Iran war updates: Tehran rejects Trump’s ‘helpless, nervous’ ultimatum
These were the updates about the US-Israeli war on Iran on Saturday, April 5, 2026.
Survivors of Iran bridge attack recall terror of US-Israeli strike
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- Iran’s central military command has rejected US President Donald Trump’s threat to destroy the country’s vital infrastructure if it does not accept a peace deal within 48 hours.
- Trump had warned “all hell will rain down” on Iran if the Strait of Hormuz is not reopened by Monday, the warning coming as search for the weapons officer of a US fighter jet shot down over Iran entered a second day.
- Israel and the US continue to attack Iran’s civilian infrastructure and petrochemical plants, killing at least five people, while one person has been killed in a strike on the Bushehr nuclear site.
- US says it has arrested and revoked the permanent residency of late Iranian Major-General Qassem Soleimani’s niece and her daughter. In a statement, however, his daughters said they are not related to the two women arrested in the US.
- Visit our live tracker for the latest casualty figures from across the region.
- 5 Apr 2026 - 00:00(00:00 GMT)
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- 4 Apr 2026 - 23:50(23:50 GMT)
Here’s what happened today
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Here are some of the day’s top developments:
- US President Donald Trump warns that attacks on Iran will be stepped up if Tehran does not reach a peace deal within 48 hours. Tehran has rejected the “helpless and nervous” ultimatum.
- US and Israeli forces continued their strikes on Iranian hospitals, universities and other civilian infrastructure, as attacks on Iran’s petrochemical facilities killed at least five and wounded dozens.
- US and Iranian forces are searching for an American airman, who is still missing after his warplane was shot down over Iran on Friday.
- Yemen’s Houthi group says it carried out a joint long-range attack on Israel alongside Iranian and Hezbollah forces.
- Israel attacked the Lebanese city of Tyre as it expanded its ground invasion of the south, killing at least six people and displacing thousands of people.
- Hundreds of people took to the streets in Israel to demand an end to the war in Iran, with protests reported from Tel Aviv, Jerusalem and Haifa.
- The US says it has arrested and revoked the permanent residency of late Iranian Major-General Qassem Soleimani’s niece and her daughter. His daughters, however, said they are not related to the two women arrested by the US.
- 4 Apr 2026 - 23:40(23:40 GMT)
Kuwait says Iranian drone attack caused ‘significant damage’ on gov’t office complex
Kuwait’s state media says an Iranian drone attack has caused “significant damage” to the government office complex.
No injuries were reported, KUNA said, adding that employees will work remotely on Sunday.
Advertisement - 4 Apr 2026 - 23:30(23:30 GMT)
Photos: Smoke rises after attack on Mahshahr Petrochemical Zone in Iran’s Khuzestan
Smoke rises after an attack on the Mahshahr Petrochemical Zone in Bandar Mahshahr county, in Iran’s Khuzestan province [Reuters] [Reuters] [Reuters] - 4 Apr 2026 - 23:15(23:15 GMT)
Iran insists ready for anything US threatens to do
The Iranians have been talking a lot about Trump’s ultimatum and threats since the first warning from the US president just over a week ago.
They are saying they are ready for anything the US is threatening to do. They have already seen some of that, including attacks on their power facilities over the last few days, so they say that some of what he threatened has already been under way.
And they also say they have the means and the capability to retaliate if those threats are executed. Iran is threatening to strike at the same facilities in the region, and particularly Israel.
So that’s basically the line that is being reiterated here again and again. They say that Iran has proved that it has the capabilities, contrary to what the US says, and they can still retaliate in kind; they can still inflict pain on their enemies, and they can also defend their country.
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- 4 Apr 2026 - 22:52(22:52 GMT)
Israel says Iran launched more missiles, working to intercept threat
The Israeli army says it has detected missiles launched from Iran towards Israel.
In a statement, it said defensive systems are working to intercept the threat.
- 4 Apr 2026 - 22:45(22:45 GMT)
Kuwait says drone attack sparks fire in oil sector complex
Kuwait’s state media says a fire has broken out at the Shuwaikh Oil Sector Complex after a drone attack.
There were no injuries, KUNA reported, adding that firefighting and emergency teams are responding to the incident.
- 4 Apr 2026 - 22:30(22:30 GMT)
US-Israeli attacks hit 30 universities in Iran since war started: Science minister
Iranian Minister of Science, Research and Technology Hossein Simaei Saraf has spoken to reporters while checking the aftermath of an attack on a university research centre in southern Tehran.
A laser and plasma research centre at the prestigious Shahid Beheshti University was damaged on Friday following an air attack.
Saraf told reporters at the centre that parts of at least 30 universities have been impacted so far by US and Israeli strikes since the start of the war on February 28.
He said Iranian scientists have been targets for decades and pointed out that several more Shahid Beheshti University professors were assassinated by Israel during the 12-day war.
“Attacking universities and research centres means returning to the Stone Age,” the minister said in reference to a threat by Trump to bomb Iran “back to the Stone Ages” by systematically hitting its infrastructure, including power plants.
Read more here.
Advertisement - 4 Apr 2026 - 22:15(22:15 GMT)
At least 3 killed, 2 wounded in US-Israeli attack on Iran’s Kohgiluyeh, governor says
Iranian state media is quoting the governor of Kohgiluyeh as saying that a US-Israeli attack on the Black Mountain has killed at least three people.
Two others were wounded, the governor told the Tasnim news agency, warning that the casualty toll could rise.
