Listen to Australian and world news, and follow trending topics with SBS News Podcasts.
TRANSCRIPT
(Farsi then translated into English): "Iranian society generally does not pay attention to his statements, as it believes he lacks personal, behavioural, and verbal balance, and constantly shifts between contradictory positions."
That's Iran's Minister of Cultural Affairs and Tourism, Sayed Reza Salihi-Amir dismissing Donald Trump’s latest threats of striking Iran’s power plants and bridges this Tuesday, if the Strait of Hormuz remains closed to marine traffic.
Iran is calling the US President an unstable, delusional figure.
Mr Trump earlier threatened to attack Iran’s infrastructure, if it fails to reopen the strait by Monday.
In a post on his social media platform Truth Social he said:
"Tuesday will be Power Plant Day, and Bridge Day, all wrapped up in one, in Iran. There will be nothing like it!!! Open the F**kin' Strait, you crazy bastards, or you'll be living in Hell - JUST WATCH! Praise be to Allah.
And in another post he wrote: "Tuesday, 8:00 P.M. Eastern Time!"- that's wed 10 am Australian Eastern Time]]
The secretary general of Amnesty International, Agnes Callamard responded to his post on X saying "What a revolting message."
Iran's cultural minister says Mr Trump's changing positions make it hard to take him seriously.
A spokesperson for Iran's president Seyyed Mohammad Mehdi Tabatabaei says the reopening of the vital waterway can only happen, if transit revenues are partially set aside to compensate Iran for war damages.
But in a social media post on X, the IRGC says "The Strait of Hormuz will never return to its former state, especially for America and Israel."
Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesperson, Esmail Baghaei says globally people are aware that this war is illegal.
"Everyone, not only in our region but also globally, including in the United States, recognise that this war is illegal. This is a war imposed on a civilisational state for no reason. This is a war based on a lie; a lie that Iran is pursuing nuclear weapons, something that has never existed. A lie that there was an imminent threat on the part of Iran against the American people; that's simply untrue."
Iran's parliament speaker, Mohammad-Bagher Ghalibaf, has warned the "region is going to burn" in what he refers to as the US President's "reckless moves" in the Middle East.
In a post on social media platform X, Mr Ghalibaf says the only solution is to respect the rights of the Iranian people, calling on Mr Trump to end what he labelled a dangerous game.
But on the other side, Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is congratulating the US President on the rescue of a missing American service member in Iran.
"All Israelis rejoice in the incredible rescue of a brave American pilot by America's dauntless warriors. This proves that when free societies muster their courage and their resolve, they can confront seemingly insurmountable odds and overcome the forces of darkness and terror.”
US special forces rescued the crew member, after the fighter jet he was in was shot down over Iran.
Mr Netanyahu hailed what he called the US President's decisive leadership.
"This rescue operation reinforces the sacred principle: no one is left behind. This is a shared value demonstrated time and time again in the history of both our countries.“
Mr Trump says the crew member had been seriously wounded, but is now in a stable condition.
He says the rescue of the first crew member of the downed jet took seven hours.
Israel had earlier indicated they played a role in the rescue, saying it halted its attacks in the area while the mission was going on.
According to an intelligence officer, the US military was forced to bring in additional aircraft to complete the rescue of the second service member due to a technical malfunction.
Iran’s state television says Iran shot down a transport plane and two helicopters that were part of the rescue operation.
Iran’s joint military command [[Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters’]] spokesperson claims the US had to bombard its own military aircraft and personnel that were struck and downed by Iranian fighters to “prevent embarrassment for President Trump and the hollow image of its military.”
Ebrahim Zolfaghari says several US military aircraft entered Iranian airspace to carry out a rescue operation for the pilot of a downed US fighter jet, but said Iranian fighters and air defense systems struck the aircraft and forced them to make an emergency landing in an area south of Isfahan.
(Farsi translated to English VO) After the encirclement of the enemy was completed by the heroic fighters of Iran, the weakened adversary, in order to prevent embarrassment for President Trump and the hollow image of its military, was compelled to carry out heavy bombardment on its own downed aircraft, equipment, and personnel."
This Tehran resident Katayoon Hadad says Iran has to retaliate.
"Iran has to retaliate; it has no right (to threaten), this infrastructure belongs to all the people of Iran. If they have a problem with the government, if they have a problem with others, America has no right to harm the people of Iran, and to damage the infrastructure and disrupt the lives of all the people. They should confront each other in a different way, in a way that has nothing to do with the infrastructure and disrupting people's lives."
Iran state media - citing a provincial security official - says the US-Israeli strikes on petrochemical facilities in the Mahshahr Special Petrochemical Economic Zone in southwestern Iran has killed five, and also wounded others.
In the northern Israel city of Haifa, search and rescue teams were searching for survivors through the rubble of a residential building after an Iranian missile struck the area.
Meanwhile, Lebanon's President Joseph Aoun has called for negotiations to end the war in the Middle East between Israel and Iranian-backed militant group Hezbollah.
Lebanon’s health ministry says more than 1,400 people in Lebanon have been in killed in the past month of war, and over a million people have been displaced.
Mr Aoun says with the ongoing strikes, Lebanon could turn into Gaza.
(Arabic then translated into English): "It’s true that Israel wants to do in Lebanon what it did in Gaza. Our duty is to not let it get to how it got in Gaza. When we said we wanted to negotiate, some said, what is the point diplomacy? I would like to say to some, what’s the point of the war? We now have 1400 martyrs, 4000 wounded, thousands of homes destroyed, 1.2 million displaced."
According to local health authorities, since October 7, 2023, Israel's war with Hamas in Gaza has killed more than 72,000 Palestinian and displaced most of the population.
As Gulf countries reported more attacks from Iran over the weekend, Qatar's Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani has held talks in Doha with Kuwait's Minister of Foreign Affairs Sheikh Jarrah Jaber Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah.
According to Kuwait Army, the Armed Forces detected and engaged nine ballistic missiles, four cruise missiles, and 31 hostile drones within Kuwaiti airspace.
In a statement on X, it said: "The hostile drone attacks targeted two power and water desalination plants, the oil sector complex, several operational facilities belonging to the Kuwait Petroleum Corporation.
