Trump says he doesn't know if he's winding down or escalating war with Iran

Trump threatened to jail journalists at the media outlet that first reported a second airman was missing after an American fighter jet was shot down in Iran.

American forces recovered both the pilot and the “back seater” in what Trump, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Dan Caine described as separate, daring operations at a White House news conference today.

The pilot was recovered within several hours, while the second airman was stranded in Iranian territory until early Sunday, when U.S. forces landed and rescued him.

Trump said he would pursue whoever leaked information about the second airman — which the U.S. government had hoped to keep order to prevent Iran from capturing or killing him — and pressure the news media to assist in that investigation.

“We think we’ll be able to find it out,” Trump said. “Because we’re going to go to the media company that released it, and we’re going to say: ‘National security. Give it up or go to jail.’”

Read the full story here.

Israeli strikes killed three paramedics in southern Lebanon in less than 12 hours, according to the Lebanese Public Health Ministry.

Last night, two paramedics from the Islamic Health Authority were killed in Haris in southern Lebanon. A third was seriously wounded, the ministry said.

Later, a paramedic from the Al-Risala Association was killed in Tyre while helping extract survivors and victims from a previous airstrike, the ministry said. Two other paramedics were wounded, and an ambulance was damaged.

Video shows large fires and thick smoke rising today from the South Pars Petrochemical Complex in Asaluyeh, a coastal industrial city in Bushehr province in southern Iran. Video verified by NBC News shows heavy smoke filling the sky as people record from a distance.

“There is white and green smoke and the smell of sulfur and ammonia. It has become hard for me to breathe now. I don’t know what it is,” an onlooker said. 

Israel’s defense minister, Israel Katz, said the plant was a central target responsible for about 50% of Iran’s petrochemical production.

Several explosions were heard at the complex, according to the Iranian state-aligned Fars news agency. Another state-aligned outlet, Tasnim, said the Mobin and Damavand companies, which supply electricity, water and oxygen to petrochemical plants in Asaluyeh, were also hit, leaving power to facilities in the area offline.

South Pars, the world’s largest gas field, is beneath the Persian Gulf.

Iranian Foreign Affairs Ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghaei raised the possibility that the U.S. operation to rescue an American pilot could have been a bid to steal uranium from the country.

The pilot was in Iran after his jet crashed Friday.

Baghaei said that the pilot was in Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad province but the the American aircraft tasked with the rescue mission landed in southern Isfahan, "far from that point."

"The possibility that this may have been a deception operation to steal enriched uranium should by no means be ignored," he said.

The U.S. and Iran appear far apart in diplomatic efforts aimed at ending the war, just more than 24 hours from Trump’s deadline for the government in Tehran to either agree to a deal or face a bombardment of attacks on its country’s infrastructure.

“We’re giving them till tomorrow, 8 o’clock Eastern time, and after that, they’re going to have no bridges,” Trump said at a news conference at the White House today. “They’re going to have no power plants.”

A woman walks among buildings destroyed by a U.S.-Israeli attack, in Tehran, on Monday. Majid Saeedi / Getty Images

Trump vowed to bomb Iran to the “stone ages” if no deal that includes reopening the Strait of Hormuz is reached by tomorrow night. Without clarifying which proposal he was referring to, he described a latest offer from Iran as “a significant proposal” but added that “it’s not good enough.”

Iran has been demanding a permanent end to the war despite Trump’s latest ultimatum. It has publicly rejected proposals for a temporary ceasefire that have been shared through intermediaries.

Read the full story here.

Trump ⁠has again hit out at NATO and other long-standing American allies for not helping with the war on Iran.

At a news conference today about the rescue of an F-15E crew member whose jet was shot down in Iran, he also reiterated his displeasure with the defense alliance over Greenland.

Calling NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte "a great person," he added: "We want Greenland. They don't want to give it to us. And I said bye-bye."

Rutte is due to visit Trump on Wednesday. U.S.-NATO ties were strained close to the breaking point last year when Trump demanded that Denmark, a fellow member, hand over the resource-rich, self-governing island.

Four Iranian officers were killed during the U.S. operation to rescue a pilot from Iran, according to the semiofficial news agency Fars.

The officers reportedly engaged with the U.S. fighter jets and helicopters used in the mission, Fars reported.

The price of U.S. crude oil rose as high as $114 per barrel during Trump's news conference today about the war with Iran. The jump has eased since the event ended, but U.S. oil prices continue to trade around $112, up from $110 earlier.

Brent, the international oil benchmark, rose as high as $111 per barrel during the event, but it has since receded to $109.

For the day, both are trading only slightly higher. Since the year began, the price of U.S. crude oil has surged 95%, while Brent has soared 80%.

Asked whether he was winding down the war with Iran or escalating it, Trump declined to say.

“I can’t tell you,” he said. “I can’t tell you. I don’t know.”

“It depends what they do,” he added.

Trump said he extended the deadline to tomorrow rather than have it expire today because he “thought it was inappropriate the day after Easter.”

“They have till tomorrow,” Trump said. “Now we’ll see what happens. I can tell you, they’re negotiating, we think in good faith, we’re going to find out. We’re getting the help of some incredible countries that want this to be ended, because it affects them also.”

An Israeli strike in a residential neighborhood of Beirut killed five people and wounded 52, Lebanon's Public Health Ministry said.

Among those killed today were a 15-year-old girl and two Sudanese nationals, the ministry said in a statement. Eight children were wounded, it added.

The ministry also reported a raid on a vehicle in Toul in southern Lebanon's Nabatieh district, which killed a mother and father and wounded their children, ages 9 and 15.

