Tehran vows response to Trump’s Hormuz threats

The World Health Organization (WHO) on Sunday warned that strikes around nuclear sites in Iran and Israel had pushed the Middle East war to a “perilous stage.” 

“I urgently call on all parties to exercise maximum military restraint and avoid any actions that could trigger nuclear incidents,” WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus posted on X. 

Tedros added that the International Atomic Energy Agency was looking into the strikes” on the Natanz nuclear enrichment facility in Iran and the southern Israeli city of Dimona, which houses a nuclear facility.

“No indications of abnormal or increased off-site radiation levels have been reported,” he said. 

Pope Leo on Sunday said that the pain, death and suffering caused by the war in the Middle East were a “scandal ‌to ⁠the ⁠entire human family.”

“We cannot remain silent in the face of ​the suffering of so many people, the defenceless victims of these ⁠conflicts. ​What hurts them hurts ​the whole of humanity,” Leo said ​at his weekly Angelus ‌prayer in St. Peter’s Square.

The first US ​pope ‌expressed his deep concern at the ongoing conflict in the ‌Middle East and in other ‌regions “​torn apart by war and violence.”

He also urged everyone to “persevere in prayer, so that ⁠hostilities ​may cease and the way may finally be paved for peace.”

Over 2,000 people have been killed during the war that the US and Israel launched on February 28.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday said Israel would target senior commanders of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards “personally” as he inspected the damage from a missile strike in the southern city of Arad.

“We’re going after the regime. We’re going after the IRGC, this criminal gang,” said Netanyahu.

“We’re going after them personally, their leaders, their installations, their economic assets. We’re going after them personally,” he added.

Iranian missiles struck the desert cities of Arad and Dimona in southern Israel late Saturday, injuring more than 100 people.

Netanyahu added that Israel is on its way to achieving two clear goals: One is breaking their nuclear and missile programs, and the other is “creating conditions for the Iranian people to overthrow this tyranny.”

Qatarsaid on Sunday that six people were killed in a helicopter crash in Qatar’s territorial waters.

The Interior Ministry said operations continue ​to ‌find the last ‌missing person from the clash. It didn’t say the nationality of the dead or say whether they were civilian or military.

Qatar’s Defence Ministry later stated that the dead included two Turkish personnel from Turkish defence ‌firm ⁠Aselsan and one Turkish soldier.

Earlier, it had posted on X that the helicopter “had a technical malfunction during a routine duty.”

While several strikes have hit Qatar since the start of the war in the Middle East, the helicopter clash has not been linked to the conflict triggered by US-Israeli attacks on Iran.

Images from the scene showed people in the southern cities of Dimona and Arad inspecting damaged residential buildings following Iranian missile strikes on Saturday evening.

The Strait of Hormuz remains open to all shipping except vessels linked to “Iran’s enemies,” said Iran’s representative to the ‌UN ⁠maritime agency, the semi-official Mehr ​news agency reported on ​Sunday.

Ali Mousavi said Tehran was prepared to ​cooperate with the International Maritime Organization to improve maritime safety and protect seafarers in the ⁠Gulf.

His comments came from an interview published by the Chinese news agency Xinhua on Friday, before US President Donald Trump threatened to “obliterate” Iranian power plants ​if the waterway was not “fully open” before a 48-​hour deadline.

Mousavi said that ships can pass through the strait as long as they coordinate safety and security arrangements with Tehran.

“Diplomacy remains Iran’s priority. However, a complete cessation of aggression ​as well ⁠as mutual trust and confidence are more important,” Mousavi ⁠said.

He added ​that Israeli and US attacks against Iran were at the “root of the current situation in the Strait of Hormuz.”

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The Saudi Ministry of Defense said on Sunday that it had detected three ballistic missiles around the capital, Riyadh.

“One missile was intercepted, while the other two fell in an uninhabited area,” a ministry spokesperson said on social media.

It did not say what the origin of the missiles was, but Iran has targeted the kingdom before as part of its retaliation against the US and Israeli strikes.

The Saudi Defense Ministry also said that five drones had been detected since midnight.

The Israeli military said early on Sunday that it had launched another wave of strikes against the Iranian capital.

In a statement, it said forces were “currently conducting strikes on Iranian terror regime targets in the heart of Tehran.”

The announcement came just hours after Iranian missiles hit two Israeli towns close to the country’s main nuclear research facility, injuring scores of people.

US President Donald Trump has shown his increasing frustration over Iran’s blocking of the Strait of Hormuz, threatening on Saturday to “obliterate” Iran’s power plants unless it reopens the strategic waterway within 48 hours.

Here’s what he said:

“If Iran doesn’t FULLY OPEN, WITHOUT THREAT, the Strait of Hormuz, within 48 HOURS from this exact point in time, the United States of America will hit and obliterate their various POWER PLANTS, STARTING WITH THE BIGGEST ONE FIRST!” the US president wrote on his Truth Social platform.

Iran has threatened to attack any ships that pass through the Strait as part of its retaliation against the ongoing US-Israeli military operation, effectively halting most maritime traffic.

Around a fifth of the world’s oil would normally pass through the Strait.

Trump’s threat comes a day after he told reporters at the White House that he was considering “winding down” the military operation against Iran.

Iran has said that it will target US energy and desalination infrastructure if its own energy facilities are hit.

The warning comes in response to US President Donald Trump’s threat on Saturday to hit Iran’s power plants if the Strait of Hormuz is not opened.

Maritime traffic through the strategic waterway has largely ground to a halt due to Iran’s threat of attacks on tankers in response to the joint US-Israeli operation.

“Following previous warnings, if Iran’s fuel and energy infrastructure is violated by the enemy, all energy, information technology and desalination infrastructure belonging to the US and the regime in the region will be targeted,” the Iranian military’s operational command Khatam Al-Anbiya said in a statement carried by Fars news agency.

Desalination plants are key infrastructure for the countries in the Gulf that have been targeted by Iranian attacks so far. They provide vital fresh water for human consumption as well as agricultural and industrial use.

Welcome to our coverage of the US-Israel war against Iran this Sunday.

There have been mixed messages from US President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

After Trump said he was “winding down” the war, Israel said it was ramping up attacks on Iran.

Then, later on Saturday, Trump threatened to strike Iran’s power plants if it failed to open up the Strait of Hormuz in 48 hours.

Stay with us as we bring you the latest developments from the war, now three weeks in.