The Dictatorship
PILOT RESCUED
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A U.S. service member who has been missing since Iran shot down a fighter jet has been rescued, President Donald Trump wrote in a social media post early Sunday.
A frantic U.S. search-and-rescue operation unfolded after the crash of the F-15E Strike Eaglejet on Friday, as Iran also promised a reward for anyone who turned in the “enemy pilot.”
A second crew member was rescued earlier.
Trump wrote that the aviator is injured but “will be just fine,” adding that he took refuge “in the treacherous mountains of Iran.”
Trump added that the rescue involved “dozens of aircraft” and that U.S. had been monitoring his location “24 hours a day, and diligently planning for his rescue.”
The fighter jet was the first U.S. aircraft to have crashed in Iranian territory since the conflict in late February.
Israel’s military warns the public of another missile barrage coming from Iran, the third-such alert of the day
Another airstrike in southeastern Tehran hits a home, killing at least three people, Iranian state TV reports
Strikes in southern Iran kill 6 people
From Sunday into Monday across Iran, local media and activists reported strikes on Ahvaz, Bandar Lengeh, Karaj and Shiraz as well.
The strikes in Bandar Lengeh and Kong killed at least six people and wounded 17 others, the state-run IRAN newspaper said.
Iranian strikes hit Haifa
Israel’s Magen David Adom and Fire and Rescue services said early Monday that there are two reported sites of Iranian missile hits in the northern city of Haifa.
Video footage provided by Magen David Adom of the affected sites show active fire and bombed cars in what appears to be a residential area.
It is still unclear whether those were direct hits or damage from falling shrapnel from interceptions.
The missile strikes comes a day after another attack from Iran also hit a Haifa residential area, killing two people and injuring others.
Two people were still trapped in the rubble caused by the Sunday attack and their fate is unknown.
Latest reports of live fire in the war
- Israel’s military warned the public Monday morning of another missile barrage coming from Iran, the third-such alert of the day.
- Kuwait again Monday morning said it was firing air defenses over an incoming Iranian missile and drone barrage.
- The United Arab Emirates again said its air defenses also were firing over incoming Iranian fire on Monday morning.
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Israel claimed a wave of airstrikes early Monday targeting Iran, without offering any immediate information about its targets.
Israel claims a wave of airstrikes targeting Iran early Monday without offering information about its targets
Iranian strike in Haifa kills 2 people
Israel’s Fire and Rescue Authority said early Monday two people were found dead under rubble due to an Iranian missile strike on a residential building in Israel northern city of Haifa.
The rescue mission, which started Sunday evening, is still ongoing as two other people remain under the rubble.
Their fate is still unknown.
Paramedics said Sunday they rushed to the scene and searched through the rubble to dig out the injured, finding an older man in serious condition.
They added that three other people, including a baby, were slightly injured.
Airstrike on Iranian city of Eslamshar kills at least 13
An airstrike early Monday struck a residential building in a city southwest of Iran’s capital, Tehran, killing at least 13 people, Iranian media reported.
The semiofficial Fars news agency and Nour News reported the strike near Eslamshar.
It wasn’t clear why the building had been struck.
Neither Israel nor the United States claimed the strikes early Monday, but they came after Trump issued a profanity-laced threat to Iran that it must reopen the Strait of Hormuz.
JUST IN: At least 13 killed in an airstrike that hit a building in a city southwest of Tehran, Iranian media report
Airstrikes hit Tehran university linked to weapons work
Airstrikes early Monday morning on Iran’s capital, Tehran, targeted the Sharif University of Technology.
Iranian media reported the strikes and damage to buildings there, as well as a natural gas distribution site next to the campus.
It wasn’t immediately clear what had been targeted on the grounds of the university, which is empty of students as the war has forced all schools in the country into online classes.
However, multiple countries over the years have sanctioned the university for its work with the military, particularly on Iran’s ballistic missile program, which is controlled by the country’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard.
Meanwhile, the Guard and other security forces have been using secondary sites as rally points as their bases have come under repeated attack during the war.
Airstrike in the Irani city of Qom kills at least 5, state-run media reports
The state-run IRAN daily newspaper said in an online message that an airstrike in a residential area of Qom killed at least five people. Qom is a holy Shiite seminary city just south of Tehran.
It wasn’t unclear what the target of the strike was.
Iran has not provided overall casualty figures from the war in days. It also hasn’t discussed its materiel losses.
Airstrikes hit Iran’s capital
Before dawn Monday, a series of airstrikes hit Iran’s capital, Tehran. Explosions rang out into the night, though it wasn’t immediately clear what had been struck.
The sound of low-flying fighter jets could be heard off and on for hours.
In Israel, authorities sounded one missile alert. In Dubai in the United Arab Emirates, two such alerts went off with air defenses firing, but it wasn’t immediately clear what had been targeted by Iran. Kuwait also said its air defenses worked multiple times overnight to intercept incoming
The sound of a low-flying fighter jet is heard over northern Tehran
The sound was followed by at least three massive explosions.
Crude oil prices jump in early trading after Trump threats
Crude oil prices jumped sharply in early trading Sunday after President Trump issued fresh, heightened threats against Iran and its infrastructure.
The price of Brent crude, the international standard, rose more than 2% to $111.25. U.S. crude oil prices were up nearly 3% to $114.54 a barrel.
The last time front-month prices for U.S. crude oil prices were above $115 a barrel was the summer of 2022, in the aftermath of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and during a period of high inflation across the globe.
Trump on social media vowed 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, isn’t opened by Tuesday.
Official with Lebanese Christian party killed in Israeli strike
Pierre Mouawad, an official with the Lebanese Forces party, was killed along with his wife in an Israeli strike Sunday on an apartment building in the village of Ain Saadeh in the mountains east of Beirut, the state-run National News Agency reported.
