The Latest: Trump says it's on other nations to open the Strait of Hormuz

U.S. President Donald Trump told reporters Tuesday that the responsibility for keeping the Strait of Hormuz open should belong with countries that rely on it, rather than the U.S. He said there’s “no reason for us to do this.”

Trump expressed frustration earlier Tuesday with allies who have been unwilling to do more to support the U.S. war effort, telling them to “go get your own oil.” Trump recently has vacillated between insisting there is progress in diplomatic talks with Iran and threatening to widen the war.

U.S. gas prices jumped past an average of $4 a gallon for the first time since 2022 on Tuesday, as the Iran war continues to push fuel prices higher worldwide. Analysts say those high fuel costs will trickle into groceries as businesses’ transportation and packaging costs pile up.

Israel and the U.S. launched a new wave of strikes on Iran, hitting Tehran early Tuesday. Iran has been launching fewer missiles than at the start of the war, but it continues to deploy more low-flying drones that are harder to intercept. The conflict has killed more than 3,000 people in the region, and millions have been displaced in Lebanon and Iran.

In Iraq, a U.S. journalist has been kidnapped, two officials in the country said Tuesday. It’s not clear if her kidnapping was related to the war.

Here is the latest:

Iranian drone attack starts fire at Kuwait International Airport

A drone attack by Iran and its allies hit a fuel tank at Kuwait International Airport, sparking a fire, authorities said.

The state-run KUNA news agency said the attack early Wednesday sparked a “large fire” at the airport.

It said there were no immediate injuries from the attack and firefighters were working to control the blaze.

Kuwait International Airport has been attacked before by Iran during the war. The KUNA report suggested the attack may have been launched by Iranian-supported militias in Iraq with Tehran’s support.

In another strike, Bahrain said early on Wednesday morning that it was working to extinguish a fire at a business facility that resulted from an Iranian attack.

Israel strikes factory in Iran it alleges supplies fentanyl for chemical weapons

Israel said early Wednesday it struck a plant supplying Iran’s theocracy with fentanyl, a powerful synthetic opioid, to allegedly use in a chemical weapons program. Iran acknowledged the strike on Tofigh Daru factory, but insisted it only supplied “hospital drugs” used in medical operations.

The strike happened Tuesday, both the Israelis and the Iranians said.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi posted a picture of the factory in Tehran, writing on X: “The war criminals in Israel are now openly and unashamedly bombing pharmaceutical companies.”

Hospitals extensively use fentanyl to treat severe pain. But a small amount of the drug can be fatal.

Both Israel and the United States have warned in recent years Iran was experimenting with fentanyl in munitions. The U.S. previously pointed to Iranian academic research studying how Russia likely used a fentanyl derivative during the 2002 Moscow theater hostage seizure by Chechen militants.

Israel alleged Tofigh Daru supplied fentanyl to an advanced research institute in Tehran, known by its acronym SPND. The U.S alleges SPND has conducted research and testing that could be applicable to the development of nuclear explosive devices and other weapons.

Major airlines in United Arab Emirates say country is barring Iranian travelers

The United Arab Emirates has barred Iranians from entering or transiting the country as the war rages, three major airlines said Wednesday.

Long-haul carriers Emirates and Etihad, as well as the lower-cost airline FlyDubai, made the announcements on their websites.

Entry rules can sometimes be opaque in the autocratic United Arab Emirates, a federation of seven sheikhdoms, the three airlines agreed on the order. It said holders of 10-year Golden Visa residency permits could still enter the country.

Authorities have offered no official comment. But Dubai has already shut down the city-state’s Iranian Hospital and Iranian Club, institutions that date back to the time of the shah.

Tanker attacked off Qatar

A tanker came under attack off the coast of Qatar early Wednesday, authorities said.

The British military’s United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations center announced the attack happened, saying a projectile slammed into the side of the ship.

It said no environmental damage was done and the tanker’s crew was safe.

On Tuesday, a fully loaded Kuwaiti oil tanker came under attack off Dubai. Over 20 ships across the Persian Gulf have been attacked by Iran since the war began.

Saudi Arabia says it recently intercepted 2 drones

Early on Wednesday morning, Saudi Arabia said it had intercepted and destroyed two drones in the previous hours.

