Middle East crisis live: war will end in ‘two or three weeks’ claims Trump; Rubio says US will ‘reexamine’ relationship with Nato | US-Israel war on Iran
Trump says US will leave Iran in ‘two or three weeks’
Trump said on Tuesday US forces would end operations in Iran “very soon,” suggesting a timeline of two to three weeks. After his usual claims about “regime change” and how much of Iran’s capabilities the US has “knocked out”, Trump said:
double quotation mark Now we’re finishing the job. I think in two weeks or maybe a few days longer, we’ll do the job. We want to knock out everything they’ve got.
He has previously given vague and mixed messages about the US’s aims and timeline for the war.
Asked by a reporter how he was going to bring oil prices back down, Trump answered:
double quotation mark All I have to do is leave Iran – and we’ll be doing that very soon.
Then prices will “come tumbling down”, he said.
Trump also told reporters that the responsibility for keeping the strait of Hormuz open will rest with countries that rely on it. “That’s not for us … That’ll be for whoever’s using the strait.”
Key events
Israeli military reports missile launched from Yemen towards Israel
The Israeli military says it has identified the launch of a missile from Yemen towards Israel. It said defence systems are operating to intercept the missile.
We’ll have more news on this soon.
UAE preparing to help US open strait of Hormuz by force: WSJ reports
The Wall Street Journal is reporting that the United Arab Emirates is preparing to help the US open the strait of Hormuz by force.
Citing Arab officials, the newspaper reported the UAE is lobbying for a UN Security Council resolution that would authorise such action. If the UAE does get involved, it would be the first Gulf country to become a combatant in the conflict, which began on 28 February.
The UAE and its oil infrastructure has been repeatedly targeted by Iranian drones.
Asian stocks jump on renewed hopes of Iran war ending
Back to some Asian markets news, shares were up sharply early on Wednesday after US stocks soared to their best day in almost a year on renewed hopes that the Iran war could soon end.
South Korea’s Kospi surged 6.4% in early trading, while Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 rose 4%. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng was up 1.9%, while the Shanghai Composite index was trading 1.4% higher.
Elsewhere, Australia’s S+P/ASX 200 was up 1.7%, and Taiwan’s Taiex was up 4.3%.
The renewed optimism over a possible de-escalation of the Iran war, came after Donald Trump said the US will be done attacking Iran probably in two to three weeks.
Iran’s state broadcaster IRIB said areas in northern, eastern and central Tehran were under attack on Wednesday morning.
The broadcaster said on Telegram that explosions were heard in the capital’s north, east and centre, reporting “attacks on Tehran” without immediately providing more details.
It is now 6.30am in Tehran.
An American journalist has been kidnapped in Baghdad by a suspected Iranian-backed Iraqi armed group, the US said, as regional security deteriorates after the US-Israeli attack on Iran.
The US state department said it was working to ensure the American’s release “as soon as possible”.
“An individual with ties to the Iranian-aligned militia group Kataib Hezballah believed to be involved in the kidnapping has been taken into custody by Iraqi authorities,” Dylan Johnson, the assistant secretary of state for global public affairs, wrote on X.
Iraq said that authorities intercepted a vehicle that overturned as they tried to flee. “Security forces were able to arrest one of the suspects and seize one of the vehicles used in the crime,” the Iraqi interior ministry said in a statement.
“The ministry affirms that efforts are ongoing to track down the remaining individuals involved, secure the release of the kidnapped journalist,” it added.
An Iraqi security source told Agence France-Presse the abduction occurred in Baghdad. Iraqi authorities did not identify the perpetrator or the victim.
The journalist was identified as Shelly Kittleson, a freelancer, by media advocacy groups as well as Al-Monitor, one of the news outlets for which she worked. Kittleson is a longtime freelancer in the region, reporting extensively from Syria and Iraq.
A drone attack has sparked a large fire at Kuwait international airport, according to its state news agency.
Kuwait’s civil aviation authority said the airport was under an Iranian drone attack on Wednesday that led to “a large fire” at fuel tanks.
“Kuwait International Airport has been subjected to blatant attacks by drones launched by Iran and the armed factions it supports,” the official Kuwait News Agency quoted the spokesman of the general directorate of civil aviation as saying.
The spokesman, Abdullah Al-Rajhi, said “fuel storage tanks… were targeted, resulting in a large fire at the site”. No casualties have been reported.
Asked about how the strait of Hormuz, Rubio said the US depends “very little” on the strait and that countries around the world should be “stepping up” to ensure the free flow of oil and gas exports.
double quotation mark For all these countries that love to talk about international law, it is a violation of international maritime law to impede the free flow of travel in international waters…We depend very little on the strait. So if, in fact, Iran decides to set up a toll, if, in fact, Iran decides that they’re going to illegally control the strait of Hormuz or decide they’re going to try to do that, look, I imagine that’ll be the president’s call – whether he wants to help. But this is a problem for the world. It is countries around the world [that] should be stepping up and dealing with that and saying that’s intolerable – and that’s what we’ve encouraged them to do.