Another woman was killed and three women were wounded, Lebanon’s health ministry said.
The Israeli military has made no statement about the strike, and its intended target remains unclear.
The Lebanese Forces party is opposed to Hezbollah and has blamed the Shiite militant group for dragging Lebanon into a new war with Israel.
Israeli strikes in Christian-majority areas have led to sectarian tensions, with local residents fearing that Hezbollah members may be hiding among displaced Shiite civilians taking refuge there.
Doctors Without Borders condemns Israeli strike in Beirut neighborhood
The international aid group, known by its French acronym MSF, said the strike in Beirut’s Jnah neighborhood on Sunday hit “a densely populated residential area … only meters from Rafik Hariri Public Hospital.”
Lebanon’s Health Ministry said the strike, which came without a warning, killed five people, including a 15-year-old girl, and 52 wounded, including eight children.
“We are seeing elderly people and adolescents arriving with critical injuries to the head, chest, and abdomen, including shrapnel wounds,” Luna Hammad, MSF medical coordinator working in the hospital, said in a statement. “When strikes hit crowded residential areas without warning, the consequences are severe, both in human casualties and in hospitals’ capacity to respond.”
MSF said that “strikes this close to a hospital spread fear and can stop people from seeking lifesaving care.”
The Israeli military has not named the intended target of the strike, which comes five weeks into the renewed Israel-Hezbollah war in Lebanon.
Iran says US bombarded its own aircraft, personnel
Iran’s joint military command spokesperson said Sunday that the U.S. had to bombard its own military aircraft and personnel that were struck and downed by Iranian fighters to “prevent embarrassment for President Trump and the hollow image of its military.”
Ebrahim Zolfaghari added that several U.S. military aircraft entered Iranian airspace to carry out a rescue operation for the pilot of a downed U.S. fighter jet, but said Iranian fighters and air defense systems struck the aircraft and forced them to make an emergency landing in an area south of Isfahan.
A regional intelligence official, who was briefed on the covert mission and who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss it, said the U.S. military blew up two transport planes due to a technical malfunction that forced them to bring in additional aircraft to complete the rescue.
Over the weekend, the United States pulled off a daring rescue of two aviators whose fighter jet was shot down by Iran, plucking the pilot from behind enemy lines before setting off a complicated extraction of the second service member who hid deep in the mountains as Tehran called for Iranians to help capture him.
Bahrain’s foreign minister urges action on Strait of Hormuz
Abdullatif bin Rashid al-Zayani wrote in a statement Sunday that Iran’s weekslong chokehold on the critical waterway has created an “escalating crisis that threatens global stability, food security, and the foundational principles of international law.”
He urged action by the United Nations Security Council on a Bahrain draft proposal, which has faced crucial opposition from Russia, China and France over several issues, including language authorizing the use of force to open the strait. All three countries wield veto power over any resolution in the 15-member council.
The vote on the heavily revised and watered-down draft was scheduled to take place last week, but has been postponed due to lack of consensus.
Al-Zayani noted that the “window of opportunity is narrowing day by day” and failure by the international community to act “sends a dangerous message that vital arteries of the global economy can be threatened without consequence.”
Iranian negotiators have ‘immunity from death,’ Trump says
The U.S. president made the comments during an off-camera interview with Fox News.
“We’ve given them immunity from death. And we’ve told the people that we’re dealing with, who are the top people,” the president said.
Trump contended that the Iranians had already conceded on having a nuclear weapon.
“They’re not even negotiating that point, it’s so easy,” Trump told Fox News. “That’s already been conceded. Most of the points are conceded.”
Four people were injured in a fire at the UAE’s Khor Fakkan port
The United Arab Emirates’ Sharjah government said that one Nepali and three Pakistani nationals were wounded Sunday in a fire caused by falling debris from an intercepted Iranian projectile at Khor Fakkan port, according to a statement posted on the social platform X.
One individual was severely wounded and had to be hospitalized, while the others suffered mild and moderate injuries, the statement said.
The statement did not specify whether the intercepted projectile was a missile or a drone.
4 missing in Haifa apartment building strike
Israel’s Fire and Rescue Authority said Sunday they were searching for four people in the northern Israeli city of Haifa after an Iranian missile strike.
Paramedics said they rushed to the scene and searched through the rubble to dig out the injured, finding an older man in serious condition. They added that three other people were mildly injured, including a baby.
Associated Press video filmed at the scene showed much of the multistory building reduced to rubble.
The rescuers described the damage as resulting from a direct hit, but it was not immediately clear if the building had been struck by a missile or shrapnel from an interception.
Israeli security forces and rescue teams work amid the rubble of a residential building struck by an Iranian missile in Haifa, Israel, Sunday, April 5, 2026. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit)
Israeli security forces and rescue teams work amid the rubble of a residential building struck by an Iranian missile in Haifa, Israel, Sunday, April 5, 2026. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit)
Israeli fire kills 1 Palestinian in Gaza City, health officials say
The strike on a group of people also wounded others, according to health officials at the Shifa hospital, where the casualties arrived.
The Israeli military did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The Gaza Strip has seen near-daily Israeli fire and strikes since a fragile ceasefire was reached in October, and more than 700 Palestinians have been killed since then, according to figures from the Gaza Health Ministry.
The ministry, which is part of the Hamas-led government, maintains detailed casualty records that are seen as generally reliable by U.N. agencies and independent experts. But it does not give a breakdown of civilians and militants.
Since the Iran war began over a month ago, Gaza militants have sat out the conflict and haven’t claimed any attacks against Israel.
