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The United States is sending a third aircraft carrier strike group to the Middle East, with the USS George H.W. Bush set to join the USS Abraham Lincoln and USS Gerald R. Ford already operating in the region, The Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday citing US officials.
"The negotiations with Iran are going well," US President Donald Trump told Axios in a phone call on Tuesday. However, Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told Al Jazeera what is currently taking place is not negotiations but an exchange of messages.
China and Pakistan in a joint statement on Tuesday proposed a five-point initiative aimed at restoring peace and stability in the Persian Gulf and the broader Middle East amid the Iran war, following talks between senior officials in Beijing.
US President Donald Trump urged countries affected by Strait of Hormuz disruption to secure their own fuel supplies and step up their response.
The United States struck an Iranian ammunition depot in Isfahan with 2,000-pound bunker-buster bombs, the The Wall Street Journal reported, citing a US official.
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Flydubai’s website says that Iranian nationals holding a UAE Golden Visa are exempt and may enter or transit the United Arab Emirates.
Emirates Airline’s website, meanwhile, says Iranian nationals are not allowed to enter or transit the UAE, indicating the exemption applies to Golden Visa holders.
“Tomorrow night (Wednesday) at 9PM ET, President Trump will give an Address to the Nation to provide an important update on Iran,” White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt announced on Tuesday.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Tuesday Washington’s attack on Iran was aimed at preventing Tehran from developing nuclear weapons and dismantling what he described as a growing missile and drone “shield.”
In a video published by the White House on X, Rubio said there was “zero doubt” Iran ultimately seeks nuclear weapons, rejecting Tehran’s claims that its program is solely for civilian energy.
"They could have nuclear energy like all the other countries in the world have it. And that is, you import the fuel and you build reactors above ground. That's not what Iran has done," he said. "They build their reactors and their facilities deep in mountains away from the public glare, and they want to enrich that material, the same equipment that they could use to enrich material for energy they could use to quickly enrich it to weapons grade."
“We were on the verge of an Iran that had so many missiles and so many drones that no one could do anything about their nuclear weapons program,” Rubio said, calling it an “intolerable risk.”
He said the operation aims to destroy Iran’s missile and drone capabilities so it “can’t hide behind it” and must engage with the international community over its nuclear ambitions.
The Islamic Republic is "upset" with the five-point peace plan put forward by the foreign ministers of China and Pakistan on Tuesday, Al Jazeera reported, citing an informed source in Tehran.
"As both are friendly countries, we expected prior consultation," the source was quoted as saying.
Iranian state-linked media reported on Tuesday that several steel facilities in central and southwestern Iran were targeted in airstrikes.
IRGC Affiliated Fars News Agency said that, alongside a steel mill in Esfahan, parts of the Sefid Dasht Steel Complex in Borujen were hit.
Separately, Mehr News Agency reported an airstrike on Khuzestan Steel as well as Esfahan’s Mobarakeh Steel facility.
US President Donald Trump on Tuesday told NBC News the war with Iran is “coming to an end,” the latest in a series of remarks suggesting possible de-escalation after weeks of conflict.
In a short interview with the New York Post on the same day, Trump echoed the message, saying the conflict is nearing the end.
“We’re not going to be there too much longer. We’re obliterating the s–t out of them right now,” Trump told The Post in a phone interview.
The United States is sending a third aircraft carrier strike group to the Middle East, with the USS George H.W. Bush set to join the USS Abraham Lincoln and USS Gerald R. Ford already operating in the region, The Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday citing US officials.
The deployment could leave three US aircraft carriers stationed in the area for the foreseeable future, marking a significant expansion of Washington’s naval presence, the report said.
Iran’s state TV on Tuesday released footage purportedly showing Majid Mousavi, commander of the Aerospace Force of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), visiting underground missile bases and launch operators, days after Iran International reported he had come under criticism from senior IRGC officials for being absent during ongoing clashes and leaving his forces without leadership.
Pope Leo on Tuesday expressed hope that the war in Iran could end before Easter on April 5, while condemning the mounting human toll of the conflict, including the deaths of “innocent children.”