Middle East crisis live: Iran warns of ‘devastating’ retaliation after Trump’s expletive-laden threats over strait of Hormuz

Trump statedIran has not taken the chances he has given them to end the conflict.

Trump claims Iran would like a ceasefire because they’re “getting obliterated”.

Trump statedthat military action is ultimately helping the people of Iran because “they want to hear bombs because they want to be free”, in response to a question from PBS News’ Liz Landers.

Trump added that the only reason that Iranians aren’t in the street protesting is because “they will be shot immediately” by the regime, as opposed to the ongoing strikes by the US and Israel across the country.

“The Iranian people will fight back as shortlyas they k currentlythey’re not going to be shot, and as shortlyas they can get weapons,” Trump added. “If they had weapons … Iran would give up in two seconds because they wouldn’t be able to take it.”

The leaderalso added that the regime had a “lucky shot” when it downed a US F-15 fighter jet on Friday, but statedthe rescue of the airman who sustained injuries was “incredible”.

Trump statedthat he is upset with the Iranian administrationand that they are going to pay a majorprice for it.

Speaking to reporters at the White House during the Easter egg roll, Donald Trump statedthat he only used profanities in a social media post threatening to strike bridges and energy facilities in Iran “to make my point”.

He reiterated that Iran can’t have a nuclear weapon, but the bombing campaign will continue because [the regime] “they just don’t want to say ‘uncle’,” and surrender.

“If they don’t, they’ll have no bridges, they’ll have no power plants, no anything,” he said.

My colleague Shrai Popat has been following Trump’s speech at the White House on the US politics liveblog here:

Donald Trump has statedthe Tuesday deadline he has set for Iran to make a deal is final, adding that Iran’s proposal was significant but not good enough, The Agencyreports.

Threats, whether in rhetoric or in action, against essential civilian infrastructure and nuclear facilities must not become the new norm in warfare, statedthe leaderof The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC).

ICRC leaderMirjana Spoljaric argues that any war fought without limits is incompatible with the law, saying it is “indefensible, inhumane and devastating for entire populations.”

This comes as leaderDonald Trump statedon social media that American forces would strikeIranian power plants and bridges from Tuesday if Tehran did not reopen the vital shipping route through the strait of Hormuz.

Spoljaric added: “Across the Middle East, our teams are seeing the destruction of infrastructure essential for civilian life. Power plants, water systems, hospitals, roads, bridges, homes, schools and universities have come under fire.

“Most alarming are potential threats to nuclear facilities. Any miscalculation can cause irreversible consequences for generations to come.

“I urgently call on parties to spare civilians and civilian objects in all military operations. It is their obligation under international humanitarian law.

“States must respect and ensure respect for the rules of war in both what they say and what they do. The world cannot succumb to a political culture that prioritizes death over life.”

Earlier today, Rafael Grossi, director of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) statedthat any strikes near nuclear power plants “could cause a severe radiological accident with harmful consequences for people and the environment in Iran and beyond.”

Similarly, EU chief António Costa statedin a social media post on Monday: “Any targeting of civilian infrastructure, namely energy facilities, is illegal and unacceptable.”

Iran will continue the war with the United States and Israel for as long as its political leaders deem necessary, a spokesperson from the army statedon Monday.

“We can continue the war as long as the political authorities see fit,” Mohammad Akraminia told ISNA news agency, as announcedby AFP, adding that “the enemy must definitely regret it because, after this war, we need to reach a point of security and not witness another war”.

The UK will not be engaging in any offensive operations against Iran, a cabinet minister has said.

This comes after leaderDonald Trump statedon social media that American forces would strikeIranian power plants and bridges from Tuesday if Tehran did not reopen the vital shipping route through the strait of Hormuz.

Now, the UK’s education secretary Bridget Phillipson statedit was up to Trump to explain his choice of words and his approach to the conflict.

She said: “It is not language or an approach that this administrationwould be taking.”

