Iran fired new missiles early Tuesday as it vowed defiance against US President Donald Trump, who threatened to destroy the country's oil export hub of Kharg Island along with power and desalination plants unless Tehran quickly accepts a deal to end the war.
US President Donald Trump said Tuesday that countries that have not joined the Middle East war but are struggling with fuel shortages should "go get your own oil" in the Strait of Hormuz.
In a Truth Social post, Trump said countries "that refused to get involved" should "build up some delayed courage, go to the Strait, and just TAKE IT," adding that the United States would not help them.
"The U.S.A. won’t be there to help you anymore, just like you weren't there for us. Iran has been, essentially, decimated. The hard part is done. Go get your own oil!"
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Trump's partner in attacking Iran, said more than half of his military aims had been achieved, but both leaders refused to put a timeline on an operation that has ignited a regional war and sent global oil prices soaring.
In Dubai, four people were injured in the early hours by falling debris of intercepted projectiles and a Kuwaiti oil tanker in the port caught fire, according to authorities in the financial hub whose reputation for stability has been shaken by over a month of war.
Saudi authorities said they intercepted eight ballistic missiles. Hours earlier, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi publicly called on Saudi Arabia to "eject US forces," saying Tehran otherwise respects the "brotherly" kingdom.
Refusing to back down, an Iranian parliamentary committee voted to impose tolls on vessels in the Strait of Hormuz, the passageway through which one-fifth of global oil passes, and completely ban ships from the United States and Israel.
The strait had been open before the war, but Secretary of State Marco Rubio recently has spoken of building a "coalition" to oppose the Iranian tolling plan. "No one in the world can accept it," Rubio told Al-Jazeera of the tolls.
"It sets an incredible precedent. So this means that nations can now take over international waterways and claim them as their own," Rubio said of the waterway the US president recently called the "Strait of Trump".
Trump said the United States was speaking to a "more reasonable regime" in Tehran, which has denied any talks and accused him of lying about negotiations as cover while readying a ground invasion.
Trump warned that if a deal were not struck -- including to reopen the Strait of Hormuz -- US forces would destroy "all of their Electric Generating Plants, Oil Wells and Kharg Island (and possibly all desalinization plants!)."
Destroying civilian infrastructure would be illegal under international humanitarian law and could constitute a war crime, experts say.
Trump says ‘willing to end Iran war without reopening Hormuz’
US President Donald Trump has told aides he is willing to end the military campaign against Iran even if the Strait of Hormuz remains largely closed and leave a complex operation to reopen it for a later date, the Wall Street Journal reports according to Reuters, citing administration officials.
- Peacekeepers die in Lebanon -
Israel has also relentlessly pounded Lebanon, including central Beirut, as it seeks to deliver a heavy blow to Hezbollah, the Iranian-backed force that had fired rockets in solidarity after Israeli forces killed Iran's supreme leader, Ali Khamenei.
The UN mission in Lebanon said that two Indonesian peacekeepers were killed when "an explosion of unknown origin destroyed their vehicle," with two other peacekeepers wounded, one seriously. Another Indonesian peacekeeper was killed on Sunday.
The Israeli military said early Tuesday that it had opened an investigation to determine if it or Hezbollah was responsible.
Before the latest war, Indonesia, the world's largest Muslim-majority country, had been preparing to send forces on a stabilization mission to ravaged Gaza following a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas.
France, a key player in Lebanon, condemned the deaths of the peacekeepers and called for an urgent UN Security Council meeting, which was subsequently scheduled for Tuesday at 14H00 GMT.
Four Israeli soldiers killed in south Lebanon
The Israeli military said Tuesday that four soldiers had been killed in combat in southern Lebanon, where its forces are clashing with Iran-backed Hezbollah.
A military statement named three soldiers from the same battalion who "fell during combat", and a separate statement said another soldier whose name had not yet been cleared for publication had died in the same incident.
Another soldier was severely wounded and a reservist moderately wounded, according to the second statement.
US, Israeli strikes hit company producing cancer drugs
US-Israeli strikes hit on Tuesday one of the largest pharmaceutical companies in Iran which produces anaesthetic and cancer drugs, the Iranian government said.
