Iran war: Trump sees 'good chance' of deal, warns of 'hell'

US forces have rescued a second service member who had been missing since Iran downed an F‑15 fighter jet on Friday.

The airman's extraction followed a major mission, which US President Donald Trumpdescribed as "one of the most daring search‑and‑rescue operations in US history."

Trump said the weapons systems officer was injured but in stable condition. 

Ukraine and Syria agreed to strengthen security cooperation, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Sunday.

In a post on X, Zelenskyy said the two countries are "building new relations, new opportunities, and expanding our efforts to ensure security" following talks with Syria's interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa. 

Zelenskyy's visit to Damascus came one day after meeting with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to discuss "new steps in security cooperation" in Istanbul.

Zelenskyy, ‌continuing his tour ⁠of ⁠Middle East countries, is seeking to promote Ukraine's military expertise in fending off attacks by Iranian missiles and drones.

During its four-year war with Russia, Ukraine has garnered considerable experience in dealing with drone and missile attacks. 

The United States hasn't lost a fighter jet to enemy fire in more than 20 years.

On Friday, two American warplanes were downed in separate incidents, including one confirmed to have been shot down over Iran.

Retired US general David Deptula and military analyst Jennifer Kavanagh joined DW to look at the latest stage of the war. 

Three people were killed in an Israeli strike on an apartment building in a town east of Beirut, Lebanon's Health Ministry reported.

"Israeli enemy airstrike on the hills of Ain Saadeh kills three civilians, including two women, and injures three others," the ministry said in a statement.

Iran has threatened to target US-linked infrastructure if the US goes ahead with President Donald Trump's threats against Iran's energy sites, bridges and other infrastructure.

"Iran's reaction would be one of reciprocating any such attack," Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghaei said. "Our armed forces have made it clear that in case Iran's infrastructure is attacked, we would react in kind."

"Our armed forces would target any similar infrastructure that is owned, or in any way related to, the United States, or contributes to their aggression against Iran."

"This is not something that we will do voluntarily or by willful decision. This is something that is part of our defense measures against their illegal act."

Iran’s parliamentary Speaker Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf was one of many lawmakers who condemned Trump's escalating online threats against Iranian infrastructure.

"You won’t gain anything through war crimes," he said.

US President Donald Trump on Sunday appeared to extend his deadline for Iran to make a deal or reopen the Strait of Hormuz by another 24 hours.

Previously, on Saturday, he issued Iran a 48-hour ultimatum or face "hell" in the form of devastating attacks on infrastructure.

It was one of several increasingly escalatory — and at times expletive-laden — posts on his Truth Social online platform.

On Sunday afternoon, he made a new post that simply read: "Tuesday, 8:00 p.m. Eastern Time!"

Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, the speaker of Iran’s parliament, has slammed US President Donald Trump's latest threat to destroy Iranian civilian infrastructure, including power plants and bridges, if Tehran doesn’t lift its blockade of the Strait of Hormuz by Tuesday.

Trump said Iran would be "living in Hell" if they don’t comply with his deadline.

Using the same word play, Ghalibaf wrote on X that Trump’s “reckless moves” are dragging the US into a "living HELL" for American families.

He also warned that the entire Gulf region "is going to burn because you insist on following Netanyahu's commands," referring to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

"Make no mistake: You won't gain anything through war crimes," Ghalibaf said, adding: "The only real solution is respecting the rights of the Iranian people and ending this dangerous game."

US President Donald  Trump on Sunday warned Iranians that they would be "living in Hell" if they don't open the Strait of Hormuz by Tuesday. 

Sara Bazoobandi, a Middle East expert at the University of Kiel's Institute for Security Policy, said the Iranian regime "doesn't really recognize these threats as a threat."

"Their official line is that we are winning this war" and that Trump is "trying to save face" by voicing such threats, she told DW.

Bazoobandi said the downing of US military aircraft in recent days was "very much celebrated" in Iran, while outside the country, it was "perceived as a sign of [US] failure."

The rescue of the second missing US airman "is definitely a very important moment for the Trump administration," Bazoobandi said.

She also explained that the Islamic Republic is "built on religious ideology, revolutionary ideology, and anti-imperialist, anti-Western sort of world vision," and its aim is "to project power and establish Iran as a global power."

Those who are part of the regime believe ideologically and religiously that "they are doing the right thing." 

No matter how many Iranian leaders the US and Israel eliminate, Bazoobandi said, they won't find anyone within the regime willing to accept that they had made a mistake and be ready to give up their desire to project power in order to live peacefully without crisis.  

People in the regime believe "they are on the side of God — and the United States and Israel are not — therefore, they are going to win."

Several hundred people took to the streets of Berlin on Sunday to protest against the US-Israeli war against Iran as part of Germany's annual Easter peace marches.

Among the demonstrators were people seen carrying Iranian flags as well as pro-Palestinian protesters.

The demonstration began in the early afternoon at the main train station and was scheduled to proceed through the government district to the iconic Brandenburg Gate.

Police put the number of demonstrators at between 500 and 700.

A police spokesperson said in the evening that the rally had remained largely peaceful.

Iranian flags and pro-Palestinian protesters were also seen this weekend at Easter peace marches, an annual tradition in Germany since the height of the Cold War.

