Israel says it killed Revolutionary Guard intel chief, vows to hunt down Iran leaders ‘one by one’

Israel and the US have launched a wave of attacks on Iran, killing more than 25 people, and Iran has responded with rocket fire on Israel and its neighbors in Gulf Arabia.

US President Donald Trump’s deadline for Tehran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz loomed as mediators circulated a new ceasefire proposal on Monday.

Explosions rang out in Tehran and low-flying fighter jets could be heard for hours as the capital was bombed. Thick black smoke rose near the city’s Azadi Square after an airstrike hit the premises of Sharif University of Technology.

Among those killed in one of the attacks on Tehran was the head of the intelligence service of Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guards, Major General Majid Khademi, according to Iranian state media and Israel’s Defense Minister.

Iranian missiles hit the northern Israeli city of Haifa, where four people were found dead in the rubble of a residential building.

Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia all activated their air defenses to intercept incoming Iranian missiles and drones, as Tehran kept up the pressure on its Gulf neighbors. Iran’s regular attacks on regional energy infrastructure and its stranglehold on the Strait of Hormuz, through which a fifth of the world’s oil is shipped in peacetime, have sent global energy prices soaring.

Under pressure at home as consumers grow increasingly concerned, Trump gave Tehran a deadline ending Monday evening (Tuesday morning AEST). He said that if no deal was reached to reopen the strait, the US would hit Iran’s power plants and other infrastructure targets and take the country “back to the Stone Age.”

In an effort to stop the fighting, Egyptian, Pakistani and Turkish mediators have sent Iran and the U.S. a proposal calling for a 45-day ceasefire and the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz to give time to try to find a way to end the war, two Middle East officials told The Associated Press.

Iran and the US have not responded to the proposal, which was sent late on Sunday night (Monday AEST) to both Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and US Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff, the officials said. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the private negotiations.

Trump’s deadline to open the Strait of Hormuz approaches, but there are no signs of Tehran backing down

European Council President António Costa called for diplomacy to be given a chance, writing on X that “any attack on civilian infrastructure, namely energy facilities, is illegal and unacceptable.”

“Escalation will not bring a ceasefire and peace,” he said.

“Only negotiations will be able to achieve that, namely the continued efforts led by regional partners.”

Trump has at times demanded that Iran reopen the strait or face a significant escalation of bombing from the US, while at other times he has said it was not up to Washington to force open the waterway or even that the war could end without it being reopened.

He has also given Iran multiple deadlines on the issue, and after the threat he posted on Sunday, he later posted a single line reading “Tuesday, 8:00 PM Eastern Time!” It was not clear whether that meant he had extended the deadline another day.

Tehran has shown no signs of withdrawing from its stranglehold on shipping through the strait, which was fully open before Israel and the US attacked Iran on February 28 to start the war.

Following Trump’s expletive-laced messages on Easter Sunday, Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf called the threats to target Iranian infrastructure “reckless.”

“You gain nothing from war crimes,” Qalibaf wrote on X.

“The only real solution is to respect the rights of the Iranian people and end this dangerous game.”

Brent crude oil, the international standard, rose to $109 in spot trading early Monday, about 50 percent higher than when the war began.

Iran has allowed some ships to pass through the strait since the war began, but none from the US, Israel or countries believed to be helping them. Some have paid Iran for the passage and overall traffic flow has fallen by more than 90 percent compared to the same period last year.

Airstrikes kill more than 25 people across Iran

One of Monday morning’s airstrikes targeted Tehran’s Sharif University of Technology, where Iranian media reported damage to the buildings and to a natural gas distribution site next to the campus.

It was not immediately clear what the target was on the university grounds, where there are no students as the war has forced all schools in the country to take classes online.

However, over the years, several countries have sanctioned the university for its work with the military, particularly on Iran’s ballistic missile program, which is controlled by the country’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard.

Following confirmation that the Guard’s intelligence chief had been killed in one attack, Israel’s Defense Minister Israel Katz vowed to continue targeting top Iranian officials.

“Iran’s leaders live with the feeling of being targeted,” Katz said.

“We will continue to track them down one by one.”

Katz added that Israel has also “severely damaged” Iran’s steel and petrochemical industries.

“We will continue to crush Iran’s national infrastructure and lead to the erosion and collapse of the terrorist regime, and its capabilities to promote terror and target the State of Israel,” he said.

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