Iran and the US Consider 45-Day Ceasefire Proposal to Reopen Strait of Hormuz

In a significant development late Sunday, a draft proposal emerged calling for a 45-day ceasefire between Iran and the United States, with the added goal of reopening the crucial Strait of Hormuz. This information, obtained by The Associated Press from two Middle Eastern officials who requested anonymity, underscores the international community’s efforts to de-escalate tensions in the region.

The ceasefire proposal, crafted by mediators from Egypt, Pakistan, and Turkey, aims to create a diplomatic pause long enough to foster discussions toward a more permanent peace agreement. As of yet, there has been no official response from Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi or U.S. Mideast envoy Steve Witkoff, to whom the proposal has been directed.

Meanwhile, the conflict’s intensity was underscored by the death of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard’s head of intelligence on Monday, as reported by Iranian state media. The attack was specifically targeted, highlighting the volatile situation on the ground.

Over the weekend, violence flared as strikes across Iranian cities claimed more than 25 lives between Sunday and Monday. In Israel’s city of Haifa, an Iranian attack resulted in two fatalities, with another two individuals missing amidst the debris, marking a grim turn in the ongoing hostilities.

Amid these tensions, U.S. President Donald Trump heightened his rhetoric on Sunday, threatening severe repercussions on Iran’s vital infrastructure if the Strait of Hormuz is not reopened by his stipulated deadline of Tuesday. This move places additional pressure on Iran’s government amid the escalating regional conflict.

Trump punctuated his threat with profanity in a social media post, saying Tuesday will be “Power Plant Day, and Bridge Day, all wrapped up in one, in Iran.”

The war began with joint U.S.-Israel strikes on Feb. 28 and has killed thousands, shaken global markets, cut off key shipping routes and spiked fuel prices. Both sides have threatened and hit civilian targets, bringing warnings of possible war crimes from the United Nations and international law experts.

Here is the latest:

Death toll rises in strike on Iranian residential building

The death toll in an airstrike on a Iranian residential building has risen to at least 15 people, authorities said Monday

The strike hit near Eslamshar, a city southwest of Iran’s capital Tehran.

Professor says airstrike hit Tehran’s Sharif University of Technology

An airstrike hit an information and communication technology building at Tehran’s Sharif University of Technology on Monday morning, according to Mohammed Vesal, an economics professor at the university.

Vesal, who spoke to a team from The Associated Press that had traveled to Iran from abroad to report there, said the attack disrupted online learning for the university.

All students have left the campus because of the war.

“All web services of the university are down now because of this violent attack on our infrastructure,” Vesal said. “This is a purely academic institution.”

Sharif University of Technology is considered Iran’s top engineering school.

Multiple countries over the years have sanctioned the university for its work with the military, particularly on Iran’s ballistic missile program, which is controlled by the country’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard.

Israel claims killing of Revolutionary Guard intelligence head

Israel claimed the killing of the intelligence chief of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard on Monday.

Defense Minister Israel Katz made the announcement.

“The Revolutionary Guard are shooting at civilians and we are eliminating the leaders of the terrorists,” Katz said. “Iran’s leaders live with a sense of being targeted. We will continue to hunt them down one by one.”

Katz added Israel had “severely damaged” Iran’s steel and petrochemical industries, as well.

“We will continue to crush the Iranian national infrastructure and lead to the erosion and collapse of the terrorist regime, and its capabilities to promote terror and fire at the state of Israel,” he said.

Iran Revolutionary Guard intelligence head killed

The head of intelligence for Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard was killed Monday in an attack targeting him, Iranian state media said.

Maj. Gen. Majid Khademi died in the attack, which the Guard blamed on the United States and Israel.

It did not elaborate on where Khademi was killed. However, multiple airstrikes targeted residential areas around Iran’s capital, Tehran, early Monday morning.

Khademi took over for Gen. Mohammad Kazemi, who Israel killed in the 12-day war in June.

The Guard’s intelligence organization wields vast powers within Iran and answers only to the country’s supreme leader. It often has been linked to the detention of Western nationals or those with ties abroad. It also has been accused of carrying out extraterritorial killings and attacks targeting opponents of the country’s theocracy.

Iran and US receive draft proposal for war ceasefire

Iran and the United States have received a draft proposal that calls for a 45-day ceasefire and the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz as a possible way to end the war, two Mideast officials told The Associated Press.

The proposal comes from Egyptian, Pakistani and Turkish mediators working to halt the fighting, according to two officials who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss private negotiations.

They hope the 45-day window would provide enough time for extensive talks between the countries to reach a permanent ceasefire.

Iran and the U.S. have not responded to the proposal, which was sent late Sunday night to Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and U.S. Mideast envoy Steve Witkoff, the officials said.

It remains unclear whether the sides would agree to such terms. Iran has insisted it will keep fighting until it receives financial reparations and a promise it won’t be attacked again. U.S. President Donald Trump has threatened to bomb Iranian bridges and power stations this week.

The news website Axios first reported terms of the proposal.

Iranian drone strikes UAE telecommunications building

An Iranian drone attack damaged a telecommunications building in Fujairah in the United Arab Emirates on Monday, the state-run WAM news agency reported.

The attack targeted a building of the state-funded du telecom company.

No one was injured, WAM reported, quoting officials in Fujairah.

South Korea spy agency sees no signs of North Korea supplying Iran

South Korea’s National Intelligence Service says there are no signs North Korea is providing Iran with weapons or other war-related supplies.

The spy agency’s officials told lawmakers Monday that North Korea may be taking a cautious approach to preserve the possibility of dialogue with the Trump administration, according to two lawmakers who attended the closed-door briefing.

North Korea’s Foreign Ministry has condemned the U.S.-Israeli attacks on Iran as illegal, but the NIS said Pyongyang has not sent an official condolence message over the death of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran’s late supreme leader.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in recent years has embraced the idea of a “new Cold War” and attempted to expand cooperation with countries confronting the U.S., including an economic delegation sent to Iran in April 2024.

South Korea plans to send ships and special envoys to Saudi Arabia

South Korea plans to send at least five ships to Saudi Arabia’s Yanbu port in the coming weeks to establish new oil transport routes in the Red Sea.

The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Resources said Monday the ships will be deployed in phases beginning in mid-April and the number of vessels could increase depending on contracts with Saudi partners.

Officials did not disclose the companies involved but said some domestic refiners may use non-Korean shipping firms.

South Korea also plans to send special envoys to Saudi Arabia, Oman and Algeria to step up diplomatic efforts to secure alternative fuel supplies, ruling party lawmaker Ahn Do-geol said.

The foreign ministry did not immediately reveal when the envoys would be sent.

Iran executes man over January protests

Iran has executed another man convicted over charges stemming from the nationwide protests that swept Iran in January.

The judiciary’s Mizan news agency identified the man hanged as Ali Fahim in a report Monday.

It was unclear when he was executed.

Fahim had been convicted of allegedly storming a military base to seize weapons.

Amnesty International said Fahim and others convicted in the case “were subjected to torture and other ill-treatment in detention, including beatings, floggings, prolonged solitary confinement, and death threats at gunpoint before being convicted in grossly unfair trials that relied on forced ‘confessions’ extracted under torture and lasted only a few hours.”

The Human Rights Activist News Agency had said Fahim and others had entered a Tehran base of the all-volunteer Basij militia, an arm of the Revolutionary Guard, after it had been burned, then had been forced into confessions.

Iranian missiles hit central Israel

Israel rescue services reported Monday morning several sites were hit by missiles launched from Iran toward multiple cities in the center of Israel.

In Petah Tikva, paramedics provided medical treatment to an injured woman in serious condition with a chest injury from shrapnel and evacuated her to the Beilinson Hospital.

Fire fighters in that city are handling cars on fire and continue searching to ensure there are no people trapped in the rubble.

In Tel Aviv, a man slightly injured by glass shrapnel was evacuated to the Ichilov Hospital.

Footage provided by rescue service Magen David Adom shows damage to residential buildings due to the attack.

Meanwhile, Israel’s military warned the public Monday morning of another missile barrage coming from Iran, the fourth-such alert of the day.

Iranian missiles strike several locations in Haifa

Israel’s Magen David Adom and Fire and Rescue services said early Monday that there are several reported sites of Iranian missile hits in the northern city of Haifa.

In one site, four people were slightly injured, including two children.

The missile attacks hit residential areas and a factory in the city.

The factory was hit by shrapnel from an interception.

It is unclear if all the reported hits were caused by shrapnel from interception or direct hits.

Video footage provided by Magen David Adom of the affected sites show active fire and bombed cars in what appears to be a residential area.

The missile strikes come a day after another attack from Iran also hit a Haifa residential area, killing two people and injuring others.

Two other people remain missing under the rubble caused by Sunday’s strike and their fate is still unknown.

1 person wounded in UAE after missile interception

In the United Arab Emirates’ capital of Abu Dhabi, authorities said a Ghanaian man suffered wounds from shrapnel after the interception of an Iranian missile over the city’s Musaffah neighborhood.

That’s near Al Dhafra Air Base, which hosts U.S. forces and has been repeatedly targeted by Iran in the war.