The OPEC+ oil cartel has said that repairing energy facilities damaged by the ongoing conflict in the Middle East “is both costly and takes a long time.”

The statement, released after key members of the alliance met on Sunday, is likely to intensify global concerns over energy security.

The monthlong US-Israeli war against Iran has severely disrupted flows of oil and gas from the Persian Gulf region.

Iran has choked off traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, a key waterway for energy shipments, raising the specter of energy shortfalls in a number of fuel-importing countries worldwide.

Against this backdrop, the OPEC+ statement also stressed "the critical importance of safeguarding international maritime routes to ensure the uninterrupted flow of energy."

The cartel members also agreed to raise oil production quotas for May by 206,000 barrels per day. But whether they can truly ramp up production remains to be seen, as the Iran war and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine have severely strained the alliance’s production capacity.

US President Donald Trump said he believes there is a "good chance" of making a deal with Iran on Monday, ahead of his deadline for Tehran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz or face heavy bombing.

"I think there is a good chance tomorrow, they are negotiating now," the president told Fox News.

"If they don't make a deal and fast, I'm considering blowing everything up and taking over the oil," he added.

The president had earlier posted an expletive-laden warning on his Truth Social platform, threatening to strike power plants and bridges in Iran (also see entry below).

He vowed the "crazy bastards" would be "living in Hell" if the strait, a crucial waterway for global trade, isn’t opened by Tuesday. Trump ended his post with "Praise be to Allah."

"We are in a position that’s very strong, and that country will take 20 years to rebuild, if they’re lucky, if they have a country," Trump said in an interview with the Wall Street Journal on Sunday. "And if they don't do something by Tuesday evening, they won't have any power plants and they won't have any bridges standing."

Trump has issued such deadlines before but extended them when mediators have claimed progress toward ending the war.

Iran, however, has so far remained defiant, showing no sign of backing down.

It has also continued to fire missiles and drones targeting US interests and key energy infrastructure across the Gulf region.

Iran's internet blackout has become the world's longest nation-scale internet shutdown on record, according to internet monitoring group Netblocks.

The monitor said Sunday that the internet blackout has lasted for 37 consecutive days.

"Iran's internet blackout is now the longest nation-scale internet shutdown on record in any country, exceeding all other comparable incidents in severity," NetBlocks said.

It noted that some countries had experienced intermittent or regional-level shutdowns over longer periods, and pointed out that North Korea had never been connected to the global internet.

Iranian authorities cut off the internet at the start of the war with the US and Israel on February 28. Since then, only a few authorized people in Iran have had access to the worldwide internet. Some have tried to circumvent the blackout by connecting via a VPN or Starlink, although doing so is punishable with jail time. 

Iran also saw widescale internet blackouts before the war during anti-government protests that were violently put down by the regime. 

US President Donald Trump has again threatened to bomb Iran's power plants and bridges if Tehran doesn't reopen the Strait of Hormuz.

In an expletive-laden post on his Truth Social platform, Trump said the "crazy bastards" would be "living in Hell" if the crucial waterway remained closed to ship traffic beyond his Monday deadline.

"Tuesday will be Power Plant Day, and Bridge Day, all wrapped up in one, in Iran," he wrote.

Trump issued a similar ultimatum two weeks ago, but extended the deadline twice after claiming there had been progress in negotiations with Iran. Tehran, meanwhile, has shown no sign of backing down.

Around a fifth of the world's oil and gas passed through the strait before the US-Israel war with Iran broke out at the end of February. Iran has largely halted those energy shipments, with far-reaching consequences for the global economy and energy supplies.  

Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz has threatened to go after Iran's leaders and target the country's strategic assets if missile attacks on Israel continue.

"As long as missile fire continues to target Israeli civilians, Iran will pay a heavy price that will degrade and ultimately cripple its national infrastructure and the operational capacity of the regime," Katz said in a video statement.

"At the same time, we will continue to pursue and neutralize the leadership of terror, and strike security targets and strategic assets throughout Iran," he added.

The statement came after Iran said it would step up its attacks on oil and other civilian infrastructure sites if the US and Israel continued to strike Iranian civilian facilities.

Iran's central military command was cited by state media as saying it had attacked a number of energy facilities in Israel and Gulf states after an Israeli airstrike struck Iran's largest petrochemical complex on Saturday.

Key members of the OPEC+ oil cartel are meeting on Sunday to discuss lifting May production quotas as the US-Israeli war with Iran continues to disrupt oil markets.

Sources cited by the Reuters news agency ahead of the planned video conference said the alliance had already agreed in principle to raise the quotas by 206,000 barrels per day.

The increase would be largely theoretical, however, given that OPEC's key members are unable to significantly ramp up production due to the war.

Since the conflict began on February 28, shipments of oil through the Strait of Hormuz have effectively been halted. Around a fifth of the world's oil and much of its gas supply passed through the waterway before the crisis. Now, top producers such as Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Iraq and Kuwait have been forced to curtail supplies.

Several Gulf countries have also seen their oil infrastructure damaged by missile and drone strikes.

Other countries, such as Russia, are not able to increase production due to Western sanctions and damage caused by the war with Ukraine.

The Iran war sent oil prices climbing to almost $120 a barrel last month. If the Strait of Hormuz remains blocked until mid-May, prices could climb to a record high of over $150, according to JPMorgan.