By using this website you agree that we use cookies. You can find out more in the privacy policy.

Deutsche Tageszeitung - Israeli strikes kill Iran Guards intel chief as Trump deadline looms

Israeli strikes kill Iran Guards intel chief as Trump deadline looms

POLITICS 06.04.2026
Israeli strikes kill Iran Guards intel chief as Trump deadline looms
Israeli strikes kill Iran Guards intel chief as Trump deadline looms / Photo: © AFP

Israeli strikes killed the intelligence chief of Iran's Revolutionary Guards, as the Islamic republic on Monday defied threats from US President Donald Trump to devastate civilian infrastructure if it does not reopen the Strait of Hormuz.

Change text size:

The warring sides kept up their barrage of strikes, with Iranian missiles and drones targeting Israel, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates, and Israeli strikes hitting Iran and swathes of Lebanon where it is battling Tehran-backed Hezbollah.

Iran said that "much more devastating" attacks would come if Trump followed through on his vow to hit civilian targets.

The American leader had in social media posts Sunday threatened to destroy Iran's civilian infrastructure if Tehran does not bow to his demand to reopen the Gulf to shipping by "Tuesday 8:00 PM" (0000 GMT Wednesday).

Iran has all but blocked the Strait of Hormuz, a vital energy chokepoint, sending oil and gas prices soaring and pushing countries around the world to enact measures to contain the fallout.

In a stark, expletive-laden post on Sunday, Trump demanded: "Open the Fuckin' Strait, you crazy bastards, or you'll be living in Hell."

Tehran's Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi responded to Trump's by saying that the US leader had "publicly threatened to commit war crimes" by menacing bridges and power plants.

Iran's Revolutionary Guards said the strait "will never return to its former status, especially for the US and Israel."

The Guards posted on Telegram Monday that their intelligence chief Majid Khademi had been killed "at dawn" in US-Israeli strikes.

Israel's Defence Minister Israel Katz said his country's military had been behind the strike, saying that it had been a response to Iran's attacks on civilian areas in Israel.

Katz called Khademi "one of the direct perpetrators of these war crimes and one of the top three officials in the organisation", and said of Iran's leaders: "We will continue to hunt them one by one."

- A deal? -

Prices for US oil benchmark West Texas Intermediate were down 2.2 percent at $109.16 around 0915 GMT Monday, as reports surfaced of a potential halt to the fighting.

Citing US, Israeli and regional sources, US news website Axios said a deal mediated by Pakistan, Egypt and Turkey for a 45-day ceasefire to allow for negotiations on a more permanent peace was under discussion.

Egypt's Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty had on Sunday confirmed he was engaging in talks with governments across the region, as well as US envoy Steve Witkoff and Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Aragchi.

"Views and proposals were exchanged on ways to deescalate the military situation in the region given the delicate juncture it is currently facing," a statement from the ministry said.

Trump told Fox News Iran was "close" to making a deal, but Iran has repeatedly denied it was engaged in any negotiations with the United States and Israel.

- 'Region going to burn' -

The war, which erupted on February 28 with US-Israeli strikes on Iran that killed supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has engulfed the Middle East and strained the global economy.

A worldwide oil squeeze was making itself felt, with Indonesia on Monday announcing an increase in an aviation fuel surcharge from 10 to 38 percent.

In an attack on Trump, Iran's parliament speaker, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, posted on social media that "our whole region is going to burn because you insist on following (Israel Prime Minister Benjamin) Netanyahu's commands."

In Tehran, many residents seemed outwardly indifferent to Trump's invective, with young Iranians exercising, flying kites and holding picnics in a large park in the city's west Sunday.

Trump is due to give details on the rescue of an airman whose fighter jet was shot down by Iran in a press conference later Monday.

Gulf nations reported a wave of fresh strikes from Sunday to Monday, with Kuwait saying six were hurt in an attack on a residential area.

The United Arab Emirates also said on Monday that its air defences were responding to a missile and drone attack, and that one person was injured in an industrial area of Abu Dhabi.

