Iran strikes Israel as Trump extends Strait of Hormuz deadline (PHOTOS, VIDEOS)

Tehran has “prepared a response” to a mediator-proposed ceasefire with the US, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmail Baqaei has announced. Reuters previously reported that Pakistan had submitted a two-stage ceasefire plan to the US and Iran, which could come into effect as early as Monday.

Baqaei also rejected a previously submitted 15-point US plan, describing it as “extremely ambitious, unusual, and illogical,” stressing that Iran has its own framework that is “based on our own interests and considerations.”

Evacuation orders have been issued at eight hospitals in Iran since the start of the US-Israeli war on the country, the Ministry of Health has announced, stating that some 54 emergency bases, 46 treatment centers, 216 healthcare centers, and 41 ambulances have been damaged in US-Israeli strikes.

The ministry also reported that the provinces of Tehran and Hormozgan have recorded the highest number of casualties throughout the conflict, with 251 women and 216 children having been killed, indicating that strikes have been concentrated in populated areas. Another 4,721 women and 1,917 children have been injured, including 68 infants under the age of two. 

Medical staff have also been regularly targeted, the ministry said, stating that some 24 healthcare personnel have been killed and 117 paramedics and doctors injured while performing their humanitarian duties.

Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz has announced the killing of Iranian intelligence chief Majid Khademi in an airstrike earlier in the day. Katz added that “Iran’s leaders live with a sense of persecution” and that the IDF will “continue to hunt them down one by one.”

The IDF has also published a message announcing the elimination of Khademi, describing him as “one of the IRGC’s most senior commanders,” adding that his killing constitutes “another significant blow to the IRGC’s command-and-control systems.”

The Iranian military has threatened a “double response” against US interests in the Middle East if attacks on civilian targets continue.

Military spokesman Ebrahim Zolfaghari warned that if such strikes are repeated, “the next stages of our offensive and retaliatory operations will be carried out much more forcefully and extensively,” and target the “enemy’s interest anywhere in the region.”

The US allegedly used a “bunker-buster” against Tehran’s Sharif University of Technology, the country’s first vice president, Mohammed Reza Aref, has claimed in a post on X, describing the attack as a “symbol of Trump’s madness and ignorance.”

“He fails to understand that Iran's knowledge is not embedded in concrete to be destroyed by bombs,” the Iranian official wrote, stressing that “no barbarity in history has ever been able to strip science from the Iranian people.”

The Middle East conflict must be resolved through “peaceful means,” Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani has urged, warning that a military escalation would entail “serious repercussions.”

Speaking to Spanish Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares, he stressed the need to return to the negotiating table and “prioritize the language of reason.” Both officials also affirmed the need to stop “Iran’s unjustified aggression” against Qatar and other Gulf states.

Albares expressed his country’s “solidarity” with Qatar, emphasizing the importance of “de-escalation, preserving civilian infrastructure and facilities, and ensuring the safety of the energy sector,” according to the Qatari Foreign Ministry.

Iran will not reopen the Strait of Hormuz in exchange for a temporary ceasefire, a senior Iranian official told Reuters. The unnamed official said Iran views Washington as lacking the readiness for a lasting agreement, casting doubt on prospects for a near-term de-escalation.

The official added that Tehran has received a proposal for an immediate ceasefire put forward by Pakistan and is currently reviewing it. However, Iran does not accept being pressured into decisions under imposed deadlines, the source said, underscoring that any agreement would need to meet its conditions for a permanent truce rather than a short-term pause.

Trump on Sunday demanded Iran reopen the Strait of Hormuz, warning Tehran to “open the f***ing Strait” or face severe consequences.

The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said Major General Majid Khademi, head of its Intelligence Organization, has been killed, describing his death as “martyrdom.” 

In a statement, the corps said Khademi had played a “lasting and instructive” role in Iran’s intelligence and security sectors over decades of service, particularly in countering what it described as foreign efforts to undermine the country’s stability.

Kazem Gharibabadi, Iran’s deputy foreign minister for legal and international affairs, accused the United States of violating international law and threatening war crimes, saying any use of force against Iran would breach the UN Charter and qualify as an act of aggression. He also said threats to strike civilian infrastructure such as power plants and bridges would constitute war crimes under international law.

Gharibabadi warned the US president could face individual criminal responsibility, adding that Iran would deliver a “decisive, immediate, and regret-inducing response” to any aggression, invoking its right to self-defense under the UN Charter.

Esmaeil Baqaei, the spokesman for Iran’s Foreign Ministry, posted Quranic verses on social media citing Surah Al-Mujadila, including passages stating that those who oppose Allah “shall be among the lowest,” without providing further context.

Baqaei has repeatedly framed the current conflict as a defensive struggle against US-Israeli “aggression” and a broader moral or civilizational fight, accusing Washington and its allies of waging an “illegal war” and threatening Iran’s sovereignty and identity.