Ben Rhodes, former Deputy National Security Advisor of the United States under President Obama, says Trump's approach to the Iran war "increasingly feels like one man in one room making decisions".

A little earlier he told BBC Radio 4's Today programme that Trump doesn't seem to be relying on political and military advisers, and is not following the "normal process".

Rhodes says the US president is threatening to commit war crimes, following his latest warning to Iran's civilian infrastructure.

"We're going to find out whether US military is ready to say no to Trump," he adds.

Trump has to accept this war will only end over the negotiating table, Rhodes says, adding that though Iran has been weakened by strikes they have, in some ways, been strengthened by demonstrating - through the Strait of Hormuz - the strangle-hold they can have on the global economy.

Lyse Doucet
Chief international correspondent

Image source, EPA/Shutterstock

It's tempting to ignore President Trump’s bellicose expletive-laden rhetoric. But it’s too dangerous to be ignored.

If Trump carries out his threats to "leave not one bridge or power plant standing," Israel will also intensify its attacks on infrastructure and Iran has threatened to retaliate against Gulf states.

Frantic, last ditch diplomacy is accelerating as Trump’s Tuesday deadline nears.

The Reuters news agency is reporting, based on unnamed sources, that mediators are working on a new plan - with Pakistan playing a major role - to bring the US back from this dangerous brink.

The Axios news website also carried news of efforts to reach a ceasefire and the move to a permanent end to this war.

Iran’s response to this reported plan isn’t clear – it’s repeatedly made it clear it won’t submit to Trump’s language of surrender and his terms for a deal which have amounted to diktats.

But will it be enough for Trump to back down, as he did in late March, to give the plan, and the president, more time?

Ghoncheh Habibiazad
Senior reporter, BBC Persian

Image source, Anadolu via Getty Images

More now on the death of Iran's intelligence chief, with Israel's Defence Minister Israel Katz and the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) claiming responsibility for the killing of Majid Khademi.

The IDF has written on Telegram that his killing is "another severe blow" to the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).

When it comes to Iran acknowledging the deaths of its senior commanders in the recent war, most examples involve Iran confirming their deaths only after Israel or the US has claimed responsibility. However, this time Iran announced it earlier.

Khademi was appointed as the commander of the IRGC intelligence organisation four days after his predecessor, Mohammad Kazemi, was killed in an Israeli attack on 15 June 2025.

Back in August last year, Khademi urged parliament to prioritise the completion of a domestic intranet, saying it was needed to “safeguard the sovereignty” of Iran's cyberspace.

Iran is currently still under an internet blackout since the war began on 28 February, although some domestic websites and apps remain accessible within the country.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) has issued a warning to residents in the southern suburbs of the Lebanese capital Beirut.

IDF spokesman for Arab media Avichay Adraee says Israel is continuing operations and strikes in various parts of the southern suburbs.

It comes after at least 11 people were killed across Lebanon on Sunday.

Lebanese authorities say 1,461 people have been killed in Israeli strikes since 2 March.

Image source, Reuters

Ghoncheh Habibiazad
Senior reporter, BBC Persian

Image source, Iranian state media

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) has announced in a statement published by Iranian news outlets that their intelligence chief, Majid Khademi, has been killed.

The statement says he was killed this morning and has accused Israel and the US of targeting him.

I’ve reached out to the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) and they say they’ll “look into” the report.

Khademi had replaced Mohammad Kazemi, who was also killed in an Israeli attack on 15 June 2025 during the 12-day Iran-Israel war.

Back in February, following deadly anti-government protests in January, Khademi had accused US President Donald Trump of fuelling what Iranian officials have described as a "staged murder" strategy, aimed at increasing casualties to justify foreign military intervention.

Khademi had claimed during that time that more than 10 foreign intelligence services, including Israel's cyber warfare and intelligence unit 8200, played a role in the protests that swept across Iran. According to the US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency, at least 7,000 people were killed in the January crackdown.

Iran's first vice-president calls the strike on the Sharif University of Technology "a symbol of Trump's madness and ignorance". The US has not taken responsibility for the attack.

