Here's the latest
• War talks: Iran has rejected a temporary ceasefire in the US-Israeli war, saying this would allow adversaries to pause and prepare for fighting to continue. It follows reports the US and Iran have received a proposal to end hostilities that could come into effect today.
• Trump’s deadline: US President Donald Trump appeared to set a Tuesday deadline for Iran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz. Iran says the consequences of infrastructure attacks will stretch beyond the region. Trump will hold a news conference today on the rescue of an F-15 crew member whose jet was downed over Iran.
• Iranian intel chief killed: Israel says it killed the intelligence chief of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps early Monday. It has targeted dozens of senior officials in the IRGC since the conflict began.
• Latest strikes: Six children were among those killed in overnight Israeli-US strikes on Iran, state media reported. Four people were killed in an Iranian strike on a residential building in Haifa, Israel.
Strikes near Iranian power plant could cause "severe" radiological accident, IAEA says
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said Monday that ongoing military activity near Iran’s Bushehr nuclear power plant could cause a “severe radiological accident” with potential consequences beyond the country’s borders.
On Sunday, a projectile hit an area near the power plant – often referred to as BNPP – marking the fourth time the site has been targeted since the war began, according to Iranian state media agency Tasnim.
Based on independent analysis, the IAEA confirmed that strikes had recently hit close to the plant, including one just 75 metres from the site’s perimeter. The agency said the power plant itself had not been damaged.
US gas prices rise to $4.12 a gallon
The average price of a gallon of US regular gas edged up another cent Monday, reaching $4.12 in the latest reading from AAA. Gas prices are now up 38% since the start of the war in Iran.
Last week, the average price crossed the $4 a gallon mark for the first time since 2022. Prices have increased all but three days since March 1, and those three declines were by an almost imperceptible fraction of a penny that left prices unchanged each day when rounded to the nearest cent.
More increases could be on the way. Oil futures soared in trading Thursday after President Donald Trump said in a speech to the nation Wednesday that US forces would hit Iran “extremely hard over the next two to three weeks,” even as he sought to Americans that the war is nearing an end and that gas prices would quickly fall once it does.
While prices were slightly lower in early trading Monday, the drop was far short of last week’s climb.
Even if oil prices start to fall sharply as Trump predicts, it could take weeks for pump prices to start to decline.
Top EU official says any targeting of energy sites would be "illegal" after Trump threat
European Council President António Costa warned Monday that the targeting of energy facilities would be “illegal and unacceptable” after US President Donald Trump threatened to hit Iranian power plants if the Strait of Hormuz is not reopened.
Without directly referencing Trump’s comments, Costa said the “targeting of civilian infrastructure, namely energy facilities, is illegal and unacceptable.”
The White House has said the US military would always act in accordance with the law, but legal experts have told CNN that attacks on civilian infrastructure such as power facilities would likely constitute a war crime.
On Sunday, Trump appeared to threaten Iran’s critical infrastructure, writing on social media, “Tuesday will be Power Plant Day, and Bridge Day, all wrapped up in one, in Iran,” while calling on Tehran to “open the Fuckin’ Strait.”
Costa said the European Union also urges Iran – which has targeted energy facilities in Persian Gulf countries – to “put an end to its attacks against countries in the region and to allow for the reestablishment of full freedom of navigation through the Strait of Hormuz.”
Qatari tankers turn back before attempting Hormuz crossing
Shipping through the Strait of Hormuz remains severely curtailed, with tracking data showing that two tankers carrying Qatari natural gas turned around before transiting the strait on Monday.
The tankers – the Rasheed and Al Dayeen – had been anchored off the Qatari coast since the beginning of the conflict, but set sail Sunday. It’s unclear why they turned back.
US President Donald Trump has set a deadline of late Tuesday for the Strait to be reopened, threatening Iran with punitive strikes if it does not allow shipping to pass freely.