Iran’s head of parliament lashes back at Trump
In a social media post on Sunday, Iran’s parliamentary Speaker Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf dismissed Trump’s recent threats of targeting Iran’s infrastructure as “reckless.”
“You won’t gain anything through war crimes,” Qalibaf wrote on X. “The only real solution is respecting the rights of the Iranian people and ending this dangerous game.”
Top Iranian official threatens closure of the Bab al-Mandeb Strait
A former foreign minister and adviser to the supreme leader warned Sunday that “the resistance front” could target the Bab el-Mandeb Strait off the Red Sea, through which about 12% of the world’s trade typically passes.
“If the White House thinks of repeating its stupid mistakes, it will quickly realize that the flow of global energy and trade can be disrupted with a single signal,” Ali Akbar Velayati said on social media, signaling possible closure of the vital waterway if the U.S. escalates attacks.
Iran leads the so-called “Axis of Resistance,” which includes armed groups in Lebanon, Iraq and Yemen, where Houthi rebels had in the past cut off transit through Bab el-Mandeb with attacks on vessels.
Iran has effectively stopped cargo traffic through the Strait of Hormuz during the conflict, leading to higher oil and gas prices globally.
Iran floats a new condition for Strait of Hormuz reopening
Seyyed Mohammad Mehdi Tabatabaei, a presidential spokesperson, wrote Sunday on the social platform X that the reopening of the vital waterway can only happen if transit revenues are partially earmarked to compensate Iran for war damages.
There has been growing alarm over Iran’s grip on the Strait of Hormuz, critical for shipments of oil and gas from the Persian Gulf to Europe and Asia. Trump has threatened to attack Iran’s infrastructure if it fails to reopen the strait by Monday.
Oil-producing countries decide on symbolic output increase
Eight countries from the OPEC+ oil cartel say they will increase production again in May to ensure stability on the oil market — a decision overshadowed by the effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz to tanker traffic due to the Iran war.
The countries said in a statement carried Sunday on the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries website that production would be increased by 206,000 barrels per day.
That, however, remains largely on paper due to the loss of an estimated 12 million barrels a day from Persian Gulf producers due to the Hormuz closure.
The countries — Saudi Arabia, Russia, Iraq, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Kazakhstan, Algeria and Oman — warned that damage from attacks on oil infrastructure will take “a long time” to repair and return supply to previous levels.
Such attacks, as well as disruption of navigation, undermine efforts to support stable prices “for the benefit of producers, consumers and the global economy,” they said.
Iranian government minister dismisses Trump threat in AP interview
Iran’s culture minister has dismissed President Donald Trump’s latest threats, calling the U.S. leader an “unstable, delusional figure.”
“Iranian society generally does not pay attention to his statements, as it believes he lacks personal, behavioral and verbal balance, and constantly shifts between contradictory positions,” Sayed Reza Salihi-Amiri told The Associated Press in an interview Sunday.
Trump on Sunday said he would strike Iran’s power plants and bridges this Tuesday if the Strait of Hormuz remains closed to marine traffic. In an expletive-laden post, Trump promised the Iranians would be “living in Hell” if the waterway isn’t opened.
“It seems Trump has become a phenomenon that neither Iranians nor Americans are able to fully analyze,” said Salihi-Amiri.
He said the Strait of Hormuz is “open to the world but closed to Iran’s enemies.”
Latest attack from Iran hits Haifa apartment building, Israel’s rescue services say
Paramedics say they rushed to the scene and searched through the rubble to dig out the injured, finding an older man in serious condition. They say three other people were mildly injured, including a baby.
Photos and video showed much of the multistory building reduced to rubble.
The rescuers described the damage as resulting from a direct hit. It was not immediately clear if the building had been struck by an Iranian missile or shrapnel from a missile interception.
2 Black Hawk helicopters were hit during the rescue, but got to safety
The two helicopters were able to navigate to safe airspace, according to a person familiar with the situation who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the sensitive information.
It was not clear where the Black Hawks landed or if their crew members were injured.
Iran’s joint military command has claimed it struck two U.S. Black Hawk helicopters.
Kuwait and Qatar report further aerial attacks
The Kuwaiti army said Sunday that Iran had fired a total of nine ballistic missiles, four cruise missiles and 31 drones at Kuwaiti territory over the past 24 hours.
That brings the total number of projectiles that have targeted Kuwait since the war erupted to 740 drones, 336 ballistic missiles and 13 cruise missiles, according to an official statement posted on the social platform X.
Also, the Qatari army reported that it had on Sunday intercepted several drones and two cruise missiles fired by Iran, according to another statement on X.
Muslim civil rights group accuses Trump of mocking Islam
The Council on American-Islamic Relations, a nationwide advocacy group, assailed Trump for invoking Allah in his Truth Social post threatening Iran.
“President Trump’s deranged mocking of Islam and his threats to attack civilian infrastructure in Iran are reckless, dangerous, and indicative of a mindset that shows indifference to human life and contempt for religious beliefs,” CAIR said in a statement.
Trump, in his post on Easter Sunday, demanded that Iran open the Strait of Hormuz by Tuesday, “or you’ll be living in Hell – JUST WATCH! Praise be to Allah.”
“The casual use of ‘Praise be to Allah’ in the context of violent threats reflects a disturbing willingness to weaponize religious language while simultaneously denigrating Islam and its followers,” CAIR said.
Iranians say Trump’s threats to strike infrastructure is ‘intent to commit war crime’
Hours after Trump’s expletive-laden post promising Iran will be “living in Hell” over the Strait of Hormuz closure, Tehran’s mission to the U.N. called the open threats to target civilian infrastructure “a direct and public incitement to terrorise civilians and clear evidence of intent to commit war crime.”
“The international community and all States have legal obligations to prevent such atrocious acts of war crimes,” the mission said in a post on the social platform X. “They must act now. Tomorrow is too late.”
