President Donald Trump has threatened to unleash further devastation on Iran’s energy and transport infrastructure by Tuesday if Tehran does not reopen the Strait of Hormuz, even as reports emerged of negotiations over a potential 45-day ceasefire that could lay the groundwork for a permanent end to the six-week-old war.
In an expletive-laden post on his Truth Social platform on Sunday, Trump declared “Tuesday will be Power Plant Day, and Bridge Day, all wrapped up in one, in Iran,” warning Iranian leaders they would be “living in Hell” if the strait remained closed. Critics have said such strikes on civilian infrastructure would constitute a war crime.
In the same breath, Trump told Fox News that Iran was negotiating and that a deal could be reached by Monday — the latest in a pattern of contradictory signals that has unsettled financial markets, allies and adversaries alike.
Axios later reported on Sunday that the US, Iran and regional mediators were discussing a two-phase agreement: an initial 45-day ceasefire followed by talks on a permanent end to hostilities. Four US, Israeli and regional sources with knowledge of the talks were cited. Reuters could not immediately verify the report, and the White House and State Department did not respond to requests for comment.
Commando rescue from deep inside Iran
Trump separately announced in the early hours of Sunday what he described as “one of the most daring” special forces missions in US history — the rescue of a wounded airman stranded deep inside Iranian territory after his F-15 was shot down on Friday.
Around 100 US special operations forces slipped into rugged terrain south of Tehran under cover of darkness, scaled a 7,000-foot ridge and extracted the aircraft’s weapons officer before dawn. The jet’s pilot had been rescued earlier.
The mission nearly unravelled when two MC-130 transport aircraft suffered mechanical failures and could not take off. Commanders made the high-risk decision to fly additional aircraft into Iran to extract the stranded force in waves. US troops destroyed the disabled MC-130s and four helicopters on Iranian soil to prevent sensitive equipment falling into enemy hands. Iran confirmed several US aircraft had been destroyed during the operation.
Iran strikes Gulf energy infrastructure
Despite more than five weeks of sustained US-Israeli bombardment, Iran demonstrated it retained significant offensive reach on Sunday, launching drone and missile strikes on petrochemical facilities in Kuwait, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates. Iran’s Revolutionary Guards also said they struck an Israeli-linked vessel at Dubai’s Jebel Ali port.
In Kuwait, drones ignited fires and caused what Kuwait Petroleum Corporation described as “severe material damage” at plants operated by affiliates of the state oil firm.
Iran’s parliamentary speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf condemned Trump’s threats, accusing him of acting on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s instructions. “Your reckless moves are dragging the United States into a living hell for every single family,” he posted on X.
In Israel, search-and-rescue teams combed through debris in the northern city of Haifa on Sunday after an Iranian missile struck a residential building. Israeli paramedics said nine people were being treated; Israeli media later reported two dead recovered from the rubble.
Israeli airstrikes killed a further 11 people in Lebanon on Sunday, according to Lebanon’s health ministry. A US-Israeli strike on a residential building south of Tehran killed at least 13 people, an official told Iranian state media, though Reuters was unable to verify the report.
The war, which began with joint US-Israeli strikes across Iran on 28 February, has killed thousands of people, primarily in Iran and Lebanon.
(Reuters)