Israel says it struck Hezbollah after truce-violating rocket fire

Democratic Senator Chris Murphy faced criticism on Tuesday after posting a one-word response to a report claiming 26 ships linked to Iran had made it past a US blockade in the Gulf of Oman.

“Awesome,” Murphy wrote on X in response to the post, prompting backlash from Trump allies and conservative commentators who said he was applauding Iran.

Sean Parnell, assistant to the secretary of war for public affairs, rejected the original report Murphy had responded to and criticized the senator’s comment.

“First of all this is false,” Parnell wrote. “Second, a Dem senator cheering on the number one state sponsor of terror is shameful.”

The Trump War Room account accused Murphy of rooting against the US military, while Mike Davis, founder of the conservative Article III Project, called for the Senate to censure him.

Murphy later said the post had been sarcastic and was aimed at President Donald Trump’s handling of the conflict.

“Ok Twitter, I can’t believe I need to clarify this but obviously Trump’s bungled mismanagement of this war is not ‘awesome’,” Murphy wrote.

“My tweet was something called ‘sarcasm’,” he added.

Murphy has been a frequent Democratic critic of Trump’s foreign policy, including his approach toward Iran.

Iran's top Sunni cleric Molavi Abdolhamid said on Tuesday that a “fair agreement” was the only way out of the current deadlock, warning that Iran’s skies were under enemy control and infrastructure was at risk of destruction.

“The country’s skies are under enemy control, infrastructure is exposed to destruction, and the armed forces do not have the necessary tools for air defense,” Abdolhamid said in a post on X.

“In this deadlock, the only path to salvation is a ‘fair agreement,’” he added.

“The hardliners who today stubbornly stand in the way, what answer will they have tomorrow before God and this oppressed nation for the destruction of the homeland?” Abdolhamid said.

It was unclear on Tuesday when Vice President JD Vance would leave Washington for Pakistan as the White House planned further meetings in Washington to discuss the way forward on Iran talks, CNN reported, citing sources familiar with the discussions.

“Additional policy meetings are taking place at the White House in which the Vice President will participate,” CNN quoted a White House official saying.

CNN said Vance had been expected to depart for Islamabad on Tuesday morning.

A key question remained whether an Iranian delegation would also attend, the report added.

The Pentagon wants to spend more than $30 billion to buy critical munitions, including missile interceptors, after stockpiles were depleted during the Iran war, the Associated Press reported on Tuesday, citing US military officials.

The supplies under the most strain are Patriot air defense systems and Terminal High Altitude Area Defense, or THAAD, interceptors, the report said.

The $30 billion budget item would also fund long-range Precision Strike Missiles and Mid-Range Capability missile systems used by the US Army, the report added.

EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said on Tuesday that EU ministers had reached agreement to widen sanctions on Iran to include breaches of freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz.

Kallas added that she had asked foreign affairs ministers at their meeting in Luxembourg to bolster the EU's naval mission in the Middle ‌East, which is currently protecting ships from attacks by Yemen's Iran-backed Houthi rebel group in the Red Sea.