"Assassination and crime" won't disrupt the Iranian armed forces as they fight the U.S. and Israel, said Iran’s new supreme leader, Mojtaba Khamenei.

In a statement issued today expressing condolences to the family of Iranian Intelligence Chief Seyyed Majid Khademi, who was killed in an overnight attack, Khamenei said the incidents won't deter the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.

Khamenei has stayed out of the public eye since the assassinations of his father, Ali Khamenei, and other family members at the start of the war. He was named as his father's replacement after his father's death.

A reporter has asked Trump whether threatening to hit Iran’s infrastructure and cut off its power would punish the people for the actions of the regime.

“They would be willing to suffer that for their freedom,” Trump said, adding that Iranians want the U.S. strikes to continue and that Iranians “want freedom.”

“They have lived in a world that you know nothing about,” he said. “It’s a violent, horrible world, where if you protest, you are shot.”

Trump said someone leaked information about the rescue of the first service member in Iran before the second one had been brought to safety, adding, “We’re looking very hard to find that leaker.”

Trump said Iran did not know that a second service member was missing until the leaker shared information.

'Give it up or go to jail': Trump threatens punishment over F-15 story leak

02:08

“All of a sudden, they know that there’s somebody out there,” he said of the Iranians. “They see all these planes coming in. It became a much more difficult operation because a leaker leaked that we have one, we’ve rescued one, but there’s another one out there that we’re trying to get.”

“So actually, the country Iran, put out a major notice — you all saw it — offering a very big award for anybody that captures the pilot,” Trump said. “So in addition to a hostile, very talented, very good, very evil military, we had millions of people trying to get an award, so when you add that to it, but we have to find that leaker, because that’s a sick person.”

Attacks on Israel have intensified, with Yemen's Houthis targeting the south of the country and announcing their participation alongside Iran and Lebanon's Hezbollah.

There have been more strikes and attempted strikes on central and northern Israel, causing a lot of damage.

The north especially has been affected by what locals have described locals as nonstop barrages, especially since Hezbollah joined the war.

There have been growing public discourse and criticism in Israel surrounding a lack of media coverage when the north is attacked as opposed to central Israel.

The price of U.S. crude oil jumped from $112 a barrel to about $114 per shortly after Trump began his news conference. The price of international Brent crude also rose, although less so.

The Dow, Nasdaq and S&P 500 stock indexes also gave up their gains and turned lower for the day.

In his initial remarks at the White House news conference, Trump threatened to take out the “entire country” of Iran.

“The entire country can be taken out in one night, and that night might be tomorrow night,” Trump said.

He has given 8 p.m. ET tomorrow as the deadline for Iran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, a major shipping route for oil, or suffer the widespread destruction of its infrastructure.

Trump has begun his press conference. He is starting his remarks by discussing the rescue missions for the two U.S. service members in the F-15 fighter jet that was shot down in Iran.

“This is a rescue that is very historic,” he said.

Iran rejected America's proposal for a temporary ceasefire and emphasized the need for a permanent end to the war, according to state news agency IRNA.

Iran sent its response through Pakistan, outlining demands including an end to conflicts in the region, creating a safe passage protocol for the Strait of Hormuz and lifting sanctions, according to the outlet.

Earlier, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei said, "Negotiation is in no way compatible with ultimatum, crime, or the threat to commit war crimes," according to semi-official news agency Fars.

Trump says the U.S. tried to send guns to Iranian protesters to fight against the government.

“They don’t have guns,” Trump said of the Iranian people, after asserting that civilians were not protesting the government out of fear of being killed.

“We sent some guns, but the group that was supposed to give — which I said would happen, to my people, I said it, I called it exactly,” he said. “We sent guns, lot of guns. They were supposed to go to the people so they could fight back against these thugs.”

“You know what happened?” he said. “The people that they sent them to kept them, because they said, ‘What a beautiful gun, I think I’ll keep it.’ So I’m very upset with a certain group of people, and they’re going to pay a big price for that.”

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Donald Trump spoke earlier today, according to the prime minister.

In an X post, Netanyahu said that he congratulated Trump on his rescue of the American pilot from Iran after the U.S. fighter jet he was in was downed.

"I am deeply proud that our cooperation on an off the battlefield is unprecedented, and that Israel could contribute to saving a brave American warrior," Netanyahu wrote.

Israeli air forces carrying out a strike on Tehran killed the commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps' undercover expeditionary unit, the Israel Defense Forces said today.

Asghar Bagheri, the slain commander, had led the Quds Force's Special Operations Unit since 2019, the IDF said in a statement announcing his killing.

Bagheri held a series of senior positions within the Quds Force and was involved in attacks targeting Israelis and Americans around the world, the IDF said. He also planned attacks inside Israel, Syria and Lebanon, the IDF added.

International Atomic Energy Agency Director-General Rafael Grossi warned that strikes near Iran’s Bushehr Nuclear Power Plant "could cause a severe radiological accident with harmful consequences for people and the environment in Iran and beyond."

The IAEA said that there were strikes near the operating plant, including one about 250 feet away, according to their analysis of new satellite imagery.

Grossi urged that attacks near Bushehr, which has large amounts of nuclear fuel, stop as they pose "a very real danger."

"A nuclear facility and surrounding areas should never be struck," Grossi said.

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'

01:00

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.

Buildings destroyed in a U.S.-Israeli strike in Tehran today. Majid Saeedi / Getty Images

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

03:36

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. 

03:36

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.