Live updates: Iran war ceasefire for 45 days 'being discussed,' official says, ahead of Trump's Hormuz deadline

Asked by a reporter at the Easter Egg Roll whether tomorrow at 8 p.m. ET was his final deadline for Iran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, Trump said “yeah.”

Trump said that Iran has “made a proposal and it’s a significant proposal,” adding that this was a “significant step” but “not good enough.”

Asked what he would say to Americans who do not like the war with Iran, Trump said, “They’re foolish because the war’s about one thing: Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon.”

Polls indicate that most Americans do not approve of U.S. military action in Iran, but Republicans have been broadly supportive of Trump’s actions.

Trump says he would like Iran's oil but 'American people would like to see us come home'

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Speaking to reporters at the White House Easter Egg Roll, Trump said that if the choice were up to him, he would take the oil from Iran, adding that the American public doesn’t want the U.S. military to remain in the country.

“If I had my choice, what would I like to do? Take the oil, because it’s there for the taking. There’s not a thing they can do about it,” the president said. “Unfortunately, the American people would like to see us come home. If it were up to me, I take the oil, I keep the oil, I would make plenty of money, and I’d also take care of the people of Iran much better than they’ve been taken care of.”

Trump then referred to the oil that the U.S. is receiving from Venezuela after capturing its former leader, Nicolás Maduro, and his wife in January.

“Venezuela has worked out so incredibly,” Trump said. “We have 100 million barrels of oil right now in Houston being refined. It’s been great.”

The Israel Defense Forces said it conducted a "large-scale wave of strikes" on Tehran overnight, targeting what it said are dozens of Iranian air force aircraft and helicopters.

The attacks targeted Bahram, Mehrabad and Azmayesh airports, the IDF said.

European Council President António Costa issued a statement on X today to remind parties engaged in conflict that targeting civilian infrastructure, including energy facilities, "is illegal and unacceptable."

"This applies to Russia’s war in Ukraine and it applies everywhere," Costa wrote. "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."

Costa also said that only "a diplomatic solution" will settle the root causes of the ongoing war in the Middle East and urged Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian to stop attacking countries in the region and cease any restrictions on the Strait of Hormuz.

"Escalation will not achieve a ceasefire and peace," Costa wrote. "Only negotiations will, namely the ongoing efforts led by regional partners."

Iranian military forces struck a U.S. amphibious assault ship and helicopter carrier today, according to a state media report citing a statement from the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.

The attack forced the LHA7 ship to "retreat deep" into the southern Indian Ocean, the IRGC said, according to Iranian television network IRIB.

The U.S. has not publicly confirmed the attack or commented on the Iranian regime's claims.

U.S. and Israeli strikes across Iran and inside the capital, Tehran, have intensified during the last 24 hours, an NBC News producer on the ground reports.

U.S.-Israeli strikes have targeted a university and two petrochemical plants, according to state media, while Iran this morning announced the death of Maj. Gen. Seyed Majid Khademi.

More than 25 people, including at least six children, were killed overnight, local and state media reported.

Workers remove debris at Tehran's Sharif University of Technology complex after state media said it was hit early today in a U.S.-Israeli strike. Francisco Seco / AP

Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said earlier today that Israel had “carried out a powerful strike on the largest petrochemical facility in Iran, located in Asaluyeh, a central target responsible for about 50% of the country’s petrochemical production.”

Israel’s military and Mossad spy agency assisted in the U.S. rescue of an airman whose plane was downed by Iran, U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee said this morning.

Huckabeee said in a post on X that he had met with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to thank Israel "on behalf of American ppl for unprecedented assistance to US Military & Intel agencies who conducted a historic rescue mission of our air crew in Iran."

He said that U.S. special forces carried out a "brilliant op" and that the Israeli agencies "were helpful partners in the mission."

North Korea appears to be distancing itself from Iran by not supplying it with weapons and refraining from making supportive messages in public, South Korean lawmakers told reporters today after a meeting with the country's National Intelligence Service.

At the start of the war, the North Korean Foreign Ministry described the U.S. and Israeli attacks on Iran as an “illegal act of aggression” carried out under the pretext of “fake peace.”

Pyongyang and Tehran were among the few governments to support Russian President Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, and both have been accused of supplying Russia with military equipment.

The downing of the U.S. F-15E fighter jet and other aircraft "reminds us that although we have air superiority, that does not mean the skies are completely safe," retired Army Col. Steve Warren, an NBC News military analyst and former Pentagon spokesperson, said this morning on 'TODAY.'

“These are not friendly skies, there is still threat out there,” he said.