Iran says Ahvaz Shahid Soleimani airport hit
Iran state-run television IRIB quoted a security official as saying that so far, no casualties were reported in the aftermath of a US-Israeli strike on Sunday.
Also on Sunday, the United Arab Emirates’ Sharjah government said that Khor Fakkan port was targeted and that no casualties were reported so far, according to a post on the social platform X by the government’s media office.
Earlier, UKMTO said that a captain had witnessed multiple splashes from unknown projectiles near his vessel while conducting loading operations at the same port.
Border crossing between Lebanon and Syria awaits threatened Israeli strikes
The main border crossing between Lebanon and Syria was closed Sunday after the Israeli military warned of plans to strike it the night before, alleging that Hezbollah was using it to smuggle military equipment.
Samir Abdelkhaleq from the Lebanese border town of Majdal Anjar said the closure is an economic blow to many.
“These are real losses for people and for business owners,” he said. “Everyone is just waiting for the strike to be over.”
Syrian authorities, who have a hostile relationship with Hezbollah, have denied that the crossing is being used for smuggling. In recent days, Syria announced the discovery and closure of several tunnels they said were being used by Hezbollah for smuggling.
More than 200,000 people have crossed from Lebanon into Syria in the five weeks since the outbreak of renewed war between Israel and Hezbollah.
US official says CIA launched ‘deception campaign’ to find second crew member
Details about the rescue of a second U.S. crew member in Iran, who was a weapons systems officer, are trickling out hours after Trump’s announcement.
A senior U.S. administration official said Sunday that prior to locating the crew member, the CIA spread word inside Iran that U.S. forces had already found him and were moving him on the ground for exfiltration.
The official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss details not yet made public, said the campaign managed to confuse Iranian officials while the agency conducted its search-and-rescue operations.
Over 1,400 people in Lebanon have been killed in war between Israel and Hezbollah militant group
Among the 1,461 killed are 97 women, 129 children, and 54 paramedics, according to Lebanon’s Health Ministry.
4,430 people have been wounded since the latest fighting began on March 2.
After Hezbollah fired rockets toward northern Israel, the Israeli military launched an intense military operation with daily strikes across the country and a ground invasion into southern Lebanon.
Top satellite imagery provider says US asked it to suspend access to Mideast imagery
The U.S. government has asked top providers of satellite imagery to stop publishing p hotos from parts of the Middle East because of the Iran war, says the company Planet Labs.
Planet Labs and companies like it provide near-daily imagery crucial to reporting on regions where on-the-ground access for journalists is impossible, limited or unsafe. That has made it an especially key tool for reporting on the Iran war, which has impacted nearly all Middle Eastern countries.
In a Saturday email to users, including the AP, Planet Labs said it was complying with the U.S. government’s requests and would indefinitely delay publication of imagery taken after March 9, 2026. It said it would release new imagery on a “case-by-case basis and for urgent, mission-critical requirements or in the public interest.”
The company said the new measures would be in place until the end of the conflict.
Democratic US Sen. Kaine warns Trump administration on war rhetoric
As he expressed “overwhelming relief” at the rescue of the military personnel in a downed U.S fighter jet in Iran, Virginia Sen. Tim Kaine called on the president and his top officials to dial down their rhetoric amid the war in the Middle East.
Kaine referenced remarks from Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth last month when the latter declared “no quarter, no mercy for our enemies” at a news conference.
“This kind of rhetoric is really dangerous,” Kaine said Sunday in an interview with NBC’s “Meet the Press.
He added: “That really encourages them to mistreat our folks.”
Turkish foreign minister to meet with Syrian and Ukrainian presidents
Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan arrived in Damascus Sunday, with Turkish media reporting that he will hold a trilateral meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa.
According to state-run Anadolu Agency, topics of discussion will include joint projects for the rebuilding of Syria as well as regional developments, such as the integration of northeast Syria into the central government and the impact of nearby conflicts in Iran and Lebanon.
Fidan’s last visit to Syria was on Dec. 22, 2025, alongside Defense Minister Yasar Guler and National Intelligence Chief Ibrahim Kalin.
Christians celebrate Easter in wartime Tehran
Armenian Christians celebrated Easter at a church in Iran’s capital on Sunday, striving to maintain a sense of normalcy five weeks into the war.
Families embraced and children exchanged painted eggs at the St. Sarkis Cathedral in central Tehran. Iran’s capital has been targeted by daily airstrikes since the United States and Israel launched the war on Feb. 28.
“Whether we like it or not, we have young children who do not understand what’s going on,” said Juanita Arakel, 40, an English language teacher. “They just need to feel normal.”
The Islamic Republic, with a population of around 90 million, is home to some 300,000 Christians, mostly Armenians, and three seats in parliament are reserved for Christians.
“My appeal first is to those who started the war to look up to the sky where love and mutual respect was given to us, whether through the birth of Jesus or his rising from the dead,” said Sepuh Sargsyan, the archbishop of the Armenian Diocese of Tehran.
“Our calls and prayers are that we will be able to end this war.”
Across the Middle East, Christians have departed in large numbers in recent decades, fleeing war, persecution and upheaval, and seeking economic opportunities in the West.
Trump offers details of ‘seriously wounded’ pilot’s rescue
U.S. President Donald Trump said the effort to rescue the second pilot was a rarely attempted type of operation because of the potential dangers.
He said in a social media post on Sunday that the pilot was “seriously wounded and really brave” and rescued from “deep inside the mountains” in Iran.
Trump said the pilot is a “highly respected Colonel” and that Iranian forces were “looking hard, in big numbers” and “getting close” to him.