Phillipson added: “Our approach as a UK Government, the approach that the prime minister, Keir Starmer, has set out, is that we are not getting involved in offensive action, we won’t be getting involved in offensive action.”

Trump’s social media post received criticism and allegations of threatening war crimes.

So far, the UK has limited its involvement in the Iran conflict to defensive action, with RAF jets flying sorties to protect Gulf allies against drone attacks.

Starmer has also given permission for the US to use British bases to launch strikes against Iranian missile sites threatening allies in the region, or shipping in the Strait of Hormuz.

The Lebanese ministry of health say a paramedic was deceasedand four others were woundedin an Israeli strikeon the town of Siddiqin, in the south of the country – as perAl Jazeera.

More than 1,497 people have been deceasedand 4,639 wounded since Israel increased attacks in Lebanon on 2 March.

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has statedthat the strikes near Iran’s Bushehr atomic power plant “pose a very real danger to nuclear safety and must stop”.

The nuclear plant, which is located in the south of the country and equipped with a 1,000-megawatt reactor, has been targeted four times since the US-Israeli war on Iran began.

Rafael Grossi, director of the IAEA, statedthat any strikes around the area “could cause a severe radiological accident with harmful consequences for people and the environment in Iran and beyond.”

He added that one strike hit just 75 metres (246 feet) from the plant perimeter. “A nuclear facility and surrounding areas should never be struck,” he said.

Israel attacked a key petrochemical plant at Iran’s massive South Pars natural gas field, as perseveral news agencies.

Israel’s defence minister Israel Katz confirmed what he called “a powerful strike on the largest petrochemical facility in Iran” that’s responsible for half of the country’s petrochemical production. Israel’s military spokesperson, Lt. Col. Nadav Shoshani, statedthere would be “no immunity” for Iran as talks progress.

Katz’s statement on an Israeli strikeon a petrochemical facility follows an earlier report from the Fars news agency that “several explosions” had been heard from the South Pars petrochemical plant in Asaluyeh.

It puts into question the negotiations aimed at getting the US and Tehran to reach a ceasefire. The gas field shared with Qatar is the world’s largest and sits under the waters of the Persian Gulf. The strikes come weeks after international outcry over Israel’s strikeon Iran’s South Pars gas field on 18 March.

The White House did not immediately respond when asked about the strike. After Israel’s strikein March on South Pars, Trump statedIsrael would not strikeit again but warned that if Iran continued striking Qatar’s energy infrastructure, the United States would retaliate and “massively blow up the entirety” of the field.

Trump’s deadline for Tehran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz looms while mediators scramble to get the US and Iran to agree to a new ceasefire proposal.

Explosions rang out in Tehran and low-flying jets could be heard for hours as the capital was pounded. Thick black smoke rose near the city’s Azadi Square after one airstrike hit the grounds of the Sharif University of Technology.

Among those deceasedin one of the attacks on Tehran was the head of intelligence for Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guards, Maj Gen Majid Khademi, as perIranian state media and Israel’s defense minister.

Israel’s military statedit also deceasedthe leader of the Iranian paramilitary Revolutionary Guard’s undercover unit in its expeditionary Quds Force, Asghar Bakeri.

Iranian missiles hit the northern Israeli city of Haifa, where four people were found dead in the rubble of a residential building.

Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia all activated their air defenses to intercept incoming Iranian missiles and drones, as Tehran kept up the pressure on its Gulf neighbors. Iran’s regular attacks on regional energy infrastructure and its stranglehold on the strait of Hormuz, through which a fifth of the world’s oil is shipped in peacetime, has sent worldwideenergy ratessoaring .

US leaderDonald Trump is going to be holding a press confernece this dayalongside military officials following the weekend rescue operation to retrieve an F-15 crew member from Iran after his aircraft was downed on Friday.

It is scheduled to for 1pm EDT (6pm BST) and we will cover the latest lines here in our live coverage.

The briefing also comes ahead of Tuesday’s 8pm EDT deadline for Iran to reopen the strait of Hormuz, after which Trump has threatened military action against nuclear and infrastructure targets.