Inside the military's daring rescue of downed U.S. airman in Iran

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Of the airman rescued over the weekend, Warren said:

“He did not quit, he knew his comrades were gonna come and get him and he hung in there until the end.”

Pakistani Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar has called for “urgent de-escalation,” and his country has played a key role as mediator between Tehran and Washington, though talks have yet to yield any breakthrough.

A Pakistani Foreign Ministry statement said Dar “reaffirmed Pakistan’s commitment to supporting all initiatives aimed at de-escalation and the achievement of lasting peace and stability” in a phone call with his Japanese counterpart, Toshimitsu Motegi.

Motegi appreciated and supported Pakistan’s “constructive role” in facilitating dialogue and diplomacy for regional peace and stability, the ministry said, adding that the leaders agreed to maintain contact.

New details are emerging from the dramatic rescue of two American airmen in a remote corner of Southwest Iran after their F-15 fighter jet was shot down Friday.

The pilot was recovered within hours but according to Trump, the weapons officer was seriously injured and had to hide in a mountain crevice for more than 24 hours as Iranians searched the area with a $60,000 bounty on his head. 

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Israel has attacked Iran's South Pars petrochemical plant in Asluyeh, Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said today.

Katz said Israel had “just carried out a powerful strike on the largest petrochemical facility in Iran, located in Asaluyeh, a central target responsible for about 50% of the country’s petrochemical production.”

Katz made the announcement shortly after Iran's semiofficials Fars news agency reported the sound of several explosions from the plant.

An Israeli attack in March on the South Pars gas field sparked a major Iranian retaliation targeting oil and gas infrastructure across the Gulf Arab states. Trump then said Israel would not attack South Pars again.

South Pars is the world’s largest gas field and sits under the waters of the Persian Gulf.

Asked about reports of a potential 45-day ceasefire proposal for the Iran war, a senior White House official urged caution in reporting how definitive it was.

“It’s one of many things being discussed and POTUS has not signed off on the idea,” the official said.

President Trump is scheduled to speak at 1 p.m. ET at the White House.

The price of oil declined slightly this morning as traders assessed reports about a potential ceasefire proposal between the U.S. and Iran.

U.S. crude oil dropped 1% to around $110 per barrel and international Brent crude oil fell 0.5% to around $108.

Stock futures also traded higher on the news earlier but have given up those gains as of 7:20 a.m. ET, with the S&P 500 indicated to open higher by only 0.1%. The Dow was poised to drop about 50 points when the opening bell rings.

  Andrew Testa for NBC

Few places feel farther from the Iran war than the potato fields of eastern England, where pastoral landscapes and ancient forests have inspired romantic painters and poets for centuries.

But this bucolic scene is not immune from the shock waves triggered by the American-Israeli assault — and it’s a story being repeated across farms all over the world.

Though much attention has been devoted to the oil shock brought on by the conflict, there is another, perhaps equally alarming crisis emerging for the global population: a looming shortage of fertilizer, which could trigger widespread food shortages.

Read the full story here.

At least eight people were killed as Israel launched intense strikes overnight and this morning on Lebanon, according to the country’s Health Ministry.

An Israeli strike in the Al-Janah area south of Beirut killed five people, including a 15-year-old girl, the ministry said. 52 others were injured, including eight children, it said.

In a separate strike in the hills of Ain Saadeh, east of Beirut, three people were killed and three others wounded, according to the ministry.

Israel says it is targeting the Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah, but its aerial assault and ground invasion of southern Lebanon has killed more than 1,400 people and displaced more than 1 million, according to Lebanese authorities.

A man surveys the destruction today after an Israeli airstrike on Dahieh in Beirut's southern suburbs. Murat Sengul / Anadolu via Getty Images

The head of Iran's atomic energy agency has accused the United Nations nuclear watchdog of inaction, calling U.S.-Israeli attacks on the Bushehr Nuclear Power Plant a "blatant war crime."

In a letter to Rafael Grossi, Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency, Mohammad Eslami said ⁠Iran’s only functioning nuclear power plant had so far been ​targeted four times, ‌most recently on April 4, ‌killing a security staff member and injuring ​others.

He warned such attacks could lead to the widespread release of radioactive materials from an operational reactor that would have "irreparable consequences" for the public, the environment, and neighboring countries.

He went on to criticize the IAEA and Grossi for inaction in response to these attacks, stating that merely expressing “deep concern” without a strong condemnation of these aggressive actions is insufficient and may embolden the aggressors to repeat such attacks.

Rep. Yassamin Ansari, D-Ariz., has condemned the bombing of a university in Tehran.

“Shari University is Iran’s MIT,” Ansari wrote in a X post. “They’ve produced a huge number of engineers who’ve gone on to Silicon Valley and founded some of the most successful American tech companies.”

