Israel bombs Tehran as Iranians taunt Trump (PHOTOS, VIDEOS)

07 April 2026

A synagogue in central Tehran has been damaged following an Israeli strike, Iranian media said.

The Israel Defense Forces has issued a warning in Farsi urging people in Iran to avoid using trains and stay away from railway lines, saying doing so could put their lives at risk.

The message called on citizens to refrain from train travel until 21:00 local time, framing the advisory as a safety measure.

Saudi Arabia has suspended traffic on the King Fahd Causeway — the only land link connecting the kingdom to Bahrain — as a precautionary measure over threats of Iranian attacks, according to the causeway authority.

Iran’s ambassador to the United Nations, Amir Saeed Iravani, has accused Washington of interfering in Iran’s internal affairs, citing remarks by President Donald Trump in which he said the US had attempted to arm Iranian opposition groups via intermediaries.

In a letter to the UN Secretary-General and the Security Council, Iravani said the comments amounted to “clear evidence” of efforts to incite unrest, claiming they confirm Tehran’s longstanding position that the United States seeks to turn peaceful protests into violence and instability, in violation of international law.

South Korean presidential chief of staff Kang Hoon-sik said he would travel to Kazakhstan, Oman and Saudi Arabia to secure supplies of crude oil and naphtha following disruptions to shipping through the Strait of Hormuz. Kang is due to depart later on Tuesday as President Lee Jae Myung’s special envoy, holding talks with governments, energy firms and shipping operators to ensure cargoes reach domestic ports and support stable supplies of key goods, including medical products, he told a press briefing.

South Korea is seeking to diversify supply lines as it relies heavily on Middle Eastern energy imports, much of which passes through the strategic waterway. Officials said Seoul has already secured alternative crude supplies for April and May and is taking additional steps to stabilise energy and industrial inputs, including helium for its semiconductor sector, as regional disruptions persist.

The Iranian embassy in Kuala Lumpur said that Tehran does not forget its “friends,” confirming in a post on X that the first Malaysian ship had passed through the Strait of Hormuz.

A US defense official has expressed skepticism that President Trump would extend his deadline for strikes against Iranian energy infrastructure once again, even as a senior administration official told Axios that “if the president sees a deal is coming together, he’ll probably hold off.”

A key 25km (15.5-mile) bridge linking Saudi Arabia to the island kingdom of Bahrain has suspended all vehicle movements “as a precautionary measure,” the King Fahd Causeway Authority has announced in a post on X.

One of America’s “doomsday planes” – the Boeing E-4B Nightwatch – was spotted circling above Offutt Air Force Base in Nebraska earlier on Monday. The aircraft, designed to keep the government running during a nuclear war, reportedly took off at 10:17am EST and circled the area at least six times before landing.

Yemen’s Houthi movement said it carried out a joint cruise missile and drone attack against “vital and military targets” in the Umm al-Rashrash area of southern Israel. 

According to spokesman Yahya Saree, the attack was coordinated with Iran’s Revolutionary Guard and Lebanon’s Hezbollah, and achieved all objectives.

Global oil prices are rising, with Brent crude trading around $111.50 a barrel, while US West Texas Intermediate reached $116.50.

Malaysia’s Foreign Ministry has announced that one of seven Malaysian commercial vessels stranded in the Strait of Hormuz has been allowed to transit to its destination, following diplomatic talks with Iranian officials led by Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim.

The US Department of War has abruptly cancelled a scheduled press briefing by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Dan Caine set to take place at 8am on Tuesday, some 12 hours before President Trump’s ultimatum expires.

Israel has reportedly approved an updated list of energy and infrastructure targets in Iran and is awaiting President Trump’s decision to proceed, an Israeli security official told CNN.

The UN Security Council is set to vote on a draft resolution aimed at reopening the Strait of Hormuz, toned down due to opposition from Russia and China.

