Trump Signals Response To Haifa Refinery Strike ‘Shortly’ As WH Mulls Uranium Seizure Op; Bessent Vows To ‘Retake’ Hormuz ‘Over Time’

Summary

• Iran rejects ‘excessive, illogical’ US demands while Trump mentions ‘progress’ with a ‘more reasonable regime’. Trump again threatens to destroy Iran energy sites and Kharg Island. Hundreds of US Special Forces arrive in region.

• White House seriously considering ground operation to seize Iran’s enriched uranium stockpile but also wants Tehran to negotiate handing it over willingly. Bessent: US will ‘retake’ Hormuz Strait ‘over time’.

• Bazan oil refinery in Israel’s northern city of Haifa is on fire after a second apparent Iranian missile strike of the war. Trump says US response ‘coming shortly’.

• Iran accuses Israel of more ‘false flags’ – after Kuwait water desalination plant hit.

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Trump & Rubio Latest: Response to Haifa Refinery Attack Coming ‘Shortly’

There continues to be a situation where Washington is proclaiming successes in meeting all military objectives in Iran, and yet Tehran is still refusing all alleged US initiatives at direct talks toward some kind of ceasefire. A Monday morning post from the State Department laid out the following words of Secretary Rubio, who at one point stated: “We always prefer to settle things through diplomacy. But we also have to be prepared for the fact that effort might fail. We are dealing with a 47-year-old regime that still has a lot of people involved in it who aren’t necessarily big fans of diplomacy or peace.”

SECRETARY RUBIO: Here are the clear objectives of the operation. You should write them down:
 
1. The destruction of Iran’s air force
2. The destruction of their navy
3. The severe diminishing of their missile launching capability
4. The destruction of their factories
🎯 pic.twitter.com/SrqCtPLlZB

— Department of State (@StateDept) March 30, 2026

President Trump has meanwhile suggested a major US response is coming after Israel’s Bazan oil refinery in Haifa was attacked by the Iranians. A huge blaze has engulfed the vital energy complex. According to a NY Post interview:

President Trump on Monday put Iran and the speaker of the Islamic Republic’s parliament on notice after Tehran attacked Israel’s biggest oil refinery and told The Post his response is coming “shortly.”

Iran escalated its attack on infrastructure by striking a water and electrical plant in Kuwait, and an oil refinery was set ablaze in the northern Israeli city of Haifa after the Iranian missile attack. Asked for his response on the strike, he told The Post: “You’ll see shortly.”

As for the man believed to be running the day-to-day of Iran’s government, parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, Trump said “We’re gonna find out” if Washington can work with him. “I’ll let you know that in about a week,” Trump stated.

The IRGC is meanwhile touting that it is targeting “American-Israeli command centers, drone hangars, and pilot hideouts in new missile strikes on their military installations in the region” – per Press TV.

Bessent: We Will Retake Hormuz ‘Over Time’

As of last week Rubio was still giving a timeline of at least 2-4 more weeks of Iranian operations. On Monday CBS is reporting that hundreds of special forces, including Navy SEALS and Army Rangers, are now positioned in the Mideast region. Army paratroopers are also said to be in place – and yet these numbers still don’t seem on a level needed for an outright ground assault, as Trump is said to be mulling some kind of high risk seizure of Iran’s uranium (below).

Fresh Monday statements from Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent continue to signal a longish timeframe for US operations in Iran (far beyond the mere ‘days’ mentioned in late February at the start). Speaking somewhat ambiguously, he said “over time” the US will “retake” control of the Strait of Hormuz.

Hundreds of US Special Ops military personnel, including Navy SEALs and Army Rangers, are now in the Middle East, as well as Marines and Army paratroopers, sources tell @CBSNews. We reported on some of the preparations on March 20. The deployments serve to give Trump options in… https://t.co/aqlporCFSG

— Jennifer Jacobs (@JenniferJJacobs) March 30, 2026

“We are seeing more and more ships go through on a daily basis as individual countries cut deals with the Iranian regime for the time being,” Bessent described, saying also “The market is well supplied,” according to Bloomberg.

Iran Again Rejects ‘Excessive’ Demands

Iran has once again stated that it has rejected the latest “US demands” as “excessive and illogical” according to state Tasnim, also confirming that it did not participate in the weekend Pakistan-hosted summit attended by the foreign ministers of Turkey, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Egypt.

“We have never had any direct negotiations with the United States. What has been raised are messages received through intermediaries indicating the US desire to negotiate,” Foreign Ministry Spokesman Esmail Baghaei said in a press conference Monday. Meanwhile Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar is expected in China on Tuesday for talks with his Chinese counterpart, after Beijing made clear it is ready to back a Pakistan-mediated peace effort.

Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi has urged President Trump to end the war, saying Washington holds the key here to stopping a worse spiral. “I tell President Trump: Nobody can stop the war in our region in the Gulf but you,” Sisi stated at the opening of the country’s Egypes energy conference. Still, despite Tehran’s latest statement of rejection, Trump put out of a fresh Monday Truth Social Post displaying some optimism toward dealing with a “more reasonable regime” and mentioned “great progress” – but coupled with the usual ‘or else’ type threats. For example, Trump again has threatened to destroy Iran energy sites and Kharg Island.

Over the weekend Trump had said to reporters aboard Air Force One, “The one regime was decimated, destroyed, they’re all dead. The next regime is mostly dead, and the third regime – we’re dealing with different people than anybody’s dealt with before… and frankly, they’ve been very reasonable.”

Plan For Uranium Seizure

With more Marines and reportedly Airborne troops en route to the region, among Trump’s ‘options’ is the seizure of Iran’s enriched uranium. A fresh Wall Street Journal report says Monday, “President Trump is weighing a military operation to extract nearly 1,000 pounds of uranium from Iran, according to U.S. officials, a complex and risky mission that would likely put American forces inside the country for days or longer.”

No decision has been made, the report makes clear, and the White House is said to be considering the danger to US troops. On this question, the likelihood for something to ‘go wrong’ – or some kind of mass casualty event for American forces, would be high. This would also open the possibility of forces getting bogged down for at least weeks, months, or longer – and not just ‘days’ of an operation.

“It’s the job of the Pentagon to make preparations in order to give the commander-in-chief maximum optionality. It does not mean the president has made a decision,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt has sought to clarify of plans.

Unbelievable video

filmed by a resident from Tehran shows the reality of life under Israeli/US strikes

pic.twitter.com/xzmcXc469h

— Fazel Hawramy (@FazelHawramy) March 29, 2026

One key part of the WSJ report gives a window into where future negotiations would focus: “The president has also encouraged his advisers to press Iran to agree to surrender the material as a condition for ending the war, according to a person familiar with Trump’s thinking,” the report says. “Trump has been clear in conversations with political allies that the Iranians can’t keep the material, and he has discussed seizing it by force if Iran won’t give it up at the negotiating table.” But already Tehran sees itself in an existential war for survival, and so isn’t going to be very open to just giving up its enriched stockpiles.

Israeli Oil Refinery on Fire

Huge fires have been observed at the Bazan oil refinery in Israel’s northern city of Haifa, after another apparent Iranian attack, which marks the second such hit on the site since the war started.

Israeli television channels have reported the attack and emergency response at the scene. “Search and rescue forces, both reserve and regular forces, are on their way to a site in northern Israel where reports of impact have been received,” the IDF said in a statement.

Area residents are being asked to stay inside and shelter in place, with Jerusalem Post reporting “The Environmental Protection Ministry told Ma’ariv that a gasoline tank is burning in the refinery complex, producing thick smoke, but with no risk to the population in the area from a hazardous materials incident.”

Smoke rising from Haifa’s Petrochemical complex following reported Iranian missile strike.

BREAKING:

Smoke rising from Haifa’s Petrochemical complex following reported Iranian missile strike. pic.twitter.com/iXlQn41Ohp

— Iran News 24 (@IRanMediaco) March 30, 2026

Iran Claims Some Attacks as Israeli False Flags

There’s been another interesting accusation that Israel is conducing false flags to make any potential ceasefire deal much harder. It’s remained an open question whether things will escalate toward an all-out exchange of fire on infrastructure, such as energy sites and water plants.

Iran’s military has newly accused Israel of attacking Kuwait’s desalination plant, according to Al Jazeera. The Iranian statement, featured in semi-official Tasnim agency, said the “Zionist regime’s brutal attack on Kuwait’s desalination plant, under the pretext of accusing the Islamic Republic of Iran, which took place in the past few hours, is a sign of the vileness and baseness of the Zionist occupiers.”

Indian worker killed in attack on Kuwait plant…

Kuwait says an Indian worker has been killed in an Iranian attack on a power and desalination plant, as Gulf states report intercepting drones and missiles.

Al Jazeera’s Zein Basravi reports from Dubai. pic.twitter.com/hCgettyBSf

— Al Jazeera English (@AJEnglish) March 30, 2026

“We declare that American bases and military personnel, their interests in the region, and the military, security, and economic infrastructure and facilities of the Zionist regime will continue to be our powerful targets,” it said. There’s also a lingering threat against American university branch campuses in the region, after over the weekend two Iranian campuses in Tehran came under attack. Iran had earlier said the long-range attacks (which failed) against the UK’s remote Diego Garcia base was also a false flag.

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