When asked about the apparent incongruency between his repeated claims that Iran had no anti-aircraft equipment and the downing of two U.S. jets, President Donald Trump said Iran “got a little bit lucky.”
“You know what? When you do thousands and thousands of flights and you have one plane shot down and not mortally, the two pilots got out, they got a little bit lucky,” Trump said.
The president was pressed on why the U.S. remains at war when he has repeatedly said Iran has been “obliterated.” While continuing to claim that Iran is unable to fight back, Trump also said they have “some” missiles and drones left.
“It’s a big country. They can’t fight back. They have no capability. I mean, they’ll have — they have some missiles left. They have some drones left, but essentially they have no capability,” he said. “They had a lucky shot with an airplane, but we got them back out.”
President Donald Trump said at the White House Easter Egg Roll on Monday that Americans against the war with Iran are “foolish,” saying the conflict is “about one thing: Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon.”
“We are obliterating their country. And I hate to do it, but we’re obliterating,” he said.
Trump said if he had his “choice,” he’d “take the oil.”
“Because it’s there for the taking — there’s not a thing they can do about it,” Trump said. “Unfortunately, the American people would like to see us come home. If it were up to me, I’d take the oil, I’d keep the oil, I’d make plenty of money. And I’d also take care of the people of Iran.”
“If it were up to me I’d like to keep the oil, I just don’t think the people of the United States would really understand,” he added.
Reported 45-day ceasefire ‘one of many ideas,’ White House official says
Asked about reports of a draft proposal that includes a 45-day ceasefire and reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, a White House official told ABC News on Monday, “This is one of many ideas, and POTUS has not signed off on it. Operation Epic Fury continues. President Trump will speak more at 1 p.m.”
A U.S. official and another source familiar with the negotiations told ABC News later on Monday that the draft of the deal on the table calls for a 45-day ceasefire, during which a permanent end to the war could be negotiated.
While the White House has already said that President Donald Trump has not committed to anything, the administration’s key demands call for Iran to give up what the regime views as its main points of leverage: control over the Strait of Hormuz and its stockpile of highly enriched uranium. So far, Iran has shown little to no flexibility on those terms, both sources said.
The sources added that mediators are attempting to see if confidence-building measures might bring both sides closer to an agreement, but they are working on a very tight timeframe as Trump’s Tuesday deadline approaches.
Mediators have floated the idea that perhaps access to the Strait of Hormuz and the elimination of Iran’s uranium stockpile could be fully resolved after ceasefire is reached. The U.S. official said it appeared highly unlikely the Trump administration could be convinced to accept those terms — particularly concerning the Strait of Hormuz.
Iran has signaled that it will not accept the mediators’ proposal as it stands, and submitted its own 10-point plan in response to the draft ceasefire agreement. U.S. officials describe Iran’s counteroffer as maximalist and not constructive to negotiations.
Israel strikes Tehran-area airports
The Israeli military says it attacked three airports in the Tehran area on Monday in a “large-scale wave of strikes aimed at degrading the Iranian Air Force.”
244 children among more than 3,500 killed in Iran
At least 3,546 people — including 244 children– have been killed in Iran since the war began, according to the U.S.-based Human Rights Activists News Agency.
At least 1,219 military personnel are included in the death toll, HRANA said.
Iran, Oman hold talks on ‘procedure’ for vessels’ safe passage through Strait of Hormuz: Iran’s foreign ministry
Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei said that Iran has been engaging in talks with Oman on examining “a procedure for the safe passage of vessels through the Strait of Hormuz.”
Baqaei said the talks with Oman have been held at the level of deputy foreign ministers.
“We think these talks will continue until coming to a conclusion,” he added.
Referring to President Donald Trump’s deadline threat, Baqaei said Iranians will not be “subjugated” by deadlines in defending their country.
Trump threatened to target Iran’s power plants and bridges unless the regime opens the Strait of Hormuz by Tuesday night.
Israel confirms attacks on Iranian petrochemical plants
Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said Monday that Israel launched attacks on Iran’s southern petrochemical infrastructure in the Persian Gulf port city of Asaluyeh.
“Two facilities, which together are responsible for about 85% of Iran’s petrochemical exports, have been taken out of service and are not functioning,” Katz said.
Iran’s semi-official Tasnim News Agency reported that the Mobin and Damavand companies — which supply electricity, water and oxygen to Asaluyeh’s petrochemical facilities — were hit.
The deputy governor of the southwestern Bushehr province told the state-run IRNA agency that no casualties had been reported from the attack.
Asaluyeh’s facilities were previously targeted in U.S.-Israeli attacks last month.
2 paramedics killed by Israeli strike in Lebanon, ministry says
Two paramedics were killed and a third was injured in an Israeli attack on an ambulance on Sunday night in southern Lebanon, according to the Lebanese Ministry of Public Health.
