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West Asia lurched closer to all-out war on Tuesday, April 7, as Iran fired its seventh missile barrage of the day at Israel, the United States set an 8pm Eastern deadline for Tehran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz or face military strikes and Russia and China vetoed a UN Security Council resolution aimed at keeping the crucial waterway open. 

Gulf states scrambled to protect their populations, with Kuwait imposing a midnight curfew and a key causeway between Saudi Arabia and Bahrain shutting down for the second time in the day.

Iran’s UN envoy warned that Tehran would not “stand idle” in the face of what he called incitement to war crimes, as top House Democrats demanded Congress be recalled to prevent what they described as a slide toward World War III. With Trump’s deadline hours away, the White House offered the world little clarity — saying only the president himself knew what he intended to do.

White House says only Trump knows ‘where things stand’

As the world contemplates how seriously to take Donald Trump’s latest threats towards Iran, the White House has reiterated his demand that Tehran reach a deal within the next few hours, saying that only the US president knows how he will respond if Tehran fails to comply.

The White House set a hard deadline of 8pm Eastern Time for Iran to come to the table. Press secretary Karoline Leavitt, speaking to multiple outlets including Al Jazeera and the Wall Street Journal, left little room for ambiguity on the timeline — but none at all on what would follow if it passed without a deal. That, she made clear, was entirely the president’s call.

Tehran says ‘brute force’ will not prevail

Iran’s Foreign Ministry pushed back defiantly against Trump’s threats, with spokesperson smaeil Baqaei
posting a pointed rebuttal on X. 

He argued that the culture, logic and conviction of a civilised nation would ultimately prove stronger than the logic of force, and that a people confident in the righteousness of their cause would deploy every capacity available to defend their rights and legitimate interests.

Iranian envoy vows action if Trump follows through on threats

Iranian envoy says Tehran will not “stand idle’ if Trump follows through on ‘war crime’ threats

Amir-Saeid Iravani, Tehran’s representative at the UN, said that Trump’s threats earlier Tuesday that a “whole civilization will die” if Iran does not make a deal “constitute incitement to war crimes and potentially genocide.”

During a Security Council session on the Strait of Hormuz, Iravani urged the international community to call out Trump’s rhetoric before it’s too late.

“Iran will not stand idle in the face of such egregious war crimes. It will exercise, without hesitation, its inherent right of self-defense and will take immediate and proportionate reciprocal measures,” he said.

Iranians wave flags on Ahvaz bridge amid Trump’s threats

In a show of public defiance, dozens of Iranians gathered on the Pol Sefid – or White Bridge – in the southwestern city of Ahvaz, waving national flags as Trump’s deadline loomed. Footage of the rally was shared by Iran’s semi-official Tasnim news agency.

Israel says Iran has fired a new barrage of missiles

Israel’s military said Iran had launched missiles at the country Tuesday evening, the seventh time of the day.

Sirens sent people to shelters in the southern part of the country, while earlier salvos had been centered on the major metropolis of Tel Aviv, as well as central Israel and parts of the occupied West Bank.

Northern Israeli communities continued to come under fire from Hezbollah as well.

Pakistan PM asks Trump to extend Iran deadline by two weeks

Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has appealed directly to Trump to push back his 8pm deadline by two weeks, arguing that diplomatic efforts to resolve the Middle East crisis are gaining momentum and deserve time to bear fruit.

“Diplomatic efforts for peaceful settlement of the ongoing war in the Middle East are progressing steadily, strongly and powerfully with the potential to lead to substantive results in near future,” Sharif wrote on X. “To allow diplomacy to run its course, I earnestly request President Trump to extend the deadline for two weeks.”

Sharif simultaneously called on Tehran to keep the Strait of Hormuz open for the same two-week period as a goodwill gesture, and urged all warring parties to observe a ceasefire across all fronts during that window, to give, as he put it, diplomacy the chance to achieve a conclusive end to the war in the interest of long-term regional peace and stability.