He also gave details of the rescue of the first pilot, who Trump said was rescued in “broad daylight” after seven hours over Iran.
Trump repeats threat to strike Iran’s infrastructure if Strait of Hormuz isn’t reopened
U.S. President Donald Trump said on Sunday he would strike Iran’s power plants and bridges this Tuesday if the Strait of Hormuz remains closed to marine traffic.
In an expletive-laden post, Trump promised they would be “living in Hell” if the waterway isn’t opened.
JUST IN: Trump promises to strike Iran’s power plants and bridges on Tuesday if Strait of Hormuz isn’t reopened.
Iran threatens more forceful attacks if its civilian installations are targeted
Iran’s joint command threatened on Sunday to step up its attacks on oil and other civilian infrastructure facilities if the U.S. and Israel attack Iranian civilian facilities.
Iran’s state-run news agency quoted the Khatam al-Anbiya Headquarters as saying that it it had attacked a number of oil other infrastructure facilities in Israel and in the Gulf Arab countries after an Israeli airstrike struck Iran’s largest petrochemical complex.
President Donald Trump has threatened to unleash “all Hell” on Iran if the Strait of Hormuz isn’t reopened.
Iran says it has destroyed four US aircraft
Iran’s joint command claimed on Sunday that the aircraft were destroyed during a complex rescue of a crew member whose fighter jet was shot down on Friday.
Iran’s state TV quoted the Khatam al-Anbiya Headquarters as saying that the aircraft, which included two C-130 military transport planes and two Black Hawk helicopters, were destroyed in the province of Isfahan, where the rescue took place.
Earlier Sunday, Iran’s state TV aired a video showing what it claimed were parts of U.S. aircraft that they had shot down and a photo of thick black smoke rising into the air.
The claims could not be independently verified.
Israeli strike causes severe damage to three-story building south of central Beirut
Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency said the building in the Jnah neighborhood was filled with residents and was located across the street from the government-run Rafic Hariri University Hospital.
The strike came without warning soon after a previous one in the area that came with advance notice.
There was no immediate word on the number of casualties.
UAE reports attacks with dozens of missiles and drones
The United Arab Emirates’ Defense Ministry said on Sunday that among the 60 projectiles fired at the country were nine ballistic missiles, 50 drones and one cruise missile.
This brings the total number of projectiles that have targeted the UAE during the war to 507 ballistic missiles, 24 cruise missiles, and 2,191 drones.
Iran’s internet blackout becomes the world’s longest
An internet monitoring group said on Sunday that Iran’s internet blackout is now the world’s longest nation-scale internet shutdown on record.
NetBlocks said the internet blackout in Iran has lasted for 37 consecutive days, exceeding all other comparable incidents the group has recorded.
Drone attacks ignite fires, cause serious damage at oil and petrochemical facilities in Kuwait
The Kuwait Petroleum Corporation said on Sunday fires ignited at several of the company’s operational facilities as well as to facilities at the Petrochemical Industries Company, causing “significant” damage.
It said firefighters were working to control the fires.
No casualties were reported.
Israel says Iran has launched new missile barrage
The Israeli military said on Sunday that its air defenses are being activated.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The White House said Thursday night that Vice President JD Vance was delaying a trip to Switzerland, where he’d been set to lead a new round of negotiations with Iran over its nuclear program — raising questions about what’s next for the tentative agreement to end the war.
The team led by Vance had been ready to leave but was postponing, the White House said, citing difficult logistics for negotiations. The announcement followed a report from Al-Mayadeen, a pan-Arab satellite channel that is politically allied with the Iranian-backed Lebanese militant group Hezbollah, that Iran was delaying sending its delegation to Switzerland over Israel’s ongoing military campaign in Lebanon.
Vance, who was initially personally skeptical of the U.S. going to war with Iranhas increasingly become the administration’s face of the conflict and has been outspoken in defending the deal.
Earlier Thursday, he took the relatively unusual step of appearing at the White House to defend the initial deal to extend the ceasefire 60 days and allow for more negotiating — arguing that while it offers concessions, Iran first has to comply with U.S. demands.
“As they dial up their good behavior, we can dial up the economic relief,” Vance said. “If they dial down their good behavior, we can turn it off.”
But the vice president also had said during those remarks that he was not sure of the timing of his planned to Switzerland and that talks might not begin this week. The formal postponement now makes that even less clear.
Vance staying put in Washington came after the U.S. said it had lifted its blockade, allowing oil tankers to begin freely moving through the Strait of Hormuz after months of being unable to use the critical channel. Still, the tentative agreement has drawn sharp criticism from some in the U.S. — including a few congressional Republicans — who worry Washington ceded too much to Iran with relief from sanctions and a potential $300 billion fund to help with rebuilding.
Earlier, a top Trump administration envoy told U.S. lawmakers in a private briefing that Iran will invite the U.N.’s nuclear watchdog agency to inspect its nuclear sites.
And Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei had seemed to endorse direct negotiations for his officials.
“It is obvious that the face-to-face negotiations that will be held in the future will not mean accepting the enemy’s opinion,” he said in a statement read by state media.
It was Khamenei’s first reaction to the agreement, and it was interpreted as a shift in Iran’s approach. Hard-liners, especially Khamenei’s father, the previous supreme leaderhave long opposed direct talks, especially after the U.S. pulled out of the 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and world powers.
The supreme leader has not been seen in public since he was wounded in a strike at the start of the war.
Lawmakers told Iran will invite UN inspectors to its nuclear sites
The agreement states that Iran’s stockpile of highly enriched uranium must at minimum be diluted under international supervision. It also says that Iran shall not procure or develop nuclear weapons — a commitment it has made previously.