“Why are we bombing a university in a city of 10 million people?” Ansari asked.

A missile struck that struck a residential neighborhood in northern Israel last night has killed four people, Israel’s primary emergency service, Magen David Adom, said today.

“All four missing persons have been rescued (a man and woman in their 80s, a man around 40, and a woman around 35), all without signs of life,” it said. “MDA paramedics pronounced them all deceased.”

Israel’s Foreign Ministry said earlier today that the attacks had killed two, with a further two missing and four injured, including an infant. 

“The Iranian regime is deliberately targeting civilians, adding to its long record of war crimes and crimes against humanity,” it said in a post on X. 

Iran has targeted U.S. forces stationed on Kuwait's Bubiyan island, the spokesperson of Iran’s Khatam al-Anbiya ​Central ‌Headquarters said ⁠in a video statement shared ‌by state media today.

Ebrahim ⁠Zolfaqari said Iran had targeted satellite equipment and munitions on the island, the largest of Kuwait's coastal island chain, adding that U.S. forces had relocated there from Arofjan Camp on the mainland after repeated strikes by Iran.

There was no immediate comment from the Pentagon.

Any settlement of the U.S.-Iran war must guarantee access through the Strait of Hormuz, the diplomatic advisor to the president of the United Arab Emirates said in a weekend briefing.

Anwar Gargash said the strait, through which 20% of the world's oil passes, cannot be weaponized, and that its security should not be used as a bargaining chip.

Gargash added that any deal must deal with the root cause of instability in the region.

"We don’t want a ceasefire that fails to address some of the main ⁠issues that will create a much more dangerous environment in the region," he said, citing Iran's nuclear program and "the missiles and drones that are still raining down on us and on other countries.”

Iran has prepared its response to recent ceasefire proposals, according to Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei, who said negotiation is "in no way compatible with ultimatum, crime, or threats."

Trump has pushed his deadline for Iran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz back again to tomorrow night and signaled optimism a deal to halt the war could be reached before then.

Tehran has publicly dismissed previous U.S. proposals, and Baghaei said Iran had documented its own "set of demands."

"When America’s 15-point plan was presented, we responded that such proposals were both extremely greedy an unreasonable and in no way acceptable to us," he said. "We are not ashamed to loudly express our legitimate and reasonable demands."

Baghaei added that Iran had "prepared our response" to the latest proposals conveyed by intermediaries and will inform the public as to how they will be announced.

"In a situation where our enemy continues to increase its crimes and commits new crimes every day, all our focus and attention must be on defending the country," he said.

Two vessels loaded with liquefied natural gas (LNG) from Ras Laffan, Qatar, turned back after they moved eastward towards the Strait of Hormuz, ship-tracking data showed on Monday.

Had the vessels successfully crossed the strait, it would have been the first transit of LNG cargoes through the waterway since the U.S.-Israel war with Iran began on February 28.

Data from analytics firms Kpler and LSEG showed the vessels, Al Daayen and Rasheeda, loaded their cargoes in late February. The data also indicated that the Al Daayen tanker was signaling for China at the moment.

Additionally, Kpler data showed both tankers as controlled by QatarEnergy.

QatarEnergy did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.

Previously, a Japanese LNG tanker, the Sohar LNG, managed to cross the strait, its joint owner Mitsui O.S.K. Lines said on Friday. The tanker, however, was empty, and a company spokesperson declined to disclose when the passage took place or whether any negotiations were involved.

Images emerging from Tel Aviv today show damage across the Israeli city, following Iranian ballistic missile strikes early this morning.

Rockets are launched to intercept Iranian ballistic missiles fired towards Tel Aviv early this morning. Alexi Rosenfeld / Getty Images

An Iranian missile strike on a residential neighborhood caused a water main to burst with significant flooding today. Erik Marmor / Getty Images

People survey the damage following an Iranian missile strike on the Beit Ya’akov girls' high school in Tel Aviv today. Erik Marmor / Getty Images

Officials examine a car damaged by shrapnel from missiles that Iran launched on Tel Aviv today. Mostafa Alkharouf / Anadolu via Getty Images

Senior Iranian officials have accused the United States of threatening to carry out war crimes by targeting civilian infrastructure such as energy sites and transport links.

In a message on Truth Social yesterday, President Trump said "Tuesday will be Power Plant Day, and Bridge Day" if there is no agreement between Iran and the U.S.

Kazem Gharibabadi, Iran’s deputy foreign minister, said on X today that this would be contrary to the Geneva Conventions and that Trump's military strikes were also an act of aggression under the U.N. Charter.

