trump and his top defense aides detailed the daring rescue operation in an unusual level of detail during a news conference at the White House on Monday.
The U.S. surged helicopters, midair refuelers and fighter jets deep into Iran to rescue the pilot within hours. But finding and picking up the jet’s weapon systems officer was a more complicated endeavor.
Israeli TV station counts down to Trump deadline
As reporters spoke on air, Channel 13 TV’s evening newscast showed a large digital clock marking down the hours and minutes until Tuesday night’s deadline.
Trump lashes out at Pacific allies for not assisting in Iran fight
The president continued to grumble about NATO allies’ refusal to get involved in reopening the Strait of Hormuz and their hesitance to assist U.S. offensive operations against Iran.
As he wrapped up his lengthy news conference Monday, he also fumed about the lack of support from Pacific allies.
“You know who else didn’t help us? South Korea didn’t help us,” Trump said. “You know who else didn’t help us? Australia didn’t help us. You know who else didn’t help us? Japan. We’ve got 50,000 soldiers in Japan to protect them from North Korea. We have 45,000 soldiers in South Korea to protect us from Kim Jong Un, who I get along with very well.”
Trump says it would take 4 hours to destroy Iran’s bridges and power plants
The president described the consequences that Iran would face if it didn’t reach a deal with the U.S. by Trump’s 8 p.m. Tuesday deadline.
“We have a plan, because of the power of our military, where every bridge in Iran will be decimated by 12 o’clock tomorrow night,” Trump said during his Monday news conference.
Power plants in Iran, he continued, would be “burning, exploding and never to be used again.”
Trump refused to say whether any civilian targets would be off limits in the U.S. response.
UN chief warns the US not to strike Iran’s civilian infrastructure
U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned the U.S. that attacking civilian infrastructure is banned under international law, his spokesperson said Monday.
“Even if specific civilian infrastructure were to qualify as a military objective,” spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said, an attack would still be prohibited if it risks “excessive incidental civilian harm.”
A court would need to decide whether such attacks were war crimes, he said.
Trump dismisses that his threatened attacks on Iran’s infrastructure would be war crimes
Trump says he’s “not at all” concerned about committing war crimes as he continues to threaten the destruction of Iran’s bridges and power plants if they don’t meet a Tuesday evening deadline to reopen the Strait of Hormuz.
“I hope I don’t have to do it,” Trump added.
Israeli military is preparing for weeks of battle against Iran
The military’s chief spokesperson, Brig. Gen. Effie Defrin, says the army’s chief has approved battle plans for the next three weeks in the absence of a ceasefire.
“Every day that passes, we hit them more and more. Already we have very good achievements, and we want to reach excellent achievements,” he told a press conference Monday.
Israel’s defense industry to export a $750 million rocket system to Greece
The Israeli and Greek defense ministries signed the four-year export agreement Monday in Athens, said a statement from Israel’s defense ministry.
The Precise & Universal Launching System, is built to launch rockets of different ranges, the statement said.
Israeli defense giant Elbit Systems will supply the rocket launchers and the warheads to Greece. Greek defense industries are expected to produce some parts of the system.
US fighter jet was downed by shoulder-held missile launcher, Trump says
Trump said the F-15E fighter jet that set off a two-day search-and-rescue operation was downed by a shoulder-launched rocket.
Trump described the weapon as a “hand-held shoulder missile — heat-seeking missile.”
The president went on to suggest that the fighter jet was ultimately downed not by the explosion but because of related damage to the aircraft’s engines.
“They shot it and it got sucked in right by the engine,” Trump said.
Trump insists Iranian civilians want the US to keep bombing
Asked why Iranians would want him to follow up on his threat to blow up the country’s infrastructure, Trump says everyday citizens are “willing to suffer ... in order to have freedom.”
“‘Please keep bombing. Do it,’” Trump claimed U.S. officials have heard Iranians say via “intercepts.”
“And these are people that are living where the bombs are exploding,” he said.
US warplane that crashed amid search for downed aviators was hit by enemy fire, general says
A U.S. aircraft that crashed amid the search for the downed airmen was hit by enemy fire while engaging Iranian forces, Gen. Dan Caine, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said Monday.
Caine, speaking at a briefing at the White House, said that a U.S. A-10 Thunderbolt aircraft was “violently suppressing and engaging the enemy in a close-in gunfight to keep them away” from the pilot of a downed F-15 fighter jet while also being “primarily responsible for communicating with the downed pilot.”
Caine said that after being hit, “this pilot continued to fight, continued the mission, and then upon exit, flew his aircraft into another country and determined that the airplane was not landable.”
The pilot then decided to eject over friendly territory and, according to Caine, “was quickly and safely recovered, and is doing fine.”
Hegseth describes ‘unblinking’ mission in coordination call
The defense secretary said the coordination call held by national security officials during the daring mission to rescue the U.S. airmen lasted nearly two days straight.
“For 45 hours and 56 minutes, we held that call open for coordination,” Hegseth said, describing the call that was held in a secure facility. “Our mission was unblinking.”
