DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — U.S. President Donald Trump on Monday threatened widespread destruction of Iran’s energy resources and other vital infrastructure, including desalination plants, if a deal to end the war with Tehran is not reached “shortly.”
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.
Trump’s 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’s Kharg Island oil export hub highlight a frequent tactic. On the one hand, he has repeatedly said that talks with Iran are going well — 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.
It remains unclear where the diplomatic effort facilitated by Pakistan stands. Iran’s attacks on its Gulf neighbors could add another element of uncertainty to any talks. The United Arab Emirates — which has long billed itself as a beacon of safety and stability in a volatile region — has been hard hit in the war, and increasingly is signaling it wants Iran disarmed in any ceasefire. Iran’s theocracy likely won’t accept that.
Trump says diplomacy is going well but suggests military expansion is possible
In a social media post, Trump said “great progress is being made” in talks with Iran to end military operations. But he bristled that if a deal is not reached “shortly” and if the Strait of Hormuz is not immediately reopened, the U.S. would broaden its offensive by “completely obliterating” power plants, oil wells, Kharg Island and possibly even targeting desalination plants that supply drinking water.
The strait is a crucial waterway through which a fifth of the world’s oil is shipped in peacetime.
In the interview with the FT, Trump said his preference would be to “take the oil in Iran” — a move that would require seizing Kharg Island — the terminal through which nearly all of Iran’s oil exports pass.
“Maybe we take Kharg Island, maybe we don’t,” he continued. “We have a lot of options.”
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.
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.
Earlier, Iran’s 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 “waiting for the arrival of American troops on the ground to set them on fire and punish their regional partners forever,” according to state media.
Twice during Trump’s second term, the U.S. has attacked Iran during high-level diplomatic talks, including with the Feb. 28 strikes that started the current war.
Iran launches attacks on Israel and hits more infrastructure in Gulf states
Sirens sounded at dawn near Israel’s main nuclear research center, a part of the country that has been targeted repeatedly in recent days. Israel’s 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.
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.
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.
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.
Amid Iran’s 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.
“We want a normal neighbor,” Noura Al Kaabi, a minister of state at the UAE’s Foreign Ministry, wrote in a column published by the state-linked, English-language newspaper The National. “An Iranian regime that launches ballistic missiles at homes, weaponizes global trade and supports proxies is no longer an acceptable feature of the regional landscape.”
She added: “We want a guarantee that this will never happen again.”
Israel’s military, meanwhile, launched a new wave of attacks on Iran, saying it was striking “military infrastructure” 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.
Iran confirmed on Monday that the head of the Revolutionary Guard’s navy, Rear Adm. Alireza Tangsiri, had been killed in an Israeli airstrike, as Israel claimed last week.
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.
Over the weekend, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the military would widen its invasion, expanding the “existing security strip” in that country’s south as it targets the Iran-linked Hezbollah militant group.
In Iran, authorities say more than 1,900 people have been killed, while 19 have been reported dead in Israel.
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.
Six Israeli soldiers have died in Lebanon, while 13 U.S. service members have been killed in the war.
Oil prices rise again as concerns of global energy crisis grow
Iran’s 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.
Trump has said that Iran had agreed to allow 20 oil tankers through the Strait of Hormuz starting Monday as “a sign of respect.” There wasn’t any information on whether those ships were actually moving Monday.
Brent crude oil, the international standard, was trading around $115 Monday, up nearly 60% from when the war started.
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’Orto in Miami and Munir Ahmed in Islamabad contributed to this story.
