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U.S. President Donald Trump on Monday threatened widespread destruction of Iran\u2019s energy resources and other vital infrastructure, including desalination plants, if a deal to end the war with Tehran is not reached \u201cshortly.\u201d<\/p>\n
On the ground, the conflict showed no sign of letting up: Tehran struck a key water and electrical plant in Kuwait, and an oil refinery in Israel came under attack. Israel and the U.S. launched a new wave of strikes on Iran.<\/p>\n
Trump\u2019s new threat in a social media post and earlier comments in an interview with the Financial Times that suggested American troops could seize the country\u2019s Kharg Island oil export hub highlight a frequent tactic. On the one hand, he has repeatedly said that talks with Iran are going well \u2014 though Tehran denies negotiating directly. On the other hand, he has continually ramped up his threats, as thousands more Marines and other U.S. troops pour into the Middle East.<\/p>\n
It remains unclear where the diplomatic effort facilitated by Pakistan stands. Iran\u2019s attacks on its Gulf neighbors could add another element of uncertainty to any talks. The United Arab Emirates \u2014 which has long billed itself as a beacon of safety and stability in a volatile region \u2014 has been hard hit in the war, and increasingly is signaling it wants Iran disarmed in any ceasefire. Iran\u2019s theocracy likely won\u2019t accept that.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
In a social media post, Trump said \u201cgreat progress is being made\u201d in talks with Iran to end military operations. But he bristled that if a deal is not reached \u201cshortly\u201d and if the Strait of Hormuz is not immediately reopened, the U.S. would broaden its offensive by \u201ccompletely obliterating\u201d power plants, oil wells, Kharg Island and possibly even targeting desalination plants that supply drinking water.<\/p>\n
The strait is a crucial waterway through which a fifth of the world\u2019s oil is shipped in peacetime.<\/p>\n
In the interview with the FT, Trump said his preference would be to \u201ctake the oil in Iran\u201d \u2014 a move that would require seizing Kharg Island \u2014 the terminal through which nearly all of Iran\u2019s oil exports pass.<\/p>\n
\u201cMaybe we take Kharg Island, maybe we don\u2019t,\u201d he continued. \u201cWe have a lot of options.\u201d<\/p>\n
The U.S. already has targeted military positions on Kharg once. Iran has threatened to launch its own ground invasion of Gulf Arab countries and mine the Persian Gulf if U.S. troops land on its territory.<\/p>\n
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei on Monday acknowledged Tehran had been given a 15-point proposal from the Trump administration, but said there had been no direct negotiations with Washington so far.<\/p>\n
Earlier, Iran\u2019s parliament speaker, Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf, dismissed the talks in Pakistan as a cover to get more U.S. troops into the region. He said Iranian forces were \u201cwaiting for the arrival of American troops on the ground to set them on fire and punish their regional partners forever,\u201d according to state media.<\/p>\n
Twice during Trump\u2019s second term, the U.S. has attacked Iran during high-level diplomatic talks, including with the Feb. 28 strikes that started the current war.<\/p>\n
Sirens sounded at dawn near Israel\u2019s main nuclear research center, a part of the country that has been targeted repeatedly in recent days. Israel\u2019s military also said it had taken out two drones launched from Yemen, where the Iranian-backed Houthi rebels entered the war on Saturday with their first missile attack.<\/p>\n
Later, a fire broke out at an oil refinery in the northern city of Haifa, either because of a missile strike or debris falling from an interception. The blaze was quickly extinguished.<\/p>\n
Iran kept up the pressure on its Gulf Arab neighbors, as Saudi Arabia intercepted five missiles targeting its oil-rich Eastern province, Bahrain sounded a missile alert, and a fireball erupted over Dubai, United Arab Emirates, as a missile was intercepted by defenses.<\/p>\n
In Kuwait, an Iranian attack hit a power and desalination plant, killing one worker and wounding 10 soldiers, the state-run KUNA news agency reported.<\/p>\n
Amid Iran\u2019s continuing campaign against its Gulf neighbors, an Emirati government official offered another signal Monday that the United Arab Emirates wants more than just a ceasefire.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe want a normal neighbor,\u201d Noura Al Kaabi, a minister of state at the UAE\u2019s Foreign Ministry, wrote in a column published by the state-linked, English-language newspaper The National. \u201cAn Iranian regime that launches ballistic missiles at homes, weaponizes global trade and supports proxies is no longer an acceptable feature of the regional landscape.\u201d<\/p>\n
She added: \u201cWe want a guarantee that this will never happen again.\u201d<\/p>\n
Israel\u2019s military, meanwhile, launched a new wave of attacks on Iran, saying it was striking \u201cmilitary infrastructure\u201d across Tehran. Explosions were heard in the Iranian capital and Iranian state media reported a petrochemicals plant in Tabriz, in the north, sustained damage after an airstrike.<\/p>\n
Iran confirmed on Monday that the head of the Revolutionary Guard\u2019s navy, Rear Adm. Alireza Tangsiri, had been killed in an Israeli airstrike, as Israel claimed last week.<\/p>\n
In Lebanon, which Israel has invaded, an Indonesian peacekeeper was killed and three others were wounded when a projectile exploded near a village in the south.<\/p>\n
Over the weekend, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the military would widen its invasion, expanding the \u201cexisting security strip\u201d in that country\u2019s south as it targets the Iran-linked Hezbollah militant group.<\/p>\n
In Iran, authorities say more than 1,900 people have been killed, while 19 have been reported dead in Israel.<\/p>\n
Two dozen people have been killed In Gulf states and the occupied West Bank. In Lebanon, officials said more than 1,200 people have been killed, and more than 1 million have been displaced.<\/p>\n
Six Israeli soldiers have died in Lebanon, while 13 U.S. service members have been killed in the war.<\/p>\n
Iran\u2019s attacks on the energy infrastructure of the region and its stranglehold on the Strait of Hormuz have threatened global supplies of oil, natural gas and fertilizer. They have sent fuel prices skyrocketing and given rise to growing concerns about an energy crisis.<\/p>\n
Trump has said that Iran had agreed to allow 20 oil tankers through the Strait of Hormuz starting Monday as \u201ca sign of respect.\u201d There wasn\u2019t any information on whether those ships were actually moving Monday.<\/p>\n
Brent crude oil, the international standard, was trading around $115 Monday, up nearly 60% from when the war started.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
Rising reported from Bangkok, Corder from The Hague, Netherlands. Associated Press writers Darlene Superville aboard Air Force One, Melanie Lidman, Tel Aviv, Israel, Giovanna Dell\u2019Orto in Miami and Munir Ahmed in Islamabad contributed to this story.<\/p>\n