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DUBAI – In a bold move early Wednesday, Iran targeted a tanker near the coastal waters between Qatar and Kuwait International Airport, intensifying its ongoing hostilities with Gulf Arab nations. At the same time, Tehran has admitted, for the first time, that it has engaged in direct talks with Washington about the possibility of a ceasefire.
Meanwhile, Israel issued alerts warning of potential attacks originating from Yemen and Iran. In response, Israel launched its own strikes in Lebanon, resulting in the deaths of at least five individuals.
In Tehran, an airstrike appeared to have targeted the site of the former U.S. Embassy, now controlled by Iran’s Revolutionary Guard since the 1979 hostage crisis. Witnesses reported that the blast shattered windows in nearby buildings, suggesting the strike occurred within the fortified compound.
Despite the escalating conflict, which has claimed over 3,000 lives, U.S. President Donald Trump expressed optimism that the war could conclude within two weeks. Nevertheless, he has ordered the deployment of thousands more troops to the region.
Amidst these tensions, there are no indications that Iran intends to ease its hold over the crucial Strait of Hormuz shipping route.
Trump has been under growing pressure to end the war as Iran’s grip on shipping through the Strait of Hormuz and its attacks on regional energy infrastructure have sent gas prices skyrocketing to their highest level since 2022 and caused broad stock market fluctuations.
Iran throttled ship traffic through the strait, which leads from the Persian Gulf to the open ocean, after it was attacked by the U.S. and Israel on Feb. 28. In peacetime, a fifth of the world’s oil transits the strait and the spot price of Brent crude, the international standard, is up more than 40% since the start of the war, trading at more than $104 a barrel.
The U.S. has presented Iran with a 15-point plan aimed at bringing about a ceasefire, which includes a demand for the strait to be reopened. Iran’s own five-point response includes it retaining sovereignty over the waterway, and Trump on Tuesday suggested that the war could be brought to an end even with Iran still controlling the strait.
The U.S. “will not have anything to do with” what happens in the Strait of Hormuz, instead telling reporters that the responsibility for keeping the vital waterway open would belong with countries that rely on it.
“That’s not for us. That’ll be for France. That’ll be for whoever’s using the strait,” Trump said.
It was not clear why Trump brought up France, since Europe receives very little oil shipped through the strait, with most going to Asian countries. The president plans a prime-time address on Wednesday.
Push for diplomatic solution showing little signs of progress
Trump, who has vacillated between insisting there is progress in diplomatic talks with Iran and threatening to widen the war, added that the U.S. is “finishing the job” in Iran and predicted it will be “maybe two weeks, maybe a couple of days longer to do the job.”
Trump has warned that if a ceasefire is not reached “shortly,” and if the strait is not reopened, the U.S. would broaden its offensive, including by attacking the Kharg Island oil export hub and possibly desalination plants.
Thousands of Marines and paratroopers have been ordered to the region in possible preparation for an assault in Kharg, though to reach the island by ship would mean transiting the Strait of Hormuz and the Persian Gulf, which Iran has threatened to mine.
In an interview with pan-Arab broadcaster Al Jazeera, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi acknowledged receiving direct messages from U.S. Mideast envoy Steve Witkoff. He insisted, however, that there were no direct negotiations and said Iran has no faith that talks with the U.S. could yield any results, saying “the trust level is at zero.”
He warned against any attempt to launch a ground offensive, saying “we are waiting for them.”
“We know very well how to defend ourselves,” Araghchi said.
Iran hits tanker off Qatar’s coast and attacks other Gulf states
Qatar was attacked with three cruise missiles early in the day, the Defense Ministry said. The country’s defenses intercepted two but the third slammed into an oil tanker off the coast, the Defense Ministry said. The 21-member crew of the tanker, contracted by state-owned QatarEnergy, were evacuated and no casualties were reported.
A fully-loaded Kuwaiti oil tanker came under attack off Dubai the day before, one of more than 20 ships attacked by Iran during the war.
In the United Arab Emirates, a person was killed when a drone was intercepted and debris hit him while he was working on a farm in Fujairah, one of the country’s seven emirates.
Bahrain sounded two alerts for incoming missiles, and said an Iranian attack had caused a fire at a business facility.
In Kuwait, the state-run KUNA news agency said a drone had hit a fuel tank at Kuwait International Airport, sparking a “large fire” that crews were working to control.
Two drones were also intercepted in Saudi Arabia, which has come under repeated Iranian attack, and air raid sirens sounded in Israel though there were no immediate reports of damage or casualties.
Israel hits Iranian fentanyl plant and kills 5 in strikes on Beirut
In Iran, Israel said it had hit a plant producing fentanyl, a powerful synthetic opioid, to allegedly be used in a chemical weapons program. Iran acknowledged the strike on Tofigh Daru factory, but insisted it only supplied “hospital drugs” used for medical purposes.
The strike happened Tuesday, both the Israelis and the Iranians said.
Hospitals extensively use fentanyl to treat severe pain. But a small amount of the drug can be fatal.
Both Israel and the United States have alleged in recent years that Iran was experimenting with fentanyl in munitions.
In Beirut, at least five people were killed in an Israeli strike on a Beirut neighborhood. Lebanon’s Health Ministry said another 21 people were wounded.
Israel invaded southern Lebanon after the Iran-linked Hezbollah militant group began launching missiles into northern Israel days after the outbreak of the wider war. Many Lebanese fear another prolonged military occupation.
More than 1,200 people have been killed in Lebanon and more than 1 million displaced, according to authorities. Ten Israeli soldiers have also died there.
In Iran, authorities say more than 1,900 people have been killed, while 19 have been reported dead in Israel.
Since the Iran war began, 13 U.S. service members have been killed and 348 wounded, six seriously, according to U.S. Central Command.
More than two dozen people have died in Gulf states and the occupied West Bank.
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Rising reported from Bangkok. AP writer Giovanna Dell’Orto in Miami, Florida contributed to this report.
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