Some tankers are getting through, among them the Turkish-registered Ocean Thunder, which crossed the strait Sunday bound for Malaysia.
It’s the third Turkish vessel to leave the Persian Gulf since the conflict erupted, according to the Turkish transport ministry.
Maritime tracking data indicates that about 5% of the pre-war volume of shipping is getting through the strait. Shipping analysts Windward reported that there were 20 transits on Saturday – 14 of them outbound.
The ships entering the Gulf included two-Iranian flagged vessels that were not carrying oil, Windward said.
About two thirds of the oil leaving the Gulf in the week to Saturday was bound for China, according to Windward.
Pakistan and India have also negotiated with Iran for guaranteed passage of some of their flagged vessels.
Iraq has been exempted from the restrictions, according to the semi-official Iranian news agency Tasnim.
“Countries such as China, India, Pakistan, and Turkey have managed to secure passage for some of their vessels through direct negotiations,” it added.
Iran has reportedly been charging up to $2 million per vessel for passage trough Hormuz. It’s unclear if any ship operators have paid the fee.
Israel accelerates production of missile interceptors amid war with Iran
Israel’s government has approved a plan to expedite production of Arrow missile interceptors, the defense ministry said Monday, as the war with Iran enters its sixth week and Iranian retaliation shows no sign of easing.
The Arrow system forms the top layer of Israel’s multi-tiered defense network, designed to intercept long range ballistic missiles outside the atmosphere and at its edge. It is the primary weapon Iran has deployed against Israel during the current conflict and the 12-day war in June.
The decision, advanced by Defense Minister Israel Katz and ministry director General Amir Baraam, was approved by the ministerial committee for procurement. It will advance a new deal with Israel’s Aerospace Industries that “will enable a substantial increase in both the production rate and number of interceptors, as part of preparations for developments in the campaign”, the defense ministry said in a statement.
The move follows reports suggesting Israel may be facing strains in its interceptor stockpiles. In March, Israeli military officials denied Semafor report citing US officials as saying that Israel had informed the US that it is “running critically low” on interceptors.
Katz said Monday that “Israel has sufficient interceptors to defend its citizens,” adding that the move is intended to “ensure continued operational freedom and the necessary endurance”.
“The ayatollah regime should know: the state of Israel is strong and resilient prepared to continue the campaign as long as necessary,” Katz said.
Araghchi: Consequences of infrastructure attacks "will not be limited to Iran and the region"
Attacks on Iran’s infrastructure will have consequences that stretch beyond Iran and the region, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told his French counterpart on Monday.
“This threat amounts to the normalization of war crimes and genocide,” Araghchi told French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot during a phone call, referring to US President Donald Trump’s threats to attack Iranian power plants and other civilian infrastructure.
The Iranian official added that if any attack takes place, it will be met with “a decisive and comprehensive response” from Iran’s armed forces.
UAE insists a ceasefire in Iran must address regional security, official says
The United Arab Emirates insists that any ceasefire in Iran must address Gulf Arab states’ security concerns and avoid “a much more dangerous environment in the region,” a top official said.
Anwar Gargash, advisor to the UAE president, told CNN that Abu Dhabi wants “to see an end to this conflict, but an end to this conflict should not also create a continuous instability in the region.” Any agreement would have to address Tehran’s nuclear program as well as the missiles and drones “which are still raining on us and on other countries.”
“And then, if Iran also wants to see a non-belligerence agreement, that agreement has to extend to everybody. It’s not only American-Israeli actions against Iran, but it has to be also Iran’s belligerence against its neighbors,” he said.
Iran’s attacks on its Gulf Arab neighbors are likely to “concretize” the US role in the Gulf, “not reduce it,” he said. “We will also see Israeli influence become more prominent in the Gulf, not less.”
A key demand for Iran in stopping the war is the closure of US bases in the region, which it says are used to stage attacks against Iran.
“Our main security partner is the United States. We will double down on our relationship with the United States,” Gargash added.
