Middle East crisis live: US ‘committed to finishing the job’ in Iran, Rubio says, amid fresh strikes in Tehran | US-Israel war on Iran

In the last couple of hours, Esmaeil Baghaei, spokesperson for Iran’s foreign ministry, again reiterated that Iran has not been involved in negotiations with the United States since the start of this war – and would not until US military aggression ended.

He said on X:

We have had no negotiations with America in these 31 days.

What has occurred is the submission of a negotiation request, accompanied by a set of proposals from #America, which has reached us through certain intermediaries, including Pakistan.

Our position is very clear. At present, as America’s military aggression and invasion continue with full intensity, all our efforts and capabilities are devoted to defending Iran’s essence. We have felt the previous experiences with our flesh, skin and bones, and we do not forget the betrayal that was inflicted upon diplomacy in two instances within less than a year.

Earlier, the White House press secretary, Karoline Leavitt, continued to insist that talks were talking place between Tehran and Washington.

The “remaining elements” of the Iranian regime are “increasingly eager to end the destruction and come to the negotiating table, while they still can”, she claimed.

She added that despite the Iranian regime’s “public posturing” and the news media’s “false reporting”, talks between the US and Iran are “continuing and going well”.

As Israel continues to expand its invasion of southern Lebanon, the IDF has ordered residents in another six villages to evacuate.

“To ensure your safety, we call on you to move immediately north of the town of Qaraoun (Bekaa),” Avichay Adraee, the IDF’s Arabic-language spokesperson, said in post on X directed at residents of the villages of Zalaya, Lbaya, Yahmar, Sahmar, Qalaya and Dalafi.

Any movement south “may put your lives at risk”, he added.

Israel’s assault on Beirut and southern Lebanon has displaced more than 1 million people and killed more than 1,200 – about 120 of whom were children.

France’s foreign minister, Jean-Noel Barrot, has said he has requested an emergency meeting of the UN security council on Tuesday following “the extremely serious incidents” targeting UN peacekeepers in south Lebanon that killed three Indonesian nationals and injured two others.

“Such attacks near UN peacekeeping positions are unacceptable and unjustifiable,” Barrot said, adding France is calling “for a full investigation into the circumstances of these tragedies”.

The peacekeepers from Indonesia were the first from the UN’s peacekeeping force in Lebanon, known as Unifil, to be killed as Israel says it is fighting Hezbollah. Unifil said they were killed “when an explosion of unknown origin destroyed their vehicle near Bani Hayyan”.

Indonesia’s foreign ministry said that harm towards UN peacekeepers is unacceptable, and reiterated its condemnation of Israeli attacks in southern Lebanon, calling on all parties to respect Lebanon’s sovereignty.

Earlier, the Israel Defense Forces also said it had struck 170 Iranian sites across a 24-hour period.

The targeted areas include sites Iran used to produce components for weapons and unmanned aerial vehicle engines, the IDF claimed in a statement posted to it’s Farsi language page on X, adding that it had struck key headquarters in western Iran.

This included a police station in Sanandaj and a compound belonging to the Basij militia, a volunteer branch of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, in Dehgolan.

Further to my earlier post, the IDF has now confirmed in a brief post on Telegram that it has completed a “wide-scale wave of strikes” on “the heart of Tehran”, targeting what it described as regime infrastructure.

Earlier, US secretary of state Marco Rubio told Al Jazeera the strait of Hormuz will be open “one way or the other” and said the US remains focused on its war objectives, which they aim to achieve in “weeks not months”.

That includes destroying drone capabilities, as well as Iran’s navy and air force, he said, though he added on the timeline: “I’m not going to tell you how many weeks.” ( Karoline Leavitt earlier suggested that Trump still felt the war would last for four to six weeks total, adding, “we’re on day 30, so you do the math”).

Rubio told the outlet:

We are well on our way, or ahead of schedule … Then we’ll be confronted with this issue of the strait of Hormuz, and it’ll be up to Iran to decide. If they choose to try to block the strait, then they will have to face real consequences, not just from the United States, but from regional countries and from the world.

“Now the United States is committed to finishing the job,” he went on, adding this “needed to be done now” because it could have been more dangerous in the future if Iran had built more weapons.

That was intolerable. That’s why this needed to be done.

Meanwhile, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) have said that Iranian missiles are heading towards Israel and its defensive systems are working to intercept them.

