Live updates: Follow the latest news on US-Iran war
US President Donald Trump has repeated threats to lay waste to Iran's energy infrastructure and possibly its desalination plants, unless Tehran makes a deal quickly. His Treasury Secretary also said the US would “retake control” of the Strait of Hormuz.
In a post on Truth Social, Mr Trump said “great progress” had been made towards an agreement with Tehran. But he said the US would increase its military operations if a deal was not reached soon and the strait reopened to ships.
“We will conclude our lovely 'stay' in Iran by blowing up and completely obliterating all of their electric generating plants, oil wells and Kharg Island (and possibly all desalinisation plants),” he wrote in the post.
The targeting of a desalination plant could constitute a war crime if the water it supplied was for civilian use.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt on Monday said Mr Trump has had the idea of asking Arab countries to pay for a large portion of the war against Iran.
A reporter asked Ms Leavitt if Mr Trump wanted Arab countries to foot most of the bill, as was the case in the first Gulf War.
“I think it’s something the President would be quite interested in calling them to do. I won’t get ahead of him on that, but certainly it’s an idea that I know that he has, and something I think we’ll hear more from [him on],” she told reporters.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, meanwhile, told Fox News the US is “going to retake control” of Hormuz. He said the US wanted to ensure safe navigation “through US escorts or a multinational escort”. Thousands of Marines and other US troops are in the region or heading that way, with the prospect growing of operations on Iranian soil.
The UAE has signalled it is open to joining a future US-led multinational effort to ensure safety and security in the in the strait.
Mr Trump has made a series of conflicting remarks since the beginning of the war, calling for de-escalation and talks, while also pressing ahead with military threats. Iran has played down the state of negotiations, doubling down on its own threats to the US.
Ms Leavitt said US-Iran talks were making good progress. “Despite all of the public posturing you hear from the regime and false reporting, talks are continuing and going well,” she told reporters.
She added that Operation Epic Fury was proceeding “according to plan” and the US had struck 11,000 targets since the war started on February 28.
Pakistani mediation
Pakistan is acting as an intermediary between Tehran and Washington. It said it was preparing to host “meaningful talks” between the warring parties in the coming days aimed at ending the month-long conflict.
Regional discussions were already under way with two-day talks led by Pakistani Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar alongside the foreign ministers of Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Turkey, aimed at de-escalation.
Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said he discussed the conflict in a phone call with European Council President Antonio Costa.
Mr Sharif said in a post on X that they were in agreement that dialogue and diplomacy must prevail to restore regional peace and stability. Mr Sharif added that he briefed Mr Costa on Pakistan’s mediation efforts.
'Take the oil'
Tehran has accused Washington of plotting a ground attack despite pushing for a deal in public and warned it would be ready to respond if US soldiers invaded.
The US and Israel have twice launched attacks on Iran during negotiations. In June last year, a 12-day war began, derailing US-Iran nuclear talks at the time. On February 28, the war began despite negotiations between the countries.
Mr Trump told the Financial Times on Sunday that he wanted to “take the oil” in Iran. “To be honest with you, my favourite thing is to take the oil in Iran but some stupid people back in the US say: ‘Why are you doing that?’ But they’re stupid people,” he said.
Taking Iran’s oil would involve invading and holding Kharg Island, which also houses an Iranian naval base.
Mr Trump has claimed regime change had been achieved through strikes that removed senior Iranian figures. While US-Israeli attacks have killed former supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and other senior officials, the Tehran regime remains in place, with most positions already filled.
“The one regime was decimated, destroyed, they’re all dead,” Mr Trump said. “The next regime is mostly dead and the third regime – we’re dealing with different people than anybody’s dealt with before … and frankly, they’ve been very reasonable.”
But analysts have warned that hardliners are coming to the forefront, raising concerns over who the US could still talk to from the Iranian government. Iran continues to face strikes from the US and Israel, which have vowed to destroy Tehran's nuclear and military capabilities.
The war has spread across the Middle East, killing thousands and causing the biggest disruption to energy supplies in history, damaging the global economy. Iran has attacked Gulf states and neighbouring countries, hitting civilian infrastructure despite claiming to be targeting US bases in the region.
An Indian worker was killed at a power and water desalination plant in Kuwait that was damaged in the attack. Iran has intensified strikes on Gulf states – despite international condemnation – targeting infrastructure including airports, oil and desalination plants across the region.
Yemen's Iran-backed Houthi rebels joined the conflict on Saturday, launching attacks on Israel and raising the prospect they could target and block a second key shipping route, the Bab Al Mandeb, a gateway to the Red Sea.
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El Sisi on Monday called on Mr Trump to help in efforts to end the war, warning of the effects being felt on the economy.
“The world is facing a pair of shocks in the energy sector: shortage of supply and high prices,” said Mr El Sisi, whose country has had to take a host of unpopular measures to absorb the effects of higher energy prices. This month, the government increased petrol and gas prices by up to 30 per cent, a move that increased food and transport prices.
