Key events
As Donald Trump prepares to address the American people, US central command has released an update on the ongoing conflict in Iran.
Operation Epic Fury has seen more than 13,000 combat flights, which have struck over 12,000 targets and damaged or destroyed more than 150 Iranian vessels, according to Centcom.
Despite these raw statistics, Trump is struggling to reconcile weeks of changing goals and often contradictory messages about whether he’s winding down or ready to escalate military operations — as Iran keeps up its attacks on Israel and Gulf countries.
The New York Times has reported that US intelligence agencies believe Iran is not currently willing to engage in negotiations to end the war, and that despite the month-long bombing campaign by the US and Israel, the government in Tehran believes it remains in a strong position.
According to officials speaking to the NYT, Iran doesn’t trust the US or believe Donald Trump is serious about negotiations.
The current conflict was launched while Iran was locked in negotiations with US officials over its nuclear programme. Last year, Israel launched attacks on Iranian nuclear targets, again while the US was engaged in discussions with Tehran.
On Wednesday, Iran rejected Donald Trump’s claim that its leadership asked for a ceasefire, calling the US president’s statement “false” and “baseless”.
Tehran has repeatedly said there are no ongoing negotiations to end the war. The country’s president, Masoud Pezeshkian, has previously said Iran had the “necessary will” for a ceasefire, but only if its foes guaranteed hostilities would not resume.
Trump preparing to make first national address since launching Iran war a month ago
Donald Trump is 50 minutes away from delivering his first formal address from the White House since launching the war in the Middle East a month ago.
It comes at a pivotal moment for the US president, as he faces accusations that he has lost control of the conflict and will not be able to achieve the key aims of the war.
Trump has continued to claim that the US has already won the war, and has refused to take responsibility for the economic fallout that has spread across the world.
In his speech, the president will give an operational update on the progress of Operation Epic Fury, while highlighting the military’s “success in achieving all of its stated goals”, a US official has said.
He is expected to reiterate the 2-3 week timetable for concluding the operation, but crucially is not expected to announced an end to the war.
Recent polling shows Trump’s overall approval rating slipping below 40%, with disapproval climbing above the mid-50s as voters sour on both the war and its economic fallout, while support for the Iran campaign itself polls even lower.
The economic picture has compounded the problem. US petrol prices have surged above $4 a gallon for the first time in years, while consumer confidence has weakened, dragging down Trump’s already fragile standing on the economy.
Opening summary
Welcome to our continuing coverage of the crisis in the Middle East, as Donald Trump prepares to address America for the first time since the US-Israel war on Iran was launched.
The president will deliver the prime-time speech at 9pm ET from the White House.
The address comes as his administration faces plunging approval ratings, economic jitters and a spiralling diplomatic fallout. Trump is expected to try and reassure the nation that US goals are being met and that he has a plan for completing the war, which has roiled the US economy.
Earlier Wednesday, Trump claimed a major breakthrough, saying Iran’s president was seeking a ceasefire. This was swiftly denied by Iran’s foreign ministry, which also accused Washington of making “maximalist and irrational” demands.
Here’s what else has been happening today:
-
Iran has rejected Donald Trump’s claim that its leadership asked for a ceasefire, calling the US president’s statement “false” and “baseless”. Trump made the claim in a post on Truth Social, which said: “Iran’s New Regime President, much less Radicalized and far more intelligent than his predecessors, has just asked the United States of America for a CEASEFIRE! We will consider when Hormuz Strait is open, free, and clear. Until then, we are blasting Iran into oblivion or, as they say, back to the Stone Ages!!!”
-
Trump also said he is “absolutely” considering withdrawing the US from Nato, warning that the matter was “beyond reconsideration” after the refusal of US allies to join the US-Israeli war against Iran. The president’s threats, his most determined to date, have left the alliance facing its worst crisis in its 77-year history, a former US ambassador has said. Here’s our story.
-
Meanwhile, in an open letter to the American people, Iran’s president Masoud Pezeshkian said relations between Washington and Tehran were “misunderstood” and that Iran was not an aggressor. The Iranian “harbor no enmity toward other nations, including the people of America, Europe, or neighbouring countries,” he said, adding that portrayals of Iran as a security threat were inaccurate, and Tehran was acting in self-defence – not aggression.
-
In Tehran, Kamal Kharazi, a top foreign policy official and former Iranian foreign minister, has been severely injured in an airstrike on his home in the Iranian capital. His wife was reportedly killed in the attack. Kharazi, considered a moderate politician and veteran policy expert, also served as an adviser to the assassinated former supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Reports suggest his targeting is being viewed as an attempt to derail diplomacy.