The strike appears to have damaged parts of the university, including its technology centre building and the school's mosque, BBC Persian reports. The attack also has caused a gas outage in parts of Tehran.

Dr Mohammad Reza Aref says the US president "fails to understand that Iran's knowledge is not embedded in concrete to be destroyed by bombs; the true fortress is the will of our professors and elites".

"This fortress will not crumble," he adds.

A number of universities in Iran have been hit since the start of the war, including Tehran University of Science and Technology and Shahid Beheshti University.

Image source, AFP via Getty Images

Since our last update, alarms have sounded once again in countries across the Middle East. Here's a quick update on the attacks recorded so far on Monday.

Iran: Thirteen people have been killed by a US-Israeli strike on a residential area in the Tehran province, says IRGC-affiliated Fars news agency. The outlet said that six of those killed overnight in the area were children.

A strike has damaged several buildings at Sharif University in Tehran. Several Iranian media outlets now say gas supply has been restored, having been disrupted by the attack.

Israel: Emergency services report several injuries after strikes on the country overnight. A man and woman in their forties and two girls aged five were treated for smoke inhalation in Haifa. Two were injured in central Israel, including a 34-year-old with serious shrapnel injuries.

The Israeli military later said it was working to intercept missiles launched from Iran. Shortly after, it announced it was safe to leave protected spaces across the country.

United Arab Emirates: Falling debris on Raneen Systems, a technology company, has injured a Ghanaian national in Abu Dhabi's industrial zone, says the Abu Dhabi media office.

Authorities say they are dealing with an Iranian drone attack on one of the country's two main telecoms operators, Du, in the east of the UAE. No injuries have been reported from the attack, they add.

Saudi Arabia: A Ministry of Defence spokesperson says the country has intercepted and destroyed two drones in the last few hours.

Meanwhile in Lebanon, people have been inspecting the damage after more Israeli air strikes on Sunday (see picture below). The attacks killed at least 11 people across the country yesterday. Lebanese authorities say 1,461 people have been killed in Israeli strikes since 2 March.

Image source, Getty Images

Iran's deputy foreign minister says Trump's threats on Iranian civilian infrastructure "constitute war crimes" and a "flagrant violation of Article 2(4) of the United Nations Charter".

The article prohibits members of the UN from using or threatening force, external against the territorial integrity of any state.

Kazem Gharibabadi adds that Iran will deliver "a decisive, immediate, and regret-inducing response to any aggression or imminent threat".

Our correspondent Tom Bateman spoke to Luis Moreno Ocampo, founding chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC), last month.

"Intentionally directing attacks at civilian objects... which are not military objectives," is a war crime, Moreno Ocampo said.

Image source, Getty Images

Ghoncheh Habibiazad
Senior reporter, BBC Persian

Image source, Getty Images

I spoke yesterday with residents in Iran's capital Tehran and the nearby city of Karaj who tell me of their fears for the future after US President Donald Trump issues new threats on infrastructure.

"It feels like we’re sinking deeper into a swamp. What can we do as ordinary people? We can’t do anything. We can’t stop him," one man in his 20s tells me.

Trump has threatened to hit the country's civilian infrastructure and says Iranians will be "living in hell" unless the Strait of Hormuz is reopened.

Some in Iran have been stockpiling resources. One woman in her 20s tells me her mum "is filling every bottle she can find in the house with water", while another woman whose family only has enough supplies for a few days says: "Without electricity, nothing will be possible. Nothing at all. I just hope he won’t hit Iran too hard."

A man in Tehran whose family have also been stockpiling is concerned that, if Trump attacks Iran's infrastructure, "these efforts are pointless".

Another Iranian man, in his 30s, tells me he doesn't see a bright future for the Iranian people. "With all these attacks, Iran won't be a place we can live in anymore. It’s going to be impossible to go back to how things were before the war."

