Trump threatens to ‘obliterate’ Iran’s energy sources, as Tehran calls US plan ‘unrealistic’

A view of the Bushehr nuclear power plant in Bushehr, Iran, on January 26, 2014.

Iran’s Atomic Energy Organization said the safety of the country’s nuclear facilities remains under strict monitoring and control, adding that no damage reported so far poses a risk to public health.

The deputy head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI), Mohammad Reza Kardan, said specialized teams are prepared to respond immediately if any accident or damage occurs at nuclear sites, according to Iran’s state-run Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB) on Monday.

“Immediately after any possible accident or damage is reported, if necessary, specialized radiation safety and technical assessment teams will take action and conduct the necessary investigations,” Kardan said, IRIB reported.

The official said that based on current assessments, the damage reported so far has not reached a level that would threaten public health.

“All safety, environmental monitoring, and emergency management systems are in an active and stable state,” Kardan added.

Projectiles have struck the area around the Bushehr nuclear power plant multiple times this month, Iranian authorities said. It is Iran’s only functioning nuclear power plant.

According to Reuters, as of late March 2026, approximately 300 Russian specialists remain at the Bushehr plant, following a series of evacuations. Russia’s Rosatom recently evacuated 163 staff members, with more departures planned, reducing the workforce to a minimum while maintaining essential operations.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said US troops are being sent to the Middle East to give President Donald Trump “maximum optionality” in the war with Iran, though officials are still pursuing a diplomatic solution.

Asked by a reporter during today’s White House press briefing whether the president is trying to “end or intensify” the conflict in the Middle East, given the number of US troops in the region, Leavitt replied: “The president is focused on achieving the objectives of Operation Epic Fury.”

“With respect to forces that are on the ground in the Middle East, it’s the job of the Pentagon to create maximum optionality for the commander in chief. It does not mean the president has made any additional decisions,” she said.

Pressed on the duality of the president saying he wants to talk to Iran and then sending US forces to the region, Leavitt said diplomacy is Trump’s “number one option and priority.”

She recalled the Trump administration’s prior attempts to strike a deal before the war, noting that those efforts failed with the previous regime.

She added, “If there’s ever a chance for a deal again, the president is open to listening, but it does not deter him from focusing on the military objectives that he set out 30 days ago and that our military is continuing to achieve day by day.”

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt speaks with reporters at the White House in Washington, DC, on Monday.

The White House said Monday that it’s not wrong to call on the American people to pray for troops, after Pope Leo XIV said God does not listen to the prayers of those who wage war.

The pope said in his homily during Palm Sunday Mass that Jesus “rejects war” and “does not listen to the prayers of those who wage war, but rejects them, saying: ‘Even though you make many prayers, I will not listen: your hands are full of blood.’”

Leo’s remarks contrasted with those of US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, who has quoted scriptures to suggest God supports the military action in Iran.

Leavitt, who acknowledged the Holy Week and said her team said a prayer before the press briefing, said she thinks US service members “appreciate they prayers and support from the commander in chief and from his Cabinet.”

A man sits beside a locked door of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre and shuttered shops in Jerusalem on Friday.

The White House pressed Israel to reopen certain holy sites in the country over the weekend after authorities in Jerusalem initially prevented an Italian Catholic priest from entering the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said today.

“We did express our concerns with Israel with respect to these holy sites being shut down,” she said during a press briefing, adding that Secretary of State Marco Rubio was involved in making the appeal. “We want worshippers to be able to access these holy sites.”

Israel has since allowed Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa into the church. It cited safety concerns created by the war in Iran for closing the holy sites ahead of Easter.

“Safety is a top priority, but we understand that Israel is working on those security measures to reopen the sites throughout Holy Week,” Leavitt said.

The White House, pressed on President Donald Trump’s threat to target Iranian power facilities and potentially desalination plants if Tehran does not reopen the Strait of Hormuz, said the US military would always act in accordance with the law.

Targeting civilian sites like desalination plants could amount to violations of international law. But press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Trump is looking to press Iran into making a deal.

“The president has made it quite clear to the Iranian regime at this moment in time…that their best move is to make a deal, or else the United States armed forces has capabilities beyond their wildest imagination, and the president is not afraid to use them,” she said.

“Of course, this administration and the United States armed forces will always act within the confines of the law, but with respect to achieving the full objectives of Operation Epic Fury, President Trump is going to move forward unabated, and he expects, expects the Iranian regime to make a deal with the administration,” she went on.

A man walks on rocks along the shore as oil tankers and cargo ships line up in the Strait of Hormuz, as seen from Khor Fakkan, United Arab Emirates, on March 11.