Iranian outlets are reporting on fresh explosions in some parts of Tehran tonight (the local time is almost 11pm). The BBC also reports that the strikes are happening, with three sources in west Tehran saying the strikes are heavy, and two other sources reporting strikes in the neighbouring city of Karaj.

Earlier, the United Nations announced the deaths of two more Indonesian peacekeepers in south Lebanon, where Israel says it is fighting against Hezbollah.

UN’s Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) said:

Two UNIFIL peacekeepers were tragically killed in south Lebanon today, when an explosion of unknown origin destroyed their vehicle near Bani Hayyan.

A third peacekeeper was severely injured, and a fourth was also hurt.

It follows the death of another Indonesian peacekeeper in southern Lebanon yesterday.

Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, said on Sunday that his military would expand its invasion of southern Lebanon, widening the existing so-called “buffer zone” in the country.

Karoline Leavitt is asked about Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, the head of the Catholic church in the Holy Land, who was blocked from entering the Church of the Holy Sepulchre by police which stopped him from celebrating Palm Sunday Mass. All holy sites in Jerusalem’s Old City are currently closed.

She said the US “did express our concerns with Israel, with respect to these holy sites being shut down.

“We want worshippers to be able to access these holy sites. Of course, safety is a top priority, but we understand Israel is working on those security measures to reopen the sites throughout Holy Week, and that’s something that we’re appreciative of.”

Leavitt is asked about comments made by Pope Leo on Sunday who said God ignores the prayers of leaders who wage war and have “hands full of blood”, in what was seen as an apparent rebuke to the Trump administration.

She said: “Our nation was a nation founded 250 years ago almost on Judeo-Christian values, and we’ve seen presidents, we’ve seen the leaders of the Department of War, and we’ve seen our troops go to prayer during the most turbulent times in our nation’s history.

“I don’t think there’s anything wrong with our military leaders or with the president calling on the American people to pray for our service members and those who are serving our country overseas.”

Referencing a post Trump sent out on Truth Social today where he said the US would “conclude our lovely ‘stay’ in Iran’” by “completely obliterating all of their Electric Generating Plants, Oil Wells and Kharg Island”, Leavitt is asked why the president, by striking civilian infrastructure, is threatening to carry out a potential war crime under international law.

Leavitt said the statement shows that Iran’s “best move is to make a deal”.

“The United States armed forces has capabilities beyond their wildest imagination, and the president is not afraid to use them,” she said.

She added: “Of course, this administration and the United States Armed Forces will always act within the confines of the law, but with respect to achieving the full objectives of Operation Epic Fury, president Trump is going to move forward unabated, and he expects the Iranian regime to make a deal with the administration.”

Leavitt is asked whether Donald Trump would seek approval from Congress if the US went ahead with a ground war in Iran.

She said the Trump administration would “always” abide by Congress and the “rule of law”. Leavitt said: “The president has been asked about boots on the ground or alleged ground operations various times.

“He’s obviously declined to rule them out. It’s the Pentagon’s job to provide maximum optionality to the president.”

She added it “does not mean he’s made a decision, nor would he ever notify the media of such decision as not to tip off our enemy”.

On Sunday, James Lankford, a Republican senator, appearing on NBC’s Meet the Press, was asked if the president needed congressional approval to deploy US troops in Iran. Lankford demurred, saying it was “contingent” on how they are used.

Senate Republicans have previously rejected multiple war powers resolutions aimed at limiting Trump’s ability to launch further military action against Iran without congressional approval.

Donald Trump would be interested in calling on Arab countries to pay for the cost of his war on Iran, Leavitt says, adding that she thinks the president would have more to say on the issue.

Asked whether Arab countries would step up to help pay for the war, Leavitt said she would not get ahead of the president but that Trump has had this idea.

I think it’s something the president would be quite interested in calling them to do. It’s an idea that I know that he has and something that I think you’ll hear more from him on.

Leavitt is asked what Trump is thinking about the current timeline of his war with Iran.

She says he has said from the start that the operation in Iran will last about four to six weeks in total.

“We’re on day 30,” she says. “So, you do the math on how much longer the Pentagon needs to fully achieve the objectives of Operation Epic Fury.”

Earlier, Donald Trump said he was in discussions with a “new and more reasonable regime” in Tehran.

Asked how confident the US is that the people they’re talking to are legitimate and actually in charge, Leavitt says that “anything they say to us privately will be tested”.

We will ensure that they are being held accountable to their word, and if they are not the president has laid out the military consequences that the Iranian regime will see.

She adds that the people they’re speaking to seem “more reasonable behind the scenes” than previous leaders.