The original Bahrain-sponsored text would have authorized “all necessary means,” including military action, but the sixth revision now only “strongly encourages” countries to coordinate defensive efforts such as escorting merchant vessels.

The vote on Tuesday is expected to come hours before President Trump’s 8pm EDT deadline for Iran to open the strategic waterway or face attacks on its power plants and bridges.

The Iranian Red Crescent has shared footage of the ongoing search and rescue operation following recent US-Israeli strikes on a residential area of Tehran.

The United Arab Emirates’ Defense Ministry has said that its air defenses are “actively engaging missiles and UAV threats” from Iran. Meanwhile, the Interior Ministry of Bahrain has urged residents to remain calm and head to the nearest safe place, after air raid sirens have been heard in the country.

Tehran has “clearly and overtly won the war” and will only accept an ending that consolidates its gains and creates a new security regime in the region, Mahdi Mohammadi, a senior adviser to Iranian parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, has claimed.

“The true state of affairs is this: it is Trump who has about 20 hours to either surrender to Iran or see his allies return to the Stone Age. We will not back down!” Mohammadi wrote in a post on X.

Recent US-Israeli strikes reportedly once again targeted the area of Mehrabad International Airport in western Tehran, according to local reports and footage circulating online.

The Israeli Home Front Command has urged residents to seek shelter after the IDF detected a wave of retaliatory missile launches from Iran. “Defensive systems are operating to intercept the threat,” the IDF said.

Israel has announced that the IDF has “completed an air strike wave” against infrastructure in Tehran and additional areas across Iran.

A series of loud explosions has been heard in Tehran, according to local media.

06 April 2026

Saudi Arabia has yet to officially confirm the scale of the damage after several explosions and a fire reportedly rocked the country’s industrial area of Jubail, which alone produces roughly 7 percent of the world’s petrochemical products.

Multiple videos shared by pro-Iranian sources purportedly show fire at Jubail, which hosts major facilities, including the SATORP refinery (a joint venture between Aramco and TotalEnergies) and the SASREF refinery (Saudi Aramco Jubail Refinery Company).

Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Defense has announced the “interception and destruction of 7 ballistic missiles launched towards the eastern region, and the fall of fragments of ballistic missile debris in the vicinity of energy facilities.”

The “damage assessment is ongoing,” the ministry added.

The head of Iran’s Atomic Energy Organization, Mohammad Eslami, has accused the US and Israel of committing a “war crime” after the latest attack on the Bushehr Nuclear Power Plant on Saturday damaged a building, killed a security staff member, and injured several others.

In a letter to IAEA chief Rafael Grossi, Eslami said Saturday’s strike near Unit 1 marked the fourth such attack, and warned that further strikes risk a widespread release of radioactive material, with irreversible consequences for Iran and neighboring countries. Eslami also accused the IAEA of inaction and “clear complicity,” stating that mere expressions of concern have emboldened the aggressors.

Iranian forces have conducted a series of strikes against US and Israeli targets across the region, according to Brigadier General Ebrahim Zolfaghari, spokesperson for Iran’s top joint military command. 

Key operations allegedly included IRGC Navy striking the Israeli container ship SDN 7 with a cruise missile; the US amphibious assault ship LHA-7 coming under heavy fire and retreating deep into the Indian Ocean, and precision ballistic missile hits on sites in Tel Aviv, Haifa, Be’er Sheva, and Petah Tikva, and attacks on the US Al-Adairi Base in Kuwait.

“The reckless threats and baseless rhetoric of the US president, resulting from repeated military failures, will not affect the continued offensive operations of Islamic fighters against American and Israeli targets, nor erase the humiliation of the US in West Asia,” he said, as cited by Press TV.

President Trump suggested that the US could impose its own tolls on vessels trying to transit through the Strait of Hormuz – a strategy currently employed by Iran as it continues to control the key energy shipping chokepoint.

