The Day the World Feared Has Arrived:Iran Rejects 45-Day Ceasefire, US Carries Out Heaviest Strikes Yet, Children Killed in Tehran

Tuesday, April 7, 2026 — tonight at 8 PM Eastern Time, Donald Trump’s final deadline expires. The Iran war has entered what may be its most decisive day yet. Iran rejected a 45-day ceasefire proposal from Egypt, Pakistan and Turkey, demanding a permanent end to the war instead. Defense Secretary Hegseth declared Monday’s US strikes the heaviest of the entire conflict. Iran’s intelligence chief was killed overnight. Six children under ten were killed in a Tehran residential neighbourhood by US-Israeli strikes. And Trump — speaking at a White House press conference — said Iran could be “taken out in one night.” This is where we are. Read carefully.

8 PM ETTonight — Trump’s Final Deadline

HeaviestUS Strikes of Entire War — Monday

RejectedIran Says No to 45-Day Ceasefire

6 ChildrenKilled in Tehran Residential Strike

Iran Says No to the 45-Day Ceasefire — Wants Permanent Peace or Nothing

Let’s start with the diplomatic picture, because it matters enormously. Egypt, Pakistan and Turkey — three countries that have been working quietly behind the scenes for weeks — put forward a proposal for a 45-day ceasefire that would allow ships to start moving through the Strait of Hormuz again while both sides negotiated a longer-term settlement. It seemed, to many observers, like the most realistic off-ramp available. Iran said no.

According to CNBC and CBS News, Iranian state media reported that Tehran rejected the temporary pause, demanding instead a complete and permanent end to the war. Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson said that negotiations are “incompatible with ultimatums and threats to commit war crimes.” He added that Iran’s demands “should not be interpreted as a sign of compromise, but rather as a reflection of its confidence in defending its positions.” In other words — Iran is telling the world it does not feel defeated. It believes it is negotiating from a position of strength, not weakness. Whether that calculation is correct or catastrophically wrong is something the next few hours will begin to answer.

“Iran could be taken out in one night. I have a plan for every bridge and every power plant in Iran.” — President Donald Trump, White House Press Conference, April 6, 2026

Trump: “Iran Could Be Taken Out in One Night”

At a wide-ranging press conference at the White House on Monday, flanked by Defense Secretary Hegseth and Joint Chiefs Chairman General Dan Caine, President Trump was asked directly whether the war would be ending soon. He did not give a yes or no answer. Instead, he said it was a “critical period” and that what happens next “depends on Iran’s actions.” Then, as if to leave no ambiguity about the stakes, he said Iran could be “taken out in one night” — and that he had a plan for every bridge and power plant in Iran to be “burning and exploding, never to be used again” by midnight Tuesday. He also said, somewhat surprisingly, that Iran appeared to be an “active, willing participant” in talks — and that negotiations were “going well.” The contradiction between those two statements was not lost on anyone in the room.

CNN reports that behind the scenes, Oman has been holding separate talks with Iran about the Strait of Hormuz. Pakistan and Egypt are also keeping communication lines open between Washington and Tehran. Israel, meanwhile, has already drawn up an updated target list of Iranian energy and infrastructure sites — ready to go the moment Trump gives a green light. Two Israeli security officials told CNN they are “highly skeptical” a deal is achievable. These are the people who will be flying the planes if the deadline passes.

Hegseth: Monday Was the Heaviest US Strike Day of the Entire War

While diplomats scrambled, the bombs kept falling. Al Jazeera reports that Defense Secretary Hegseth declared on Monday that US forces had carried out more strikes on Iran than on any single day since the war began on February 28 — making Monday the heaviest single day of aerial bombardment in the entire six-week conflict. Iran’s Revolutionary Guards intelligence chief Majid Khademi was killed in one of the strikes, according to CNBC — the latest in a long line of senior Iranian officials eliminated during this war. Iran’s military central command responded by warning that any attack on civilian targets would trigger “much more devastating and widespread” retaliation.

Six Children Killed in Tehran Residential Neighbourhood

This is the part of the story that tends to get buried under geopolitical analysis — but it deserves to be front and centre. Al Jazeera reports that overnight US-Israeli strikes on a residential area in Tehran’s Baharestan county killed four girls and two boys — all below the age of ten. In the same period, a US-Israeli strike near Sharif University of Technology damaged a fuel station, causing a petrol shortage in the neighbourhood, and also damaged the university’s mosque. Iran’s atomic energy authority separately condemned a US-Israeli attack on its heavy water facility in Khondab, calling it “a crime against science and human health.” The IAEA confirmed strikes took place close to the Bushehr nuclear power plant — though it says the plant itself was not damaged.