"During the US and Zionist regime attacks on civilian centres, on the morning of Tuesday, one of the largest companies producing anti-cancer, anaesthetic and specialised medicines was damaged and the drug production line was damaged," the government said in a post on X.
The pharmaceutical company is owned by the Social Security Investment Company, a state-run holding firm managing pension funds.
Strikes in central Iran hit 'military sites'
Iranian media reported Tuesday that initial investigations indicated strikes in central Iran had hit some "military sites", without specifying the locations.
"Initial investigations indicate that some military locations in Isfahan were targeted," the Fars news agency quoted Akbar Salehi, a security official at the governor's office in Isfahan province, as saying.
The official also said the extent of the damage and any casualties were not immediately clear.
Isfahan province is a key hub for Iran's defence industry and hosts major nuclear facilities, including Natanz.
The nuclear sites were targeted during a 12-day conflict with Israel last June, as well as in the current war that began on February 28, according to Iranian officials.
The province is home to several major military bases, including the Badr airbase, the 8th Shekari airbase, and the 4th Air Force base.
Strikes during the conflict have also hit civilian and historical infrastructure, including the Isfahan University of Technology.
Several heritage sites listed by UNESCO have been reported damaged in Isfahan's Naqsh-e Jahan Square, including the Safavid-era Abbasi Jameh Mosque and Ali Qapu Palace.
On Tuesday, Hassan Fartousi, secretary-general of the Iranian National Commission for UNESCO, said in a press conference that damage in the province was "huge".
Industrial facilities were also affected, with strikes hitting the Mobarakeh Steel Company complex.
- Hormuz plant hit -
Strikes have hit a desalination plant on Iran's Qeshm island in the strategic Strait of Hormuz, putting it out of service, Iranian media reported.
It was not immediately clear when the attack took place.
- Netanyahu claims success -
Netanyahu said Israel had achieved key objectives including by "wiping out" industrial plants in Iran and coming "close to finishing their arms industry."
"It's definitely beyond the halfway point. But I don't want to put a schedule on it," Netanyahu told US broadcaster Newsmax.
The war, and the spiraling price of oil, has been unpopular in the United States, where Rubio again said Monday that it would last "weeks" more and not months.
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, whose country is feeling the economic pinch and has been playing a key role mediating indirect talks, appealed directly to Trump to find an offramp.
"Please, help us to stop the war, you are capable of it," Sisi told a press conference.
Trump has claimed to be in direct contact with senior Iranian figures whom he has not identified publicly.
Rubio said there were "fractures" within the Islamic republic and voiced hope that the Iranian officials allegedly in contact with Washington had the "power to deliver."
But Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei again denied any negotiations, saying the United States had sent only a request to talk via intermediaries including Pakistan.
After weeks of strikes, residents of Tehran painted a picture of a city that is still clinging to some routine, with cafes and restaurants open and no shortages reported in supermarkets or petrol stations.
Security remains tight, with checkpoints erected on streets around the capital.
"When I make it to a cafe table, even for a few minutes, I can almost believe the world hasn't ended," said Fatemeh, 27, a dental assistant.
"And then I go back home, back to the reality of living through war, with all its darkness and weight."
- Haifa refinery fire -
A large blaze ignited at Israel's Haifa oil refinery after it was hit by debris from the interception of a projectile Monday.
Television channels showed black smoke billowing into the sky from the site, while the fire service shared photos of a tank on fire, shortly after the Israeli military said it had detected new missiles from Iran.
Iran FM says 'high time' for Saudi Arabia to eject US forces
Iran's top diplomat urged Saudi Arabia on Monday to evict US forces from its territory, reiterating that its attacks in the region only targeted its enemies.
"Iran respects the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and considers it a brotherly nation," Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said on X. "Our operations are aimed at enemy aggressors who have no respect for Arabs or Iranians, nor can provide any security... High time to eject U.S. forces."
US-Israeli strikes damage Iran religious site
US-Israeli strikes on Tuesday caused damage to a Shia Muslim religious site in Iran's northwest, state media reported.
State television said the building of the Grand Husseinya, a hall for Shia gatherings and mourning ceremonies, "was damaged following the enemy's morning attack on the Ferdowsi street" in the city of Zanjan.
It added that "parts of the dome and minarets were damaged."