“I’d rather do that than let them have them. Why shouldn’t we? We’re the winner,” Trump said during a White House press conference earlier on Monday.

“We won, OK? They are militarily defeated. The only thing they have is the psychology of ‘oh, we’re going to drop a couple of mines in the water,’” he added.

“We have a concept where we’ll charge tolls.” However, when asked about peace agreement conditions, Trump said that any deal must include “free traffic of oil.”

European Council President Antonio Costa has warned Tehran against retaliatory attacks on regional energy infrastructure, claiming that the Iranian civilian population would be the “main victim of a widening of the military campaign.”

“After five weeks of war in the Middle East, it is clear that only a diplomatic solution will settle its root causes. Any targeting of civilian infrastructure, namely energy facilities, is illegal and unacceptable,” he said, without mentioning the ongoing US-Israeli attacks on Iran.

“As I stressed in my recent call with the President of Iran, Masoud Pezeshkian, the European Union urges Iran to immediately put an end to its attacks against countries in the region and to allow for the reestablishment of full freedom of navigation through the Strait of Hormuz,” he added.

At least 15 Americans were injured in an Iranian drone strike on Ali Al Salem Air Base in Kuwait overnight, CBS News reports, citing two US officials. As of Monday, a total of 373 US service members have received injuries in the ongoing campaign against Iran, including five considered seriously wounded, according to a US Central Command spokesperson.

Iran’s roads and urban development minister, Farzaneh Sadegh, has reportedly inspected the damaged B1 bridge in Karaj following US and Israeli strikes last week. She stated that attacks the “enemy” claimed were meant “to help the Iranian people” instead hit vital infrastructure used by ordinary citizens every day. 

Saeed Jalili, Iran’s former nuclear negotiator and ex‑secretary of the Supreme National Security Council, has dismissed calls to silence Trump over his comments on Iran, writing on X that “‘shut up’ is not the appropriate response to Trump’s ramblings; let him speak more.”  

“Nothing is more effective in laying bare the true nature of the United States than Trump’s outbursts,” Jalili wrote.

Indonesia has held a military funeral for Major Zulmi Aditya Iskandar, one of three Indonesian UNIFIL peacekeepers killed in separate incidents in southern Lebanon this month amid escalating exchanges between Israeli forces and Lebanon-based Hezbollah. Their deaths have heightened concerns over the safety of UN troops in one of its longest‑running peacekeeping missions. RT’s Indra Marpaung reports from the ground.

Kremlin envoy Kirill Dmitriev has warned that a “catastrophic oil shortage is imminent,” writing on X that Saudi Arabia is, “for the first time in history,” charging a $20‑per‑barrel premium over an already elevated benchmark price for its crude. Oil prices have surged since the start of US‑Israeli strikes on Iran and Tehran’s retaliation across the region, with disruption to traffic through the Strait of Hormuz – one of the world’s key energy routes – triggering knock‑on effects across global supply chains.

Trump has claimed that he is “polling higher than anybody ever polled in Venezuela,” stating that after the Iran war he could “quickly learn Spanish” and “run for president” in the South American country. Trump’s approval rating has fallen to around 36%, with roughly 60% of Americans saying US military action against Iran has gone too far, according to Ipsos polling.

Trump has once again threatened massive strikes on Iran’s civilian infrastructure, claiming there is “a plan where every bridge in Iran will be decimated by 12 o’clock tomorrow night” and “every power plant in Iran will be out of business – burning, exploding.” He added that this would mean “complete demolition,” but insisted “we don’t want that to happen.”

Russia’s Foreign Ministry has warned that US‑Israeli strikes on Iran, including repeated attacks on the Bushehr nuclear plant, risk a radiological disaster “more devastating than Chernobyl.” In a statement, Moscow condemned the “illegal, unprovoked aggression” for killing thousands of civilians and causing “colossal damage” to global energy and food security and urged an immediate halt to hostilities.

