Iran warns of 'devastating' retaliation after Trump's expletive-filled threats

Iran has warned of "much more devastating" retaliation if the US and Israel were to strike civilian targets, state media has reported.

"If attacks on civilian targets are repeated, the next stages of our offensive and retaliatory operations will be much more devastating and widespread," reads a statement from a spokesman for the Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters - Iran's highest operational military command unit. The statement was published by the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB).

It comes after the US president threatened attacks on Iranian power plants and bridges if Iran fails to meet his Tuesday deadline to reopen the Strait of Hormuz.

US President Donald Trump's threat to blow up electricity plants, oil wells and water desalination plants in Iran could amount to a threat to commit potential war crimes, according to international treaties and conventions on the laws of war.

The deliberate destruction of energy infrastructure could have a devastating effect on civilian life - even if the plants are also argued to have a military or government purpose.

Luis Moreno Ocampo, founding chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) - to which neither the US nor Iran are party - told me that Trump's bombing of Iranian power plants, as well as attacks by both Iran and Israel on energy infrastructure, would not amount to legitimate targets.

Under the Rome Statute, established by the court, "intentionally directing attacks at civilian objects... which are not military objectives" is a war crime, Moreno Ocampo said.

Trump has previously said he doesn't "need international law" and is guided by his "own morality".

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt was asked about this issue of potential war crimes last week and rejected the notion.

"Of course, this administration and the United States armed forces will always act within the confines of the law. But with respect to achieving the full objectives of Operation Epic Fury, President Trump is going to move forward unabated. And he expects the Iranian regime to make a deal with the administration."

Meanwhile, Israeli strikes on Lebanon on Sunday have killed at least 15 people and wounded 39 others, AFP reports citing the Lebanese health ministry.

At least five people were killed in a strike on Beirut, while three were killed in an attack on an apartment building in Ain Saadeh, east of Beirut, officials said.

A four-year-old girl was among seven people killed in a strike on the southern town of Kfar Hatta, the ministry added.

In Israel, two bodies have been recovered from a residential building that was hit by a missile, Israeli media report.

Israel's military says it has conducted a wave of strikes against targets in Iran's capital, Tehran.

A US-Israeli strike on a residential building killed at least five people and left several people buried under rubble in Qom, south of Tehran, a deputy governor told the semi-official SNN news agency, Reuters reported.

The UAE and Kuwait said their air defences had also responded to missile and drone attacks.