Trump says securing Strait of Hormuz is ‘not for us’
President Donald Trump said securing the Strait of Hormuz is “not for us” and estimated that the US will be done attacking Iran in two to three weeks.
Mr Trump said the US “will not have anything to do with” what happens in the strait, instead telling reporters that the responsibility for keeping the vital waterway open will rest with countries that rely on it.
The president said there is “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,” Mr Trump said.
Earlier on Tuesday, Mr Trump lashed out at US allies such as the United Kingdom and France for not doing more to support the American efforts in the Iran war.
“You’ll have to start learning how to fight for yourself, the U.S.A. won’t be there to help you anymore, just like you weren’t there for us. Iran has been, essentially, decimated. The hard part is done. Go get your own oil!” he wrote.
He singled out France for not letting planes fly over French territory while taking military supplies to Israel.
Spain, which has emerged as Europe’s loudest critic of the war, said on Monday that it had closed its airspace for US planes involved in the conflict.
The White House said the president would deliver a prime-time address on Wednesday evening to update the public on the war.
Iran’s foreign minister Abbas Araghchi has acknowledged receiving direct messages from US Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff.
In an interview with Al Jazeera aired late on Tuesday, he said: “I receive messages from Witkoff directly, as before, and this does not mean that we are in negotiations.
“We do not have any faith that negotiations with the US will yield any results. The trust level is at zero.”
Asked about a possible ground offensive by the US, Mr Araghchi said “we are waiting for them.”
“We know very well how to defend ourselves,” he told the Qatar-based broadcaster. “In a ground war, we can do it even better. We are completely ready to confront any sort of ground attack. We hope they do not make such a mistake.”
Israel said early on Wednesday it struck a plant supplying Iran’s theocracy with fentanyl, a powerful synthetic opioid, to allegedly use in a chemical weapons programme. Iran acknowledged the strike on Tofigh Daru factory, but insisted it only supplied “hospital drugs” used in medical operations.
The strike happened on Tuesday, both the Israelis and the Iranians said.
Mr 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.”
The Israeli military said early on Wednesday that it had killed a senior Hezbollah commander and another senior leader in two separate strikes in the Beirut area.
Military officials said they launched strikes targeting what they described as Hezbollah infrastructure in the Lebanese capital.
Defence minister Israel Katz said Israel plans to control the area south of the Litani River, 20 miles north of the border.
Israel invaded southern Lebanon after Hezbollah began launching missiles into northern Israel days after the outbreak of the wider war. Many Lebanese fear another prolonged military occupation.
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.
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 on 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.
Elsewhere, the United Arab Emirates has barred Iranians from entering or transiting the country as the war rages, three major airlines said.
The long-haul carriers Emirates and Etihad, as well as the lower-cost airline FlyDubai, made the announcements on Wednesday on their websites.
A tanker came under attack off the coast of Qatar early Wednesday, authorities said.
The British military’s United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations centre 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.
Early on Wednesday morning, Saudi Arabia said it had intercepted and destroyed two drones in the previous hours.
In Iran, authorities say more than 1,900 people have been killed, while 19 have been reported dead in Israel.
Two dozen people have died in Gulf states and the occupied West Bank. In Lebanon, officials said more than 1,200 people have been killed, and more than 1 million displaced.
Ten Israeli soldiers have died in Lebanon, including four announced on Tuesday.
Published: by Radio NewsHub