Trump envoy Steve Witkoff told members of Congress that Iran will invite the International Atomic Energy Agency to inspect its nuclear sites and begin work on identifying and uncovering the locations of Tehran’s enriched material, which is believed to be buried under rubble.
Witkoff’s private briefing was described by two people familiar with the conversation who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity to share the closed-door details.
The agreement requires Iran to “commit to renounce their nuclear ambitions in writing,” said White House spokeswoman Olivia Wales. The IAEA did not respond to a request for comment.
Witkoff told congressional leadership and members of national security-related committees that the agreement the U.S. struck with Iran did not include any side deals, but a side letter was drafted between Tehran and the IAEA extending the invitation.
Witkoff said the letter to IAEA Director-General Rafael Mariano Grossi would enable him to bring U.S. nuclear inspectors to Tehran.
Vance defends US-Iran deal and has sharp words for Israel
Before Vance delayed his trip, Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif postponed a planned visit to Switzerland, where Islamabad officials had originally planned to host a ceremonial signing ceremony for the agreement. That visit was postponed because the agreement had already been signed by both Iran and the U.S., said two senior officials who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the matter.
President Donald Trump signed the initial pact with Iran on Wednesday while dining with French President Emmanuel Macron at the Palace of Versailles. The deal is slated to take immediate effect and extends a ceasefire while giving each side 60 days to hammer out broader agreements on larger issues.
Vance, in his comments at the White House, shrugged off criticism about the confusing rollout of the initial deal, saying, “I don’t think our public messaging has been chaotic.”
He also offered a blunt warning to Israel, which has pushed the U.S. to take a harder stance against Iran and launched attacks on the Iranian-backed Hezbollah militia in Lebanon throughout the war, including just before the deal extending the ceasefire was reached. Those attacks complicated the peace efforts with Iran.
Trump “is the only head of state in the entire world who is sympathetic to the nation of Israel at this moment in time,” Vance said. “And he happens to be the head of state of the world’s superpower.”
Shipping starts to pick up
Trump said he signed the agreement to avoid “economic catastrophe” in the U.S., after the war caused oil prices to skyrocket, made financial markets skittish and fueled inflation. The deal caused gas prices to fall and stock markets to rise — though rallies could be threatened again depending on how the next round of U.S.-Iran talks go.
The vice president said more than 12.5 million barrels of oil went through the Strait of Hormuz on Wednesday night and said that the U.S. easing its blockade of Iran means “honoring our end of the early part of the agreement on the military side.”
U.S. Central Command said American warships “will remain in the general area to make sure that all aspects of the agreement are adhered to, obeyed and in full force and effect.”
Iranian state media said shipping had “normalized” at Iran’s southern ports but added that the strait remains supervised and under the control of the Iranian military, and transiting through the vital waterway still requires coordination.
Major shipowners began moving vessels through the strait after the agreement was signed, according to maritime data company Lloyd’s List Intelligence, though Lloyd’s did not give data on how many ships have passed through the strait as of Thursday.
In a media briefing, Richard Meade, editor-in-chief of Lloyd’s List, said for the first time in 110 days, ships owned by major companies are transiting the strait after effectively being marooned there since February. It could take weeks or months to fully reopen the strait, and the two alternative routes do not have as much capacity as the strait’s central passage.
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Associated Press writers Munir Ahmed in Islamabad; Aamer Madhani in Zurich; Collin Binkley in Washington; Mae Anderson in New York; and Nasser Karimi in Tehran, Iran, contributed to this report.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Federal regulators on Thursday ordered regional grid operators to help large energy users connect more quickly to the nation’s inefficient and aging electric transmission system, a step they said is needed to accommodate surging demand from power-hungry artificial intelligence data centers.
Energy Secretary Chris Wright had urged the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to act in an effort to help the United States better compete with China for superiority in the fast-growing AI sector.
Tech companies and data center developers welcomed the chance to connect faster to the country’s power supply for the biggest energy users ever built in the United States, including some that consume more electricity than a small city.
Utilities, states and regional grid operators had worried that the Republican administration’s plan would remove their authority to manage the process, but FERC said the order leaves states in control of retail electric rates, terms and conditions. Clean energy advocates have urged regulators not to undermine state-level efforts to require the use of renewable energies.
The commission’s actions come as a backlash grows against data centers over concerns about the massive amounts of energy and water they use and fears about noise and air pollution, water shortages and a loss of open space or farmland.
Unanimous vote and affordability
FERC members voted unanimously to direct six regional grid operators to ensure that AI data centers and other large power users are “able to connect to the transmission system in a timely and orderly manner.”
Laura Swett, an appointee of President Donald Trump who chairs the commission, called the vote “historic” and said it would push the country’s electricity market into the future while respecting states’ rights, protecting reliable electric service and shielding ratepayers from shouldering the costs of connecting big power users to the grid.
“I know that Americans across the country are concerned about affordability, and so are we,” Swett said, referring to the five-member commission. As chair, “I am taking extremely seriously the mission that Congress has entrusted us to ensure that rates are reasonable,” she said.
The vote comes eight months after Wright asked the independent agency to take more control over ensuring that the vast network of massive computing warehouses needed to power AI are connected quickly to high-voltage transmission lines.
Wright hailed the commission’s action, saying it would “remove barriers, accelerate development and ensure America has the affordable, reliable and secure energy needed to power a new era of prosperity.”
Data centers would pay the full cost of any grid upgrades needed for their connection, under the commission order. But that order can do little to address the tightening energy supplies that are driving up electricity bills in some areas and raising warnings of blackouts as the construction of data centers outpaces the speed of new power plants coming online to serve them.
Robert Montejo, a lawyer who represents data centers, said the most important message from FERC’s action is that AI “has fundamentally changed the electricity landscape. The grid and prior policy were not built for the pace and scale of demand we’re seeing from AI infrastructure, and FERC is signaling that standing still is no longer an option.”