He said the Strait of Hormuz has to be “part and parcel” of any settlement, “with a clear agreement on that,” adding that while the UAE is “not ready to act as a maritime force” at the strait, “we will join any American-led effort, international effort to secure navigation in the Strait of Hormuz.”
Oil prices dip but stay elevated after Trump's new threats to Iran
Oil prices are slightly down today but remain high, after US President Donald Trump issued a new ultimatum for Tehran.
Brent crude, the global benchmark, inched down 0.9% to $108.1 a barrel, while WTI crude, the US benchmark, fell 1.2% to $110.2.
Oil is traded as a futures contract, which means an agreement to buy or sell at a specified price on a future date. Monday’s Brent price reflects oil for delivery in June, whereas the WTI price reflects oil for delivery in May.
Trump on Sunday threatened to hit Iran’s power plants and other infrastructure if Tehran did not open the Strait of Hormuz – a critical oil and natural gas shipping route that has been effectively shut for more than a month now.
He also appeared to set a new Tuesday, 8 p.m. ET deadline for the reopening. In response, an Iranian official said the strait would stay closed until the country is “fully compensated” for war damages.
But traders may have drawn some relief from reports of diplomatic efforts. For example, CNN reported yesterday, citing sources, that Oman had held talks with Iran about the Strait of Hormuz. Meanwhile, Pakistan and Egypt have worked to keep communications open between Washington and Tehran, a Pakistani official source told CNN yesterday.
In Asia, where most countries are heavily dependent on crude and natural gas supplies from the Middle East, stock markets closed mostly lower on the day.
Two of the outliers, Japan’s benchmark index Nikkei 225 and South Korea’s Kospi, rose 0.6% and 1.4% respectively. Hong Kong’s market is closed for a public holiday.
US stock futures pointed to a marginally stronger open. European markets are closed for Easter Monday.
Iran rejects temporary ceasefire, insists on permanent end to war
Iran has rejected a temporary ceasefire in the US-Israeli war, saying it would allow adversaries to pause and prepare for the continuation of the conflict.
“We are calling for an end to the war and for preventing its recurrence,” foreign ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghaei was cited as saying by Iran’s state news agency IRNA.
Reuters reported Monday that Iran and the US have received a proposal to end hostilities that could come into effect on Monday. Axios also reported that the US, Iran, and regional mediators were discussing a potential 45-day ceasefire as part of a two-phase deal that would lead to a permanent end to the war.
Baghaei did not specifically address the reports.
He added that Iran has formulated a response to the United States’ demands to end the war and will announce it “when necessary,” referring to the 15-point list of demands that Washington conveyed to Tehran through Pakistan.
The proposal was “extremely excessive and unusual and illogical,” adding that Iran has a “very bitter experience of negotiating with the US,” he said.
Any diplomatic talks are “absolutely incompatible with ultimatums, crimes, and threats to commit war crimes,” he added, referring to US President Donald Trump’s threat to bomb key Iranian infrastructure if Tehran does not open the Strait of Hormuz.
Separately, Iranian Armed Forces spokesman Ebrahim Zolfaghari said on Monday that if attacks on civilian targets are repeated, Iran’s retaliation will be on a much wider scale and losses “several times greater,” the semi-official news agency Tasnim reported.
Deaths reported in Iran, Lebanon and Israel, as Trump threatens Tehran on Strait of Hormuz
US President Donald Trump ordered Iran in a profanity-laced Truth Social post to “open the Fuckin’ Strait, you crazy bastards, or you’ll be living in Hell.”
Trump then appeared to set a new deadline for Iran to reopen the vital waterway, writing yesterday afternoon, “Tuesday, 8:00 P.M. Eastern Time!”
If you’re just joining us, here’s what you need to know about the latest developments:
- Iranian embassies around the world posted critical, tongue-in-cheek responses to Trump’s warning, while Iran’s parliament speaker accused Trump of pushing the US toward “a living HELL” and warned the region could “burn.”