The Trump administration remains opposed to Tehran’s attempts to establish a tolling system at the Strait of Hormuz, a critical oil thoroughfare, but heralded the movement of some tankers as a sign of diplomacy.

“That’s not something we support, and I would reject that they are cherry picking,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Monday when pressed on the disconnect between the current flow of ships and President Donald Trump’s message about wanting the strait to be fully open.

The oil tankers moving through the strait — which include 10 announced by Trump last week, plus an additional 20 tankers expected to pass over the coming days — “are a result of the direct and indirect talks that are taking place between the United States and Iran,” Leavitt said.

The tankers, she added, wouldn’t be moving “if not for the president’s diplomacy and his team engaging on this matter, which we expect that compliance moving forward.”

Movement through the strait has been severely hampered since the war began, leading to rising oil prices.

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt speaks during a press briefing at the White House in Washington, DC, on Monday.

The White House said Monday that the Iranian officials negotiating with the US appear more reasonable than the regime’s previous leaders, even as it refused once again to name them.

“These folks are appearing more reasonable behind the scenes, privately in these conversations, than perhaps some of the previous leaders who are now no longer on planet Earth,” press secretary Karoline Leavitt said during a press briefing.

President Donald Trump and his team have yet to specify who in Iran they are communicating with about the war, even as the president has claimed that negotiations are progressing well.

On Monday, Leavitt said any commitments from Iran will be “tested” to hold them accountable, warning that the military would effectively seek to kill them if it became clear they were unwilling to reach a diplomatic resolution on Trump’s terms.

“This is another historic opportunity for Iran to do the right thing to rid themselves of their nuclear ambitions and to come to a deal with this president,” Leavitt said. “Or, again, they will see the grave consequences of the United States Armed Forces.”

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Monday that “it’s not quite clear how decisions are being made inside of Iran” as the United States seeks to make a deal to end the war.

In an interview with Al Jazeera, Rubio said it is unclear whether the new supreme leader, Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, is in power, noting, “No one has seen him. No one has heard from him.”

“It’s very opaque right now. It’s not quite clear how decisions are being made inside of Iran,” he said.

Rubio also claimed that the US’ objectives “from the very beginning, had nothing to do with the leadership,” despite President Donald Trump regularly mentioning his desire for different leadership in Iran.

The top US diplomat said there are “messages and some direct talks going on between some inside of Iran and the United States, primarily through intermediaries, but there’s been some conversation.”

Rubio outlined some of the demands from the US to Iran, which are nearly identical to the demands made before the war: “The Iranian regime can never have nuclear weapons, and they need to stop sponsoring terrorism, and they need to stop building weapons that can threaten their neighbors.”

Asked about the minimum concession needed from Iran, Rubio said Tehran must “take demonstrable steps towards ending any ambition of having nuclear weapons.”

If Iran wants nuclear energy, Rubio said, it should follow the mechanism of other countries in the region and import it.

“Iran’s demand for sovereignty over the Strait of Hormuz is also unacceptable,” Rubio said.

“No country in the world should accept that,” he said. “The United States will not accept that condition. It’s an illegal condition that they’re demanding that’s just not going to happen.”

Ukraine has received requests from Bahrain and Oman for defense cooperation, according to President Volodymyr Zelensky, as additional Persian Gulf nations seek to draw on the country’s expertise in drone warfare.

Zelensky said today that agreements are already in place with Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar. Ukraine is also “working with” Jordan and Kuwait, he said.

The Ukrainian leader said that countries in the region “share a common vision of working together with our government, our defense forces and our experts.”

Remember: Kyiv’s experience with Iranian-designed, Russian-made Shahed drones is now becoming particularly useful. The Shahed is one of the weapons being used by Tehran.

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt holds a press briefing at the White House in Washington, DC, on Monday.

The White House sought Monday to cast a positive light on indirect US-Iran negotiations, suggesting pessimistic public comments from Tehran did not reflect private messages being passed between the two sides.

“It’s no surprise that we are seeing the remaining elements of the regime become increasingly eager to end the destruction and come to the negotiating table while they still can,” press secretary Karoline Leavitt said after describing US military progress in the war.

“Despite all of the public posturing you hear from the regime and false reporting, talks are continuing and going well,” she continued. “What is said publicly is, of course, much different than what’s being communicated to us privately.”

Earlier, Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei said the US’ 15-point list for halting the conflict contains “largely excessive, unrealistic, and unreasonable demands,” contradicting Trump’s earlier claims that Iran had agreed to “most of” of the requests on the list.