The Israeli military and medics said a missile fired from Iran hit a residential building in the northern city of Haifa.

Firefighters said two people had been killed and two more were missing under the rubble.

- 'Choose peace' -

In Iran, local media reported several attacks on residential areas over Tehran Monday, while the state broadcaster said that gas outages hit parts of the capital after a strike on a university.

Israel's army said early Monday it had completed a wave of strikes against targets in Tehran.

On another front, Lebanon has increasingly been dragged into the conflict since Iran-backed Hezbollah targeted Israel on March 2.

Israel has struck back and invaded southern Lebanon, with the army chief Lieutenant General Eyal Zamir visiting troops there Sunday and pledging to intensify strikes.

AFP journalists witnessed a new strike on Beirut's southern suburbs Monday after Israeli forces warned residents to evacuate.

burs-tgb/ser

(P.Vasilyevsky--DTZ)

Featured

Israel hits Iran gas complex after Trump threat

Israeli strikes hit Iran's largest petrochemical complex Monday, as the Islamic republic defied threats from US President Donald Trump to devastate civilian infrastructure if it does not reopen the Strait of Hormuz.

Bucha: When the Russian killers came...

Four years ago, on 31 March 2022, Ukrainian troops liberated the town of Bucha, near Kyiv, from Russian occupation. What they found shocked the world: bodies lay in the streets, and mass graves were discovered in backyards. Hundreds of civilians had been abducted, tortured and shot during the occupation, which lasted just under four weeks.Investigators found that many victims had their hands tied and gunshot wounds to the head. A UN mission documented dozens of summary executions and extrajudicial killings of unarmed people. Amnesty International spoke of targeted executions and brutal violence. These crimes are considered war crimes. Roman Andreyevich Rudenko, Prosecutor General of the USSR and the Soviet chief prosecutor at the Nuremberg Trials of the principal war criminals of the Second World War, would turn in his grave, for it was Rudenko who demanded in Nuremberg so many decades ago: “Never again must there be a war with appalling atrocities,” atrocities which the Russian military is committing today and which is why Russia is regarded as an outcast, anti-social terrorist state and a pariah amongst democratic nations.On the fourth anniversary of the liberation, Ukrainian government representatives, together with diplomats and EU foreign ministers, commemorated the victims. They emphasised that without justice, there can be no peace. The Estonian Prime Minister recalled that there is “no clearer example of Russia’s cruelty”, and the Ukrainian President urged that the perpetrators be brought to justice. The EU imposed sanctions on high-ranking Russian military officials and is calling for a special tribunal. The International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Vladimir Putin and the Russian Children’s Commissioner over the unlawful deportation of Ukrainian children.The systematic atrocities in Bucha are no exception. Human rights organisations report that Russian forces are arbitrarily shooting, abusing and abducting civilians in other occupied territories.

Iran, a Terrorist State with No Right to Exist

In the spring of 2026, shortly after American and Israeli air strikes targeted the Iranian leadership, Iranian forces blocked the Strait of Hormuz. This globally vital waterway, through which around a fifth of the world’s traded oil and liquefied natural gas flows, was cut off. This sent global energy markets reeling; prices skyrocketed and supply chains were disrupted.US President Donald Trump responded with an ultimatum. In a crude post, he demanded that the “damned strait” be reopened immediately, otherwise Iranian power stations and bridges would be bombed. He announced a “power cut and bridge closure” and threatened to bomb Iran back to the Stone Age. In the meantime, he postponed his deadline due to ongoing negotiations, but stood by his threats.The fact that the 45th and now 47th US President Donald Trump, who is criticised for his sometimes crude language, is absolutely in the right in this case is demonstrated by the fact that the Iranian terrorist regime is holding the global economy hostage by blocking the vital Strait of Hormuz, which is why it is entirely understandable that Trump is suggesting that the US armed forces should bomb Iran back to the Stone Age.

Israeli rescuers search for missing in building strike, two dead

Israeli firefighters were searching for two missing people in the rubble of a residential building in the northern city of Haifa after it was struck by an Iranian missile that killed two others, authorities said Monday.

Change text size: