What to know about the Iran war today:
- President Trump is again voicing optimism about a potential deal with Iran to end the war currently paused by a two-week ceasefire. Mr. Trump told Fox News the conflict is “very close to over” as he and Pakistan’s leader suggest a new round of direct U.S.-Iran peace talks could be looming.
- The Iranian regime is challenging the U.S. military’s claim to have “completely halted economic trade going into and out of Iran by sea,” and it is again threatening to impede commercial shipping in another vital Middle Eastern waterway if the American blockade of its ports continues.
- The Iran war continues to drive a deeper wedge between the U.S. and its NATO allies and between President Trump and the leader of the Catholic Church. Mr. Trump has lashed out again at Pope Leo for calling for an end to the war, and for what he considers NATO’s failure to support the U.S.-Israeli attacks on Iran.
Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif will travel to Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Turkey this week during a diplomatic push to secure a new round of talks between the U.S. and Iran, Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
The trip comes days after Islamabad hosted marathon negotiations last weekend that ended without a formal agreement.
Sharif is attempting to facilitate a second round before a fragile ceasefire expires early next week. The ministry said Sharif’s visits will start Wednesday and conclude on Saturday.
President Trump told Fox News the war “is very close to over,” and he said to the New York Post that a second round of talks with Iran “could be happening over next two days,” again in Islamabad.
Late Tuesday night, ABC News Chief Washington correspondent Jonathan Karl said on social media that Mr. Trump “told me today he isn’t thinking about extending the ceasefire. He doesn’t think it will be necessary.”
Karl said the president told him, “I think you’re going to be watching an amazing two days ahead. I really do.”
U.S. military says forces “ready to ensure compliance” of blockade
U.S. forces are “ready to ensure compliance” of the U.S. blockade of Iranian ports as American naval vessels remain on patrol in the Gulf of Oman, U.S. Central Command said Wednesday.
CENTCOM shared an audio recording in a post on X warning that any vessels that try to breach the blockade by transiting to or from an Iranian port “will be boarded for interdiction and seizure.”
“If you do not comply with this blockade, we will use force,” the recording says. “The whole of the United States Navy is ready to enforce compliance.”
The blockade has been in place for more than two days as Washington pressures Tehran to relinquish control of the Strait of Hormuz, a critical chokepoint for shipments of oil, fertilizer and other vital commodities.