Leavitt said if Iran rejects a deal with the US, President Donald Trump has options before him to “ensure this regime continues to pay a grave price one way or another.”

Two United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) peacekeepers were killed in southern Lebanon on Monday when an explosion of unknown origin destroyed their vehicle near Bani Hayyan, the UN mission said in a statement.

UNIFIL said two other peacekeepers were injured, one of them severely. The mission described it as the second fatal incident involving its personnel in the past 24 hours.

The two slain peacekeepers were Indonesians, according to Jean-Pierre Lacroix, who oversees UNIFIL as the UN undersecretary-general for peace operations.

In a separate statement issued Sunday, UNIFIL said a peacekeeper was killed Saturday night “when a projectile exploded in a UNIFIL position near Adchit Al Qusayr” in southern Lebanon. It said another peacekeeper was critically injured.

“No one should ever have to die serving the cause of peace,” UNIFIL said, offering condolences to the families, friends and colleagues of those killed and wishing the injured a full recovery.

The mission said it has launched an investigation to determine what happened. The statement did not attribute blame to any party.

UNIFIL also urged all actors to uphold their obligations under international law and ensure the safety and security of UN personnel and property. It warned that deliberate attacks on peacekeepers are grave violations of international humanitarian law and UN Security Council Resolution 1701, and may constitute war crimes.

“The human cost of this conflict is far too high. The violence, as we have said before, must end,” UNIFIL concluded.

Since March 1, 2026, fighting between the Israeli military and Iranian-backed Hezbollah has sharply escalated in southern Lebanon, amid an expanded Israeli ground operation and worsening humanitarian conditions.

A Lebanese solider was killed and five others wounded on Monday “as a result of a direct Israeli attack on an army checkpoint in Ameriyeh on the Qlileh–Tyre road,” the Lebanese Army said in a statement. Among the wounded is an officer who sustained moderate injuries, according to the army.

“This attack comes in the context of Israel’s ongoing assault on Lebanon, which has resulted in martyrdom and injuries among both military personnel and civilians,” the statement added.

It also follows the killing of an Indonesian UN peacekeeper in southern Lebanon on Sunday, according to Indonesian and human rights officials, as Israeli forces hammered parts of the country overnight.

CNN has asked the Israeli military for comment.

Rising death toll in Lebanon: At least 1,247 people have been killed in Israeli strikes in Lebanon since March 2, the country’s Health Ministry said in an update today. At least 124 children are among those killed, the ministry said yesterday.

CNN’s Dana Karni, Charbel Mallo and Catherine Nicholls contributed tot his report.

Conservative commentators are trying to get through to President Donald Trump via television. Some, like Fox host Mark Levin, are rhetorically softening the ground in support of a wider military effort inside Iran.

In a Truth Social post on Saturday, Trump urged everyone to watch Levin’s talk show. Trump specifically plugged commentator Marc Thiessen’s appearance in advance, suggesting he knew what would air on the show.

Levin proceeded to advocate for US escalation in Iran. He said there are “lots of reasons” to deploy specialized troops. Among them: “We’ve gotta get the uranium.”

In a Sunday night report about Trump considering a military operation to extract uranium from Iran, the Wall Street Journal pointed out the apparent feedback loop between Trump and Levin.

Other Fox News personalities have urged caution: Marine Corps veteran Johnny “Joey” Jones looked into the camera on Sunday’s edition of “The Big Weekend Show” and said to Trump, “don’t nation build.” Jones invoked memories of the Iraq War and argued further military action should be swift if it happens at all.

CNN political commentator SE Cupp recently said she senses some GOP lawmakers have specifically appeared on TV to discourage Trump from sending ground forces into Iran.

“They are trying to communicate to Trump that they don’t want this because they have no other way to do it,” Cupp said. “He’s not listening to them. He’s listening to Laura Loomer and Lindsey Graham, and he’s being shown videos of stuff blowing up, and that’s his briefing.”

Sec. of State Marco Rubio looks on as he speaks to the press before his departure from Le Bourget, France, on Friday.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio declined to say this morning who the US is negotiating with in Iran but said “fractures” have emerged within Tehran’s leadership.

This comes after Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson, Esmaeil Baghaei, said the US’s proposal for ending the conflict contains “unrealistic” demands.

Meanwhile, strikes across the region continued today, with a US-Israeli strike on an orphanage west of Tehran killing at least two people, according to Iran’s semi-official Fars News Agency.