10 Iran missiles hit Jerusalem
Israel's military said its air defences were responding to Iranian missiles on Tuesday as sirens rang out in Jerusalem.
"A short while ago, the IDF identified missiles launched from Iran toward the territory of the State of Israel," the Israeli military posted on Telegram.
Sirens sounded and at least ten blasts were heard over Jerusalem, an AFP journalist said.
After announcing that air defences were intercepting incoming missiles, a military statement said it was safe "to leave protected spaces in all areas of the country".
Iran's state broadcaster IRIB also reported that Iran had fired a missile towards Israel.
- Tanker fire in Dubai -
An Iranian attack sparked a fire on a Kuwaiti oil tanker at Dubai Port, state media reported Tuesday, adding there were no injuries.
"The Kuwaiti giant crude oil tanker was subjected to a direct and malicious Iranian attack while in the anchorage area of Dubai Port in the UAE," official news agency KUNA reported, citing Kuwait's state-owned oil company.
Also in Dubai, falling debris from an air defence interception sparked a fire and wounded four people in the city, authorities said.
- Drone attack targets US embassy in Baghdad -
One civilian was wounded in Iraq's capital Baghdad late Monday after shrapnel from an intercepted drone attack targeting the US embassy fell onto their neighbourhood, a police source said.
The attack follows a rocket strike the previous evening that targeted an Iraqi military base inside the Baghdad airport complex, which also houses a support centre for the US embassy.
- Dubai injured -
Four people were injured by debris from an interception that fell on residential houses in southern Dubai.
Earlier, AFP journalists reported hearing explosions after UAE authorities warned of missile and drone attacks.
- Israel injured -
Israel's emergency services said that eight people with minor injuries were evacuated to hospitals in the Tel Aviv area, where police reported falling munitions fragments after an alert for incoming Iranian missiles.
- Saudi injured -
A drone interception left two people injured in Al-Kharj province, a Saudi region southeast of the capital Riyadh that houses the Prince Sultan air base, the country's civil defence said.
- Iraq blast -
An explosion was heard Tuesday morning near the international airport of Erbil, a city in Iraq's autonomous Kurdistan region, an AFP journalist said.
Erbil is home to a major US consulate complex, while its airport houses military advisers attached to a US-led international anti-jihadist coalition.
- Iran executions -
Iran executed two men convicted of membership in a banned opposition group and plotting to overthrow the Islamic republic, the judiciary said, a day after two others were hanged on similar charges.
- Iraqi bases struck -
Iraq's Popular Mobilisation Forces (PMF) said US-Israeli forces carried out air strikes on two of their bases in the Babil and Anbar provinces, with no casualties reported
"The 45th Brigade in the Jurf al-Nasr sector of Babil Governorate was targeted with three airstrikes, while another strike targeted the 31st Brigade in the Karma sector, east of Anbar Governorate," it said on its website.
- Iran panel approves Hormuz toll plan -
Iranian state media reported that a parliamentary commission had approved plans to impose tolls on vessels transiting the Strait of Hormuz, the waterway vital to oil and gas shipments that has been effectively closed due to the Middle East war.
Citing a member of the parliament's security commission, state TV said the plan involved, among other things, "financial arrangements and rial toll systems" and "implementing the sovereign role of Iran", as well as cooperation with Oman on the other side of the strait.
- G7 ministers pledge action on energy -
G7 economy and finance ministers said they stood ready to take "all necessary measures" to ensure the stability of the energy market, roiled by the war.
- NATO intercepts Turkey-bound missile -
NATO forces intercepted a new missile fired from Iran towards Turkey, the fourth since the start of the Middle East war.
None of the four projectiles managed to hit Turkish soil, according to the authorities.
- Egypt's Sisi asks Trump to help stop war -
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi urged his US counterpart Donald Trump to help end the war.
"I say to President Trump: no one will be able to stop the war in our region, in the Gulf... Please, help us to stop the war, you are capable of it," Sisi said in Cairo.
- US 'hopeful' in private Iran talks -
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio voiced hope for working with elements within Iran's government, saying the United States privately had received positive messages.
Rubio said that there were internal "fractures" inside the Islamic republic and that the United States hoped figures with "power to deliver" take charge.