The Albany Gazette - Trump threatens to destroy Iran oil island despite claims of talks

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Trump's partner in attacking Iran, said more than half of his military aims had been achieved, even as both leaders refused to put a timeline on the operation that has ignited a regional war and sent global oil prices soaring.

More than one month into the war, Trump said the United States was speaking to a "more reasonable regime" in Tehran, which has denied any talks and accused the US president of lying about negotiations as cover while readying a ground invasion.

Trump warned that if a deal were not struck -- including to reopen the vital Strait of Hormuz shipping lane -- US forces would destroy "all of their Electric Generating Plants, Oil Wells and Kharg Island (and possibly all desalinization plants!)."

Destroying civilian infrastructure would be illegal under international humanitarian law and could constitute a war crime, experts say.

Iran has previously threatened to retaliate by targeting energy infrastructure and desalination plants in its Arab neighbours that host the US military, such as the United Arab Emirates, Oman, Qatar and Saudi Arabia.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi urged Saudi Arabia to "eject US forces", saying Tehran otherwise respects the "brotherly" kingdom.

Showing it will not back down, an Iranian parliamentary committee voted to impose tolls on vessels through the Strait of Hormuz, the passageway through which one-fifth of global oil passes.

State television said Iran would forbid the United States and Israel from passing through.

The tolling plan for the strait has outraged the United States, which has spoken of creating a "coalition" to oppose it.

"No one in the world can accept it," Secretary of State Marco Rubio told Al-Jazeera.

"It sets an incredible precedent. So this means that nations can now take over international waterways and claim them as their own," Rubio said of the waterway the US president recently called the "Strait of Trump".

- Peacekeepers die in Lebanon -

Israel has also relentlessly pounded Lebanon, including central Beirut, as it seeks to deliver a heavy blow to Hezbollah, the Iranian-backed force that had fired rockets in solidarity after Israeli forces killed Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

The UN mission in Lebanon said that two Indonesian peacekeepers were killed when "an explosion of unknown origin destroyed their vehicle", with two other peacekeepers wounded, one seriously.

Another Indonesian peacekeeper was killed on Sunday. Indonesia, the world's largest Muslim-majority country, before the latest war had been lining up to send forces to bring stability to ravaged Gaza following a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas.

France, a key player in Lebanon, condemned the deaths of peacekeepers and called for an urgent UN Security Council meeting, which was subsequently scheduled for Tuesday at 14H00 GMT.

Economy ministers and central bankers from the G7 club of rich countries meanwhile met in Paris to discuss the war's effects, with many countries introducing energy-saving measures or cutting fuel taxes to help consumers.

Market experts warned that any US ground operation or wider Iranian retaliation could send oil prices to levels not seen since the July 2008 commodity boom, when the cost of Brent crude, the international benchmark, hit close to $150 a barrel.

Brent has already risen nearly 60 percent this month, and the US benchmark WTI by more than half.

Adding pressure, Yemen's Iranian-backed Houthi rebels over the weekend fired missiles and drones at Israel, posing a threat to shipping on the Red Sea in addition to the Gulf.

- New strikes -

There was no let-up in hostilities.

Israel said its air defence batteries responded to missiles launched from Iran, after earlier announcing it was striking military infrastructure across Tehran.

Israel also confirmed it had hit the Imam Hossein University in the capital, which it said was used by Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps for advanced weapons research.

In Israel, emergency services reported a fire at an oil refinery in the northern port city of Haifa, which also suffered a blaze on March 19.

Kuwait condemned strikes on a power station and a desalination plant, which killed an Indian worker.

Netanyahu said that Israel had achieved key objectives including by "wiping out" industrial plants and coming "close to finishing their arms industry".

"It's definitely beyond the halfway point. But I don't want to put a schedule on it," Netanyahu told US broadcaster Newsmax.

The war -- and the spiraling price of oil -- has been unpopular in the United States, where Rubio again Monday said it would last "weeks" more and not months.

- Egypt pleads for end -

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, whose country is feeling the economic pinch and has been playing a key role mediating indirect talks, appealed directly to Trump on Monday to find an offramp.

"Please, help us to stop the war, you are capable of it," Sisi told a press conference.

Trump has claimed to be in direct contact with senior Iranian figures whom he did not identify publicly.

Rubio said there were "fractures" within the Islamic republic and voiced hope that the Iranian officials allegedly in contact with Washington had the "power to deliver."

But Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei again denied any negotiations, saying the United States had sent only a request to talk via intermediaries including Pakistan.

After weeks of strikes, residents of Tehran painted a picture of a city that is still clinging to some routine, with cafes and restaurants open and no shortages reported in supermarkets or petrol stations.

Security remains tight, with checkpoints erected on streets around the capital.

"When I make it to a cafe table, even for a few minutes, I can almost believe the world hasn't ended," said Fatemeh, 27, a dental assistant.

"And then I go back home, back to the reality of living through war, with all its darkness and weight."

burs-adp-sct/des

(N.Miller--TAG)