- Six children under 10 were among those killed in overnight Israeli-US strikes on Iran, according to the semi-official Mehr news.
- At least ten people were killed and dozens were wounded in overnight attacks on Lebanon, according to state media reports.
- In the Israeli city of Haifa, four bodies have been recovered following an Iranian missile attack on a residential building yesterday, Israel’s emergency service said.
- Another senior security official in Iran has been killed, according to both Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) and Israeli Defense minister Israel Katz.
- Gulf countries including the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia continued fending off attacks from Iran early today, after weeks of constant bombardment.
- Oil prices traded relatively flat and remained elevated early today, as Trump’s new threats to strike Iran unsettled investors, sending prices soaring yesterday.
- Trump is also set to talk to reporters during a White House briefing at 1 p.m. ET today, following the rescue of a US airman whose jet was downed over Iran.
CNN’s Julia Benbrook, Mitchell McCluskey, Mohammed Tawfeeq, Lex Harvey, Kit Maher, Ally Barnard, Zulfaqar Samra, Isaac Yee, Charbel Mallo, Eugenia Yosef, Manveena Suri, Tim Lister, Jessie Yeung and John Liu contributed to this reporting.
Two more bodies found after Iranian strike on Haifa, Israel, bringing total killed to four
The bodies of four people who were killed in an Iranian strike on a residential building in the Israeli city of Haifa yesterday have now been recovered, Israel’s emergency service Magen David Adom said in a statement.
The victims were a man and a woman in their eighties, their son and his companion, according to Haifa Municipality’s spokesperson.
Dozens of rescue workers were at the site throughout the night searching for the four people, who the Israeli military believe did not have time to reach a protected area as the missile approached.
“The hit on Haifa was the result of a ballistic missile weighing several hundred kilograms,” an Israeli military spokesperson told CNN today, adding that interceptors launched at the missile had all missed.
CNN’s Lex Harvey and Manveena Suri contributed to this reporting.
Eight Iranian hospitals evacuated after US-Israeli strikes, health ministry says
Iran’s health ministry said today that eight hospitals have been evacuated following US-Israeli strikes in the country, according to Iranian state media.
The ministry said 54 emergency centers, 46 treatment units and 216 health centers have so far been damaged in the conflict, state-run Tasnim news agency reported. In addition, dozens of ambulances have sustained damage while more than 20 healthcare workers have been killed, Tasnim creported the ministry as saying.
CNN has approached US Central Command and the Israeli military for comment on the ministry’s claims.
Meanwhile, Jagan Chapagain, secretary-general of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, said he was “deeply concerned” by reports that an Iranian Red Crescent ambulance was hit while responding to an emergency yesterday. No one was injured in the attack, but the vehicle was destroyed, he said.
Iran, Israel and Lebanon hit in overnight strikes
These are the latest images we’re seeing as strikes continued across the region overnight.
At least ten people were killed and dozens wounded in overnight attacks on Lebanon, according to state media reports.
Six children were among those killed in overnight Israeli-US strikes on Iran, state media reported. Two people were killed and two are missing after an Iranian strike on a residential building in Haifa, Israel.
Israel kills senior Iranian security official
Another senior security official in Iran has been killed, according to both Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) and Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz.
Maj. Gen. Majid Khademi, head of Intelligence for the IRGC, was assassinated early Monday, according to a statement from the Guards.
The IRGC described him as a “highly esteemed commander” who had devoted “nearly half a century of loyal and courageous service to the Revolution.”
Israel has targeted dozens of senior officials in the IRGC, the Iranian military and the Basij paramilitary group since the conflict began at the end of February.
Katz said the Israeli military killed Khadami, who he said was one of those “directly responsible” for the deaths of Israeli civilians “and one of the three most senior figures” in the IRGC.
“Iran’s leaders are living with a sense of persecution. We will continue to hunt them down one by one,” Katz said.
