Iran on Monday rejected the latest ceasefire proposal to end the war, the country’s state-run media reported, as mediators scramble to reach an agreement ahead of President Donald Trump’s deadline to strike Iran’s power plants if the Strait of Hormuz remains closed.
Tehran rejected the proposal and issued its own 10-point response after regional mediators organized a framework to end the war, Iran’s state-run IRNA news agency reported.
On Sunday, Trump issued an expletive-laden threat to Iran, saying the U.S. would bomb the country’s power plants and bridges on Tuesday if Tehran does not reopen the Strait of Hormuz. A spokesperson for Iran’s military said attacks on critical infrastructure would be met with fierce retaliation.
The president is set to host a news conference at the White House on Monday at 1 p.m. ET. He is expected to discuss the rescue of a crew member on a U.S. fighter jet that went down over Iran on Friday.
Christopher Cann
Iran has issued a 10-point response to the ceasefire proposal that was sent to the Iranians and the U.S. by mediators overnight, the state-run IRNA news agency reported.
Demands from the Iranian leadership include a permanent end to the war, a lifting of sanctions and a protocol for safe passage along the Strait of Hormuz.
The response casts doubt on the chances of the U.S. and Iran reaching an agreement before President Trump’s Tuesday deadline for the country to open the strait, a critical trade route.
Christopher Cann
President Donald Trump threatened to destroy all power plants in Iran if the country does not open the Strait of Hormuz and argued that the country’s 93 million residents want more U.S. military action.
“If they don’t come through, if they want to keep it closed, they’re going to lose every power plant and every other plant they have in the whole country,” Trump said in an interview with the Wall Street Journal published Sunday, adding: “If they don’t do something by Tuesday evening, they won’t have any power plants and they won’t have any bridges standing.”
When asked if hitting civilian infrastructure would hurt Iranians, Trump said, “No, they want us to do it” because they are “living in hell.”
Experts have said that intentionally targeting civilian infrastructure, including energy sites and bridges, could constitute a war crime under international law. Trump has previously threatened to strike Iran’s desalination plants.
Christopher Cann
The Israeli military on Monday said it struck the largest petrochemical complex in Iran, delivering a major financial blow to the Islamic Republic.
Israel’s defense minister, Israel Katz, said the strike knocked out about half of Iran’s petrochemical production. The facility is located in Asaluyeh, in southern Iran.
Later in the day, Iranian state media said U.S.-Israeli forces attacked another petrochemical complex in Marvdasht, but that there was no significant damage.
Christopher Cann
An adviser to Iran’s supreme leader said in a statement that the region could go “dark” if President Donald Trump carries out his threat of striking Iran’s power infrastructure.
“The rulers of #Arab_countries should, in order to prevent the region from going dark, make Trump understand that the #Persian_Gulf is not a place for gambling,” said Aliakbar Velayati on X.
Christopher Cann
A barrage of airstrikes hit Iran on Monday, as the U.S. and Israel stepped up their attacks on the country.
Sharif University in Tehran, one of Iran’s leading scientific universities, was severely damaged in airstrike, state media reported. Iran’s foreign minister, Seyed Abbas Araghchi, said “Israeli-U.S. aggressors have bombed the MIT of Iran,” in a post on X.
He added: “Aggressors will see our might.”
Christopher Cann
The president of the European Council on Monday urged Iran to stop striking its regional neighbors and reopen the Strait of Hormuz.
“Escalation will not achieve a ceasefire and peace. Only negotiations will, namely the ongoing efforts led by regional partners,” António Costa said in a statement on X.
Costa also said “Any targeting of civilian infrastructure, namely energy facilities, is illegal and unacceptable” and added that the Iranian population would be the “main victim of a widening of the military campaign.”
Christopher Cann
Israel on Monday said it killed two high-ranking members of Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, as the two countries increased their attacks on one another.
The Israeli military said it killed Maj. Gen. Majid Khademi, the guard’s intelligence chief, and Asghar Bakeri, the leader of the Quds Force’s special operations unit.
Meanwhile, Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said it targeted a U.S. amphibious assault ship LHA-7, Iranian state media reported on Monday.
Christopher Cann
The United States and Iran have received a 45-day ceasefire proposal that would reopen the Strait of Hormuz, multiple news outlets reported.
The framework was organized and delivered by Pakistan overnight, Reuters and The Associated Press reported, citing Israeli and Mideast officials. It would involve an initial ceasefire during which talks would be held for a more lasting agreement.
Iran’s foreign ministry on Monday said it will soon announce its response to the ceasefire proposal. Iran dismissed an earlier U.S. framework as “excessive.”
Kim Hjelmgaard
Iran’s foreign ministry said it will soon announce its response to a ceasefire proposal delivered by intermediaries. Pakistan has been leading efforts to find a diplomatic solution to the war. Esmaeil Baghaei, an Iran foreign ministry spokesman, said in a news conference that Tehran viewed earlier U.S. demands for a ceasefire as “excessive.” The White House has given Iran a Tuesday deadline to reopen the Strait of Hormuz.
Thao Nguyen
In his Easter message on Sunday, Pope Leo urged world leaders to end conflicts and turn to peace.
“On this day of celebration, let us abandon every desire for conflict, domination, and power, and implore the Lord to grant his peace to a world ravaged by wars,” Leo told the thousands of people gathered in St. Peter’s Square.
The pope’s brief address came as Trump faced criticism for his mixed messaging over the war in Iran. In at least seven interviews on Sunday, the president continued to make threats against Iran while also using religious rhetoric to praise the rescue of the U.S. airman whose fighter jet was shot down on April 3.
“The rescue was an Easter Miracle,” Trump told NBC’s “Meet the Press,” and some cabinet members followed with messages of their own. In a social media post, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent drew on the symbolism of Easter, the day Jesus was resurrected from the dead.
“The Easter miracle is considered the greatest victory in history,” Bessent said on X. “And so, it (is) fitting on this holiest of Christian days that a brave American warrior was rescued from behind enemy lines in one of the greatest search and rescue missions in military history.”
Contributing: Reuters
James Powel
Trump said Iranian forces “got lucky” when they shot down the F-15E Strike Eagle and that officials initially feared that a radio message from a now recovered crew member was a trap in an interview with Axios on Sunday.
He told the outlet that the United States had “beeping information” on the airman recovered on April 4. Trump added that a message sent after the airman ejected, which he described as “something a Muslim would say,” caused officials to suspect a potential trap.
An unnamed defense official told Axios that the radio message from the weapons officer was “God is good.” Trump said that those who knew the officer explained that he was religious and that it would make sense for him to say the phrase.