Russia, China veto UN resolution aimed at reopening Hormuz

The vetoes by Russia and China came despite the resolution being repeatedly weakened in order to get the two countries to abstain.

The vote in the 15-member Security Council on the Bahrain-sponsored resolution was 11-2 with Pakistan and Colombia abstaining. It came hours before Trump’s 8 pm Eastern deadline for Iran to open the strategic waterway or face attacks on its power plants and bridges.

Bahrain’s initial proposal would have authorised countries to use “all necessary means” – UN wording that would include military action – to ensure transit through the Strait of Hormuz and deter attempts to close it.

The final text eliminated Security Council authorization for offensive or defensive action. Instead, it “strongly encourages” countries using the Strait of Hormuz to coordinate defensive efforts to ensure safe navigation through the waterway, where about one-fifth of the world’s oil passes.

Key bridge between Saudi Arabia, Bahrain closes

The King Fahd Causeway linking Saudi Arabia to Bahrain was shut to vehicle traffic for the second time on Tuesday, with the King Fahd Causeway Authority citing alerts from the National Early Warning Platform in the Eastern Province. The closure, announced on X, was described as a precautionary measure.

Kuwait asks residents to stay indoors

Kuwait ordered all residents to remain home between midnight and 6am Wednesday, a curfew that spans the window of Trump’s threatened military action against Iran. The Interior Ministry, in a post on X, described it as a precautionary measure to maintain safety, support security operations and ensure stability, urging full public cooperation with authorities.

Earlier, Kuwait’s Defence Ministry said its forces had responded to 17 drone attacks in the preceding 24 hours, none of which caused damage or casualties.

Gulf states’ patience with Iran has its limits: Bahrain Foreign Minister

Bahrain’s Foreign Minister Abdullatif bin Rashid al-Zayani has cautioned that Gulf states absorbing Iranian attacks will not exercise restraint indefinitely, delivering one of the starkest warnings yet from the region as Trump’s deadline approached.

“Our countries have exercised considerable restraint and patience in the face of ongoing Iranian aggression, but this restraint cannot be expected to continue without limit,” al-Zayani said, adding that international law afforded his country rights that could neither be eroded by inaction nor shielded from accountability by those who chose to look away.

Rubio accuses Iran of terrorism in the Strait of Hormuz

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Tuesday accused Iran of committing acts of terrorism in the Strait of Hormuz by attacking commercial shipping vessels attempting to navigate the key waterway.

“The whole world has been impacted, unfortunately, because Iran is violating every law known by striking commercials vessels in the Straits of Hormuz,” Rubio told reporters at the State Department. “It’s a big problem for the world. I mean, this is a regime that doesn’t believe in laws and rules or anything like that. It’s a state sponsor of terrorism so it is not surprising that they’re now conducting terrorist operations against commercial vessels.”

He declined to respond to a question about what Trump meant when he threatened that “a whole civilization will end tonight” if Iran does not meet U.S. demands to reopen the strait.

1,500 killed in Lebanon

In Lebanon, where Israel is fighting Hezbollah militants, more than 1,500 have been killed and more than 1 million people have been displaced, the country’s health ministry said.

Among the 1,530 killed are 102 women and 130 children are among the dead, as well as 57 paramedics, according to the government count.

The number of Hezbollah militants killed is unclear.

More than 4,800 people were also wounded in the war.

Eleven Israeli soldiers have died there.

Top House Democrats ask Congress to be brought back into session to end war

House Democratic leaders in a joint statement called President Donald Trump “completely unhinged” and asked the House to be brought back immediately into legislative session.

“His statement threatening to eradicate an entire civilization shocks the conscience and requires a decisive congressional response,” said the joint statement from Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries, Democratic Whip Katherine Clark and four other top House Democrats.

“The House must come back into session immediately and vote to end this reckless war of choice in the Middle East before Donald Trump plunges our country into World War III,” the Democratic lawmakers said.

They called on House Republicans to put patriotic duty over party loyalty and “join Democrats in stopping this madness.”