Ghoncheh Habibiazad
Senior reporter, BBC Persian

Iran's Fars news agency, which is affiliated to the country's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), said earlier that 15 ships passed through the Strait of Hormuz "with permission from Iran" in the previous 24-hour period.

It added that traffic was still 90% lower than before the start of the war.

Some Iranian officials, including Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, have repeatedly said that the vital shipping lane is not shut, but it is closed only to "enemy countries".

For example, yesterday Iran announced Iraq is exempt from any restrictions it is imposing, according to the spokesman for Iran's Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters.

Meanwhile, Iranian officials and lawmakers have also raised the possibility of tolling vessels using the strait.

Earlier an aide at Iran’s President’s Office, says the Strait of Hormuz "will be reopened" when "a portion of transit tolls is used to compensate for all the damage caused" by the war.

Ceasefire needed for meaningful progress in talks, insider tells BBCpublished at 06:41 BST 6 April

06:41 BST 6 April

Tom Bateman
US State Department correspondent

Meaningful progress is unlikely to take place in negotiations between the US and Iran without a ceasefire first, a regional official familiar with the discussions tells me.

"For any discussion, there needs to be a cessation of hostilities. It needs cessation, because it is not there as we speak... Ceasefire may be a precondition," says the official briefed on the discussions who spoke to the BBC on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the talks.

The source described mediated contact between the US and Iran, which has moved steadily for over a fortnight, much of the content of which remained secret.

But talks have been challenging due to difficulty getting messages to and from officials in Iran amid the ongoing war and communications blackout.

"To convey messages to Iran, getting a response in reasonable time is not possible. The average time of response has been a day or so," the official tells me.

Trump told the news website Axios on Sunday that his envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner were holding "intense negotiations" with the Iranians but did not give further details, only saying that if a deal wasn't made to re-open the Strait of Hormuz he was "blowing up everything".

Iran’s senior presidential aide Medhi Tabatabai said on Sunday the Strait of Hormuz would reopen only under a "new legal regime" in which Iran would use revenue from transit fees as reparations for the damage inflicted by the US-Israeli war.

Pakistan, Turkey and Egypt have all been involved in efforts to mediate. The three countries’ foreign ministers reportedly held phone calls with both Witkoff and Iranian foreign minister Abbas Araghchi on Saturday.

Simi Jolaoso
North America correspondent

President Trump has dialled up the rhetoric in his latest social media post reminding Iran of his deadline to reopen the Strait of Hormuz.

You can sense the frustration, and it makes for uncomfortable reading.

Even though US media has reported that Donald Trump said on Sunday the two sides are “deep in negotiations”, it’s important to bear in mind the reality on the ground.

More marines, paratroopers and warships have been deployed to the Middle East over the past few days.

The last time the Trump administration said it was in talks with Iran, it struck the country - starting this war.

This is also the second reminder Trump has given this weekend, threatening to target Iranian civilian infrastructure. It is important to not underestimate him making good on his threat.

Image source, Reuters

Abu Dhabi authorities are responding to falling debris after its air defence systems made a "successful interception", says the Abu Dhabi Media Office.

A Ghanaian national was injured as debris fell on the Raneen Systems company in the Musaffah industrial area of the city, it says.

On Sunday, the UAE Ministry of Defence said it intercepted 50 Iranian drones, one cruise missile, and nine ballistic missiles from Iran.

That takes the totals to 2,191 drones, 24 cruise missiles, and 507 ballistic missiles since the start of the war.

The Sharif University of Technology has been hit by a strike, causing a gas outage in parts of Tehran.

BBC Persian reports that parts of the university, including its technology centre building and the school's mosque, appear to have been damaged. Images online this morning show thick smoke rising from areas in Iran's capital city.

Elsewhere in the capital city, an airstrike on a residential building has killed 13 people.

The mayor of the district that includes the university, said gas was being temporarily cut due to the attack.

A number of universities in Iran have been hit since the start of the war, including Tehran University of Science and Technology and Shahid Beheshti University.

Osmond Chia
Business reporter

Oil prices hit $110 (£83.38) a barrel after President Donald Trump's expletive-laden threat against Iran on social media.

