US-Israel-Iran War News LIVE: Iran Threatens to Retaliate to Trump's Threat, Israel Launches new wave of Attack

As U.S. President Donald Trump’s deadline on opening the Strait of Hormuz approaches, Iran on Monday threatened to attack Mideast electrical plants powering American military bases.

The statement from Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard marks the latest attempt by Tehran to try and explain its attacks on the Gulf Arab countries.

Iranian state television read out the statement on air Monday morning.

“What we have done is to announce our decision that if the power plants are attacked, Iran will retaliate by targeting the power plants of the occupying regime and the power plants of regional countries that supply electricity to US bases, as well as the economic, industrial and energy infrastructures in which Americans have shares,” the statement said, referring to Israel as an “occupying regime.”

It added: “Do not doubt that we will do this.”

Trump warned early Sunday morning that the U.S. will target Iranian power plants in 48 hours if the strait remains effectively closed by Iranian fire on shipping.

AP

The US military has confirmed that it has targeted a turbine engine production site in north-central Iran’s Qom province used for drone and aircraft components linked to the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC).

In a post on X, CENTCOM shared visuals and also said “the Qom Turbine Engine Production Plant produced gas turbine engines for attack drones and aircraft components used by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps”.

Following the US issuing a 30-day waiver lifting sanctions to ease global supply crunch, China’s state refiners are exploring a deal with Iran to purchase its oil, as reported by Bloomberg.

It was also reported that representatives of the National Iranian Oil Co and traders who act as intermediaries have also been exploring other potential buyers among other Asian refiners.

Even prior to the war and US actions, China has been the main buyer of Iran’s oil, buying more than 80 percent of the total supply shipped.

As airstrikes hit Iran’s capital early Monday, the Israeli military said it had “begun a wide-scale wave of strikes targeting Iranian terror regime infrastructure.”

It did not immediately elaborate

As the 48 hours US gave Iran to open the strait of Hormuz dwindle, U.S. President Donald Trump wrote on his Truth Social website early Monday: “PEACE THROUGH STRENGTH, TO PUT IT MILDLY!!!”

The head of the U.S. military’s Central Command says Iran is “operating in a sign of desperation” by targeting civilian sites in the war.

In an interview with the Farsi-language satellite network Iran International aired early Monday, U.S. Navy Adm. Brad Cooper said: “They’re operating in a sign of desperation. ... In the last couple of weeks, they’ve attacked civilian targets very deliberately, more than 300 times,” Cooper said.

Cooper also noted the slowdown in Iranian incoming fire across the Mideast as the war has entered its fourth week.

“At the beginning of the conflict, you saw large volumes in the dozens of drones and missiles,” Cooper said.

“You no longer see that. It’s all one or two at a time.”

The top commander of the U.S. military’s Central Command said the campaign against Iran is “ahead or on plan” in the war.

U.S. Navy Adm. Brad Cooper, in an interview to the Farsi-language satellite network Iran International aired early Monday, said Iran’s continued attacks on Gulf Arab states and the wider Mideast put civilians at risk.

“They could stop this war right now, absolutely, if they chose to do so,” he said of Iran.

“They need to stop putting the wonderful Iranian people at risk by firing missiles and drones from inside populated areas. ... They need to stop immediately attacking civilians throughout the Middle East region.”

He added that the U.S. and Israel were targeting missile and drone manufacturing sites as well.

“We’re also going after the manufacturing,” he said. “So it’s not just about the threat today. We’re eliminating the threat of the future, both in terms of the drones, the missiles, as well as the navy.”

AP