US president confirms negotiating with Iranian parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf Claims there has been total regime change in Iran White House says Iran talks are progressing well Nato says it intercepted Iranian missile heading towards Turkey Israel says it struck Iranian air defences near Caspian Sea UAE, Bahrain and Saudi Arabia intercept drones and missiles, as worker killed in Kuwait.

WASHINGTON/DUBAI/TEHRAN/TEL AVIV - US President Donald Trump said Monday that if Iran does not reach a deal with the United States and open the Strait of Hormuz, the country would conclude military involvement in the region by “blowing up and completely obliterating” electric plants and oil wells in the country.

DPM Dar, Saudi FM stress upon dialogue, engagement for lasting peace

“The United States of America is in serious discussions with a new, and more reasonable, regime to end our Military Operations in Iran. Great progress has been made but, if for any reason a deal is not shortly reached, which it probably will be, and if the Hormuz Strait is not immediately ‘Open for Business,’ we will conclude our lovely ‘stay’ in Iran by blowing up and completely obliterating all of their Electric Generating Plants, Oil Wells and Kharg Island (and possibly all desalinization plants!), which we have purposefully not yet ‘touched,’” the president said in a Truth Social post this morning.

Azerbaijan says it is ready to supply LNG to Pakistan

It comes after Trump raised the prospect of the US taking Iran’s oil in an interview with the Financial Times last night.

Trump told the newspaper that his “preference would be to take the oil,” as he weighs whether to seize Iran’s key fuel export hub at Kharg Island. Oil prices, meanwhile, rose Monday, with Brent crude crossing $116 a barrel following his comments.

Also, Trump confirmed that Iranian parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf is the regime figure with whom Washington has been engaging in recent weeks.

Work from home announced for Red Zone federal offices on April 22

Trump tells the New York Post that he’ll know “in about a week,” whether Ghalibaf is someone the US can truly work with.

While Ghalibaf has been thought over the past couple of weeks to be Washington’s preferred conduit — despite his hardline background and ties to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps — US officials have refrained from identifying him.

Trump has quipped that whoever he publicly names would end up being killed.

President Trump claims there has been “total regime change” in Iran, because the U.S. is dealing with a “whole new set of people.”

Rawalpindi opt to set target against in-form Multan in crucial PSL clash

“There has been total regime change because the regimes of the past are gone and we’re dealing with a whole new set of people,” Mr. Trump told the New York Post on Monday. “And thus far, they’ve been much more reasonable.”

The White House sought Monday to cast a positive light on indirect US-Iran negotiations, suggesting pessimistic public comments from Tehran did not reflect private messages being passed between the two sides.

“It’s no surprise that we are seeing the remaining elements of the regime become increasingly eager to end the destruction and come to the negotiating table while they still can,” press secretary Karoline Leavitt said after describing US military progress in the war.

Fake medicines alert issued after dangerous drugs found in Punjab

“Despite all of the public posturing you hear from the regime and false reporting, talks are continuing and going well,” she continued. “What is said publicly is, of course, much different than what’s being communicated to us privately.”

Earlier, Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei said the US’ 15-point list for halting the conflict contains “largely excessive, unrealistic, and unreasonable demands,” contradicting Trump’s earlier claims that Iran had agreed to “most of” of the requests on the list.

Leavitt said if Iran rejects a deal with the US, President Donald Trump has options before him to “ensure this regime continues to pay a grave price one way or another.”

Also, the White House said Monday that the Iranian officials negotiating with the US appear more reasonable than the regime’s previous leaders, even as it refused once again to name them.

“These folks are appearing more reasonable behind the scenes, privately in these conversations, than perhaps some of the previous leaders who are now no longer on planet Earth,” press secretary Karoline Leavitt said during a press briefing.

President Donald Trump and his team have yet to specify who in Iran they are communicating with about the war, even as the president has claimed that negotiations are progressing well.

On Monday, Leavitt said any commitments from Iran will be “tested” to hold them accountable, warning that the military would effectively seek to kill them if it became clear they were unwilling to reach a diplomatic resolution on Trump’s terms.

A ballistic missile launched from Iran entered Turkish airspace before being shot down by NATO air and missile defenses deployed in the eastern Mediterranean, Turkey’s Defense Ministry says.

The interception marked the fourth such incident since the start of the US-Israeli war with Iran, following three earlier interceptions by NATO systems earlier this month that prompted Ankara to protest and warn Tehran.

Tehran has denied in the previous three incidents that it authorized such launches and has asked Ankara to form a joint investigation into the matter.

The ministry says all necessary measures were being taken “decisively and without hesitation” against any threat directed at Turkey’s territory and airspace.

Kuwait’s Army said it “detected and dealt with” 13 drones Monday as Iran continued its retaliatory attacks on U.S. allies across the Persian Gulf region.

One of the interceptions “resulted in the targeting of a service building in one of the power and water desalination stations, which resulted in the death of one of the workers in it, in addition to serious material damage to the building,” said the statement posted on social media.

According to the Center for Strategic and International Studies, Kuwait relies on desalination for 90% of its drinking water. The small country has at least half a dozen desalination plants.

Hundreds of U.S. special forces, including Navy SEALs and Army Rangers, now in Middle East

Hundreds of U.S. special forces service members, including Navy SEALs and Army Rangers, are now in the Middle East, as well as thousands of Marines and Army paratroopers, sources familiar with the deployments told CBS News on Monday.

The sources said the deployments serve to give President Trump a range of options as Iran maintains its de facto blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, including operations that would target reopening the strait, taking oil from Iran’s Kharg Island - a key location for its energy exports - or seizing Iran’s stockpile of enriched uranium.

The Israeli military said it struck Iran’s air defences near the Caspian Sea in the north of the country on Sunday. The Israeli Air Force says the aim of the strikes was to expand Israel’s “air superiority” over Iran.

Israel says Iran’s air defences were hidden in a forested area.

The Caspian Sea is the world’s largest inland body of water, bordered by Iran, Russia, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan and Azerbaijan.

UAE, Bahrain and Saudi Arabia intercept drones and missiles, as worker killed in Kuwait

Strikes across the region have persisted today, with a US-Israeli strike on an orphanage west of Tehran killing at least two people, according to Iran’s semi-official Fars News Agency.

Several Persian Gulf countries have also today reported the interception of drones and missiles.

Ships from Pakistan, China and India cross Strait of Hormuz

More ships are passing through the Strait of Hormuz, according to shipping data, but still far fewer than before the Middle East conflict erupted.

Pakistan announced last weekend that Iran would allow 20 of its flagged ships to pass through the key shipping route.