US official says Iran deal still on table - Axios

Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said the campaign against Iran was “far from over” and that the Israeli military was prepared to strike Iran with great force if it attacked Israel.

“The campaign against Iran is far from over. The IDF is prepared to strike Iran with great force,” Katz said on Wednesday.

“If Iran attacks Israel, it will suffer a severe blow just as we did several days ago,” he added.

President Donald Trump said he directed the US military last month to carry out a secret mission to support oil tankers and other commercial ships through the Strait of Hormuz.

In a post on Truth Social, Trump said the effort had resulted in more than 100 million barrels of oil reaching the open market and more than 200 commercial ships safely traveling through the strait.

"The UNITED STATES of AMERICA CONTROLS the Strait of Hormuz — NOT Iran. Their military is defeated, and their economy is lost. It’s over for Iran!" Trump added.

Three Indian mariners were missing after an attack on the commercial vessel Settebello off the coast of Oman, India’s foreign ministry said on Wednesday.

Twenty-one crew members were rescued after the attack, foreign ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said in a post on X.

He said India’s embassy in Oman was closely monitoring the situation and coordinating with Omani authorities in the ongoing search and rescue operation.

The ministry called the attack “deeply worrisome” and said “the targeting of commercial shipping and civilian infrastructure in the region must end.”

Two maritime security sources told Reuters the vessel was likely hit by a US missile.

US strikes on Iran on Tuesday evening were intended to restore Washington’s leverage while avoiding casualties and keeping open the possibility of a deal, Axios reported, citing a senior US official.

The United States had not determined whether Iran had intentionally brought down a US Apache helicopter when President Donald Trump ordered a military response, the report said.

“If we didn’t respond, it would have made us look weak and also negatively influenced our position in the negotiations with Iran,” Axios quoted a senior White House official as saying.

Axios cited officials as saying the strikes were seen by the United States as “proportionate and surgical” and targeted radar and drone control systems while avoiding Iranian casualties.

The report said the White House told Iran as US fighter jets were on their way that the strikes would only target military facilities.

The Trump administration issued a fresh round of Iran-related sanctions targeting six individuals and four entities, including some tied to China, according to a notice posted on the US Treasury Department’s website.

“Through Economic Fury, the Treasury Department is disrupting the foreign procurement networks that support the Iranian military’s efforts to acquire weapons,” US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in a statement.

“Treasury has frozen the Iranian regime’s assets, severely disrupted its economy, and dismantled the Iranian war machine. Treasury will not tolerate any support of the Iranian military,” Bessent added.