- 4 Apr 2026 - 22:00(22:00 GMT)
Hunt goes on in Iran for missing US pilot
Search continues for a second day in a remote area of Iran for a missing US pilot whose warplane was shot down.
Iran has urged residents to turn in the “enemy pilot” for a reward and Washington faces heightened stakes as the conflict entered its sixth week.
The prospect of a US service member alive and on the run in Iran came amid slim chances for peace talks and polls in the US showing low public support for the war.
- 4 Apr 2026 - 21:45(21:45 GMT)
Kuwait says intercepting missile and drone attacks
Kuwaiti army says its air defences are intercepting missile and drone attacks.
“Any explosions heard are a result of air defence systems intercepting hostile attacks,” it said in a post on X.
Kuwait’s Defence Ministry said it has dealt with eight missile and 19 drone attacks in the past 24 hours.
- 4 Apr 2026 - 21:40(21:40 GMT)
At Easter vigil, Pope Leo urges world not to grow numb to war
Pope Leo has urged people not to become numbed by the scope of the conflicts raging across the world and to work for peace.
Leo, who has emerged as an outspoken critic of the US-Israel war on Iran, said that mistrust and fear have been allowed to “sever the bonds between us through war, injustice and the isolation of peoples and nations”.
“Let us not allow ourselves to be paralysed,” the first US pope exhorted at a Saturday night vigil Mass in St Peter’s Basilica, the holiest night in the Catholic calendar, when the Bible says Jesus rose from the dead.
The pope, however, did not mention any specific conflicts during the service.
- 4 Apr 2026 - 21:30(21:30 GMT)
WATCH: Tehran psychiatric hospital not usable after US-Israeli strike
“This explosion will definitely worsen their condition.”
The chief of Tehran’s Del Aram Sina Psychiatric Hospital showed media the damage a recent US-Israeli strike caused to the medical facility. He says it is now unable to treat patients suffering condition, such as PTSD.
Watch the report here:
- 4 Apr 2026 - 21:25(21:25 GMT)
Many Iranian military leaders ‘terminated’ in ‘massive’ Tehran strike: Trump
In his latest Truth Social post, Trump has shared a video of night explosions in Iran’s capital, accompanied by this text:
“Many of Iran’s Military Leaders, who have led them poorly and unwisely, are terminated, along with much else, with this massive strike in Tehran!”
- 4 Apr 2026 - 21:20(21:20 GMT)
Houthi strike on Israel part of a coordinated regional effort
The Houthis are explicitly saying it was a coordinated attack with the IRGC and Hezbollah. It is not clear what communication has taken place, but we are now seeing Iran and all its proxies involved in Yemen, Iraq and Lebanon.
This is a total war, according to their definition, against the Zionists. They are saying that one missile and several drones targeted Israel in what they describe as the sixth wave of attacks. But they are not talking about expanding the war beyond Israel, and there have been no Houthi attacks on the US [assets] or Gulf states.
But tensions are rising, and this is a matter of grave concern because 10 percent of the world’s maritime traffic passes through the Red Sea. If there were to be an attack on the Houthis, it raises questions about what their response would be.
- 4 Apr 2026 - 21:10(21:10 GMT)
Universities hit as US, Israel ramp up attacks on Iran’s infrastructure
Inside the sprawling Shahid Beheshti University in northern Tehran, a research centre lies in ruins after warplanes bombed it.
The attack on Friday on the Laser and Plasma Research Institute of the elite higher education facility is part of a growing pattern of civilian sites targeted by the United States and Israel in their war on Iran.
There were no casualties at the university because it was mostly empty after all classes across the country were moved online by the government until further notice. Dormitories nearby were lightly damaged.
Read more here.
- 4 Apr 2026 - 21:00(21:00 GMT)
Panic at Masnaa crossing as Israel signals imminent attack
The Israeli military said it was going to bomb the border crossing between Syria and Lebanon – the primary route between the two countries.
It says the crossing is being used to smuggle weapons and has provided no evidence of that, but it has said everyone should evacuate and that they are in imminent danger.
The crossing has mainly been used by Syrians leaving Lebanon since the war started. It is also used for humanitarian resupply routes between the two countries. The area they have threatened, marked in red, is a section about 3.5km (2.2 miles) into no-man’s land. There are hundreds of trucks parked up there, some for several months now, since Syria introduced a new import policy, which has led to delays and drivers being stuck there for weeks.
Scenes at the border crossing show people fleeing on foot and trying to move these trucks, causing fear and chaos.
- 4 Apr 2026 - 20:58(20:58 GMT)
Israeli military issues displacement threat for Lebanon’s Kfar Hatta
The Israeli military’s Arabic-language spokesperson Avichay Adraee has issued a statement telling residents of southern Lebanon’s Kfar Hatta to immediately leave the area.
In a statement, Adraee said residents of the southern village should move “at least 1,000 metres away from the village,” warning the Israeli military would soon act “with force” in the area.
It is the latest in a series of sweeping displacement threats issued by Israel’s military in southern Lebanon, which have displaced more than one million people.
- 4 Apr 2026 - 20:55(20:55 GMT)
Woman among five killed in Israeli attack in southern Lebanon
We are getting reports of more casualties from Israeli attacks in southern Lebanon.
An attack on the town of Maarakah killed five people, including a woman, Lebanon’s NNA cited the country’s Health Ministry as saying.
Israeli air raids also targeted the towns of Batoulay and Chehabiyeh, causing multiple injuries, according to NNA.
Earlier, as we reported, an Israeli strike in the southern town of Habbush reportedly killed at least two girls and wounded 22 people.