Iraq, Pakistan cut Hormuz energy deals with Iran - Reuters

Saudi Arabia carried out numerous unpublicized strikes on Iran in late March in retaliation for attacks on the kingdom during the Middle East war, Reuters reported on Tuesday, citing two Western officials briefed on the matter and two Iranian officials.

The attacks marked the first known direct Saudi military action on Iranian soil and reflected a more assertive Saudi posture toward its regional rival, the report said.

One Western official cited by Reuters described them as “tit-for-tat strikes in retaliation for when Saudi Arabia was hit.”

US President Donald Trump told reporters he does not think he would need “any help with Iran” when asked about a possible contribution by China.

“To be honest with you, they’re either going to do the right thing, or we’re just going to finish them off,” Trump said as he departed the White House for China.

"We're only making a good deal… their military is gone, it's wiped out, and we're only going to make a good deal and we'll see what happens."

Trump said the United States has Iran "very much under control."

"We're either going to make a deal, or they're going to be decimated. So either way, we win. But we'll beat them.

A second Qatari liquefied natural gas tanker successfully crossed the Strait of Hormuz on Tuesday since the start of the Iran war, Reuters reported, citing LSEG shipping data.

The vessel Mihzem departed Ras Laffan on Monday and crossed the strait on Tuesday, heading toward Pakistan’s Port Qasim, the report said.

The first tanker, Al Kharaitiyat, began crossing Hormuz on Saturday via an Iranian-approved northern route and completed the transit on Sunday.

Iran’s exiled Prince Reza Pahlavi warned Western governments against seeking deals with what he called supposedly moderate figures in the Islamic Republic, saying the system was controlled by Iran’s Revolutionary Guards.

“You’re falling back into the same trapping that the regime has laid out for decades to make you think that there are some elements that are more manageable and more reasonable that can be dealt with,” Pahlavi said at Politico’s Security Summit on Tuesday.

“The problem is that such a thing doesn’t truly exist,” he said. “They’re just people that ultimately are there to preserve the system.”

Pahlavi said the Islamic Republic had been weakened but that its “radical elements” remained in charge.

“You’re facing now a system that has become a de facto paramilitary dictatorship,” Pahlavi added. “It’s the IRGC that controls ultimately everything, and no one else can resist.”

Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar and his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi discussed regional developments and Islamabad’s efforts to mediate an end to the Iran conflict, Pakistan’s foreign ministry said.

“Both sides underscored the importance of continuing a durable ceasefire and ensuring normal passage through the Strait of Hormuz,” the ministry said in a statement on Tuesday.

The call came ahead of planned talks in Beijing later this week between US President Donald Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping.