Two Iranian nuclear sites were attacked by US-Israeli raids yesterday. This happened as the US’s top diplomat departed a conference with his G7 peers to say that Washington expected the military campaign to be successful in a few weeks.
Iran vowed to attack industrial installations in the area, and there is still no apparent end to the crisis. The oil and stock markets are still in disarray because of the fighting, which included the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, according to AFP.
Rubio told reporters in Paris following G7 negotiations, “When we’re done with them here in the next couple weeks, they will be weaker than they have been in a long time.”
Rubio also said that his G7 partners had backed him in opposing Iran’s attempts to charge ships that traverse the Strait of Hormuz, which is an important maritime channel for oil and gas imports from the Gulf.
Rubio stated, “This is not only illegal, it’s unacceptable, it’s dangerous to the world, and it’s important that the world have a plan to deal with it.”
The G7 foreign ministers said in a joint statement that “it is absolutely necessary to permanently restore safe and toll-free freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz” and that “attacks against civilians and civilian infrastructure must stop immediately.”
Rubio added that Iran had given “messages” to the US side but had not replied to a peace proposal that the US had suggested.
– “Heavy price” –
Iranian news sources alleged that the US and Israel attacked the Khondab heavy water complex in central Iran, citing a local official. The country’s atomic energy agency also said that a uranium processing plant in Ardakan, which is 600 kilometers away, was targeted.
The Israeli army claims it hit the two sites, but Iranian authorities said that no radioactive material was released at either facility.
Two steel facilities were also hit: Khuzestan in the southwest and Mobarakeh in the center of the country. This led to vows of revenge.
Tehran’s foreign minister Abbas Araghchi tweeted on X that Iran “will exact (a) HEAVY price for Israeli crimes.” He also said that the strike “contradicts (Donald Trump’s) extended deadline for diplomacy.”
Trump has said that the Islamic Republic wants to “make a deal” and has pushed back the deadline for Tehran to open the Strait of Hormuz or lose its energy assets from Friday to April 6.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, on the other hand, said they would attack industrial locations in the area in response to the attacks.
The Guards told citizens who worked in those plants to “leave their workplaces immediately.” They had already told people who lived near American military posts and hotels where US servicemen were staying to do the same.
– “Losing hope” –
Iran has reportedly responded to a 15-point US offer with its own demands, such as compensation for war and recognition of its control over Hormuz.
Ali Vaez, an expert on Iran at the Crisis Group, said on X that “the US, Israel, and Iran all think they are winning the war.”
He went on to say, “If all three think their plan is working, each also thinks it has more cards up its sleeve.” This makes each side want to get more out of the negotiations.
Rubio stated yesterday that weaponry meant to help Ukraine defend itself against a Russian invasion may be used to fight Iran instead.
Ensieh, who lives in Tehran, claimed that every day she was “losing more hope” as violence broke out in the area four weeks after the US and Israel initially attacked Iran on February 28.
“We’re stuck between three crazy powers, and war is scary,” the 46-year-old dentist said to our reporter outside of Iran. “I know I’ll never be the same again.”
A high-ranking official in Tehran indicated that at least 120 museums and other cultural and historical institutions around the country have been destroyed by US and Israeli attacks over the past month.
Iranian attacks on commerce and energy targets in the Gulf have thrown global markets into chaos. Kuwait said Friday that its main commercial port was destroyed in a drone attack at daybreak.
Iran’s Vice President Esmael Saghab Esfahani said on X that if there was a land invasion, Iran would strike Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea port of Yanbu, where the Samref oil refinery is located, and the Fujairah oil complex on the coast of the United Arab Emirates.
Iran’s message on Hormuz was just as uncompromising. The Guards said that the strait was “closed” to ships going to and from enemy ports and that they had turned back three ships that were trying to cross.
Even when Trump pushed back his ultimatum for the second time, oil prices went up by more than four percent yesterday.
– “Heavy price” –
The Tasnim news agency stated that Tehran also wanted the US and Israel to stop attacking its territory and groups that are affiliated with it in the region, such Hezbollah in Lebanon.
Hezbollah’s rockets targeting Israel brought Lebanon into the battle.
Early Friday morning and again in the afternoon, explosions shook south Beirut, which is mostly empty. The authorities said two people died.
The UNHCR refugee agency’s local representative, Karolina Lindholm Billing, said that “the risk of a humanitarian catastrophe… is real.” She said that more than one million people have been forced to leave their homes because of a “deepening humanitarian crisis.”
Israel has not shown any signs of backing down. Defense Minister Israel Katz promised to “intensify and expand” airstrikes on Iran in reaction to missile attacks on Israel.
Even when opposition leader Yair Lapid said the military was “stretched to the limit and beyond,” the danger of escalation nevertheless arrived.
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