LIVE: Nato shoots down Iranian missile after it crosses into Turkey

Donald Trump has threatened to blow up Iran’s oil wells and desalination plants unless a deal can be reached to end the war and reopen the Strait of Hormuz.

Writing on his Truth Social platform, the President said the US is in ‘serious discussions’ with a ‘more reasonable regime’ to end the war but said he will take action unless an agreement is made

‘Great progress has been made but, if for any reason a deal is not shortly reached, which it probably will be, and if the Hormuz Strait is not immediately “Open for Business,” we will conclude our lovely “stay” in Iran by blowing up and completely obliterating all of their Electric Generating Plants, Oil Wells and Kharg Island (and possibly all desalinization plants!), which we have purposefully not yet “touched,”’ Trump penned.

Here are the latest developments as the US-Israel war with Iran enters its fifth week:

• Donald Trump has threatened to blow up Iran’s power plants, oil wells, desalination plants and Kharg Island unless the Strait of Hormuz is reopened
• His latest remarks come hours after he told The Financial Times he could ‘take Iran’s oil’ and added Kharg Island could be overtaken ‘very easily’
• A power station worker in Kuwait was killed following a missile strike which caused significant damage at the energy site
• An Israeli oil refinery has caught fire after a missile strike
• Iran’s Revolutionary Guards confirm the death of navy commander Alireza Tangsiri after he was targeted in an Israeli airstrike last week
• Iran has restored electricity across Tehran and nearby areas after strikes damaged power grids and briefly disrupted supply, the deputy energy minister said
• Indonesia has confirmed that one of its peacekeepers was killed in Lebanon where Israel is fighting Iran-backed Hezbollah
• Attacks are continuing on Gulf states as Saudi Arabia intercepts five ballistic missiles while air defences have also been operating in Dubai
• Pakistan has said it is ready to broker and host ‘meaningful talks’ between the US and and Iran to bring an end to the war
• A teenager has become the sixth Israeli soldier killed in southern Lebanon since fighting broke out with Hezbollah on March 2

Stick with us as we bring you the latest developments throughout the day.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Monday that it’s an ‘ongoing process’ for the US to ensure that the officials they’re negotiating with in Iran are actually in power and able to implement any deal.

Leavitt did not detail who the US is speaking with.

‘Anything that they say to us privately will be tested, and we will ensure that they are being held accountable to their word,’ Leavitt said.

The Secretary of State says most of the United States’ military objectives in Iran will be wrapped up in the coming weeks and not months.

‘We are well on our way to destroying the majority of their arms factories, and we’re well on our way to significantly degrading their missile launchers,’ Rubio told Al Jazeera.

‘When those objectives are achieved, we will have achieved the purpose of this operation, and that’s something that’s not going to take months. That’s a matter of weeks. I’m not going to tell you exactly how many weeks.’

Jean-Pierre Lacroix, the United Nations’ peacekeeping chief, told reporters Monday that the world body condemns the ‘unacceptable incidents’ that killed three Indonesian peacekeepers in southern Lebanon.

The peacekeeping mission known as UNIFIL did not say who was responsible for the deaths overnight and into Monday.

‘Peacekeepers must never be targeted,’ Lacroix said. ‘UNIFIL is investigating these incidents to determine the circumstances.’

Additionally, Lacroix was asked if he would describe Israel’s ongoing operations in southern Lebanon as an ‘invasion,’ he said that, given Israeli military statements and actions, ‘it certainly looks like we might end up with, I would call it, an expanded buffer zone in southern Lebanon.’

He added: ‘Now what width, what breadth, what size, what all of this, of course, is very difficult to assess.’

The US Secretary of State says the war on Iran was launched to protect the Middle East from turmoil and danger.

‘Imagine five years from now, or three years from now, when they had more missiles, more drones, what they would have been willing to do to their neighbours and to us, that was intolerable. That’s why this needed to be done,’ Rubio told Al Jazeera.

‘Now the United States is committed to finishing the job. We’re working very closely with all of our allies… These are strong, stable countries in the region.

‘These are our allies. These are our friends, and we’re going to continue to be there and support them as they face this onslaught.’

Asked by Al Jazeera about his thoughts on Iran’s new Supreme Leader Khamenei, Marco Rubio says his status remains unclear.

‘We don’t even know he’s in power. I know they say he’s in power. No one has seen him. No one has heard from him is very opaque right now. It’s not quite clear how decisions are being made inside of Iran,’ Rubio said.

The president confirmed the talks with Speaker Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf in an interview with the New York Post published on Monday, as Trump pressures Iran’s government to reach a deal to end the monthlong war.

He told the publication that he’ll ‘let you know that in about a week’ when asked whether the speaker was someone that the US could work with.

Qalibaf, a 64-year-old pilot and former Revolutionary Guard commander, has denied there have been discussions with the US amid reports that he was floated as Washington’s negotiating partner.

Two more United Nations peacekeepers in southern Lebanon were killed Monday, the UN peacekeeping mission in Lebanon known as UNIFIL said.

An explosion of ‘unknown origin’ destroyed their vehicle near the village of Bani Hayyan and also wounded two peacekeepers, one severely.

All three peacekeepers who were killed were from the Indonesian army, said Jean-Pierre Lacroix, under-secretary-general for peace operations.

The first was killed when a base was hit by a projectile, UNIFIL said.

Spokesperson Kandice Ardiel earlier said two of the wounded peacekeepers could not be immediately accessed due to ‘lack of security guarantees’ following the explosion.

It took coordination between Lebanese and Israeli authorities for them to securely reach them and take them for treatment, she added in a post on X, formerly Twitter.

‘On Monday 30 March, Nato again successfully intercepted an Iranian ballistic missile heading to’ Turkey, alliance spokeswoman Allison Hart said, following an earlier announcement by the Turkish defence ministry.

‘Nato is prepared for such threats and will always do what is necessary to defend all allies,’ she added.

Spain’s defense minister says the country has closed its airspace to US planes involved in the Iran war.

Spain had already said the US couldn’t use jointly operated military bases in the country for operations related to the conflict.

Defense Minister Margarita Robles said Monday that the same logic applied to the use of Spanish airspace in the conflict.

Spain’s government under Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez has been Europe’s most critical voice of US and Israeli military actions in the Middle East.

The summons was to protest attacks by militant groups operating from Iraqi territory, Kuwait’s Foreign Ministry said on X, demanding Baghdad take steps to stop them.

Kuwait said it has the right to respond to threats against its security and sovereignty.

Iraq has struggled to rein in Iran-backed Iraqi militias that have launched attacks throughout the war. In a letter last week, Kuwait and other Arab states urged Baghdad to prevent such groups from operating in Iraqi territory.

Iraq’s Foreign Ministry has said it is addressing ‘security challenges’ and rejects allowing its territory to be used to attack others, without directly addressing the allegations.