If you’re just joining us, here’s a brief overview of the latest headlines:

CNN’s Chris Isidore, Michael Williams, Mustafa Qadri, Tim Lister, Masrur Jamaluddin, Charbel Mallo, Sana Noor Haq, Billy Stockwell and Catherine Nicholls contributed to this report.

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Large crowds of mourners gather for funeral of killed Iranian schoolgirls

00:52 • Source: CNN

Large crowds of mourners gather for funeral of killed Iranian schoolgirls

00:52

Thousands of people have been killed during the conflict in the Middle East since it began on February 28, according to a CNN tally of death tolls released by regional authorities.

Here’s what those authorities have said about the number of people reportedly killed in the region since the war began. CNN is not able to independently verify these numbers.

Mourners attend a funeral on March 9 at Behesht-e Zahra cemetery on the outskirts of Tehran for a person killed in recent airstrikes.

Dozens of people have also been killed in other countries in the region since the conflict began. Deaths due to the conflict have been reported in the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Kuwait, the occupied West Bank, Oman, Bahrain and Saudi Arabia since February 28, according to local authorities.

CNN’s Charbel Mallo, Eyad Kourdi, Dana Karni, Aqeel Najim, Nechirvan Mando, Mohammed Tawfeeq, Eugenia Yosef, Oren Liebermann, Tal Shalev, Tamar Michaelis, and Zachary Cohen contributed to this report.

The International Rescue Committee warned on Monday that the ripple effects of the Iran war – soaring fuel prices and supply chain disruptions – are threatening humanitarian operations across Africa.

“What is unfolding is a logistics crisis that is a rapidly escalating humanitarian threat,” the IRC said in a statement on Monday. “Fuel is the backbone of humanitarian response. It powers hospitals, keeps vaccines cold, enables ambulances to move, and allows aid to reach communities cut off by conflict and crisis, particularly in areas where electricity supply is unreliable. As prices spike and supply tightens, those systems are beginning to fail.”

The IRC warned that if the disruption caused by the war persists, it could push humanitarian operations to a breaking point in multiple countries:

The nonprofit also said the fuel price shocks and disruptions come as the international humanitarian system is already strained, following significant global aid cuts last year.

The US president’s former national security adviser dismissed claims that the White House is negotiating with a more moderate regime as “ just delusional.”

“This is an ideological regime. It has gone through repeated purification campaigns for decades. The faces are different, but the ideology remains the same,” he told CNN’s Kate Bolduan.

Bolton, who was formerly the US ambassador to the United Nations, made the comments after Trump’s claim on Truth Social earlier that “serious discussions with A NEW, AND MORE REASONABLE, REGIME” are underway.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky attends a press conference in Kyiv on March 11.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said some of Kyiv’s allies have asked Ukraine to scale back its attacks against Russia’s energy facilities as global oil prices continue to rise.

“Recently, following the global energy crisis, we have indeed received signals from some of our partners regarding how to scale back our responses targeting the oil and energy sectors of the Russian Federation,” Zelensky said in a voice note sent to reporters.

The Ukrainian leader did not specify who made the request, but he made it clear Kyiv was unlikely to act on it.

“I emphasize once again: if Russia is ready to stop targeting Ukraine’s energy sector, we will not retaliate against its energy sector,” he said, adding that Ukraine was “ready for any ceasefire.”

Russia has spent months terrorizing cities across Ukraine with large-scale bombing campaigns against energy facilities, leaving millions of civilians without power and heat during an unusually cold winter.

Ukraine has stepped up attacks on Russia’s energy infrastructure since the start of the war in the Middle East as it tries to prevent Russia from cashing in on higher oil prices. In the last week alone, Ukrainian drones have struck several Russian refineries and export terminals.

A missile said to be launched from Iran has been “neutralized” by NATO assets in the Mediterranean after it entered Turkish airspace, Ankara said today.

It is the fourth time a suspected Iranian ballistic munition has been neutralized by NATO defenses in Turkey.

The ministry added that all “necessary measures are being taken decisively and without hesitation against any threat directed at our country’s territory and airspace.”

NATO Spokesperson Allison Hart later confirmed the military alliance had “successfully intercepted an Iranian ballistic missile” heading toward Turkey, while vowing to do “what is necessary” to defend its allies.

Iran has previously denied that it has launched missiles toward Turkey.

This post has been updated with additional details.

Strikes across the region have persisted today, with a US-Israeli strike on an orphanage west of Tehran killing at least two people, according to Iran’s semi-official Fars News Agency.

Several Persian Gulf countries have also today reported the interception of drones and missiles.

CNN’s Dalia Abdelwahab contributed to this report.