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Opening summary
Welcome to the Guardian’s continuing coverage of the crisis in the Middle East.
Iran’s parliamentary speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf has condemned Donald Trump’s threats to target energy and transport infrastructure, saying he was being misled by Israel’s prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
“Your reckless moves are dragging the United States into a living HELL for every single family, and our whole region is going to burn because you insist on following Netanyahu’s commands,” Qalibaf posted on X.
Late on Sunday, Netanyahu suggested Israel assisted the US with its rescue of the downed airman in Iran. The Israeli prime minister said he had spoken to Trump and “congratulated him on his bold decision and a perfectly executed American mission”. “The president expressed his appreciation for Israel’s help,” Netanyahu said.
On Sunday, the US president used expletive-laden language to call on Iran to let ships through the strait of Hormuz as he threatened to further attack Iranian energy and transport infrastructure. Writing on Truth Social, Trump said: “Open the Fuckin’ Strait, you crazy bastards, or you’ll be living in Hell.”
Showing it still had the ability to cause damage despite the US-Israeli pounding, Iran expanded attacks on Gulf energy infrastructure over the weekend, launching drone and missile strikes on petrochemical facilities in Kuwait, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates.
The Revolutionary Guards also said they hit an Israeli-linked vessel at Dubai’s Jebel Ali port.
In other key developments:
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Trump was sharply rebuked by US politicians, including Republican former ally Marjorie Taylor Greene, who called on the administration to “intervene in Trump’s madness”, adding the president “has gone insane, and all of you are complicit”. Top Senate Democrat Chuck Schumer wrote that “the President of the United States is ranting like an unhinged madman on social media”. Schumer added: “He’s threatening possible war crimes and alienating allies. This is who he is, but this is not who we are. Our country deserves so much better.”
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Crude oil prices opened higher on Monday after Trump’s threats to Iran. West Texas Intermediate – the US benchmark – rose 1.86% to $113.62 a barrel while North Sea Brent crude was also higher at the week’s market opening, climbing 1.16% to $110.30 a barrel.
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The second crew member of a downed F-15E fighter jet was rescued by the US overnight, ending a two-day search after the warplane crashed in south-west Iran. Trump said the crew member was “seriously wounded” but “safe and sound” after a mission that was reportedly made possible with the help of CIA subterfuge.
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At least five people were reported to have been killed in US-Israeli attacks in south-west Iran during the rescue operations.
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Israeli rescuers recovered the bodies of two people killed after an Iranian ballistic missile hit a residential building in the northern Israeli city of Haifa, Israeli media reported. Rescue efforts were continuing on Monday morning to reach two other missing.
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On Sunday, Iran said it struck a petrochemicals complex in Bahrain. Video footage showed thick black smoke rising from the site.
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The Kuwait Petroleum Corporation said a number of its facilities had been targeted by Iranian drone attacks, resulting in fires and “significant material losses”. Kuwait also reported that two power and water desalination plants sustained “significant material damage” after being attacked by Iranian drones.
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Israeli attacks in Lebanon on Sunday killed at least 15 people, the country’s health ministry said, while Israel’s military chief visited troops in southern Lebanon and pledged to intensify strikes against Hezbollah. One of Israel’s strikes in Beirut on Sunday killed at least five people and wounded 52 in the Jnah neighbourhood, the Lebanese ministry said.
Key events
Iran executes man over bid to storm military facility – state media
Iran has executed a man convicted over an attempt to storm a military facility and access an armoury during unrest in January, state media said on Monday, after the supreme court upheld his sentence.
The man was named as Ali Fahim, Reuters is reporting.
Iran has already executed three others linked to the incident, including Amirhossein Hatami earlier last week and Mohammadamin Biglari and Shahin Vahedparast on Sunday, the report said.
Another man linked to the same case is believed to face execution in the coming days, according to rights group Amnesty International.
The Nationwide anti-government protests in January were repressed in the biggest crackdown in the Islamic republic’s history.
Authorities said the defendants had tried to seize weapons and military equipment during protests, describing them as “rioters” acting against national security.
Amnesty International said several defendants were facing execution over the unrest, adding in a recent report that detainees in such cases had been subjected to torture and “grossly unfair trials”.
The Israeli military has just said it identified missiles launched from Iran and that defensive systems are operating to intercept them.
The IDF’s message on Telegram also said alerts had been sent to people in relevant areas directing them to go to shelters and “remain there until further notice”.
More now on the Haifa attack: Israeli firefighters are searching for two missing people in the rubble of a residential building in the northern Israeli city after it was struck by an Iranian missile that killed two others, authorities said on Monday.
The direct hit on a seven-storey building tore through sections of the structure, which has partially collapsed, the military and rescue services said.
Footage from Agence France-Presse showed rescuers using flashlights to search through rubble and scattered concrete blocks.
The strike took place minutes after the military warned it had detected a new round of missiles fired from Iran about 15.00 GMT.
“We have a major destruction site,” said Elad Edri, chief of staff of Israel’s home front command.
Israel’s fire and rescue services said later that two of four people trapped under the rubble had been found dead.
