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DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Israel threatened to “escalate and expand” its attacks on Iran on Friday even as U.S. President Donald Trump claimed that talks on ending the war were going well and gave Tehran more time to open the Strait of Hormuz. Iran, meanwhile, gave no signs of backing down.
With stock markets reeling and economic fallout from the war extending far beyond the Middle East, Trump is under growing pressure to end Iran’s chokehold on the strait, a strategic waterway through which a fifth of the world’s oil is usually shipped.
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The United States has offered Iran a 15-point proposal for a ceasefire that includes it relinquishing control of the strait, but at the same time has ordered thousands more troops to the region — possibly in preparation for a military attempt to wrest the waterway from Iran’s tight grip.
With time running out on a deadline set by Trump for Iran to open the strait, after which he had threatened to destroy Iran’s energy plants, he pushed his self-imposed deadline back to April 6 on Thursday, saying that talks on ending the conflict were going “very well.” Iran, however, maintains it is not engaged in any negotiations.
Air raid sirens sounded in Israel as the military said it was working to intercept Iranian missiles in what has been a daily occurrence. Israel’s Defense Minister Israel Katz said Iran “will pay heavy, increasing prices for this war crime.”
“Despite the warnings, the firing continues,” Katz said. “And therefore attacks in Iran will escalate and expand to additional targets and areas that assist the regime in building and operating weapons against Israeli citizens.”
Israel’s military said its attack on Friday targeted sites “in the heart of Tehran” used by Iran to produce ballistic missiles and other weapons. It also hit missile launchers and storage sites in western Iran.
Smoke rose over Beirut after a pre-dawn strike, and Lebanon’s Health Ministry later reported two people were killed.
Iran, meantime, kept firing missiles and drones at its Gulf Arab neighbors, with sirens warning of attacks in Bahrain, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates.
Saudi Arabia’s Defense Ministry said it shot down both missiles and drones targeting the capital, Riyadh.
Kuwait said both its Shuwaikh Port in Kuwait City and the Mubarak Al Kabeer Port to the north, which is under construction as part of China’s “Belt and Road” initiative, had sustained “material damage” in attacks.
It appeared to be one of the first times a Chinese-affiliated project in the Gulf Arab states came under assault in the war. Throughout the conflict, China has continued to purchase Iranian crude.
After Wall Street’s worst day since the war began, Asian shares mostly fell Friday over growing doubts about the chances of de-escalation. Oil prices rose again, the Brent crude, the international standard, at $107 a barrel in morning trading, up more than 45% since Israel and the U.S. attacked Iran on Feb. 28 to start the war.
US pushing diplomatic solution but sending more troops to the region
Iran’s stranglehold on shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, has caused growing concerns of a global energy crisis, and appears part of a strategy to get the U.S. to back down by roiling the world economy. A Gulf Arab bloc said Thursday that Iran is now exacting tolls from ships to ensure their safe passage through the waterway.
Trump’s envoy Steve Witkoff said Washington had delivered a 15-point “action list” to Iran for a possible ceasefire, using Pakistan as an intermediary. The list includes restrictions on Iran’s nuclear program and re-opening the Strait of Hormuz.
Iran has rejected the U.S. offer and put forth its own five-point proposal, which includes reparations and recognition of its sovereignty over the Strait of Hormuz.
Diplomats from several countries have been trying to organize a direct meeting between envoys from the U.S. and Iran, possibly in Pakistan.
Egypt’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement Friday that the country’s foreign minster, Badr Abdelatty, held phone calls the day before with his Turkish and Pakistani counterparts as part of their “intensive efforts” to organize the talks.
Abdelatty said he hoped the tri-country effort would result in “gradual de-escalation efforts that would ultimately lead to the end of the war.”
As the diplomatic efforts went on, a group of U.S. ships drew closer to the region with some 2,500 Marines. Also, at least 1,000 paratroopers from the 82nd Airborne — trained to land in hostile territory to secure key territory and airfields — have been ordered to the Middle East.
Meanwhile, the U.N. Security Council is to hold closed consultation on Iran on Friday, according to two U.N. diplomats who spoke on condition of anonymity because the meeting is not public.
They added that Russia had asked for the meeting on U.S.-Israeli attacks on civilian infrastructure in the country, that the U.S., which holds the Security Council presidency, had scheduled it.
Jan Egeland, secretary general of the Norwegian Refugee Council, said the humanitarian organization’s teams in Iran have reported that “countless homes, hospitals and schools have been damaged or destroyed,” and that nearly every neighborhood in Tehran has sustained damage.
“Civilians are paying the highest price for this war — it must end” he said in a statement.
The International Organization for Migration said Friday that 82,000 civilian buildings, including hospitals and the homes of 180,000 people have been damaged in Iran so far.
“If this war continues, we risk a far wider humanitarian disaster,” Egeland said. “Millions could be forced to flee across borders, placing immense pressure on an already overstretched region.”
Deaths continue to climb, primarily in Iran and Lebanon
The Israeli army said Thursday it had deployed the 162nd Division into southern Lebanon, joining thousands of troops that were moved there after the war erupted. Israel says the open-ended invasion is aimed at protecting its northern border towns from Hezbollah attacks and uprooting the militant group from the area.
Eighteen people have died in Israel, while four Israeli soldiers have also been killed in Lebanon. Two Israeli soldiers were severely injured in Lebanon on Friday during an “operational accident,” the military said.
Authorities said more than 1,100 people have died in Lebanon and more than 1,900 people have been killed in Iran.
At least 13 American troops have been killed and four people in the occupied West Bank and 20 in Gulf Arab states have also died.
In Iraq, where Iranian-supported militia groups have entered the conflict, 80 members of the security forces have been killed.
