Trump: US Will Send Iran 'Back To The Stone Ages'
US President Donald Trump on April 1 hailed American forces' "swift, decisive, overwhelming victories" in Iran and said his administration's strategic objectives are "nearing completion," vowing that the military operation will be completed "very shortly."
Still, he signaled no immediate letup of in military action, saying US forces will hit Iran "extremely hard" for the next two to three weeks and that "we are going to bring them back to the Stone Ages, where they belong."
Speaking in a nationally televised address, Trump did not provide a clear exit date for the end of the conflict, which began when the United States and Israel launched air strikes against Iran on February 28. Tehran has retaliated by closing the Strait of Hormuz and firing missiles and drones at Israel and US Gulf Arab allies.
"Tonight, I'm pleased to say that these core strategic objectives are nearing completion," Trump said in nationally televised address from the White House on April 1, his first prime-time address since the start of the conflict on February 28.
"In these past four weeks, our armed forces have delivered swift, decisive, overwhelming victories on the battlefield -- victories like few people have ever seen before," he said.
"They didn't know what was coming," Trump said, referring to Iran.
Critics have charged that the war is spinning out of control, spilling over throughout the Middle East and causing an energy crisis that is driving up prices worldwide.
Trump defended his actions and said it was the only way to prevent Iran from getting a nuclear weapon, which he insisted would have happened had he not pulled the United States out of the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), that was agreed with world powers.
The JCPOA provided Iran with relief from sanctions in return for curbs on its nuclear program. Tehran insists that its nuclear program is strictly for civilian purposes.
Trump pulled the United States out of the accord in 2018 during his first term, saying it wasn't strong enough to prevent Tehran from getting a nuclear weapon
Trump said that if Tehran did not agree to a peace deal, the United States would hit all of Iran's electric generating plants.
"We going to finish the job and we are going to finish it fast," he said.
He said the United States does not need the Strait of Hormuz, the crucial waterway through which 20 percent of the world's oil and natural gas supplies pass.
He said that countries that do rely on the passage for their supplies should "build up some delayed courage" and open the strait, which has been effectively closed by Iran.
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UN Chief Says World On Edge Of A 'Wider War,' Urges End To 'Spiral Of Death'
Amid vows by the United States and Iran to intensify attacks, UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres on April 2 called for an end to the "spiral of death and destruction" in the Middle East.
"We are on the edge of a wider war that would engulf the whole Middle East with dramatic impacts around the globe," Guterres told reporters in New York.
Guterres cited the dangers of the situation in the Strait of Hormuz, where Iran has brought shipping to a near standstill, creating a bottleneck of oil and natural gas tankers, which has led to a global energy crisis.
"When the Strait of Hormuz is strangled, the world's poorest and most vulnerable cannot breathe," Guterres said.
Separately, the head of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) called for UN approval of force to protect the strait from Iranian attacks.
"Iran has closed the Strait of Hormuz, prevented commercial vessels and oil tankers from transiting, and imposed conditions on some to pass through the strait," GCC Secretary-General Jasem Mohamed AlBudaiwi said.
The GCC comprises Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Qatar, Kuwait, and Oman.
"We call upon the Security Council to assume its full responsibility and take all necessary measures to protect maritime routes and ensure the safe continuation of international navigation," AlBudaiwi said.
Bahrain has proposed a draft resolution that would allow countries to use force to assure free transit through the strait, a measure supported by the United States but which faces opposition among others within the 15-member Security Council.
"The use of force cannot bring peace. Political settlement is the fundamental way forward," Chinese Ambassador Fu Cong told the Security Council.
"Authorizing member states to use force would amount to legitimizing the unlawful and indiscriminate use of force, which would inevitably lead to further escalation of the situation and lead to serious consequences," he added.
With reporting by AFP and dpa
Zelenskyy Offers Freedom Of Navigation Expertise To Aid Hormuz Shipping
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has offered to provide Kyiv's expertise in dealing with freedom of navigation in the Black Sea to countries considering ways to keep the crucial Strait of Hormuz open amid conflict in the Middle East.
In his nightly video address on April 2, Zelenskyy said Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiha had participated in a virtual meeting convened by Britain devoted to reopening the strait, which has effectively been blocked by Iran.
"Ukraine has relevant expertise concerning sea waterways, concerning the defense and reopening of maritime traffic," Zelenskyy said without providing details.
