Israel strikes Iran’s South Pars gas complex ahead of Trump’s looming threat to blow up power plants – live updates

Israel has attacked Iran’s largest petrochemical facilities at the South Pars gas field, Israel’s defence minister has said.

In a statement Israel Katz said the IDF has ‘powerfully struck’ production units in the city of Asaluyeh, Bushehr province.

Several explosions were heard at Iran’s South Pars Petrochemical complex in Asaluyeh, Iran’s Fars news agency reported on Monday.

Companies that provide electricity, water and oxygen to Asaluyeh were attacked, but the Pars petrochemical company has not been damaged, Tasnim news agency reported, adding that the electricity supply to all Asaluyeh petrochemicals units had been cut.

In March, Israel attacked Iran’s main energy source, the South Pars gas field and its infrastructure at the nearby Asaluyeh processing hub, prompting Iranian attacks on energy targets across the Middle East.

The White House has confirmed there is a deal under consideration for a 45-day ceasefire with Iran, but Donald Trump has ‘not signed off’ on the proposal.

US media have reported that a proposal by mediators for a 45-day ceasefire in the Middle East war has been received by Washington.

‘This is one of many ideas, and POTUS (Trump) has not signed off on it. Operation Epic Fury continues,’ a White House official told AFP, adding that the president will speak more on the conflict at a press conference scheduled for 1:00pm UK time (5pm GMT).

Asked how the latest attack on Iran’s South Pars field would affect a ceasefire proposal, an Israeli military spokesman said ‘we’ll be quick to act’.

Nadav Shoshani said: ‘The war is ongoing as talks are going. We’ve seen Iran use a strategy of stalling and using negotiations to create time for them.

‘Iran is attacking us. We’re attacking them. If there is a ceasefire and our political echelon decides to direct us, we’ll be quick to act.’

The operator of Iran’s largest petrochemical complex said the situation was ‘under control’ after Israel bombed the facility.

The extent of the damage being assessed at the facilities at the South Pars complex in Bushehr province.

‘A fire has been brought under control. The situation is currently under control, and technical aspects, as well as the extent of the damage, are under investigation,’ state news agency IRNA cited the National Petrochemical Company as saying, adding that no injuries had been reported.

Israel claimed responsibility for the strikes on the South Pars petrochemical complex in Asaluyeh, a key site for Iran’s energy sector, both for production of petroleum by-products and for joint work with Qatar on the world’s largest natural gas field.

US forces undertook a daring military operation to rescue an Air Force colonel who hid in the crevice of a mountain after his plane was downed by enemy fire.

The unidentified airman was one of two crew members flying inside an F-15E Strike Eagle when it was struck down over a remote area of Iran.

A pilot and a weapons system officer were both flying in the F-15E with the call sign of ‘Dude 44’ when the aircraft was struck and they abandoned in parachutes.

The pilot was rescued by two military helicopters that same day, but the airman remained missing for nearly 48 hours.

The Daily Mail’s Imogen Garfinkel delves into just how far the US are prepared to go to rescue their own:

Iran’s foreign minister Abbas Araghchi has condemned the bombing of Sharif University in Tehran – one of the country’s leading scientific institutions.

Araghchi wrote on X: ‘Israeli-U.S. aggressors have bombed the MIT of Iran. This follows attacks on other universities.

1,400 years ago, Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) said that even if knowledge was situated in the distant Pleiades, Iranians would be capable of attaining it. Aggressors will see our might.’

According to reports, the facility was severely hit with extensive damage to the compound’s mosque and laboratories.

Al Jazeera has reported at least 30 universities have been struck since Operation Epic Fury was launched on February 28.

Israel’s military has said it has killed the commander of the special operations unit of Iran’s Quds Force in a strike on Tehran a day earlier.

The Quds Force is the foreign operations arm of Iran’s powerful Revolutionary Guards.

‘Yesterday, the Israeli Air Force… conducted a strike in Tehran and eliminated Asghar Bagheri, Commander of the Quds Force’s Special Operations Unit (840) since 2019,’ a military statement said.

It added that Bagheri had in recent years held a series of senior positions within the Quds Force and ‘was involved in attacks targeting Israeli and American individuals worldwide’.

US Central Command, otherwise known as CENTCOM, has released new videos of American strikes inside Iran.

CENTCOM says Iranian military capabilities ‘continue to decline’ as the US ‘relentlessly’ strikes military targets.

by Phillip Nieto, US Political Reporter

JD Vance led a frantic last-minute push Sunday night to secure a peace deal with Iranian leaders after Donald Trump threatened to rain ‘hell’ down on Tehran ahead of his looming deadline.

The late night negotiations produced a Pakistan-brokered peace plan calling for an immediate ceasefire, followed by further talks within a 15 to 20 day window, according to Reuters.

Trump threatened to ‘blow up everything’ in Iran , including civilian infrastructure, if the Islamic regime failed to strike a deal by Tuesday at 8pm ET.

But the plan negotiated is unlikely to immediately reopen the Strait of Hormuz and has yet to receive the President’s approval, per a White House official.

Pakistan ’s army chief, Field Marshal Asim Munir, coordinated the proposed peace plan through backchannel talks with Vance and Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff, while Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi represented Tehran’s interests.

Israel has targeted Iran’s largest petrochemical facility, located in Asaluyeh.

In a statement, Israeli defence minister Israel Katz said the site is ‘responsible for about 50 percent of the country’s petrochemical production’.

He later added: ‘This represents a severe economic blow amounting to tens of billions of dollars to the Iranian regime’.

Israel also carried out strikes last month on gas facilities at the South Pars Special Economic Zone in Asaluyeh.

The South Pars/North Dome mega-field – the largest known natural gas reserve in the world – is shared between Iran and Qatar.

In recent days, Israel has targeted key industrial sectors as part of the ongoing military campaign against Iran.

On Friday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israeli strikes had destroyed around 70 per cent of Iran’s steel production capacity, significantly undermining Tehran’s ability to manufacture weapons.

Striking civilian infrastructure installations during war is illegal, EU chief Antonio Costa has said in a social media post.

The warning came Donald Trump threatened to devastate civilian infrastructure in Iran if it did not reopen the Strait of Hormuz.

‘Any targeting of civilian infrastructure, namely energy facilities, is illegal and unacceptable,” Costa, the president of the European Council, said.

‘This applies to Russia’s war in Ukraine and it applies everywhere. The Iranian civilian population is the main victim of the Iranian regime. It would also be the main victim of a widening of the military campaign,’ he said.

‘The European Union urges Iran to immediately put an end to its attacks against countries in the region and to allow for the reestablishment of full freedom of navigation through the Strait of Hormuz.’

Iran has claimed it has forced the US LHA-7 into retreat

Iran’s Revolutionary Guards have claimed they have forced a US amphibious assault ship into retreat after targeting it at sea.

Iranian state media is reporting the LHA-7, also known as USS Tripoli, was pushed back into the southern Indian Ocean following a confrontation.

The Guards also targeted a container ship which they said belonged to Israel with the identifier ‘SDN7’, without disclosing its location.