The six regional grid operators under the order serve 200 million Americans, or two-thirds of FERC’s jurisdiction. FERC, meanwhile, invited utilities that handle their regional transmission systems to also participate and analysts said the agency could eventually pressure them, too.
A search for power
Tech giants are scrambling to find enough power for their data centers and report that, in some places, it will take years to connect to the electric grid.
The Edison Electric Institute, which represents investor-owned electric utilities, said FERC’s order builds on regional and state processes already underway while “supporting flexibility and innovation.”
Besides power bottlenecks, the tech industry is running into widespread opposition from communities where residents don’t want to live next to or near a data center.
More than 4,000 data centers now operate in the U.S., according to one estimate, with an additional 3,000 planned or under construction.
Trump has tried to deflect public concerns about AI, seeing the fast-evolving technology as crucial for the U.S. to attract foreign investment and maintain its economic and military prowess. He signed an executive order this month establishing a framework for the federal government to vet the national security risks of the most advanced AI systems for up to a month before their public release.
In December, FERC took an earlier step to help data center operators get electricity quickly, voting to allow tech companies to effectively plug a data center directly into a power plant and Thursday’s order sought to ensure that option is accessible around the country.
Power demands from data centers
FERC told grid operators to respond within 30 days on how they will ensure there is adequate power supplies for new and future data centers, and within 60 days on plans to integrate large power users in line with the new guidelines. Swett told reporters after the meeting that she hoped faster connection processes are in effect in “as little time as possible.” She didn’t set an exact timeline.
Jeff Dennis, executive director of the Electricity Customer Alliance, said FERC’s order is responsive in particular to big power users and state regulators.
Tech giants are confronting unclear rules to connect data centers to high-voltage transmission systems, while states need more clarity on who should bear the cost of regional transmission projects approved at the federal level, he said.
Rob Gramlich, a Washington-based energy consultant, said states should quickly develop rules to accommodate large power users and prevent cost shifts to residential and business customers. FERC could assert broader jurisdiction over interconnection issues if states don’t act quickly, he said.
Data from the Electric Power Research Institute shows that data centers now account for about 5% of U.S. electricity demand, but could triple by 2035.
Tech companies have continued to raise their spending on building and equipping data centers, but there is evidence that construction is lagging and projects are hitting roadblocks, including permitting delays, growing local opposition or bottlenecks around gas turbines, transformers and skilled labor.
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Levy reported from Harrisburg, Pa.
As talks loom between the U.S. and Iran, negotiators face a simple and daunting task: turning a 14-point memorandum of understanding into a comprehensive nuclear deal within 60 days.
The ticking clock was set in motion on Thursday, according to Vice President JD Vance, following the signing of the MOU one day earlier. That signing brought an official end to military hostilities. What it did not do is resolve the conflict that caused them.
Some agreements took effect immediately upon signing: a cessation of hostilities, the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, the lifting of the U.S. naval blockade, the issuing of oil waivers and initial steps to unfreeze billions of dollars in Iranian assets.
But those were the easy parts.
What remains are the metaphorical landmines — the unresolved questions the MOU largely deferred rather than decided, each with the potential to blow up any prospect for a nuclear deal. On Thursday evening, the White House announced that Vice President JD Vance will not attend talks in Switzerland that had been planned for Friday — a decision that may well be read as a signal of just how far apart the two sides are. A White House spokesperson acknowledged in a statement that while the U.S. delegation has been prepared to depart at the first available opportunity, “the logistics of these negotiations have never been simple or predictable.”
Here is what the negotiators will actually have to solve:
The future of the Strait of Hormuz
The MOU ensures safe passage of commercial vessels through the Strait of Hormuz “with no charge for 60 days only,” and outsources the negotiating responsibility for ensuring long-term toll-free passage to Gulf allies — ceding responsibility for a key outstanding issue.
“We don’t ever want this to happen again — that’s not about tolling, that’s about ensuring that the Straits are never used as a choke point for the global economy ever again,” Vance said at the White House on Thursday. “If that’s not reflected in the final deal, there’s not going to be a final deal.”
Recognizing the Iranians will “assert their rights as aggressively as they can,” a senior U.S. official was confident Gulf states would preserve their own self-interests and press Iran to allow toll-free passage.
There’s also the matter of demining the waterway. Iran has 30 days for “removing the technical and military obstacles and demining,” but mine removal could take weeks or even months — potentially testing U.S. patience if ship traffic doesn’t recover quickly.
In a joint statement following this week’s G7 summit in France, leaders said a defensive initiative led by France and the UK could help by “protecting merchant vessels, reassuring commercial shipping operators, and supporting verification that all mines are removed.”
Sanctions and frozen assets
Senior U.S. officials have said sanctions relief for Iran would be tied to its performance — but haven’t yet indicated what those benchmarks will be.
“As they dial up their good behavior, we can dial up the economic relief,” Vance said in broad terms on Thursday at the White House. “If they dial down their good behavior, we can turn it off.”
The MOU commits the U.S. to ending all Iranian sanctions — including those imposed by the U.N. Security Council and the International Atomic Energy Agency — “in an agreed-upon schedule as part of the final deal.” How quickly the U.S. is willing to provide this economic relief could become a sticking point.
Complicating matters further: whether lifting of sanctions would require congressional action, and how the State Department’s designation of Iran as a State Sponsor of Terrorism factors in.
Then there’s the unfreezing of billions of dollars of Iranian assets. Though the Trump administration insists any release would be tied to Iran’s performance, the MOU’s own text undercuts that: Paragraph 13 says the process of releasing assets must begin before negotiations even start, handing Iran an upfront incentive rather than one to earn.