It is worth sitting with those numbers for a moment. Six children under ten. Killed in their homes while sleeping. In a residential area. Not near a military facility, not inside a weapons factory — in a neighbourhood where families live. Whatever one thinks of the strategic rationale for this war, the human price being paid by ordinary Iranians is staggering. More than 1,900 people have now been killed in Iran since February 28. Hundreds of children are among them.

Iran Threatens to Strike UAE’s AI Centre After Sharif University Hit

As strikes hit Tehran’s university district, Iran issued a new threat that goes far beyond the battlefield. CNN reports that Iran’s semi-official Tasnim news agency said Tehran is now threatening to strike an AI research and technology centre in the UAE — in direct retaliation for the attack on Sharif University of Technology, which Iran describes as an attack on civilian science. The UAE is home to some of the world’s most ambitious artificial intelligence investment projects, including a major campus backed by Microsoft, Oracle and G42. An Iranian strike on such facilities would send shockwaves through the global technology investment community.

Haifa Rescue Workers Still Searching — Missiles Hit Again

The humanitarian picture inside Israel is also deteriorating. CBS News reports that rescue workers in Haifa continued working through Monday to find people still missing beneath the rubble of the seven-storey residential building struck by an Iranian ballistic missile on Sunday night. Iranian missiles set off alarms across southern Israel on Monday as well, including in Beersheba. Israeli air defences intercepted the incoming projectiles, but the daily barrage keeps grinding down civilian morale and stretching emergency services to their limits. In northern Israel, more than ten sites in the Haifa district were hit during one set of attacks, local media reported.

The Rescue Mission — Officially “One of the Most Harrowing” in US History

At the Monday press conference, Trump and General Caine took time to describe the rescue of the downed F-15 weapons officer in more vivid terms than before. CBS News reports that Caine described the mission as “one of the largest, most complex, most harrowing” the US military has ever conducted. He said the officer — call sign “Dude 44B” — “evaded Iranians using every means available” and that his “absolute commitment to surviving made much of our efforts possible.” Hegseth revealed a detail that had not been public before: the US deliberately chose fixed-wing aircraft rather than helicopters because intelligence suggested Iran expected a helicopter approach. The weather — low cloud ceilings — also played a role. Two MC-130s landed on an agricultural airstrip deep inside Iran, assembled small MH-6 Little Bird helicopters from their cargo bays in fifteen minutes, flew them seven minutes to the ridgeline where the officer was hiding, and extracted him. Two of the aircraft had to be deliberately destroyed on the ground before leaving Iranian territory.

The Question That Now Hangs Over Everything

As tonight’s deadline approaches, the entire world is essentially asking one question: will Trump actually do it? Will he, at 8 PM Eastern Time, order the destruction of every power plant and bridge in Iran? The honest answer is that nobody outside a very small circle in Washington knows. NBC News confirms that US stocks closed Monday with only modest gains after a very volatile session — meaning financial markets themselves don’t know what to price in. Oil traders are betting on higher prices, because the risk of a dramatic escalation has never been more real. But history also shows that Trump has pulled back from every previous deadline on this issue. He set one on March 21, delayed it on March 23, then extended it again to April 6, and now it sits at Tuesday, April 7, 8 PM Eastern. Could there be one more extension? Iran’s Foreign Ministry said talks continue through intermediaries. Oman is talking to Tehran. Trump himself said Iran is negotiating “in good faith.” And yet — the bombs are falling harder than on any previous day. That is the contradiction the world is living inside right now.

Whatever happens tonight, one thing has already become clear: this war will not end cleanly, quickly or without enormous cost to the people least responsible for starting it. History is being written in real time — one missile at a time, one deadline at a time, one child at a time.

🌐 Stay with the story as it unfolds tonight — Follow WorldWire.in for the latest world updates. Big Relief: India Buys Oil from Iran After 7 Years .“Iran War Tuesday Deadline: Trump Issues Power Plant Ultimatum.” April 6 ,2026.

Sources

Al JazeeraAl Jazeera Day 38CNNCNN Week 6CBS NewsCNBCNBC NewsReutersBBCBloombergWikipediaNPR

All facts verified from Al Jazeera, CNN, CBS News, CNBC, NBC, Reuters, BBC & Bloomberg · April 7, 2026