CENTCOM says 31 vessels redirected under Iran blockade

US Senator Rand Paul said on Wednesday any effort to secure Iranian agreement on its enriched uranium stockpile would require diplomatic compromise, arguing that military pressure alone would not be sufficient.

Speaking to Newsmax, Paul said Iran would not give up its nuclear material solely because of battlefield setbacks.

"If you want a resolution and for them to perhaps give up the enriched uranium, there has to be some diplomatic give and take, and I do not think the Iranians are going to do it just because they are defeated militarily. They are definitely defeated, but unless you want to go in and occupy them, you still have to trade something," Paul said.

“Previous agreements have released money. I think there would be some money or fewer sanctions. But that is how diplomacy works — you give something and you get something,” he said.

President Donald Trump’s military campaign against Iran has fractured the regime’s proxies, stabilized energy markets, and strengthened US alliances, contrary to warnings of wider war, shifts in alliances toward China, and oil price spikes, a former senior Trump official wrote in a commentary.

“President Trump has fundamentally reshaped the Middle East — and its future. Experts should take note,” Victoria Coates, who served as Trump’s deputy national security adviser for the Middle East and North Africa, said in a Fox News opinion piece.

“As President Trump offers the Iranian regime a diplomatic ultimatum to accept an end to its nuclear program and remove its highly enriched uranium or face military escalation, the situation remains fluid and tense. But the fact remains that many of the dire predictions experts made at the beginning of the war have not come to pass,” Coates said.

Iran’s national football team is preparing to participate in the upcoming World Cup, but the final decision will be made by the country’s leadership, the head of the Iranian Football Federation said.

Mehdi Taj, president of the Iranian Football Federation, said the team is currently in training camp and continuing preparations for the tournament, according to remarks published by the official media.

“The reality is that we are preparing for the World Cup. We are making preparations. Even today we were in training camp and our players are currently in camp,” Taj said.

“But ultimately, you know we are part of the establishment. Whatever decision the leadership makes, we will comply with that,” he added.

US stocks closed at record highs on Wednesday, with the S&P 500 and Nasdaq reaching new peaks after President Donald Trump extended the ceasefire with Iran, according to Reuters.

Markets were also supported by strong corporate earnings, boosting investor sentiment amid ongoing geopolitical uncertainty.

Trump said the indefinite extension of the ceasefire followed a request from Pakistani mediators. However, the US Navy blockade of Iranian ports remained in effect.

Former White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow said US pressure on Iran through what he described as a “Hormuz blockade” is Washington’s most powerful financial weapon and could force Tehran into submission.

“President Trump’s economic squeeze on Iran through the Hormuz blockade is the biggest and most powerful financial weapon,” Kudlow said on Wednesday on Fox. “We’ve never tried this before, and it might just bring Iran to their unconditional knees.”