US-Israel-Iran War Live News Updates: Mojtaba Khamenei 'Unconscious, Incapacitated', Say Reports; Trump Threatens To Decimate Iran's Infrastructure

An Iranian official issued a video message calling on youths of the Islamic Republic to form "human chains" around power plants in the country ahead of threatened strikes by U.S. President Donald Trump. Alireza Rahimi, identified by Iranian state television as the secretary of the Supreme Council of Youth and Adolescents, issued the video call in a newscast.

"I invite all young people, athletes, artists, students and university students and their professors," he said. Gather "Tuesday at 2 p.m. (Iran time) around the power plants that are our national assets and capital, regardless of any taste or political viewpoint, belong to the future of Iran and to the Iranian youth."

(Source: AP)

New Zealand Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has described Trump's recent threats against Iranian civilian infrastructure as "unhelpful." "Unhelpful because more military action is not necessary," Luxon told Radio New Zealand. "I think the bottom line is that the focus needs to be on not seeing this conflict expand any further," he said.

"We got threats from the president over the weekend. Any of those actions including bombing bridges and reservoirs and civilian infrastructure would be unacceptable as well," Luxon added.

New Zealand Foreign Minister Winston Peters' message to US Secretary of State Marco Rubio at a meeting in Washington, scheduled this week, would be to de-escalate the conflict, he said. Peters would "certainly be encouraging the US and Iran to de-escalate quickly," Luxon said.


(Source: AP)

Iran's new Supreme Leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, is reportedly unconscious, and incapacitated and receiving treatment for a severe medical condition, according to NDTV.
 

An Israel-backed armed group in Gaza kidnapped children from a school-turned-shelter on Monday, according to a witness, after which Israel launched an airstrike on the site, health authorities said. The Israeli military had no response when reached for comment.

An anti-Hamas Palestinian group called Abu Nusseirah posted on social media that they killed five Hamas fighters at the shelter in Maghazi. 

Asked why Iranians would want him to follow up on his threat to blow up the country's infrastructure, Trump says everyday citizens are "willing to suffer ... in order to have freedom." "Please keep bombing. Do it," Trump claimed US officials have heard Iranians say via "intercepts."

" And these are people that are living where the bombs are exploding," he said. He added, "And when we leave and we're not hitting those areas, they're saying, Please come back, come back, come back."
 

Trump said the F-15E fighter jet that set off a two-day search-and-rescue operation was downed by a shoulder-launched rocket. Trump described the weapon as a "hand-held shoulder missile — heat-seeking missile." The president went on to suggest that the fighter jet was ultimately downed not by the explosion but because of related damage to the aircraft's engines.

"They shot it and it got sucked in right by the engine," Trump said.

The Israeli and Greek defence ministries signed the four-year export agreement Monday in Athens, said a statement from Israel's defence ministry. The system, called PULS (Precise & Universal Launching System), is built to launch rockets of different ranges, the statement said.

Israeli defence giant Elbit Systems will supply the rocket launchers and the warheads to Greece. Greek defence industries are expected to produce some parts of the system.
 

Iran's military's chief spokesman, Brig Gen Effie Defrin, says the army's chief has approved battle plans for the next three weeks in the absence of a ceasefire. "Every day that passes, we hit them more and more. Already we have very good achievements, and we want to reach excellent achievements," he told a press conference.

Trump says he's "not at all" concerned about committing war crimes as he continues to threaten the destruction of Iran's bridges and power plants if they don't meet a Tuesday evening deadline to reopen the Strait of Hormuz.

"I hope I don't have to do it," Trump added.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned the US that attacking civilian infrastructure is banned under international law, his spokesman said. "Even if specific civilian infrastructure were to qualify as a military objective," spokesman Stephane Dujarric said, an attack would still be prohibited if it risks "excessive incidental civilian harm."

A court would need to decide whether such attacks were war crimes, he said.

Trump described the consequences that Iran would face if it didn't reach a deal with the US by Trump's 8 pm Tuesday deadline. "We have a plan, because of the power of our military, where every bridge in Iran will be decimated by 12 o'clock tomorrow night," Trump said. 

Power plants in Iran, he continued, would be "burning, exploding and never to be used again." Trump refused to say whether any civilian targets would be off limits in the US response.

As reporters spoke on air, Channel 13 TV's evening newscast showed a large digital clock marking down the hours and minutes until Tuesday night's deadline.

United States President Donald Trump lashed out at Pacific allies for not assisting in Iran fight as he wrapped up his lengthy news conference.

"You know who else didn't help us? South Korea didn't help us," Trump said.

"You know who else didn't help us? Australia didn't help us. You know who else didn't help us? Japan. We've got 50,000 soldiers in Japan to protect them from North Korea. We have 45,000 soldiers in South Korea to protect us from Kim Jong Un, who I get along with very well."

(Source: AP)

Iran has rejected the latest ceasefire proposal and instead said it wants a permanent end to the war, even as US President Donald Trump's ultimatum approaches, reports AP.

Trump insisted that Iranians want him to conduct more strikes and they are "willing to suffer" for freedom. Trump said the US may even help Iran in rebuilding the country if it agreed to a deal. "We may even get involved with helping them rebuild their nation," Trump said.

US President Donald Trump threatened to decimate Iran within four hours if it did not agree to a deal by Tuesday night, while brushing aside allegations of possible war crimes in case of attacks on power plants and bridges. 

“We have a plan, because of the power of our military, where every bridge in Iran will be decimated by 12 o'clock tomorrow (Tuesday) night, where every power plant in Iran will be out of business, burning, exploding, and never to be used again, I mean complete demolition by 12 o'clock,  and it'll happen over a period of four hours, if we wanted to,” Trump told a press conference here.

He asked Iran to make a deal with the US and open the Hormuz Strait for free movement of oil by 8 pm Eastern Time on Tuesday.