Iranian state broadcaster IRIB has claimed that an American MQ‑9 drone has been shot down over Qeshm Island, near the Strait of Hormuz, posting an alleged video of the incident.

Rallies across Iran have continued into a sixth week as the US‑Israeli air campaign drags on, with footage circulating online showing large crowds waving flags and portraits of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, including in the capital Tehran. In one video from the city of Yazd, demonstrators are seen addressing the armed forces, vowing: “We will be on the streets until the last day of the battle.”

Hegseth has also boasted that the US “controls the sky” over Iran, claiming American aircraft flew “for 7 hours in daylight… to get the first pilot and… 7 hours in the middle of the night to get the second,” and that “Iran did nothing about it.” He apparently went on to compare one of the rescued airman to Jesus, claiming he was “shot down on a Friday, Good Friday, hidden in a cave, a crevice, all of Saturday, and rescued on Sunday.”

Hegseth has issued a stark warning, saying Iran “has a choice” as Washington ramps up its air campaign. “Choose wisely because this president [Trump] does not play around. You can ask Soleimani. You can ask Maduro. You can ask Khamenei,” he said.

US War Secretary Pete Hegseth says “today” will see the largest wave of US strikes on Iran since the operation began, warning that the campaign will “escalate further.”

Trump says US forces have conducted more than 13,000 strikes in Iran since the war began, including over 10,000 combat flights in the past 37 days, calling the tempo “unheard of.” Over 2,000 people, including women and children, have reportedly been killed since the launch of the US‑Israeli military campaign against the Islamic Republic on February 28, with more than 26,500 injured.

Trump says US authorities are trying to identify the person who “leaked” that a second F‑15 crew member was still stranded in Iran after the first was rescued, claiming Tehran was unaware of his status before the report and that this made the operation “much more difficult.” He warned that officials will demand the outlet that published the story reveal its source or face prosecution, saying: “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’.”

Trump has used the Iran rescue missions to praise US special forces and hardware, comparing them to the commando raid in which US troops seized Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro in Caracas three months ago. He said forces stormed a “massive compound with thousands and thousands of soldiers” and broke through “steel doors” within minutes, adding that in such missions “you don’t come out like we came out” and claiming “God was watching us” over Easter as helicopters returned despite heavy damage.

The second rescue mission involved 155 US aircraft, according to Trump, including four bombers, 64 fighter jets, 48 refuelling tankers and 13 rescue aircraft.

Trump has used the F‑15 rescue operation to tout US military power, declaring that “nobody has the equipment that we have, and nobody has the military that we have, not even close.” Speaking at the White House, he said flight crews “took extraordinary risks” to reach the downed jet, adding that the pilot was located “in enemy territory” and extracted by an HH‑60 Jolly Green II helicopter.

Trump has claimed the US war with Iran is going well and that US forces could “take out” the whole country in a single night. 

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

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has compared certain current leaders to Adolf Hitler, warning that those who “undermine peace merely to prolong their political careers” risk becoming victims of their own “uncontrollable ambitions.” 

“Today those who follow in Hitler’s footsteps are playing the role of Hitler not only against humanity, but also against their own citizens,” Erdogan stated, adding that history is “full of countless examples” of such leaders ultimately destroying themselves and their nations.

Israel’s Health Ministry has reportedly said 7,142 people have been injured and taken to hospitals during the war with Iran. According to the ministry, 114 people remain hospitalized, including two in critical condition.

Asked whether striking civilian power plants in Iran could be a war crime, Trump has replied he is not worried about it. “You know what’s a war crime? Having a nuclear weapon,” he told reporters. Tehran insists its nuclear program is peaceful but has threatened to withdraw from the 1968 Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.

US‑Israeli strikes have inflicted widespread damage on Iran’s civilian infrastructure, including medical facilities. More than 100,000 civilian sites have been impacted nationwide since the war began on February 28, according to Iran’s government spokesperson, cited by Press TV.