"If [our] partners are ready to act we will consider how we can strengthen them, how we can apply our expertise, knowledge and technological potential."
During the conference, British Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper condemned Iran's "recklessness" for stopping nearly all shipping through the strait -- causing global economic chaos as flows of oil, gas, and other vital commodities have come to a halt.
Kyiv has developed technology -- including sea drones -- that has enabled it to score dramatic successes over Russian ships in the Black Sea, preventing Moscow from controlling the waterway.
Zelenskyy traveled to the Middle East, meeting with leaders as part of efforts to provide them with defense technology it has developed in four years of fighting against the Russian invasion.
With reporting by Reuters
Key Bridge In Northern Iran Hit By Strikes
The Fars news agency, which is close to Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps, has reported that the B1 highway bridge in northern Iran was damaged in US and Israeli air strikes.
Images on social media show significant damage to the bridge, which links Tehran to Karaj in the Alborz Province.
There were reportedly two strikes, the second coming about an hour after the first. Neither the US nor Israeli militaries have confirmed the attack.
Iranian media have described the bridge as the highest in the Middle East. There were conflicting reports as to whether the bridge was still under construction or had already been inaugurated.
According to Fars, the Alborz governorate said two people were killed and several others injured in the first attack on the bridge.
UPDATE: Posting on TruthSocial, President Trump has said, "The biggest bridge in Iran comes tumbling down, never to be used again -- Much more to follow!"
UPDATE 2: A local Iranian official later said eight people were killed and 95 injured in two rounds of attacks on the bridge, Iranian media reported. The account could not be independently verified.
Macron: Military Operation To 'Liberate' Strait Of Hormuz Is 'Unrealistic'
French President Emmanuel Macron said on April 2 that launching a military operation to "liberate" the Strait of Hormuz is unrealistic and urged cooperation with Iran instead.
"There are those who advocate for the liberation of the Strait of Hormuz by force through a military operation, a position sometimes expressed by the United States," he said during a trip to South Korea, according to AFP.
He added: "I say 'sometimes,' because it has varied. It has never been the option we have chosen, and we consider it unrealistic."
Macron stressed that such an operation "would take an inordinate amount of time and would expose anyone crossing the strait to coastal threats from the [Iranian] Revolutionary Guards [Corps], who possess significant resources, as well as ballistic missiles, and a host of other risks."
Iranian Human Rights Lawyer Nasrin Sotoudeh Arrested Again, Daughter Says
Prominent Iranian human rights lawyer Nasrin Sotoudeh was arrested on April 1 at her residence in Tehran, her daughter, Mehraveh Khandan, announced on her Instagram account on April 2.
Khandan, who is living outside Iran, said that her mother was arrested while she was alone at home. It is not clear which Iranian security apparatus arrested Sotoudeh and on what charges. Amid the current conflict with Israel and the United States, signs that the clerical authorities are stepping up a crackdown on internal opposition in the country are growing.
According to Khandan, security forces also confiscated personal electronic devices, including Nasrin Sotoudeh's mobile phone and laptop.
Reza Khandan, Sotoudeh's husband, has been in prison since December 2024. Sotoudeh, a vocal advocate for numerous activists, has been arrested several times since 2010.
Her detention has included periods of solitary confinement, highlighting the challenges faced by human rights defenders in Iran.
IRGC Commander Involved In Suppressing Protesters Killed
Mohammad Ali Fathalizadeh, a brigadier general of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) and a commander of the IRGC's Fatehin Special Unit, has been killed, a news agency affiliated with the country's Defense Ministry announced.
Without mentioning how or when Fathalizadeh was killed, the news agency said he was killed on April 2.
His name adds to the long list of officials and commanders who have been killed in targeted bombing by US and Israeli forces over the past five weeks. On February 28 alone -- the first day of the US and Israeli attacks -- more than 40 officials and commanders were killed alongside Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, according to foreign media reports.
Fathalizadeh's has led the IRGC's Fatehin Special Unit for a year. Members of this unit receive special military training beyond the standard training of Basij paramilitary members, and they previously participated in the Syrian civil war and the suppression of protests in recent years.
In December 2022, in a meeting with a group of special forces from the Fatehin Special Unit who were involved in suppressing the protesters, then-President Ebrahim Raisi told them that they "shone well" in their dealings with the protesters.