The price of Brent rose initially by 1.6% to $110.85, before retreating slightly during morning trade in Asia.

US-traded crude gained slightly by 0.3% to $111.80.

The initial jump came after Trump put more pressure on Tehran by threatening to strike Iran's bridges and power plants if Iran did not back down on its threat against ships that try to cross the critical Strait of Hormuz trade waterway.

Major Asian stock markets also edged higher. Japan's Nikkei 225 exchange rose by 1.6% while South Korea's Kospi index gained by 0.9%.

Read more here.

Image source, Getty Images

Iran has warned of "much more devastating" retaliation if the US and Israel were to strike civilian targets, state media has reported.

"If attacks on civilian targets are repeated, the next stages of our offensive and retaliatory operations will be much more devastating and widespread," reads a statement from a spokesman for the Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters - Iran's highest operational military command unit. The statement was published by the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB).

It comes after the US president threatened attacks on Iranian power plants and bridges if Iran fails to meet his Tuesday deadline to reopen the Strait of Hormuz.

Image source, Getty Images

Israeli strikes on Lebanon on Sunday have killed at least 15 people and wounded 39 others, AFP reports citing the Lebanese health ministry.

At least five people were killed in a strike on Beirut, while three were killed in an attack on an apartment building in Ain Saadeh, east of Beirut, officials said.

A four-year-old girl was among seven people killed in a strike on the southern town of Kfar Hatta, the ministry added.

In Israel, two bodies have been recovered from a residential building that was hit by a missile, Israeli media report.

Israel's military says it has conducted a wave of strikes against targets in Iran's capital, Tehran.

A US-Israeli strike on a residential building killed at least five people and left several people buried under rubble in Qom, south of Tehran, a deputy governor told the semi-official SNN news agency, Reuters reported.

The UAE and Kuwait said their air defences had also responded to missile and drone attacks.

US President Donald Trump earlier posted a message on his Truth Social platform about yesterday's dramatic rescue of the second US airman from a downed F-15 in Iran.

He says he will be hosting a news conference with the military on Monday at 13:00 ET (18:00 BST).

Trump noted in his post the daring nature of the raid deep in the mountains of Iran and how this type of rescue is "seldom attempted" due to the dangers.

The weapon systems officer was rescued nearly two days after his US fighter jet was shot down by Iran, hiding in mountains with a beacon signal and a handgun to defend himself as Iranians scoured the area looking for him.

The jet's pilot was rescued earlier by US crews. Trump says in his post that the pilot was rescued in broad daylight after spending about 7 hours in Iranian territory.

The White House press secretary announced shortly after Trump's post that "due to popular demand" the news conference will be held in the briefing room, rather than the smaller Oval Office where it had been scheduled.

The BBC's senior international correspondent Orla Guerin has travelled to the edge of the Strait of Hormuz in Oman, which Iran has put a stranglehold on since the war broke out.

The critical artery is normally used for 20% of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas.

By leaving ships stranded in the waterway, Iran is reducing the global supply of oil, driving up prices and creating fear among consumers.

Tom Bateman
US State Department correspondent

US President Donald Trump's threat to blow up electricity plants, oil wells and water desalination plants in Iran could amount to a threat to commit potential war crimes, according to international treaties and conventions on the laws of war.

The deliberate destruction of energy infrastructure could have a devastating effect on civilian life - even if the plants are also argued to have a military or government purpose.

Luis Moreno Ocampo, founding chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) - to which neither the US nor Iran are party - told me that Trump's bombing of Iranian power plants, as well as attacks by both Iran and Israel on energy infrastructure, would not amount to legitimate targets.

Under the Rome Statute, established by the court, "intentionally directing attacks at civilian objects... which are not military objectives" is a war crime, Moreno Ocampo said.

Trump has previously said he doesn't "need international law" and is guided by his "own morality".

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt was asked about this issue of potential war crimes last week and rejected the notion.

"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."

You can read more on this issue here: Iran war shows norms of international conflicts have been overturned