Israel on Friday launched a wave of airstrikes on Iranian civilian and military targets, while Iran and the United States fell into a diplomatic impasse, setting the stage for further escalation as the latest Middle East conflict nears its one-month mark.

The Israeli military said on Friday it struck ballistic missile production sites and air defense systems across Iran overnight, including targets in Tehran and western regions. But Iranian media reported strikes hit residential areas in Tehran, Qom and Urmia. The scale and intensity of the strikes were described by online observers as unprecedented, highlighting the rapidly widening scope of the confrontation.

Iran also kept up its strikes targeting sites in Israel and military facilities in the Gulf used by US forces, with drone and missile attacks reported in the United Arab Emirates and Kuwait.

Iran's military also issued an "ultimatum" on Thursday to hotel operators in regional countries, notably Bahrain and the UAE, warning them against hosting US military personnel — otherwise the properties will become legitimate targets for Iranian armed forces, the semiofficial Fars news agency reported. Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi earlier accused US soldiers of using civilians in Gulf countries as "human shields".

Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said on Friday that they had "turned back" three ships trying to transit the Strait of Hormuz. Shipping "to and from ports of allies and supporters of the Israeli-American enemies" is prohibited through any corridor or to any destination, they said as quoted by Iranian state media.

It came as US President Donald Trump said he would again extend the deadline for Iran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz or face the destruction of its energy plants, after Tehran had earlier rejected a 15-point US proposal to end the fighting as "one-sided and unfair".

"At the request of the Iranian government, I am pausing the period of energy plant destruction by 10 days to Monday, April 6, 2026, at 8 pm, Eastern Time," Trump wrote on social media.

Economic effect

Finnish President Alexander Stubb has warned the US-Israeli war against Iran could trigger a "self-inflicted global recession" with consequences potentially more severe than the COVID-19 pandemic.

Speaking to Politico, Stubb criticized the "America First" approach, arguing it reduces diplomacy to short-term deals. "Diplomacy is rarely a transaction," he said. "I mean, interest can be transactional, but even then, you should find mutual interest."

After Wall Street suffered its worst single-day slump since the war erupted, Asian shares mostly retreated on Friday amid deepening doubts about prospects for de-escalation. Oil prices climbed again, with Brent crude, the international benchmark, trading at $107 a barrel in morning trading — up more than 45 percent since the US and Israel launched their military offensive against Iran on Feb 28.

"Many observers view Iran as holding the upper hand and question whether substantive negotiations with the US are truly underway," said ITC Markets senior FX analyst Sean Callow.

Meanwhile, a group of US ships drew closer to the region with some 2,500 Marines. Additionally, at least 1,000 paratroopers from the 82nd Airborne Division — trained to deploy into hostile territory to seize key sites and airfields — have been ordered to the region.

The Pentagon was also considering sending up to 10,000 additional ground troops to the Middle East in the coming days, Axios and The Wall Street Journal reported, citing a senior US official. Some experts suggested that Trump's bombing grace period was announced to buy time for the Pentagon to finalize preparations for a potential ground invasion.

Iran has claimed it was readying more than one million fighters to unleash "hell" on US troops if the US launches a ground invasion. Citing a military source, the state-run Tasnim News Agency reported that fighters are growing increasingly eager to create "a historic hell for the Americans on Iranian soil".

Meanwhile, International Atomic Energy Agency Director General Rafael Grossi on Thursday reiterated his "deep concern" over recent military strikes near Iran's Bushehr Nuclear Power Plant.

"Damage to the facility could result in a major radiological accident affecting a large area in Iran and beyond," Grossi warned, calling on all parties to exercise maximum restraint.

The United Nations Security Council was scheduled to hold closed-door consultations on Friday to discuss strikes on Iranian civilian infrastructure.

Contact the writers at cuihaipei@chinadaily.com.cn