He added that Israeli strikes had severely damaged Iran’s steel infrastructure and the petrochemical industry – “and today, and every day, there will be more to come.”
Two killed, two missing after Iranian strike on residential building in Haifa
In the Israeli city of Haifa, two bodies have been recovered and two people remain missing, as search crews comb the rubble of a six-story residential building damaged in an Iranian missile attack on Sunday, Israel’s emergency service Magen David Adom said.
Rescuers workers were at the site through the night searching for the four people, who the Israeli military believe did not have time to reach a protected area as the missile approached.
“The hit on Haifa was the result of a ballistic missile weighing several hundred kilograms,” an Israeli military spokesperson told CNN on Monday, adding that interceptors launched at the missile had all missed.
Brig. Gen. Elad Edri, the Home Front Command’s chief of staff earlier said “many more” people had been wounded in the strike and were taken to hospital for treatment. He called it a “major destruction site.”
Emergency workers had to move large pieces of concrete “with our hands” to rescue an 82-year-old man, Shevach Rothenshtrych, a senior EMT with Magen David Adom told CNN on Sunday.
Occupants of the building who survived had told emergency workers that “there were casualties trapped under the rubble on the lower floors,” Rothenshtrych said.
A total of 163 people across Israel were taken to hospital in the past day, according to its health ministry on Monday.
This post has been updated with additional information.
One foreign national injured as Gulf nations face fresh attacks
Gulf nations continued fending off attacks from Iran early Monday, after weeks of constant bombardment. Many of these nations had cautioned Washington about the consequences of waging war on Iran before the war broke out.
Here’s the latest:
- United Arab Emirates: A Ghanian national was wounded by falling debris from an intercepted projectile in Abu Dhabi on Monday, according to the city’s government media office. The UAE Ministry of Defense also posted earlier Monday morning that it was intercepting missiles and drone threats, noting that the sound of interceptions may be heard “across the country.”
- Kuwait: The army posted on Monday morning that its air defenses are intercepting “hostile missile and drone threats.”
- Saudi Arabia: The Ministry of Defense said it intercepted two drones on Monday morning.
At least ten killed in overnight attacks on Lebanon
At least ten people were killed and dozens were wounded in overnight attacks on Lebanon, according to state media reports.
Five people, including a 15-year-old, were killed in an Israeli attack on southern Beirut’s Jnah neighborhood, the National News Agency said, while three people were killed in a strike on Ain Saade, northeast of the city. The news agency said an airstrike also killed a husband and wife and wounding their two children, 9 and 15, near Toul, south of Beirut.
Israel’s military said it had struck “launchers and weapons storage facilities concealed within structures and civilian infrastructure” in Lebanon, in a statement on Monday.
Israel has been targeting Iran-backed Hezbollah militants in southern Lebanon since early March. The death toll from its strikes and ground invasion has now reached 1,461 people, Lebanon’s health ministry said.
Hezbollah continues to fire rockets at Israel, saying it launched more than two dozen attacks on Sunday and four on Monday.
By last Friday, more than 80 towns and villages in Lebanon had been emptied and more than 15% of the country’s population left displaced, the health ministry said Friday.
On Sunday, Eighteen far-right Israeli lawmakers, including some from the ruling Likud party, demanded that Israel’s military expand its plans to destroy villages along the Lebanese border and expel their inhabitants.
North Korea may be trying to distance itself from Iran, says South Korean spy agency
North Korea may be trying to distance itself from Iran, a country it has traditionally been friendly with, said South Korea’s intelligence agency, according to a lawmaker.
South Korean lawmaker Park Sun-won attended a parliamentary briefing by the National Intelligence Service (NIS) on Monday. Afterward, he said the agency believes North Korea so far hasn’t provided any weapons or materials to Iran.
There are clues Pyongyang is trying to maintain some distance. For instance, it did not send a condolence message when Iran’s former Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was killed in US-Israeli strikes, and it did not congratulate Mojtaba Khamenei when he was named the new leader, said Park, citing the NIS.