CIA Director John Ratcliffe says top-secret technology led to rescue of downed airman
Speaking at a White House press conference, Ratcliffe said the agency used “exquisite technologies that no other intelligence service” possesses to locate the aviator after the F-15 was shot down in Iran.
At the same time, the CIA mounted a deception operation to mislead the Iranians who were looking.
Ratcliffe said the search and rescue operation was “comparable to hunting for a single grain of sand in the middle of a desert.”
The CIA declined to respond to questions Monday about the kind of technology used to locate the airman.
Hegseth draws parallels between the story of Easter and rescued airman
The Defense secretary, who has frequently infused his leadership of the Pentagon with references to Christianity and the language of his faith, said the airman who evaded capture for more than a day was shot down on Good Friday, “hidden in a cave” on Saturday, and on Easter Sunday, “a pilot reborn, all home and accounted for.”
Hegseth said that when the airman was finally able to activate an emergency transponder, his first transmitted message was: “God is good.”
Trump threatens to jail journalist who first reported on downed airman
Trump threatened to jail the journalist who first reported that U.S. forces were searching for an F-15 weapons officer shot down in Iran, if they don’t reveal their sources.
“The person that did the story will go to jail if he doesn’t say, and that doesn’t last long,” Trump said.
Trump didn’t name the journalist or news organization. He said the leak tipped off the Iranians, endangering the officer and his rescuers. He called the leaker “a sick person.”
Iran’s supreme leader issues a rare public statement
Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei expressed condolences over the killing of the Revolutionary Guard’s intelligence chief.
In a written social media post, Khamenei said Maj. Gen. Majid Khademi joined a “steadfast line of warriors and fighters” to sacrifice their lives. Israeli strikes have killed dozens of top Iranian leaders, including Khamenei’s father.
The younger Khamenei has not been seen or spoken in public since he succeeded his father as supreme leader.
Trump offers more details of dramatic airman rescue
The president described the scale of the operation undertaken by the U.S. to rescue the second airman from the downed aircraft.
The operation included 155 aircraft — four bombers, 64 fighters, 48 refueling tankers, and 13 rescue aircraft, among others, Trump said.
Much of it was an effort to throw off the Iranians, who were also looking for the missing crew member, the president said.
“We were bringing them all over and a lot of it was subterfuge,” Trump said. “We wanted to have them think he was in a different location.”
Trump says downed officer rushed to get away from the crash site
Trump says the downed weapons officer followed his training to get as far away from the crash site as possible.
When a plane crashes in hostile territory, “they all head right to that site, you want to be as far away as you can,” Trump said.
Trump says the officer was “bleeding profusely” but was able climb mountainous terrain and contact U.S. forces to communicate his location. Rescuers mobilized a massive response that included subterfuge to confuse the Iranians about where they were looking.
Trump says 21 aircraft came to help rescue airmen who crashed in Iran
The president began describing the rescue efforts from Friday and over the weekend after two airmen ejected and landed alive “deep in enemy territory” in Iran.
Trump said 21 aircraft were deployed to help with the search and rescue in the first wave, flying for hours under “very, very heavy enemy fire.” He said the U.S. has one helicopter with many bullets in it.
Trump news conference begins
He is accompanied by his top national security advisers, including Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and special envoy Steve Witkoff. Also in attendance are his children, Eric and Tiffany Trump, as well as their spouses.
Declaring that “this was one of our better Easters,” Trump started his news conference by speaking about the dramatic rescue of two U.S. airmen in Iran over the weekend.
Trump, with Easter bunny nearby, talks Iran war
In a surreal scene on the White House lawn with flowers and Easter decor, Trump decided to give reporters an update on the Iran war.
With children waiting nearby, someone in a bunny costume steps away, and soft, cheerful music in the background, the president spoke about the rescue of a missing airman shot down in Iran, defended his expletive-laden threats on social media, and warned that Iran should capitulate or face threats to its bridges and power plants.
Turkey’s president says his country has intensified push to end the war
“We are striving to seize any chance, however small, for hostilities to cease and negotiations to open,” President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said in a televised address following a Cabinet meeting. He did not provide details.
Erdogan, a vocal critic of Israel, again accused the country of undermining all attempts to stop the fighting.
Trump defends his use of vulgar language in a social media post
The president used profanity in a Sunday social media posting warning Iran he was serious about targeting the country's infrastructure if it doesn't open the Strait of Hormuz by his Tuesday deadline. He ended the short post by saying, "Praise be to Allah."
Asked by a reporter about his language, Trump responded he used it “only to make my point.”
Trump added about his use of an expletive, “I think you’ve heard it before.”
Trump suggests Kurdish groups have held onto guns meant for Iranian protesters
Trump appeared to confirm that the U.S. had intended to arm Iranian protesters after mass demonstrations against the government broke out throughout Iran in late 2025 and continued early into this year.
Thousands of anti-government protesters were killed during the crackdowns by government forces. Fox News reported on Sunday that Trump had told the network’s Trey Yingst in a telephone interview that Kurdish groups who were supposed to be delivering the U.S.-provided weapons held on to them.
