Strait of Hormuz stays sticking point as ceasefire remains elusive

• Trump warns power plants, bridges to be attacked on Tuesday, hopeful for Hormuz deal; Iran wants world to ‘act now’ to prevent ‘war crime’

• Iranian official says Hormuz strait will be opened only after payment of war damages

• China, Russia call for ceasefire; Lavrov tells Washington to abandon ‘language of ultimatums’

• IRGC bombs petrochemical facility in Israel as US strikes target Ahvaz airport

WASHINGTON: The US-Israel war with Iran raged on Sunday amid no signs of a ceasefire despite threats by US President Donald Trump, who warned that the US would target power plants and bridges in the besieged country if the Strait of Hormuz was not opened up by Monday.

Iran said the statement, which was also denounced in the US, made by the US president was a “clear evidence of intent to commit war crime” and asked the inte­rnational community to prevent this atrocious act from happening.

For almost six weeks, the US and Israeli jets have bombed the length and breadth of Iran, targeting civilian and military infrastructure, even though reported negotiations to end the conflict were also taking place.

After his expletives-laden tweet in which he told Iranians to open up the maritime route else they would be “living in hell”, the US president claimed that talks with Tehran were underway and he believed there was “a good cha­nce” of making a deal with Iran on Monday. “I think there is a good chance tomorrow, they are negotiating now,” the president told a Fox News journalist. “If they don’t make a deal and fast, I’m considering blowing everything up and taking over the oil,” he added.


It’s war crime, Tehran tells UN

Tehran took strong exception to these threats. The Iranian mission to the UN said the US president was threatening “to destroy infrastructure essential to civilian survival” in the country.

“If the conscience of the United Nations were alive, it would not remain silent in the face of the overt and shameless threat by the war-mongering President of the United States to target civilian infrastructure. Trump seeks to drag the region into an endless war,” the mission said on X.

“This is direct and public incitement to terrorise civilians and clear evidence of intent to commit [a] war crime,” it said. “The international community and all states have legal obligations to prevent such atrocious acts of war crimes. They must act now. Tomorrow is too late.”

Strait of Hormuz

Meanwhile, Seyyed Mehdi Tabatabaei, deputy for communications at the Iranian president’s office, said Iran would open the Strait of Hormuz only after receiving compensation for war damages, paid via a “new legal regime” based on transit fees.

Separately, Oman and Iran held talks on easing passage through the Strait of Hormuz, the Omani state news agency reported Sunday. “Oman and the Islamic Republic of Iran held a meeting at the deputy ministers’ level in the foreign ministries of the two countries, with the attendance of specialists from both sides, during which the possible options were discussed regarding ensuring the smooth passage through the Strait of Hormuz,” the news agency posted on X.

“The experts from both sides put forward a number of visions and proposals regarding it,” it added. On Thursday, Tehran said it was drafting a peacetime protocol that would supervise maritime traffic through the Strait of Hormuz with Oman, state media reported.

‘Navigation linked to ceasefire’

As both sides stick to their guns, world leaders continue to make efforts to end the stalemate.

China’s top diplomat Wang Yi told Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in a phone call that “China and Russia should uphold fairness on major issues of principle”, state news agency Xinhua said, noting that the call came at Mr Lavrov’s request.

Mr Wang said, “The situation in the Middle East is still deteriorating and fighting is escalating”. Calling for an “immediate ceasefire”, he said China was willing to continue cooperating with Russia in the UN Security Council, communicating promptly on major issues and making efforts to de-escalate the situation and maintain regional peace and stability and global security.

He said, “The fundamental way to resolve navigation issues” in the Strait of Hormuz was to reach a ceasefire.

Russia against language of threats

Mr Lavrov said Washington should abandon “the language of ultimatums” and return to negotiations. “The Russian side expressed hope that the efforts undertaken by a number of states to de-escalate tensions around Iran will be successful,” said a Moscow read-out of his conversation with Iran’s Araghchi, reported AFP.

It may be noted that mediation efforts facilitated by Pakistan reportedly hit a stonewall after no response to a peace proposal, either from the US or Iran.

Pope tells warmongers to choose peace

Pope Leo XIV also urged “those who have the power to unleash wars” to “choose peace”, in his first Easter blessing. “We are growing accustomed to violence, resigning ourselves to it, and becoming indifferent. Indifferent to the deaths of thousands of people,” he told a crowd in St Peter’s Square.

Zelensky, Fidan meet in Syria

Meanwhile, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky arrived in Damascus alongside Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan, with a senior official saying the former was scheduled to meet Syrian leader Ahmed al-Sharaa.

Mr Zelensky announced in a Facebook post that he had arrived in the Syrian capital, saying “important meetings lie ahead”. “Every nation and every region deserves a peaceful life,” he added. The senior official with knowledge of the visit said “cooperation between countries” and the “security situation in the region” were on the agenda.

Iran’s responds to attacks

As the US reportedly rescued its crew a day after the F-15 jet was downed, Iran claimed that it destroyed two C-130 aircraft and two US Black Hawk helicopters in southern Isfahan province, as they were taking part in the rescue operation.

Furthermore, Iran’s Tasnim news agency reported that the forces targeted petrochemical industries near Dimona in southern Israel, reported Al Jazeera. Dimona was also home to Israel’s main nuclear facility. An Iranian strike in Haifa injured four people, including one critical. The Times of Israel report, quoted by Al Jazeera, said a residential building had been heavily damaged in the city.

An Iranian drone attack sparked a fire at a storage tank belonging to Bahrain’s state energy firm, the company said in a statement, as per AFP. The blaze had been “fully extinguished” and no injuries were reported, Bapco Energies said, adding that the damage was still being assessed.

Authorities in Abu Dhabi said they were battling fires at a petrochemical facility caused by falling debris. The emirate’s media office said work at the plant had been suspended to allow the damage to be assessed, but there were no reports of injuries.

The UAE’s defence ministry said its air defences were responding to missile and drone attacks after Iran said it was targeting “aluminium industries”. Two Kuwaiti power and water desalination plants were damaged by a drone attack from Iran, the electricity and water ministry said. The attack caused “the shutdown of two electricity generating units” but there were no reports of casualties, the ministry said.

Five IRGC men killed

On the other hand, five members of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards were killed as well as a brigadier general in separate attacks. US-Israeli strikes killed five fighters with Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps in the northwestern Ardabil province, the official IRNA news agency quoted the Guards as saying, while Mehr news agency reported that Brigadier General Masoud Zare, commander of the Iranian Army’s Air Defence College, was killed in a US-Israeli attack on Iranian territory.

Iran’s semi-official Tasnim news agency also reported that the international airport in the southwestern city of Ahvaz was attacked by the US and Israel.

An ambulance of the Iranian Red Crescent Society was hit early Sunday morning when it was dispatched on a rescue operation in the Komher area. There were no casualties, it said, as the crew abandoned the ambulance as soon as it noticed an approaching fighter jet, reported Al Jazeera.

Published in Dawn, April 6th, 2026

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