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

The EU council chief has said that striking civilian infrastructure installations during war is illegal, which comes as president Donald Trump threatened to devastate civilian infrastructure in Iran if it did not reopen the strait of Hormuz.

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

“This applies to Russia’s war in Ukraine and it applies everywhere. The Iranian civilian population is the main victim of the Iranian regime. It would also be the main victim of a widening of the military campaign.

“The European Union urges Iran to immediately put an end to its attacks against countries in the region and to allow for the reestablishment of full freedom of navigation through the strait of Hormuz.

“After five weeks of war in the Middle East, it is clear that only a diplomatic solution will settle its root causes.”

The US, Iran and a group of regional mediators discussed the terms for a potential 45-day ceasefire that could lead to a permanent end to the war, according to a report from Axios that cites “four US, Israeli and regional sources with knowledge of the talks”.

Now, a senior Iranian official has now confirmed to the Reuters news agency that Tehran has received the two-tier ceasefire plan from Pakistan, and is reviewing the proposal.

The Guardian could not independently verify the report but other news agencies such as AP and Reuters also now say the US and Iran have received the proposals.

However, Iran won’t reopen the strait of Hormuz in exchange for a “temporary ceasefire”, while the US lacks the readiness for a permanent ceasefire, the official was quoted as saying. Tehran will not be pressured into accepting deadlines and making a decision, the official added.

Over the weekend, Donald Trump threatened to obliterate Iranian power plants and bridges if it doesn’t agree by 8pm Tuesday (US Eastern Time) to fully reopen the strait of Hormuz.

About a fifth of the world’s oil supply usually passes through the Hormuz strait and its effective closure is having a crippling effect on the global economy.

Iran’s deputy foreign minister has claimed Donald Trump’s threats to destroy Iranian power plants and bridges could amount to war crimes. “The American president, as the highest official of his country, has publicly threatened to commit war crimes,” Kazem Gharibabadi said on X, citing provisions of international law that could be breache.

Iran’s central military command has warned of “much more devastating” retaliation if the US hits civilian targets.

Earlier today US-Israeli strikes killed the intelligence chief of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards on Monday, according to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).

“Major General Majid Khademi, the powerful and educated head of the Intelligence Organisation of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, was martyred in the criminal terrorist attack by the American-Zionist enemy... at dawn today,” said the Guards in a post on their Telegram channel.

AFP reports that US-Israeli strikes killed the intelligence chief of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards on Monday, according to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).

“Major General Majid Khademi, the powerful and educated head of the Intelligence Organisation of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, was martyred in the criminal terrorist attack by the American-Zionist enemy... at dawn today,” said the Guards in a post on their Telegram channel.

Here’s a snapshot of the latest news from the US-Israel war on Iran to bring you up to speed. It’s 10.30am in Tehran, 10am in Tel Aviv and Beirut and 3am in Washington DC.

• Iran’s deputy foreign minister has claimed Donald Trump’s threats to destroy Iranian power plants and bridges could amount to war crimes. “The American president, as the highest official of his country, has publicly threatened to commit war crimes,” Kazem Gharibabadi said on X, citing provisions of international law that could be breached.

• Trump used expletive-laden language to demand Iran agree – by Tuesday evening US time – to fully open the strait of Hormuz or face the destruction of Iranian energy sites and bridges. The US president posted on Truth Social: “Open the Fuckin’ Strait, you crazy bastards, or you’ll be living in Hell.” He was sharply rebuked by US politicians, with Republican former ally Marjorie Taylor Greene decrying “Trump’s madness”, Bernie Sanders calling it “dangerous and mentally unbalanced” and top Senate Democrat Chuck Schumer saying Trump was “ranting like an unhinged madman on social media”.

• Iran’s central military command has warned of “much more devastating” retaliation if the US hits civilian targets.

• The US, Iran and a group of regional mediators are discussing the terms for a potential 45-day ceasefire that could lead to a permanent end to the war, according to a report from Axios that cites “four US, Israeli and regional sources with knowledge of the talks”.

• Benjamin Netanyahu suggested Israel assisted the US with its weekend rescue of a second downed air crew member in Iran. The Israeli PM said he had congratulated Trump on “a perfectly executed American mission” and that “the president expressed his appreciation for Israel’s help”.

• Israel’s military said it completed a fresh wave of strikes against “regime targets” in Tehran on Monday.

• Israeli search-and-rescue teams were searching for two missing people in the rubble of a residential building in the northern Israeli city of Haifa after it was struck by an Iranian missile that killed two others, authorities said on Monday.

• Iran has executed a man convicted over an attempt to storm a military facility and access an armoury during the unrest in January, state media said on Monday, after the supreme court upheld his sentence.

• A Japanese shipping firm said an Indian-flagged tanker owned by its subsidiary had passed through the strait of Hormuz and was en route to India. Japanese prime minister Sanae Takaichi said her government was preparing to hold talks with Iran against the backdrop of the global energy crisis.

• Falling debris from an intercepted attack injured a person in an industrial area of Abu Dhabi, UAE authorities said on Monday. Authorities in the UAE emirate of Fujairah said a drone launched from Iran targeted a du Telecom building.

• Iran expanded attacks on Gulf energy infrastructure over the weekend, launching drone and missile strikes on petrochemical facilities in Kuwait, Bahrain and the UAE. The Revolutionary Guards also said they hit an Israeli-linked vessel at Dubai’s Jebel Ali port.

Iran’s deputy foreign minister has claimed Donald Trump’s threats to destroy power plants and bridges in Iran could amount to war crimes.

“The American president, as the highest official of his country, has publicly threatened to commit war crimes,” Kazem Gharibabadi said in a post on X, citing provisions of international law that could be breached.

“The threat to attack power plants and bridges (civilian infrastructure) is a war crime under Article 8(2)(b) of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court,” he said, cited by AFP.

Gharibabadi also warned that Iran would “deliver a decisive, immediate and regret-inducing response to any aggression or imminent threat”.

A Japanese shipping firm said on Monday that an Indian-flagged tanker owned by its subsidiary had passed through the strait of Hormuz and was en route to India.

A spokeswoman for Mitsui O.S.K. Lines told AFP that the Green Asha – a liquefied petroleum gas tanker – had crossed the waterway.

“Both the crew and the cargo are safe,” she said.

The vessel was the third Japan-linked ship to transit the Hormuz strait – the vital oil shipping route whose effective blockade by Iran has prompted Donald Trump to threaten to pummel Iranian energy and transport infrastructure if it isn’t fully opened.

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 Amnesty International.

The rights group said in a statement last week it was unconscionable that even as Iranians reeled from the war, Iran continued to “weaponise the death penalty to eradicate dissenting voices and further terrify people”.

The nationwide anti-government protests in January were repressed in the biggest crackdown in the Islamic republic’s history, with some estimates suggesting more than 30,000 people were killed.

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”.

More now on the Haifa strike: Israeli search-and-rescue teams were 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”.

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”.

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.