At least 54 healthcare workers have been killed in Israeli strikes since the war began, while 71 healthcare vehicles have been targeted, according to the ministry.
Israel claims Hezbollah is using ambulances for military purposes.
6 people injured amid attacks on Kuwait, health ministry says
Six people were injured in the northwest of Kuwait by “projectiles and shrapnel falling in a residential area” amid ongoing Iranian attacks, the Kuwait Health Ministry said on Monday.
A spokesperson for the Iranian military said on Monday morning that Iran had targeted U.S. military forces in Bubiyan, in northwest Kuwait.
Iran won’t accept ceasefire without guarantees, Pakistani official says
Iran will not accept a ceasefire without “suitable guarantees,” a Pakistani security official told ABC News on Monday.
“Any process for a ceasefire without suitable guarantees and assurances would be unacceptable to Iran,” the official said, responding to reports that mediators are pushing for a ceasefire to halt the U.S.-Israel war against Iran.
US 15-point peace plan ‘not acceptable,’ Iranian official says
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei said on Monday that a 15-point peace plan proposed by the U.S. to end the current conflict is unacceptable to Tehran.
Answering a question from the state-run news agency IRNA about reports of a new ceasefire plan during his weekly presser, Baghaei said, “A few days ago, they put forward proposals through intermediaries, and the 15-point U.S. plan was reflected through Pakistan and some other friendly countries.”
“Right then we stated that such proposals are both extremely ambitious, unusual and illogical and not acceptable to us in any way,” he said.
“Regardless of that proposal, we prepared the set of demands that we had and have based on our own interests and our own considerations,” Baghaei said.
IRGC Navy says Strait of Hormuz will ‘never return to its former state’
The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Naval Command said in a post to X overnight that the Strait of Hormuz “will never return to its former state, especially for America and Israel.”
“The navy of the IRGC is in the process of completing the operational preparations for the announced plan of Iran’s officials for the new order in the Persian Gulf,” the statement said.
IRGC says intelligence chief Majid Khademi killed
The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ chief of intelligence, Majid Khademi, was killed in an attack overnight, the IRGC’s public relations arm confirmed in a statement on Monday.
The IRGC statement blamed the “American-Israeli enemy” for Khademi’s killing.
Khademi had been recently appointed to the role, replacing the previous intelligence chief — Mohammad Kazemi — who was killed in an Israeli attack in June during the 12-day war.
Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said in a statement on Monday that Israel was responsible for the assassination. Khademi, Katz said, was “directly responsible” for “war crimes and one of the three most senior figures” in the IRGC.
IDF announces new strikes on Beirut
The Israel Defense Forces on Monday announced in a post to X a new wave of strikes targeting what it claimed were Hezbollah targets in the Lebanese capital Beirut.
2 bodies recovered in Haifa after missile strike
Two bodies were pulled out of a residential building that was hit by an Iranian ballistic missile in Haifa on Sunday, Israel Fire and Rescue said on Monday.
According to emergency responders, rescuers are still looking for two more missing people in the building.
Rep. Ansari condemns Sharif University airstrikes
Iranian-American Rep. Yassamin Ansari, D-Ariz., denounced the reported overnight bombing of Tehran’s Sharif University in a post to X on Monday.
“Sharif University is Iran’s MIT. They’ve produced a huge number of engineers who’ve gone on to Silicon Valley and founded some of the most successful American tech companies,” Ansari wrote in her post. “Why are we bombing a university in a city of 10 million people?”
Sharif University is a leading public research institution and widely regarded as Iran’s top university for science, engineering and technology.
Masoud Tajrishi, the university’s president, condemned the attack in a video message sent from the scene of the incident, standing next to a pile of rubble outside a damaged building.
Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, UAE report fresh attacks
Attacks on U.S.-aligned Gulf nations continued on Monday.
The Abu Dhabi Media Office in the United Arab Emirates reported that one person was injured by falling debris at the “Raneen Systems company in ICAD in the Musaffah area, following a successful interception by air defence systems.”
The Saudi Defense Ministry said in a post to X that its air defenses intercepted at least two drones on Monday morning.
The Kuwait Army General Staff Head Quarters said in a Monday morning post to X that its air defenses were “confronting hostile missile and drone attacks.”
Casualties reported from missile strikes in Israel
Israel’s Magen David Adom emergency service said in a post to X on Monday that at least four people were hospitalized for smoke inhalation after a missile impacted in the northern Israeli city of Haifa.
The MDA also reported an impact in Tel Aviv, where it said it was treating a man who suffered glass shrapnel injuries. A woman also suffered serious shrapnel injuries in Petah Tikva to the east of Tel Aviv, MDA said.