The building was hit by a “direct impact of a missile”, a military spokesperson told AFP, confirming it was fired from Iran.
Israel’s Magen David Adom emergency service said four people were wounded in the strike, including a 10-month-old baby who suffered a head injury. An 82-year-old man was also in a serious condition, it said. A hospital later said he was stable.
On Monday the military detected fresh waves of missiles fired from Iran, and each time it said its “defensive systems are operating to intercept the threat”.
Israel’s military says it has completed a fresh wave of strikes against “regime targets” in Tehran.
The short statement – in a Monday post on Telegram – came after Iranian media reports of attacks on residential areas in the Iranian capital earlier in the day.
Japan’s prime minister, Sanae Takaichi, said on Monday her government was preparing to hold talks with Iran against the backdrop of the global energy crisis.
“We are preparing dialogues at the leadership level at an appropriate time,” she told a parliamentary committee.” She did not say with whom in Iran she planned to hold talks.
About 90% of Japan’s crude oil comes from the Middle East, making it particularly vulnerable to the closure of the waterway. Last month, the government approved the release of 15 days’ worth of oil from private-sector depots, the biggest-ever release of oil from its strategic reserves.
Iran threatens ‘devastating’ retaliation if civilian targets hit
Iran’s central military command has warned of “much more devastating” retaliation if the US hits civilian targets.
If attacks on civilian targets are repeated, the next stages of our offensive and retaliatory operations will be much more devastating and widespread.
The warning came after Donald Trump threatened to destroy Iran’s civilian infrastructure, demanding Tehran bow to his demands for a deal to reopen the Gulf to shipping.
Trump vowed on social media to hit Iran’s power plants and bridges and said the country would be “living in hell” if the strait of Hormuz – crucial for global trade – wasn’t opened. He ended with “Praise be to Allah”.
Opening summary
Welcome to the Guardian’s continuing coverage of the crisis in the Middle East.
Iran’s parliamentary speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf has condemned Donald Trump’s threats to target energy and transport infrastructure, saying he was being misled by Israel’s prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
“Your reckless moves are dragging the United States into a living HELL for every single family, and our whole region is going to burn because you insist on following Netanyahu’s commands,” Qalibaf posted on X.
Late on Sunday, Netanyahu suggested Israel assisted the US with its rescue of the downed airman in Iran. The Israeli prime minister said he had spoken to Trump and “congratulated him on his bold decision and a perfectly executed American mission”. “The president expressed his appreciation for Israel’s help,” Netanyahu said.
On Sunday, the US president used expletive-laden language to call on Iran to let ships through the strait of Hormuz as he threatened to further attack Iranian energy and transport infrastructure. Writing on Truth Social, Trump said: “Open the Fuckin’ Strait, you crazy bastards, or you’ll be living in Hell.”
Showing it still had the ability to cause damage despite the US-Israeli pounding, Iran expanded attacks on Gulf energy infrastructure over the weekend, launching drone and missile strikes on petrochemical facilities in Kuwait, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates.
The Revolutionary Guards also said they hit an Israeli-linked vessel at Dubai’s Jebel Ali port.
In other key developments:
-
Trump was sharply rebuked by US politicians, including Republican former ally Marjorie Taylor Greene, who called on the administration to “intervene in Trump’s madness”, adding the president “has gone insane, and all of you are complicit”. Top Senate Democrat Chuck Schumer wrote that “the President of the United States is ranting like an unhinged madman on social media”. Schumer added: “He’s threatening possible war crimes and alienating allies. This is who he is, but this is not who we are. Our country deserves so much better.”
-
Crude oil prices opened higher on Monday after Trump’s threats to Iran. West Texas Intermediate – the US benchmark – rose 1.86% to $113.62 a barrel while North Sea Brent crude was also higher at the week’s market opening, climbing 1.16% to $110.30 a barrel.
-
The second crew member of a downed F-15E fighter jet was rescued by the US overnight, ending a two-day search after the warplane crashed in south-west Iran. Trump said the crew member was “seriously wounded” but “safe and sound” after a mission that was reportedly made possible with the help of CIA subterfuge.
-
At least five people were reported to have been killed in US-Israeli attacks in south-west Iran during the rescue operations.
-
Israeli rescuers recovered the bodies of two people killed after an Iranian ballistic missile hit a residential building in the northern Israeli city of Haifa, Israeli media reported. Rescue efforts were continuing on Monday morning to reach two other missing.
-
On Sunday, Iran said it struck a petrochemicals complex in Bahrain. Video footage showed thick black smoke rising from the site.
-
The Kuwait Petroleum Corporation said a number of its facilities had been targeted by Iranian drone attacks, resulting in fires and “significant material losses”. Kuwait also reported that two power and water desalination plants sustained “significant material damage” after being attacked by Iranian drones.
-
Israeli attacks in Lebanon on Sunday killed at least 15 people, the country’s health ministry said, while Israel’s military chief visited troops in southern Lebanon and pledged to intensify strikes against Hezbollah. One of Israel’s strikes in Beirut on Sunday killed at least five people and wounded 52 in the Jnah neighbourhood, the Lebanese ministry said.
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