Trump has also claimed that Iran scored a “lucky shot” when it downed a US F‑15 fighter jet on Friday, while describing the rescue of the injured airman as “incredible.” Both crew members of the F‑15E Strike Eagle shot down over Iran’s southwestern Kohgiluyeh and Boyer‑Ahmad province have now been recovered, according to Trump. US media reported that one was rescued shortly after the incident and the search for the weapons systems officer continued into Sunday. In a separate incident on Friday, a US A‑10 Thunderbolt II was hit by Iranian fire, with the pilot ejecting after the aircraft left Iranian airspace before also being rescued.

Trump has reportedly said ongoing US and Israeli strikes are “helping” the people of Iran because “they want to hear bombs because they want to be free.” He claimed Iranians are not protesting only because “they will be shot immediately,” adding that “as soon as they can get weapons… Iran would give up in two seconds because they wouldn’t be able to take it.” The US president has previously told Fox News that the US tried to funnel weapons to Iranian protesters during the January demonstrations through Kurdish intermediaries.

Trump has confirmed that Iran has put forward a “significant proposal” and made a “significant step” in negotiations, but noted that it’s still “not good enough.”

Asked by reporters if he was willing to continue the war on Iran, Trump said: “you’ll have to watch,” adding that talks are ongoing.

Trump has doubled down on his threat to attack Iran’s bridges and power plants if Tehran fails to re-open the Strait of Hormuz by Tuesday, telling reporters that the US is “obliterating” the country and that he would like to take Iran’s oil.

“Unfortunately, the American people would like to see us come home. If it were up to me, I’d take the oil, I’d keep the oil, I would make plenty of money,” the US president said while calling Americans opposed to the Iran war “foolish.”

Trump had previously stated in an F-bomb laden Easter post that if Iran didn’t reopen the Strait of Hormuz by his deadline, he would inflict “hell” on the country.

Trump’s reported remark that he tried to send “a lot of arms” to Iranian protesters is an admission of long‑denied US interference and covert networks in Iran, University of Tehran professor Seyed Mohammad Marandi has told RT. He said Western-backed operatives used those weapons to attack police and “burn clinics and ambulances,” helping to trigger the US‑Israeli war on the Islamic Republic.  

“The West did it, they’re guilty,” Marandi said. Fox News quoted Trump as saying on Sunday the US tried to funnel guns to protesters through Kurdish intermediaries. The demonstrations which erupted in January were initially driven by economic grievances and marred by violence. Trump openly backed the unrest at the time, threatening Tehran with retaliation over the crackdown. Tehran called the protests foreign‑instigated and blamed US‑ and Israeli‑linked armed provocateurs for deadly clashes.

Iran has rejected a US ceasefire proposal, conveying its response through Pakistan, the IRNA news agency has reported. Tehran’s reply is said to be structured as a 10-clause framework that emphasizes a “permanent end to war,” rather than a temporary truce. 

Iran’s demands include an end to conflicts across the region, protocols to ensure safe passage through the Strait of Hormuz, the lifting of sanctions, and provisions for reconstruction. 

A US official has described the Iranian response as “maximalist,” and said it is not yet clear if it will allow progress toward a diplomatic solution, according to Axios.

The death toll of Israel’s attacks on Lebanon has risen to 1,497 people, including 130 children and 57 medical workers, the Lebanese Health Ministry has reported. The number of wounded in Israeli strikes has risen to 4,639, which includes 540 women and 457 minors.

Seven people were killed in Israeli attacks on southern Lebanon, the country’s National News Agency has reported. Four of the victims were killed in an airstrike on a vehicle in the Nabatieh district. One person died in an attack on the town of Siddiqine, and another two were killed in an Israeli drone strike on the town of Haris in the Bint Jbeil district.

The IDF says it carried out a large-scale overnight strike in Tehran, targeting “numerous aerial assets,” as well as three airports across the Iranian capital.