A Gulf ally of the United States, the country has been targeted by Iran repeatedly. This week, more than two dozen American service members were injured from missile and drone attacks on a Saudi air base.

White House says Trump to address nation on Iran war

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt posted on X that Trump will “give an Address to the Nation to provide an important update on Iran” at 9 p.m. EDT on Wednesday.

Her post came shortly after Trump told reporters in the Oval Office on Tuesday evening that U.S. forces could leave Iran in “two or three weeks.”

Hezbollah leader killed in Beirut strikes, Israeli military says

Israel’s military said very early on Wednesday morning that it had killed a senior Hezbollah commander and another senior leader in two separate strikes in the Beirut area.

Trump says the US is ‘finishing the job’ in Iran

He predicted the U.S. will be done with the conflict “within maybe two weeks, maybe a couple of days longer to do the job. But we want to knock out every single thing they have.”

Despite repeatedly listing four or five objectives for the war, Trump said he “had one goal: They will have no nuclear weapon and that goal has been attained.” He did not explain how he felt that goal had been reached.

He said the U.S. may strike a deal with Iran before the next few weeks are up but said, if not, “We’ll hit some bridges, got a couple of nice bridges in mind. But if they come to the table, that’ll be good.”

348 US troops have been wounded in the Iran war

The formal injury count, provided by Capt. Tim Hawkins, spokesman for U.S. Central Command, says six service members were wounded seriously.

Central Command said last Friday in a previous update that 303 troops were wounded, 10 of them seriously.

It was not clear why the tally of serious injuries has since been decreased.

Hawkins says of the total wounded to date, 315 service members have returned to duty.

It’s not clear whether the official U.S. military count includes the injured from multiple attacks on Saudi Arabia’s Prince Sultan air base last week.

Since the Iran war began, 13 U.S. service members have been killed in combat.

2 people were killed, several more were injured in strikes in Beirut

Two people were killed and three were injured very early on Wednesday when a strike hit a car in the Khaldeh area south of the capital, Lebanon’s health ministry said.

More were injured as strikes hit another area of the city, according to a local hospital.

Syria will stay out of the regional war, interim president says

Syrian interim President Ahmad al-Sharaa was speaking at an event hosted by the Chatham House think tank during a visit to London Tuesday.

“Certainly, unless it is directly targeted by any party, Syria will stay out of this conflict,” he said in response to a question about the ongoing Iran war. “Fourteen years of war are enough for Syria, during which we have paid a very high price. We are not ready to go through a new experience. Anyone who has been through war knows the value of peace.”

Syria, which is trying to recover from its own lengthy civil war, is one of the few countries in the region that has managed to remain on the sidelines of the war.

Trump says US ‘will not have anything to do with’ what happens in the Strait of Hormuz

The U.S. president told reporters that the responsibility for keeping the vital waterway open would instead belong with countries that rely on it.

He said there’s “no reason for us to do this.”

“That’s not for us. That’ll be for France. That’ll be for whoever’s using the strait,” Trump said.

His comments came after he lashed out earlier Tuesday at U.S. allies for not doing more to support the U.S.’s efforts in the Iran war.

Several strikes hit Beirut early Wednesday morning

The state-run National News Agency said a car was hit on a highway in the Khaldeh area near the Beirut airport to the south of the Lebanese capital.

Other strikes happened in the city’s Jnah neighborhood in an area with a number of home goods stores. Footage from the scene showed a number of cars on fire.

It was not immediately clear what was targeted or how many casualties there were.

US officials raise concerns about indirect talks with Iran, Islamabad as meeting place

While welcoming Pakistan’s desire to help mediate in the Iran conflict, U.S. officials have nonetheless soured on the idea of using third-party mediators to do anything more than initiate talks.

These officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the diplomatic effort, said the experience with Oman as mediator before the war had clearly not worked and that direct negotiations, if they can be started, are far more efficient.

The officials also expressed doubts about Islamabad being chosen as a venue for any upcoming negotiations, mainly because of security risks. Traveling there would mean flying over one of two war zones — Russia-Ukraine or the various Middle East conflicts — or taking a very long route over Asia.

A U.N. diplomat familiar with the talks, who also spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss private negotiations, acknowledged the risk given Pakistan’s proximity to Iran, but added that given that the South Asian country is one of few in the region with no U.S. airbases, it’s a safer bet.