Iran US War News Highlights: US acting as ‘proxy for Israel,’ says Iran president Masoud Pezeshkian

David Miliband, President of the International Rescue Committee (IRC), spoke after visiting Syria and war-torn Lebanon.

Over $100,000 worth of IRC humanitarian aid is stuck in Dubai, unable to reach crisis zones, he said.

Iran has tightened control over the Strait of Hormuz amid the ongoing war with the US and Israel.

The Strait of Hormuz is a key global trade route, handling 30% of the world’s fertilizer and a major share of oil shipments.

Miliband warned of potential food security crises in vulnerable countries due to halted shipments.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth tentatively scheduled to testify on April 29 before the House Armed Services Committee

First congressional appearance since the start of the Iran war

Hearing will double as the annual Pentagon budget review

Gen. Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, to testify alongside Hegseth

Lawmakers expected to question war objectives, strategy, and endgame

Focus likely on military costs and financial implications of the conflict

Casualty figures and humanitarian impact to be key discussion points

Hearing confirmed by a congressional staffer speaking on condition of anonymity, AP stated.

Iran President Masoud Pezeshkian accused the United States, led by Donald Trump, of entering the conflict not independently, but in support of Israeli objectives.

He suggested Washington’s involvement reflects alignment with Israel rather than direct national security concerns.

Iran President Masoud Pezeshkian has questioned the rationale behind the ongoing conflict, asking whether the war truly serves American interests.

“Exactly which of the American people’s interests are truly being served by this war? Was there any objective threat from Iran to justify such behavior?” Pezeshkian wrote in a letter posted on X.

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said in a letter addressed to the American people that his country harbors no enmity towards ordinary Americans, Press TV reported on Wednesday.

He said in his letter that portraying Iran as a threat was “neither consistent with historical reality nor with present-day observable facts,” reported Reuters.

Iran announces new wave of missile and drone attacks

Targets include Israeli cities such as Tel Aviv and Eilat

Strikes also aimed at US military bases in Bahrain and Kuwait

Iran’s military central command, Khatam Al-Anbiya confirms

No immediate confirmation of direct hits or damage from Israel or the US

Donald Trump says a key goal of the war—stopping Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons—has been achieved

Trump claims Iran is now “incapable” of developing a nuclear weapon

He told Reuters the objective was met, though specifics remain unclear

Iran’s enriched uranium stockpile is believed to be buried under a mountain facility struck last June

The status of the uranium stockpile remains unchanged since the conflict escalated this year

However, he downplayed immediate concern, saying the uranium is “so far underground”

“We’ll always be watching it by satellite,” Trump added, indicating continued monitoring (Reuters)

At Alireza Tangsiri's funeral, the IRGC's Navy chief, who was killed by Israeli strikes, Iranians vowed to ‘resist until the end’, AFP reported.

IndiGo shares flight update for 2 April as US-Iran war entered its second month

Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Priyanka Chaturvedi on Wednesday said that President Donald Trump's statement is a sign that the US wants to end the war with Iran and hopes for a swift restoration of peace, ANI reported.

France's Navy Chief Admiral Nicolas Vaujour, in a conference today, said that China, at one point, will have to engage more directly on how to restore traffic flows in the Strait of Hormuz, adding that the number of vessels going through it are probably insufficient.

In a joint statement on Wednesday, the heads of the International Energy Agency (IEA), International Monetary Fund (IMF), and World Bank announced that they will form a coordination group to maximise their response to the energy and economic impacts of the war.

As the US and Israel continue with their strikes on Iran, rescue workers search rubble of damaged buildings in western Tehran, Reuters reported.

India has sent a consignment of 1000 metric tons of rice to Burkina Faso as humanitarian assistance. This is aimed at supporting food security for vulnerable communities and internally displaced persons, MEA Spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said today.

On Wednesday, Iran continued with its attacks on Israel and Persian Gulf neighbours as airstrikes pounded Tehran, AP reported.

US President Donald Trump on Wednesday said that he will only consider a halt to attacks on Tehran if it agrees to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, Bloomberg reported.

Iran’s “New Regime President” has asked the US for a ceasefire, Trump said in a social-media post on Wednesday, possibly referring to comments Masoud Pezeshkian made Tuesday that the Islamic Republic has “the necessary will” to end this war, with certain guarantees.

Amid the ongoing conflict between the US and Iran, US Vice President JD Vance communicated with intermediaries from Pakistan as recently as Tuesday, Reuters reported.

At President Donald Trump's direction, Vance signaled privately that Trump was open to a ceasefire as long as certain US demands were met.

Over 1,150 Indian nationals have left Iran through land border crossings in Armenia and Azerbaijan since the start of the West Asia conflict a month ago, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said on Wednesday.

US President Donald Trump on Wednesday (local time) said that the US will end its war on Iran fairly soon and could return for “spot hits” if needed.

On Wednesday, Kuwaiti firefighters extinguished a fire that broke out earlier today in fuel tanks at Kuwait airport after an Iranian drone attack, says Kuwaiti government.

There were no casualties, and only material damage was reported.

Amazon's cloud computing operation in Bahrain was damaged after an Iranian strike, the Financial Times reported on Wednesday

At least five people were killed after a strike hit a residential area in Mianeh, in northwestern Iran, according to Iranian media reports cited by Al Jazeera.

Iran’s Foreign Ministry has rejected remarks by Donald Trump that Tehran had sought a ceasefire, calling the claim “false and baseless,” according to AP.

The United Arab Emirates said its air defence systems intercepted five missiles and 35 drones launched from Iran on Wednesday, according to the defence ministry.