"The President of the United States, in his capacity as the highest-ranking official of his country, has openly threatened to commit war crimes—an act that entails his individual criminal responsibility before the International Criminal Court and any competent national court," Gharibabadi wrote.

Iran itself has targeted and struck civilian infrastructure sites in neighboring Gulf states and Israel, including power plants and airports.

Iran’s foreign ministry said this morning the United States has “destroyed the path to diplomacy.”

“America’s terrorist actions in Iran have essentially removed diplomacy from their agenda,” foreign ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghaei said in a statement.

Baghaei added that Iran is focused on “defending” its core and is “obliged to perform its duty” regarding diplomacy, without providing further details.

His comments come as President Trump voiced optimism a deal to halt the conflict could be reached today.

More than 25 people, including at least six children, were killed overnight as the U.S. and Israel carried out an intense new wave of airstrikes on Iran, local and state media reported.

"Four girls and two boys under the age of 10 were martyred in these attacks," Iran's semiofficial Mehr news agency reported.

A strike near Eslamshar, southwest of Tehran, killed at least 13 people, the semiofficial Fars news agency reported. Five others were killed when a residential area in the holy city of Qom was hit, according to the state-run IRAN daily newspaper.

An NBC News freelance producer in Tehran reported more than 15 massive explosions across the city in the early hours of the morning, with houses shaking.

Matennah Sawanah, a 33-year-old from Sierra Leone, was earning about $300 a month working at a hotel in Sidon, a city on Lebanon’s Mediterranean coast. Now, with the hotel shuttered amid Israel’s bombing campaign, she is unemployed and sharing a cramped apartment with 24 other women, struggling to afford rent.

Matennah Sawanah.  Courtesy of Matennah Sawanah

Migrant workers like Sawanah have been caught in the crossfire as Israel carries out strikes against Hezbollah, the Iranian-backed militant group based in southern Lebanon. The conflict has upended daily life in the country, where more than 1,000 people have been killed and over 1 million displaced in recent weeks.

“There is no job for us. It’s really hard,” Sawanah told NBC News. “We don’t have money to pay rent.”

Across the Arab world, there are more than 24 million migrant workers, including many in Lebanon, according to the International Labor Organization. The widening war in the Middle East has severely disrupted their livelihoods, with some migrant workers also reported killed or injured in airstrikes.

Many are living with the fear that “a bomb could come at any time,” said Mustafa Qadri, founder and CEO of the labor rights group Equidem. He added that some migrant workers are unsure how to access bomb shelters.

Iran’s vice president has hit out at President Trump after a strike on a university in Tehran.

“An attack with bunker-buster bombs on Sharif University is a symbol of Trump’s madness and ignorance,” said Vice-President Mohammad Reza Aref, as reported by Iran’s semiofficial Fars news agency.

“He does not understand that Iran’s knowledge is not in concrete to be destroyed by bombs; the real bunker is the will of our professors and elites. No brutality in history has been able to take knowledge from Iranians. Knowledge has roots in our soul, and this bunker is not collapsible.”

Sharif University of Technology is considered Iran’s top engineering school.

The head of intelligence for Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, Maj. Gen. Majid Khademi, was killed in targeted attack, Iranian state media reported.

Israel subsequently said it killed Khademi. “The IRGC fires at civilians – and we eliminate the heads of the terrorists,” Defense Minister Israel Katz said. “Iran’s leaders are living in a state of persecution. We will continue to hunt them down one by one."

Khademi took over for Gen. Mohammad Kazemi, who Israel killed in the 12-day war in June.

Smoke was pictured rising from residential areas in eastern and western parts of Tehran this morning, following airstrikes carried out by the United States and Israel.

Dozens of people were reported killed across the country, according to state media.

Tolga Akbaba / Anadolu via Getty Images

A missile struck a residential neighborhood in northern Israel, killing two people and injuring four others, including an infant, according to the country’s foreign ministry.

The ministry said two people were still missing following the attack in Haifa.

“The Iranian regime is deliberately targeting civilians, adding to its long record of war crimes and crimes against humanity,” it said in a post on X. 

Iran’s armed forces have warned that retaliatory operations would be “far more severe and expansive” if the U.S. attacks civilian targets ahead of Trump's deadline, according to a statement carried by the country’s hard-line Student News Network.

“If attacks on civilian targets are repeated, the next phases of our offensive and retaliatory operations will be far more severe and extensive, and the resulting damage and losses will be multiplied,” a spokesman for the Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters said in the statement. 

The warning follows Trump’s latest threat of major strikes on Iran’s energy infrastructure and bridges if the Strait of Hormuz isn’t opened by tomorrow night.