IRGC says it struck US air base in response to attack near Bandar Abbas

Former US envoy to Iran Rob Malley said on Wednesday on MS Now that President Donald Trump’s apparent push to tie Iran negotiations and reopening the Strait of Hormuz to an expansion of the Abraham Accords was “completely crazy talk” and “purely delusional,” arguing that Persian Gulf Arab states are unlikely to normalize relations with Israel under the current circumstances.

Rob Malley, who served in the Obama administration during negotiations leading to the 2015 Iran nuclear deal and later served as the Biden administration’s special envoy for Iran tasked with reviving the agreement, said the ongoing talks with Tehran are focused primarily on undoing damage caused by the war and reopening the Strait of Hormuz, rather than securing a broad diplomatic breakthrough.

IRGC-affiliated Tasnim news agency quoted a military source as saying that a US oil tanker attempted to pass through the Strait of Hormuz with its radar system turned off, but was forced to stop and turn back after what it described as a swift and decisive response by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy, which fired toward the vessel.

The source added that in response, US struck a “burnt area” near Bandar Abbas, saying the explosions heard were related to the incident, and that the strike caused no casualties or material damage.

Former US official Victoria Coates said on Fox News on Wednesday that expanding the Abraham Accords remains part of President Donald Trump’s vision for Middle East peace, arguing that regional countries are seeing benefits from the agreements and should be encouraged to join.

Coates, who served as Deputy National Security Advisor for the Middle East and North Africa in the first Trump administration, said pressure is increasing on Iran through economic strain and sanctions, adding that Tehran is “losing money every day” and facing growing pressure over its nuclear program, while describing recent changes to internet access in Iran as a “sign of desperation.”

FBI Director Kash Patel said on Wednesday that hostile foreign governments may increase efforts to “bully, silence, and even assassinate” individuals on US soil during the FIFA World Cup, describing such actions as transnational repression.

Patel said the FBI maintains a nationwide network of counterintelligence task forces across its 56 field offices and urged the public to report suspicious activity, as millions of visitors are expected in the United States over the next two months.

US Representative Joe Wilson said on Wednesday Iran sanctions laws passed by Congress, mandate sanctions on countries providing support to what he described as the “terrorist regime in Iran."

"Iran sanctions laws passed by Congress including CAATSA and CISADA mandate sanctions on countries providing support to the terrorist regime in Iran," he posted on X. "Georgian Nightmare is freaking out about the report because they know what they did in supporting the terrorists in Iran and how they are gambling with their own country’s future."