Emergency personnel work at the site of a projectile impact, as the U.S.-Israel conflict with Iran continues, in Haifa, Israel, April 6, 2026. PHOTO: REUTERS
Four people were killed in the Israeli port city of Haifa after what Israeli media said was an Iranian missile strike that hit a residential building late on Sunday.
The bodies of the four people were recovered from beneath the rubble following hours of intensive search-and-rescue operations, the Israeli military said on Monday.
Meanwhile, The International Atomic Energy Agency on Monday said it can confirm recent impacts of military strikes close to Iran’s Bushehr nuclear power plant, but said that the plant itself was not damaged.
The UN atomic watchdog said that the confirmation was based on its independent analysis of new satellite imagery and detailed knowledge of the site, adding that one strike had hit only 75 metres from the site perimeter.
Last week the agency had said it had been informed by Iran about a projectile striking close to the premises of the Bushehr nuclear power plant.
Iran criticised IAEA response after attack on Bushehr nuclear facility
Al Jazeera reported that inaction by the UN nuclear watchdog “emboldens aggression” against nuclear facilities such as the Bushehr power plant, Iran’s atomic energy chief Mohammad Eslami said in a letter addressed to the International Atomic Energy Agency’s director.
Eslami said Iran’s only functioning nuclear power plant had so far been targeted four times, with the most recent attack in its vicinity on April 4, killing a security staff member and injuring others.
He warned that such attacks could risk the release of radioactive material from an operating reactor and could have “irreparable consequences” for people, the environment and neighbouring countries.
He described the attacks as a clear breach of international law, criticising what he called the agency’s “lack of decisive action”, and said mere expressions of concern were insufficient and would embolden further attacks.
US, Iran weigh peace plan as Trump’s ‘hell’ warning nears deadline
With a US deadline approaching, the United States and Iran received the framework of a plan to end the US-Israeli war on Iran, though Tehran rejected any immediate move to reopen the Strait of Hormuz as part of a temporary ceasefire.
US President Donald Trump has threatened to rain “hell” on Tehran if it did not make a deal by the end of Tuesday that would allow traffic to start moving again through the vital route for global energy supplies.
The Pakistani-brokered plan emerged from intense overnight contacts and proposes an immediate ceasefire, followed by negotiations on a broader settlement to be concluded within 15 to 20 days, a source aware of the proposals said on Monday.
Read: UAE says the use of Hormuz must be guaranteed in any US-Iran deal
Chief of Defence Forces and Chief of Army Staff Field Marshal Asim Munir was in contact “all night long” with US Vice President JD Vance, special envoy Steve Witkoff and Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, the source said.
Iran won’t reopen the Strait as part of a temporary ceasefire, a senior Iranian official told Reuters on Monday, adding that Iran won’t accept deadlines as it reviews the proposal. Washington lacks the readiness for a permanent ceasefire, the official said.
Axios first reported on Sunday that the US, Iran and regional mediators were discussing a potential 45-day ceasefire as part of a two-phase deal that could lead to a permanent end to the war, citing US, Israeli and regional sources.
Trump says deal must be made by Tuesday
In a post laden with expletives on his Truth Social platform on Sunday, Trump threatened further strikes on Iranian energy and transport infrastructure if Iran failed to make a deal and reopen the Strait by Tuesday. Later on Sunday, the president in a follow-up post gave a more precise deadline: “Tuesday, 8:00pm Eastern Time! (Wednesday 5am PKT)”
Anwar Gargash, an adviser to the president of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), said any settlement must guarantee access through the Strait of Hormuz. He warned that a deal that failed to rein in Iran’s nuclear programme and its missiles and drones would pave the way for “a more dangerous, more volatile Middle East”.
Fresh aerial strikes were reported across the region on Monday, more than five weeks since the US and Israel began pounding Iran in a war that has killed thousands of civilians and damaged economies by boosting oil prices.
Iranian state media said the head of the Revolutionary Guards’ intelligence organisation, Majid Khademi, has died. Israel on Monday claimed responsibility for his death.
Israel and the US have carried out assassinations of Iran’s leaders since the start of the war on February 28, killing several high-ranking members of the Iranian ruling system, including Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei while he was at home with his family, who was replaced by his son, Mojtaba.
A US-Israeli attack hit the data centre at Sharif University of Technology in Tehran, damaging infrastructure underpinning the country’s national artificial intelligence platform and thousands of other services, Fars News Agency said on Sunday.
Israel threatens to destroy Iran’s civilian infrastructure
Israel’s Defence Minister Israel Katz in a statement issued on Monday threatened to destroy Iran’s infrastructure and hunt down its leaders “one by one”.
Trump has repeatedly warned Iran he could expand US strikes to include civilian infrastructure, such as power plants and bridges.
Experts say such attacks could constitute war crimes but the International Criminal Court lacks jurisdiction because the countries involved are not members of the court.
The Geneva Conventions say that parties involved in military conflict must distinguish between “civilian objects and military objectives”, and that attacks on civilian objects, such as the kind that Israel has carried out in Gaza, Iran and Lebanon, are forbidden.
Iranian weekend strikes on petrochemical facilities and an Israeli-linked vessel in Kuwait, Bahrain and the UAE underscored the country’s ability to fight back despite Trump’s repeated claims to have knocked out its missile and drone capabilities.
Kremlin says the whole Middle East is ‘on fire’
The Kremlin on Monday said that the Iran war was escalating in both geography and economic impact, and that the whole Middle East region was “on fire” due to the US and Israeli attacks on the Islamic Republic.
US President Donald Trump, in an expletive-laden Easter Sunday social media post, threatened to target Iran’s power plants and bridges on Tuesday if the Strait of Hormuz is not reopened.
When asked by Reuters about Trump’s remarks, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters that Russia had seen them but that the Kremlin preferred not to comment directly.
“We note that the level of tension in the region is growing and continues to grow,” Peskov said. “In fact, the entire region is on fire. These are all very dangerous and negative consequences of the aggression that was unleashed against Iran.”
“The geography of this conflict has expanded, and now we are all aware of the consequences that we have, including very, very negative consequences for the global economy.”
Iran responded to the attacks launched by the US and Israel five weeks ago by effectively closing the Hormuz waterway, a conduit for about a fifth of the world’s oil and natural gas supply, and attacking Israel, US military bases and energy infrastructure around the Gulf.
About 3,540 people have been killed in Iran since the war erupted, including at least 244 children, said US-based and funded rights group HRANA.
Israel has also invaded southern Lebanon and struck Beirut in a fight against Iran-backed Hezbollah militants that has become the most violent spillover of the US-Israeli war on Iran.
Lebanon’s heavy casualties include 1,461 killed, including at least 124 children, Lebanese authorities say. Thirteen US service members have died and hundreds of others have been wounded.
