Conflict in the Middle East | Revolutionary Guards intelligence chief killed in strike

(Tehran) The intelligence chief of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards was killed Monday in an Israeli strike, at a time when Washington is stepping up its threats against Iran which is continuing its attacks against Israel and the Gulf.

President Donald Trump has given Tehran until 8 p.m. Tuesday to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, crucial for global oil supplies, without which he promised the Iranian enemy to “live in hell.”

Despite everything, diplomatic efforts continue to put an end to this conflict which has left thousands dead, mainly in Iran and Lebanon, and shaken the world economy because of the closure of Hormuz.

Oman, which borders the strait with Iran, discussed its reopening with Tehran, while the head of Iranian diplomacy Abbas Araghchi spoke by telephone with his Pakistani and Egyptian counterparts, who play a mediator role.

According to the Axios site, the mediators, also Turkish, are talking about a proposal in two phases, a 45-day ceasefire which should first allow negotiations, before leading to an agreement to put an end to the war, launched on February 28 by Israel and the United States.

« Bonnes chances » ?

But Tehran, which announced the death of the intelligence chief of the Revolutionary Guards, its ideological army, has so far denied the existence of negotiations with the United States.

The American president spoke to the American media of “good chances” of reaching an agreement, between two threats.

Believing that he has reached the desired military targets, he is now talking about attacking, if the Strait of Hormuz remained closed, bridges and power plants in Iran, which has already suffered strikes on civilian sites in recent weeks.

“If attacks on civilian targets continue, the next phases of our offensive and retaliatory operations will be much more devastating and extensive,” warned the spokesperson for the Iranian military command, while a Foreign Affairs official, Kazem Gharibabadi, denounced possible “War crimes”.

The American president has planned a press conference at the White House on Monday at 1 p.m. and should return to the rescue operation in Iran of an American aviator, “seriously injured”, according to him.

“Un par un”

On the ground, strikes continue on both sides.

In the Gulf countries, hit daily by Iran which accuses them of helping the United States, Kuwait says it has been targeted by missiles and drones, leaving six injured.

Further south, the United Arab Emirates reported one person injured in the fall of debris from intercepted drones.

In Israel, rescuers said Monday that they had found four people dead under the rubble of a building hit by an Iranian missile the day before in Haifa.

If Tehran continues “to fire at civilians in Israel, we will strike and destroy Iranian infrastructure,” threatened Defense Minister Israel Katz.

Confirming that the army had targeted the Guardians’ intelligence chief, Majid Khademi, he assured that Israel would continue to “hunt down” Iranian leaders “one by one.”

The Israeli army, for its part, announced that it had carried out a new series of strikes against Tehran.

A gas installation there was damaged by a strike, temporarily depriving part of the city of gas, according to state television (IRIB). The adjacent university also suffered damage.

According to Iranian media, several attacks also took place on residential areas of Tehran, where eight hospitals had to be evacuated. The Tasnim news agency reported nearly 30 deaths in several strikes in the country.

In Lebanon, another front which is paying a heavy price for the war, a strike once again targeted the south of Beirut, after an Israeli warning.

The day before, a bombing near the Rafic Hariri hospital, the largest public medical establishment in the country, left at least five dead, according to the Ministry of Health.

This source also reported three civilians killed in the east of the capital, where the Israeli army said it had targeted “a terrorist target”.

Hausse des prix « inévitable »

In Iran, the Revolutionary Guards said they were preparing to implement shipping conditions in Hormuz that would apply “in particular to the United States and Israel.”

They did not detail these conditions, but in recent weeks, Iranian parliamentarians had proposed imposing passage fees and taxes on ships in the strait.

Tensions on energy prices are still being felt: both the price of a barrel of Brent and that of WTI, the two main varieties of black gold, were hovering around $110 per barrel on Monday, with repercussions well beyond the theater of hostilities.