Iran’s electricity infrastructure operates solely in support of the Iranian people, and any attack on it would endanger the population and constitute a war crime, the head of the state-run Tavanir electricity firm, Mohammad Alhadad, has said.

The first Malaysian ship has successfully passed through the Strait of Hormuz, the Iranian Embassy in Kuala Lumpur has announced, stating that “the Islamic Republic of Iran does not forget his friends.”

Malaysian Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim had previously stated that after discussions with Iranian President Masoud Pеzeshkian, Kuala Lumpur was able to secure clearance for seven of its vessels to pass through the restricted waterway.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has condemned the US-Israeli bombing of the “MIT of Iran,” noting that the attack on Sarif University in Tehran follows previous strikes on other universities in the country.

“The aggressors will see our might,” the minister wrote on X.

Tehran has had a “very bitter experience of negotiating with the US” and cannot afford to “simply ignore” this fact, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmail Baqaei has said, stressing that “negotiation is in no way compatible with ultimatums, crimes, or threats to commit war crimes.”

Baqaei also dismissed the possibility of a ceasefire, arguing it would likely only be used by the US as “a short pause to replenish forces for committing crimes again.” He stressed that Iran must now focus on defending itself as the US continues to increase the volume of its attacks.

A US Marine Corps veteran who was violently removed from a Senate hearing is accusing Washington of waging war on Iran to serve elite financial interests and Israel, saying the conflict mirrors past US wars built on “lies” and profiteering rather than national security.

On Going Underground with Afshin Rattansi, Brian McGinnis – whose arm was broken during a confrontation with police and lawmakers while protesting the war, said he sees “no difference” between the current escalation and past wars built on disputed claims, accusing US leaders of “lying their way up to this point” and using the military for “nefarious reasons” tied to what he called the “Epstein class.”

EU chief Antonio Costa has slammed Trump’s threats to attack Iranian bridges and power plants, arguing in a post on X that targeting civilian infrastructure during war is “illegal and unacceptable.”

At the same time, Costa also criticized Tehran, urging it to “immediately put an end to its attacks against countries in the region” and to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, adding that “only a diplomatic solution” will settle the root causes of the Middle East conflict.

West Jerusalem is awaiting authorization from Washington to begin striking Iran’s energy facilities as the US and Israel aim to cripple the country’s economy, an Israeli official has told the Wall Street Journal.

The goal of the strikes is to make sure Tehran’s recovery from the war is as long and painful as possible, the official said.

The US operation to rescue an F-15 pilot may have been a cover to steal enriched uranium, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei has suggested, noting there are “many questions and uncertainties” about the operation.

“The area where the American pilot was claimed to be present in Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad Province is a long way from the area where they attempted to land or wanted to land their forces in central Iran,” Baqaei said, insisting that “the possibility that this was a deception operation to steal enriched uranium should not be ignored at all.”

Israeli forces have attacked Iran’s largest petrochemical facility in the South Pars natural gas field, Defense Minister Israel Katz has announced, noting that the plant is responsible for about 50% of the country’s petrochemical production.

Iran’s Tasnim news agency has confirmed that plants in Asaluyeh, including Jam and Damavand, as well as companies providing electricity, water, and oxygen to the facilities were targeted by Israeli strikes.

The IDF has reported the killing of an alleged Hamas weapons smuggler in an airstrike in central Gaza. The operative, Ali Ahmad Ali Amrain, was said to be supplying “numerous weapons” to the Palestinian militants, the Israeli military claims.

Moscow has raised concerns that continued aggression against Iran could result in the geographical expansion of the conflict. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov noted that the Middle East is “practically on fire,” and that tensions in the region continue to rise.

Trump’s threats to blow up Iranian bridges and power plants will not reopen the Strait of Hormuz and would constitute a “clear war crime,” Democratic Senator Chris Murphy has said, urging Republican leaders to stop the US president.