“It’s clearly a huge loophole and a potential for disagreement,” said Aaron David Miller, a former Middle East advisor and negotiator for the State Department, calling the text’s language “destructive ambiguity.”
The Lebanon front
The MOU calls for “the immediate and permanent termination of military operations on all fronts, including in Lebanon.”
“We expect Hezbollah is not going to be firing rockets and firing drones at the Israelis, and we also expect that the Israelis are not going to be going wild in Lebanon, right? Both sides have to honor their end of the deal,” Vance said at the White House on Thursday.
Yet Israel did not sign the aforementioned “deal.”
Israeli Ambassador to the U.S. Yechiel Leiter said it’s “unnecessary” for Lebanon to have been included in an agreement between the U.S. and Iran, pouring cold water on the idea that Israel would cease its offensive against Hezbollah and occupation of southern Lebanon — even if Iran says that’s a dealbreaker for negotiations.
“This is something that we simply can’t live with,” Leiter told NPR on Tuesday. “We can’t have jihadi terrorists on our border. … We’re not going to withdraw from South Lebanon, and the mad men of Tehran have no business poking their nose into Lebanon.”
A U.S. official confirmed that U.S.-brokered peace talks between Israel and Lebanon will continue as planned next week at the State Department. Whether the Lebanon provision holds will depend on Iran keeping Hezbollah in check and Trump keeping Netanyahu in line.
Iran’s reconstruction
The MOU promises that within 60 days, the U.S. would work “with regional partners” to develop a plan guaranteeing at least $300 billion for Iran’s “reconstruction and economic development.”
Trump has insisted that there “is no 300 Billion Dollar payment to Iran by the U.S.” using taxpayer money. That may technically be true, but the U.S. has still committed to delivering that sum in the form of investment. That means convincing private corporations and Gulf allies — many of which are dealing with economic disruption and rebuilding costs after facing strikes from Iran — to invest in a country the Trump administration is still threatening to attack again if Iran reneges on its end of the deal.
Vance said there is a “great desire from the Arab world and from outside the Arab world to actually get involved in Iran if they behave properly.” Pressed by MS NOW whether private money would be included, Vance said he assumes countries like the United Arab Emirates would be part of the picture.
But Gulf leaders expressed concern to MS NOW about the agreement’s financial provisions that could strengthen Iran economically at a time when many Gulf states believe pressure should have been maintained.
Iran’s highly enriched uranium and nuclear program
For the duration of negotiations, Iran will “maintain the current status quo of its nuclear program,” per the MOU. What happens after that is the central outstanding question — the one that led to war in the first place.
The MOU provides no consensus on what to do with Iran’s existing stockpile of enriched uranium, only an agreement to “resolve” the matter. It doesn’t distinguish between the roughly 900 pounds of highly enriched uranium — material close to bomb-grade — and the 11 tons enriched to various levels above the 3.67% threshold set by the JCPOA, which Trump withdrew from during his first term.
A senior U.S. official said downblending the stockpile would be the minimum standard, with Washington pushing for “more than that” during negotiations. Vance alluded to “gentlemen’s agreements,” noting that Iran has “promised that they would allow inspectors in to destroy that highly enriched stockpile, and then, of course, it’s not usable anymore, you take it somewhere else.” Iran has not formally agreed to anything beyond a general promise to resolve the issue.
Whether Iran will be permitted to enrich in the future, and to what extent, remains an open question. The MOU commits the two countries to discussing “the issue of enrichment and other mutually agreed matters,” promising a “satisfactory framework” related to Iran’s “nuclear needs” in a final deal.
Notably, the U.S. has already backed down from one of its previous red lines, dropping Trump’s earlier demand for zero enrichment forever in favor of allowing Iran to maintain a civilian nuclear program.
“We’re not bothered at all by the idea of civilian power plants in Iran,” a senior U.S. official said. “What we’re bothered by is the type of infrastructure that would allow them to jump from civilian power generation to nuclear weapons development. … We feel quite confident that if they meet their obligations under this agreement, they’re not going to have that infrastructure to build a nuclear weapon.”
A senior administration official insisted Iran has committed to dismantling its nuclear weapons program, including its nuclear site, noting that the countries would “figure out how to do that in the technical negotiations that will follow.” But abandoning its nuclear program will be a tough domestic sell for the Islamic Republic to make.
Inspections and implementation
Trump has repeatedly hammered the Obama-era JCPOA for not having a strong enough verification and inspections system. But his own MOU offers little clarity on what will replace it, only a vague commitment that “an executive mechanism will be established to monitor the successful implementation of this MOU and the future compliance of the final deal.”
Given that Iran blocked IAEA inspectors from accessing its nuclear facilities under the JCPOA, a stronger inspection system represents perhaps the most important potential U.S. win in final deal talks — if Washington can secure one.
“If we feel comfortable with the inspection and enforcement regime, that is when they will get some of the benefits of negotiation,” a senior administration official told reporters last week, without providing specifics of what that verification regime would entail nor confirming the role of the UN or IAEA.
Miller, the former State Department negotiator, compared the MOU to Trump’s 20-point Gaza plan — a document that pushed the conflict out of the headlines but left unsolved problems on the humanitarian, disarmament and reconstruction fronts.
“I see very little chance, without significant flexibility on the part of both sides, that 60 days is going to be enough” to bridge the “Grand Canyon-like gaps that separate Tehran and Washington,” Miller said.
And though the MOU’s 60-day deadline allows for extension “with mutual consent,” Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said the military is “prepared to restart if we need to” if Iran does not show progress in complying with U.S. demands.
Trump, speaking at the G7, was blunter still.
“If it doesn’t get done in 60 days, that’s all right,” Trump said. “We go back to bombing.”
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