“They were supposed to go to the people so they could fight back against these thugs,” Trump told reporters on Monday about the weapons intended for protesters. “You know what happened? The people that they sent them to kept them because they said, ‘What a beautiful gun. I think I’ll keep it.’ So, I’m very upset with a certain group of people and they’re going to pay a big price for that.”
Trump says he’d prefer to ‘take the oil’
Trump said he’d prefer to use U.S. military power to take control of Iran’s vast oil reserves, but he acknowledged there’s not much appetite for such a move among the American electorate.
“Take the oil because it’s there for the taking,” Trump said. “There’s not a thing they can do about it. Unfortunately, the American people would like to see us come home. If it were up to me, I’d take the oil. I’d keep the oil. I would make plenty of money.”
Trump warns Iran they’re making a mistake by not capitulating
Shortly after state media reported Iran had rejected a ceasefire proposal, Trump offered a new harsh warning to Iran.
“They just don’t want to say ‘uncle,‘” Trump told reporters as he and first lady Melania Trump hosted the White House Easter Egg Roll. “They don’t want to cry as the expression goes ‘uncle,’ but they will. And if they don’t, They’ll have no bridges. They’ll have no power plants. They’ll have no anything.”
He added another ominous warning: “I won’t go further because there are other things that are worse than those two.”
A regional official involved in the ceasefire talks says the efforts haven’t collapsed
“We are still talking to both sides,” he says, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss the closed-door diplomacy.
Israeli leader Benjamin Netanyahu says petrochemical attack weakens Iran’s Revolutionary Guard
He said Monday’s strike on an Iranian petrochemical facility is part of a systematic campaign aimed at destroying the Guard’s “money machine.”
“We are destroying factories, we are eliminating activists and we continue to eliminate senior figures,” he said in a videotaped statement.
An Iranian university student asks the world: ‘Stop this war’
A resident of Tehran in his early twenties says U.S.-Israeli strikes on civilian infrastructure and Trump’s intensifying threats have “terrified” people.
“Everyone is very anxious and scared that the water, power and gas will be cut,” he said, speaking anonymously for his security.
The student first spoke with The Associated Press on the eve of the war, when he participated in anti-government protests at his Tehran university’s campus. At the time, he described heated disagreements with friends who said they hoped a threatened Israeli-U.S. attack would overthrow the Islamic Republic.
“Those who were supporting the war are no longer supporting it,” he said Monday.
— Amir-Hussein Radjy
Key Federal Reserve official open to possible rate hikes amid gas price spikes
Beth Hammack, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland, said Monday in an interview with The Associated Press that if inflation remains persistently above the Fed's 2% target, the central bank should consider lifting its benchmark interest rate.
While Hammack also said the Fed might have to cut its rate if higher gas prices caused the economy to slow and unemployment to rise, a potential rate hike is a noticeable shift for the Fed from before the Iran war, when officials forecast two rate cuts this year. A hike could lift longer-term interest rates for things like mortgages and auto loans.
“My baseline is that we’re on hold for quite some time,” Hammack said, “but I can foresee scenarios where we would need to reduce rates ... if the labor market deteriorates significantly. Or I could see where we might need to raise rates if inflation stays persistently above our target.”
Houthis claim they hit military sites in Israel
The Iran-backed Houthis said they launched a barrage of cruise missiles and drones at several military sites in southern Israel, “successfully achieving its objectives,” according to the group’s military spokesperson.
Iran’s state-run IRNA news agency says Tehran has rejected the latest ceasefire proposal
The agency said it had has conveyed its response to the U.S. through Pakistan, a key mediator.
“We won’t merely accept a ceasefire,” Mojtaba Ferdousi Pour, head of the Iranian diplomatic mission in Cairo, told The Associated Press on Monday. “We only accept an end of the war with guarantees that we won’t be attacked again.”
Israel to ramp up production of air defense interceptors
Israel’s ministry of defense said Monday that the country’s defense industries would “significantly increase” production and stockpiling of missile interceptors as the war with Iran stretches on.
In a statement, the ministry said production of missile interceptors for the Arrow system, which defends against long-range ballistic missiles, would be sped up. Arrow has been critical in Israeli air defense during the current war, throughout which Israeli authorities have maintained there’s no shortage of interceptor missiles.
Israel’s military says it struck 3 Tehran airports overnight
The military says the strikes hit dozens of helicopters and aircraft it said belonged to the Iranian Air Force. It said the strikes targeted Bahram airport, Mehrabad airport and Azmayesh airport.
US-Israeli assault brings ‘destruction and bloodshed’ to Iran’s capital, resident says
A resident of central Tehran has described living with “anxiety and fear” as U.S.-Israeli strikes pummel the capital.
“Constantly, there is the sound of bombs, air defenses, drones,” she said, speaking on condition of anonymity for her safety.
At least one strike hit near her home, waking her on Wednesday, she said. Rushing into the neighboring street, she saw it “filled with people in pajamas, some of them wrapped in blankets, some of them crying with fear.”
She also described her anger at the popular satellite channel, Iran International, which is based abroad. She said its coverage had amplified exiled Iranian voices supporting strikes on the Islamic Republic. “Some people thought war might bring good things, but war doesn’t bring anything but destruction and bloodshed.”
— Amir-Hussein Radjy