The Iran war has now lasted five weeks – and there is no end in sight.Image: keystone
April 3, 2026, 3:33 p.mApril 3, 2026, 3:40 p.m
Five weeks after the start of the Iran war, mutual attacks continue unabated and a negotiated solution is not in sight, despite violent threats from US President Donald Trump. Iran should agree to a deal before it is too late and there is nothing left of the country, Trump threatened after the bombing of an important highway bridge near Tehran.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced further joint attacks with the USA, including on Iran’s infrastructure. “Together with our American friends, we continue to dismantle the terrorist regime in Iran. We are taking out commanders, bombing bridges, bombing infrastructure,” Netanyahu said in a video distributed by his office during a situation assessment.
Trump emphasized: “The new leadership of the regime knows what needs to be done.” And that has to happen quickly, Trump said, probably with a view to a hoped-for negotiated solution to end the war. In Tehran, a new wave of attacks shook the metropolis in the afternoon. Eyewitnesses reported explosions.
Trump threatens the Iranian regime. Image: keystone
Trump is putting the Iranian leadership under time pressure with his threats, while at the same time he announced that he wanted to end the war in two to three weeks. The leadership of the Islamic Republic is likely to celebrate a possible end to the war without a negotiated solution and concessions as a great victory – regardless of massive damage and many victims in the country.
Iran’s former Foreign Minister Zarif is promoting “real” peace with the USA
The former long-time Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammed-Jawad Zarif, meanwhile, campaigned for a “real” peace with the USA. In a guest article for Foreign Affairs magazine, Zarif argued that the fundamental conflict must be resolved. Instead of a potentially fragile ceasefire, a real peace agreement is needed.
The war showed that Iran’s missile and nuclear programs cannot be ended militarily. In his view, Tehran should, as in the past, offer to limit its nuclear program and open the Strait of Hormuz. In return, the USA would have to lift international sanctions.
There is no quick end to the war in sight
Together with Israel, the USA attacked Iran at the end of February. Since then, dozens of military and political leaders have been killed, including Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Iran responded with missile attacks on Israel and Arab states in the Gulf. In the Strait of Hormuz, the Iranian military brought shipping to a virtual standstill with attacks and threats, causing oil prices to skyrocket. A quick end to the war is still not in sight.
Ali Khamenei was Iran’s supreme leader. Image: EPA LEADER OFFICE
According to a military spokesman, Israel attacked dozens of missile program targets in Iran and Lebanon. In addition, the commander of the ballistic missile unit in the Kermanshah region was deliberately killed. Israel’s army also announced this morning that it had killed around 15 members of the Lebanese Hezbollah militia in an air strike in southern Lebanon. They were planning a rocket attack on Israel.
Israel continues to be under attack
Meanwhile, Israel was again bombarded with rockets. In the north of the country there was damage to buildings and cars in the morning following impacts in the area of the city of Haifa as a result of an Iranian attack, Israeli media reported. According to Iranian information, military targets in Israel were shelled. The Iranian information cannot be independently verified. Damage to military installations and in the armaments sector is subject to censorship in Israel.
A woman surveys the damage after an Iranian bomb in Ramat Gan, Israel. Image: keystone
In the morning, warning sirens blared several times in northern Israel due to drone and rocket attacks by the Lebanese Hezbollah. The Iran-backed militia claimed responsibility for rocket attacks.
The Gulf states also reported further suspected Iranian attacks. The United Arab Emirates and Jordan reported injuries, while in Kuwait emergency services tried to continue operations at a desalination plant.
More ships pass through Strait of Hormuz
Meanwhile, the number of ship passages in the Strait of Hormuz, which is largely blocked by Iran, has recently increased slightly. According to a report by the data company Windward, 16 freighters sailed through the strait on Wednesday, compared to eleven ships the day before. However, the number of transits is still only a fraction of the traffic before the start of the war. Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister Kasem Gharibabadi announced on Thursday a new mechanism to regulate shipping traffic in the Strait of Hormuz.
An Indian ship arrives at Mumbai port after passing through the Strait of Hormuz.Image: keystone
The UN Security Council in New York is also wrestling with possible measures to ensure the security of the Strait of Hormuz. A draft resolution from Bahrain has been informally discussed for days and will now be voted on at a meeting on Saturday, according to diplomatic sources.
UN Security Council advises
A previous version of the document explicitly referred to Chapter 7 of the United Nations Charter, which grants the Security Council the authority to take measures ranging from sanctions to military force. The representatives of Russia and China, for example, resisted this, it was said.
But the version now being voted on, which should no longer contain the reference, is in danger of failing due to a veto in the Security Council, as diplomats said. Bahrain’s UN ambassador in New York, Jamal Fares Alrowaiei, said before the vote with regard to Iran’s actions that “economic terrorism” could not be tolerated. (sda/dpa)