Rubio rejected suggestions that the US does not have a clear strategy in Iran.
double quotation mark “I hear these news reports, and it’s very frustrating, that we don’t know what the objectives are,” he said.The objectives are very clear… and we’re going to achieve all four of them. We’re going to destroy their air force. We already have done it. We’re going to destroy their navy. We’ve largely done that. We’re going to destroy their factories that make these missiles and these drones… We are going to severely degrade their missile launchers so that they can’t fire these multiple salvos…
We are well on our way to achieving all four of those objectives. Those objectives will be achieved. They’ll be achieved very soon.
Rubio says US will ‘have to reexamine’ NATO relationship
Rubio told Fox News the US would need to “reexamine” the NATO relationship after the conflict in Iran is concluded.
double quotation mark Why do we have billions and billions of dollars, hundreds of billions of dollars, over the years, trillions of dollars, and all these American forces stationed in the region… if in our time of need we’re not going to be allowed to use those bases?” he said.
double quotation mark I do think, unfortunately, we are going to have to reexamine whether or not this alliance that has served this country well for a while is still serving that purpose. Or has it now become a one-way street where America is simply in a position to defend Europe, but when we need the help of our allies, they’re going to deny us basing rights and they’re going to deny us overflight. I think these are very legitimate questions that we need to be asking.
Asked about the possibility of a negotiated settlement with Iran, Rubio told Fox there is “the potential for direct meeting at some point”, but said Trump won’t allow negotiations to be used as a “delay tactic”.
“First of all, we can’t ignore that for 47 years they’ve avoided and rejected any effort to negotiate. That doesn’t mean we’re going to stop trying,” he said, adding:
double quotation mark There are messages being exchanged. There are talks going on. There is the potential for direct meeting at some point. We’re always going to be open for that. Bu what President Trump is not going to allow is, he’s not going to allow fake negotiations to be used as a delay tactic to buy more time, to buy themselves space.
US secretary of state Marco Rubio said on Tuesday Washington could see “the finish line” in the Iran war, now in its fifth week.
“We can see the finish line. It’s not today, it’s not tomorrow, but it is coming,” Rubio told Fox News Channel’s “Hannity” show.
Argentina has designated Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps as a terrorist organization, its presidential office said in a statement on Tuesday.
A tanker was hit by an unknown projectile about 17 nautical miles north of Qatar’s Doha, causing damage to the hull above the waterline, the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) said on Wednesday, adding that the vessel’s crew were safe.
There is no environmental impact, UKMTO added
Japan’s Nikkei index climbed more than three percent and South Korea’s Kospi was up nearly five percent in early trade on Wednesday, after Trump indicated that the war with Iran may be over in around two weeks, reports Reuters.
The Nikkei 225 jumped 3.29% to 52,742.62, and the Kospi rose 4.83% to 5,296.29 points.
Saudi Arabia has said it intercepted and destroyed two drones in the last few hours.
A Gulf ally of the United States , the country has been targeted by Iran repeatedly. This week, more than two dozen American service members were injured in missile and drone attacks on a Saudi air base.
Donald Trump will provide an update on the Iran war in an address to the nation at 9pm EST on Wednesday (0100 GMT on Thursday), White House spokesperson Karoline Leavitt has announced.
Israeli strikes in southern Beirut and a nearby area have killed seven people, Lebanon’s health ministry has announced.
“The Israeli enemy’s raid on the Jnah area in Beirut has, according to an initial toll, resulted in five martyrs and 21 others wounded,” a ministry statement said, referring to an area in the Lebanese capital’s south.
Another strike that hit a vehicle in Khaldeh, just south of the capital, killed two people and wounded three, the ministry of health said in another statement.
More on that Reuters/Ipsos poll looking at American’s views on the war in Iran: a total of 60% of respondents said they disapproved of US military strikes on Iran, while 35% approved in the survey of 1,021 people.
One of the war’s most visible effects in the US has been the rising cost of petrol, which rose above $4 a gallon on Monday for the first time in more than three years.
Two in three respondents said they expected petrol prices to worsen over the next year, including 40% of Republicans.
Trump’s Republicans face voters in November for midterm elections that will decide whether they can hold onto slim majorities in the House and Senate. The incumbent president’s party tends to lose seats in Congress in midterm elections.
More than half of respondents thought the conflict would have a mostly negative impact on their personal financial situation, including 39% of Republicans surveyed.
Two-thirds of Americans believe that the US should work to end its involvement in the Iran war quickly, even if that means not achieving the goals set out by the Trump administration, a Reuters/Ipsos poll has found.
Around 66% of respondents to the poll, conducted Friday through Sunday, voiced that view, while 27% said the US should work to achieve all its goals in Iran, even if the conflict goes on for an extended period. Six percent did not answer the question.
Among Trump’s Republican party, 40% supported ending the conflict quickly even if it did not achieve US goals, while 57% supported a longer involvement. The month-long war has spread across the Middle East, killing thousands of people and has hit the global economy with soaring energy prices, fuelling global inflation fears.