This might be an effort to “secure new diplomatic space” ahead of the expected summit between US President Donald Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping in May, Park said. China is one of North Korea’s closest partners.
Another lawmaker, Lee Seong-kwon, added that North Korea appears to be refraining from directly criticizing Trump in the run-up to the meeting.
Earlier in February, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un told the Ninth Workers’ Party Congress that “there is no reason not to get along well with the US,” signaling that he appears to be managing his messages in a bid to keep good relations with Trump, said Park.
NIS found that North Korea is facing significant economic difficulties as a result of the Middle East conflict, with disruptions to securing industrial materials, rising prices and a surging exchange rate, Park told reporters, adding that the country is trying to secure additional oil supplies from Russia.
This post has been updated with additional information.
Iranian embassies post critical, tongue-in cheek responses to Trump threat
Iranian embassies around the world posted critical, tongue-in-cheek responses on X to President Donald Trump’s profanity-laced warning over the Strait of Hormuz.
“Tuesday will be Power Plant Day, and Bridge Day, all wrapped up in one, in Iran. There will be nothing like it!!! Open the Fuckin’ Strait, you crazy bastards, or you’ll be living in Hell - JUST WATCH!” Trump posted to Truth Social on Sunday morning. He later appeared to set a new deadline, writing “Tuesday, 8:00 P.M. Eastern Time!”
What some of them said:
- The Iran Embassy in South Africa said: “Seriously think about the 25th amendment, Section 4,” in an apparent reference to the constitutional provision which allows for the Vice President and the majority of Cabinet to declare the President unfit for office, thus putting the VP in charge.
- “!Take it easy, tiger . (sic) Keep your cool,” wrote the Iran Embassy in Bulgaria.
- “#POTUS has stooped to an unprecedented level of begging, laced with bitter, hollow rudeness and threats. The desperation is almost palpable, dripping from every syllable—especially the haphazardly hurled expletives,” said the Iran Embassy in Austria, noting that attacking civilian infrastructure is a war crime. It added: “A further warning: shield all minors under 18 from exposure to #Trump’s rhetoric.”
- The Iran Embassy in the United Kingdom quoted the common proverb: “It is better to keep your mouth closed and let people think you are a fool than to open it and remove all doubt.” It also said Trump’s threat was a “sign of weakness & SICKNESS.”
- The Iran Embassy in Zimbabwe posted a list of examples of “presidential decorum,” which included “respectful and measured language in public statements.”
- “Swearing and throwing insults are how sore loser brats behave. Get a grip on yourself, old man!” wrote the Iran Embassy in India.
Six children among those killed in strikes on Tehran overnight, state media says
New video posted to Telegram by the Iranian Red Crescent Society shows rescue crews digging through rubble at what the aid agency describes as the site of an airstrike in a residential area of Tehran.
The video was posted in the early hours of Monday morning local time, but it is not clear exactly where or what time the footage was filmed.
Six children under 10 were killed in overnight Israeli-US strikes on Iran, according to the semi-official Mehr news.
At least 13 people were killed in an early Monday attack on two residential buildings in Baharestan County, a densely populated area southwest of Tehran, Baharestan’s governor said, according to Iranian state media Fars.
Search efforts are ongoing to rescue any individuals still trapped under the rubble, Fars reported.
And in eastern Tehran, four people were killed and seven injured an early Monday morning attack on residential areas there, reported Mehr news. Rescue teams were still searching through rubble, it added.
Meanwhile, video posted on social media showed the aftermath of an attack on the street close to the Department of Civil Engineering, Sharif University of Technology in Tehran. CNN was able to geolocate the video by matching the minarets seen in the video and the layout of the buildings with satellite imagery.
In a short statement published early Monday morning local time, the Israel Defense Forces said it carried out a “wave of strikes” on targets in Tehran.