Middle East Expert Sees Rising Discontent, Fear Of Harsher Repression In Iran
Ruslan Suleymanov, a Middle East expert at the NEST Center who recently visited Iran amid US and Israeli air strikes, told Current Time he had observed a wide range of attitudes among the Iranian people and that there are currently both supporters and opponents of the regime.
"The opponents are in the majority. But even the opponents of the regime don't fully understand where this war is heading," he told Current Time on April 2. "Although I have met some people who still support the air strikes -- specifically, strikes on military targets and the targeting of leaders -- overall, of course, there is discontent over the fact that strikes are also hitting schools and hospitals," Suleymanov said.
He warned that postwar repressions, such as the mass arrests and death sentences that followed last year's 12-day war, is likely to intensify.
"Security forces, police, and the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) -- they are literally everywhere," he said, describing the situation on the streets of Iran. He said that in the past month, several people had already been executed on suspicion of betraying their country and working for Israel, arguing that the war in Iran "has led to the replacement of a harsh regime with an even harsher one."
Suleymanov suggested that the Iranian regime anticipates a US ground operation, expecting it to turn into a kind of war that could become a people's war, which would play into the hands of the authorities in Tehran.
Fifth Protester From January Unrest In Iran Executed This Week
Amirhossein Hatami, an 18-year-old arrested while participating in January protests suppressed by a deadly government crackdown, has been executed, according to Mizan, the judiciary's news outlet.
Mizan said the execution took place on April 2 after his appeal was rejected and the Supreme Court upheld his sentence for entering a restricted military site in Tehran.
Hatami reportedly confessed during interrogation.
Hatami is the fifth protester to be executed in the past three days. He was among 11 men referred to by rights group Amnesty International as being at imminent risk of execution and who had been "subjected to torture and other ill-treatment in detention, before being convicted in grossly unfair trials that relied on forced confessions."
The executions show that despite US and Israeli strikes wiping out much of Iran's leadership and degrading its military-industrial capacities, there are no visible signs that the clerical authorities are losing control.
US Senators Reaffirm Support For NATO Amid Trump Withdrawal Threats
Two senior US senators, Democrat Chris Coons and Republican Mitch McConnell, the former Senate majority leader, have reaffirmed their support for NATO amid President Donald Trump's threats to withdraw from the military alliance for what he considers its lack of support for US objectives in Iran.
"NATO is the most successful military alliance in history. It has underpinned the security of the United States for more than 70 years," the two wrote in a joint statement released on April 1.
"Americans are safer when NATO is strong and united. It is in our interest for all allies to tend this unity with care," they added.
While Trump has threatened to unilaterally withdraw the United States from NATO, any formal move would require the approval of two-thirds of the Senate. He and other US officials have repeatedly questioned the value of the alliance if the United States cannot freely use bases in allied countries to defend its own interests.
Health Of Iranian Nobel Laureate Mohammadi Deteriorating in Prison, Husband Says
The health of Iranian Nobel Peace Prize winner Narges Mohammadi has significantly deteriorated in prison, according to her husband, Taghi Rahmani.
Rahmani spoke with RFE/RL's Radio Farda by telephone on April 1 from Paris, where he is based.
Rahmani said Mohammadi requires specialized medical care in a hospital outside of Zanjan Prison, where she is currently being held, but authorities have refused to release her. He said she suffers from pulmonary and cardiac issues and is experiencing severe headaches accompanied by nausea, double vision, and reduced vision in both eyes.
On March 31, the Free Narges Coalition expressed grave concern regarding the activist's well-being and the denial of independent medical care, based on recent reports received from Iran. The coalition said that Mohammadi’s legal team, accompanied by one family member, visited her in Zanjan on March 29.
This came after weeks of requests by her team, made even more difficult by the Iranian government virtually shutting down all forms of communication amid US and Israeli air strikes on the country.
According to the report, Mohammadi's overall health is extremely poor, and she appeared pale and weak with significant weight loss when brought to the visitation room by a prison nurse. Rahmani told Farda his wife has been in poor health since her arrest in Mashhad in December 2025, during which he said she was beaten by security forces.
He said bruises were visible on her body for a long time due to the violence she was subjected to during her arrest.
Separately, Amnesty International quoted an informed source as having said on March 24 that Mohammadi was found unconscious in Zanjan with cold limbs, numbness, and her eyes rolled back. The prison doctor said she likely had a heart attack, but officials still refused to transfer her to a hospital. The London-based rights group called for the immediate and unconditional release of Mohammadi in order for her to receive urgent medical care.