- President Donald Trump announced Monday the US would not attack Iranian power plants and energy infrastructure “for a five-day period” following “productive conversations” with Iran
- Prime Minister Keir Starmer and Trump also had a “constructive” call on Sunday evening, in which they agreed it was “essential” the Strait of Hormuz reopened
- Trump had threatened to “obliterate” Iran’s power plants by Monday evening if the passage stayed shut
- Iran said it will retaliate against all US and allied energy, oil, and industrial infrastructure in the region and deploy naval mines across the “entire Persian Gulf” if there is a land invasion
- Israel launched a “wide-scale wave of strikes” in Iran on Monday, as missiles were reported overnight in Lebanon, the UAE and Saudi Arabia
- More than 1,500 people have died in Iran, more than 1,000 people in Lebanon and 15 in Israel, as well as 13 US military members.
- The war has displaced 3.2 million people in Iran and 1 million in Lebanon, the UN has said.
US President Donald Trump has extended his deadline for Iran to fully open the Strait of Hormuz, following “very good and productive” conversations with the country.
Trump had threatened to “obliterate” Iran’s power plants if the critical waterway, through which around one-fifth of the world’s oil passes, was not reopened by Monday 11.44pm (UK time), but he has now extended this by five days.
“I am pleased to report that the United States of America, and the country of Iran, have had, over the last two days, very good and productive conversations regarding a complete and total resolution of our hostilities in the Middle East,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.
“Based on the tenor and tone of these in depth, detailed, and constructive conversations, which will continue throughout the week, I have instructed the Department of War to postpone any and all military strikes against Iranian power plants and energy infrastructure for a five day period, subject to the success of the ongoing meetings and discussions.”
The statement comes after Trump and Prime Minister Keir Starmer had a “constructive” phone call on Sunday evening, where they agreed reopening the Strait of Hormuz is “essential”.
The speaker of Iran’s parliament had responded to Trump’s deadline by warning that the regime would target and destroy critical infrastructure, energy infrastructure, and oil facilities throughout the region in an “irreversible manner”, with Iranian media later publishing a list of such sites.
The threat by Tehran puts at risk both electrical supplies and water in the region, as desert nations have their power stations next to desalination plants crucial for supplying drinking water.
The death toll from the war has risen to more than 1,500 people in Iran, more than 1,000 people in Lebanon, 15 in Israel and 13 US military members, as well as a number of civilians on land and sea in the Gulf region.
Israel began what it called “a wide-scale wave of strikes targeting Iranian terror regime infrastructure” early on Monday.
Trump extends his deadline by five days
The price of crude oil dropped from $113 (about £84.63) per barrel to just over $101 (£75.64) on Monday after Trump gave Iran five more days to reopen the Strait of Hormuz.
The president had initially issued Iran a 48-hour deadline on Saturday evening, declaring that the US would “obliterate” the country’s power plants if it did not comply.
Trump also said on Sunday the US was getting “very close” to meeting its objectives in the war, such as destroying the regime’s missile capacity, eliminating their navy and air force, and ending nuclear capabilities, adding that the Strait of Hormuz would need to be “guarded” once the conflict ended.
“The Hormuz Strait will have to be guarded and policed, as necessary, by other Nations who use it — The United States does not!” Trump wrote.
“If asked, we will help these Countries in their Hormuz efforts, but it shouldn’t be necessary once Iran’s threat is eradicated. Importantly, it will be an easy Military Operation for them.”
Starmer and Trump speak hours after president mocks PM
Trump and Starmer had a “constructive” conversation on Sunday and agreed to speak again, a Downing Street spokesperson said.
“They agreed that reopening the Strait of Hormuz was essential to ensure stability in the global energy market,” they said.
The phone call took place hours after the president reshared a sketch from the new British version of comedy show Saturday Night Live, which saw a frightened Starmer asking Deputy PM David Lammy for advice.
“What if Donald shouts at me? What do I say, Lammy?” the actor playing Starmer says in the clip, before adding: “Oh crumbs, I just hate conflict.”
Iran threatens to hit power plants and plant mines in retaliation
Iranian media published a list of power plants in Gulf Arab states after the regime warned it would strike such facilities if Trump follows through on his threat.
The list, including the United Arab Emirates’ nuclear power plant, was published by Fars News Agency, which has close ties to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), and Iran’s judiciary news agency Mizan.
The UAE’s Barakah nuclear power plant has four reactors out in the western deserts of the country near its border with Saudi Arabia.
The IRGC said on Monday Iran would respond by hitting power plants in all areas that supply electricity to American bases, “as well as the economic, industrial and energy infrastructures in which Americans have shares.”
“Do not doubt that we will do this,” it said in a statement read on Iranian state television.
The IRGC has also threated to close the Strait of Hormuz entirely. At present, transits are down by 94.2% since the war began on February 28, data from Maritime AI company Windward shows.
“We did not start this war and will not initiate it now, but if the enemy harms our power plants, we will do whatever is necessary to defend our country and national interests,” Iranian Armed Forces spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Ebrahim Zolfaqari said on Sunday.
“The uninterrupted process of destroying the mentioned targets will begin, and nothing will stop the continuation of our operations against US and allied energy, oil, and industrial infrastructure in the region.”
Iran’s Defence Council has also threatened to deploy naval mines across the “entire Persian Gulf” if the US begins a land invasion.
US media reported last week that the Pentagon had begun making preparations for ground forces to enter Iran.
Multiple countries targeted by strikes overnight
Airstrikes were reported in Lebanon Sunday night into Monday morning, Lebanon’s state news agency said.
The Israel Defense Forces said it had begun “a wide-scale wave of strikes targeting Iranian terror regime infrastructure” in Tehran during the early hours of Monday morning.
An Indian national in the UAE was hurt by falling shrapnel on Monday after a ballistic missile over an air base in Abu Dhabi was intercepted, its authorities said.
Saudi Arabia’s Defence Ministry also said it had intercepted a missile targeting its capital Riyadh, while another struck an “uninhabited area”.
Both Bahrain and Kuwait sounded missile alerts early Monday over incoming Iranian fire.
Millions displayed as impact felt across Asia and Africa
A senior United Nations official has said the war has a “far reaching” impact on millions of people, particularly in developing countries in Asia and Africa.
“Our world is the most violent it has been since the Second World War,” Jorge Moreira da Silva, executive director of the UN Office for Project Services, said.
The war has displaced 3.2 million people in Iran and 1 million in Lebanon, Moreira da Silva said.
He warned that the number of hungry people is likely to increase by tens of millions over the course of the year, as the impact of the war widens.
‘No country’ immune to impact of oil crisis, says IEA director
The global economy faces a “major, major threat” because of the Iran war, the head of the Paris-based International Energy Agency said on Monday.
The IEA helps coordinate a collective response to major disruptions in the supply of oil, and earlier this month, its member countries agreed to release a record 400 million barrels to combat the spike in prices.
“No country will be immune to the effects of this crisis if it continues to go in this direction,” Fatih Birol said at Australia’s National Press Club in Canberra.
Birol said the war has had a worse impact on oil than the two oil shocks of the 1970s combined, and a worse effect on gas than Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022, with 40 energy assets in nine countries across the region “severely or very severely damaged”.
“Some of the vital arteries of the global economy, such as petrochemical, such as fertilizers, such as sulfur, such as helium — their trade is all interrupted, which would have serious consequences for the global economy,” he said.
Asia has been the hardest hit by energy shortages as a result of the war, with the majority of oil and liquefied natural gas passing through the Strait of Hormuz destined for the region.
In Manila, the Philippines, a group of protesters gathered outside the US embassy on Monday to condemn the war.
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