Officials added that since the start of the conflict, the country has successfully neutralised 438 missiles and 2,012 drones, underscoring the scale of repeated aerial attacks targeting the Gulf nation.

Several powerful explosions were reported in the western parts of Iran’s capital, Tehran, on Wednesday afternoon, according to AFP. The exact targets of the blasts were not immediately known.

In his Truth Social post, Trump claimed that US will consider Iran's ‘ceasefire ask’ 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!!! President DJT” he wrote

Iran's supreme leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, on Wednesday vowed his nation will continue to support anti-Israeli forces in the Mideast.

The message from Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, like others since he was named Iran's new supreme leader, came in a statement read on air by a state television anchor.

Amid the ongoing conflict in the Middle East, US President Donald Trump, in a post on Truth Social, wrote, “Iran's New Regime President” was seeking a ceasefire, which Trump said would only happen once the Strait of Hormuz was “open, free, clear." However, Tehran has not issued any response to his claims yet.

On Wednesday, India's agriculture ministry assured that the country's agriculture sector and farmers will not be impacted due to the ongoing conflict in West Asia, as availability of seeds and fertiliser stocks is healthy for the upcoming Kharif season.

As developments in West Asia continue to unfold, the Shipping Ministry on Wednesday said that all Indian seafarers in West Asia are safe, with no incidents involving Indian-flagged vessels reported in the last 48 hours.

On Wednesday, Iranian authorities warned NATO member Bulgaria last month not to let the US use its airports for planes participating in military operations in Iran, the foreign ministry said

Keir Starmer said the UK will coordinate a diplomatic push to reopen the Strait of Hormuz as the US-Israeli war with Iran threatens to derail economies around the world and fracture the transatlantic alliance.

According to an AFP report, Iranians are now being barred from entering the UAE, Dubai-based airlines noted. On the other hand, travel agencies are now reporting high visa rejections for Iranians since the Middle East war began.

The restrictions are the latest sign of deteriorating ties between Iran and the UAE, more than a month into Iran's Gulf campaign, which has hit the United Arab Emirates harder than any other country.

Asian liquefied natural gas imports fell the most in more than three years last month as the conflict in the Middle East choked supply and sent prices higher, Bloomberg reported.

LNG deliveries to the region declined 8.6% in March from a year earlier to about 20.6 million tons, according to ship-tracking data compiled by Bloomberg. That is the biggest drop since December 2022.

The International Energy Agency (IEA)'s head, Fatih Birol, on Wednesday (local time), warned Europe that oil supply disruptions from the Middle East will increase in April and can start impacting Europe's economy.

On Wednesday, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, in a rare address to the nation, urged civilians to use public transport. He warned of the economic shocks of the war, adding that they will be felt for months.

On Wednesday, Turkiye's state-run Anadolu news agency reported the country is seeking permission from Iranian authorities for 11 Turkish-owned ships to pass through the Strait of Hormuz.

A total of 14 Turkish-owned ships remain in the strait, Anadolu reported, citing Transport and Infrastructure Minister Abdulkadir Uraloglu. Three are there for ongoing operations, including power generation, and are not asking to leave, Uraloglu told reporters in Ankara

French President Emmanuel Macron said on Wednesday that he shared Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi's position on the need to restore freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz, speaking alongside her in Tokyo.

US-Israeli strikes have hit steel complexes in central and southwest Iran, causing damage to production units, Iranian media reported on Wednesday.

"Initial assessments indicate massive attacks, with significant damage and destruction to production units" at the complex of the Mobarakeh Steel Company, one of Iran's biggest, in the central province of Isfahan, Fars news agency reported.

Iran hit an oil tanker off the coast of Qatar and Kuwait’s airport on Wednesday while airstrikes battered Tehran — an unrelenting tempo hours after US President Donald Trump said he was nearly ready to wind down the war.

Trump, who is scheduled to address the nation later in the day, said he could walk away from the war in two to three weeks once he felt confident Iran would not be able to build a nuclear weapon — even if Tehran does not agree to a ceasefire.

The ​CEO of Abu ‌Dhabi state oil company ​ADNOC, Sultan Al ​Jaber, said on ​Wednesday that Iran's actions in the Strait of Hormuz represent global ​economic extortion ‌and a threat the world cannot tolerate.

Al ​Jaber ‌called for global action to protect the free flow of energy and urged that UN ‌Security Council Resolution 2817 be upheld to ​ensure free navigation in ​the ‌strait.

Fahmi Fadzil, Malaysia’s Minister of Communications, has rejected reports that ships from his country have paid tolls to Iran for transiting through the Strait of Hormuz.

“We will not pay any toll as what may have been misunderstood by some netizens online. ?We’re not paying anything,” Fadzil was quoted as saying by Reuters.

Earlier, Iran's Parliamentary Security Committee had approved a plan to impose tolls on vessels transiting the Strait of Hormuz. According to reports, under the "Strait of Hormuz Management Plan," ships passing through the critical maritime chokepoint may have to pay up to $2 million to Iran for safe passage. However, ‘friendly’ nations, including India, China, Pakistan, and Malaysia, have been granted free transit through the Strait of Hormuz.

Ayatollah Seyyed Mojtaba Khamenei, the new Supreme Leader of Iran, has written a letter to Hezbollah's Secretary-General Sheikh Naim Qassem, pledging “sustained support for the resistance in the face of the American-Zionist enemy.”

According to Press TV, Iran will continue its "ongoing support for the resistance against the Zionist and American adversary.”

Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, the son of the late Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, was appointed the new Supreme Leader of Iran on March 8, following the killing of his father by the US and Israel.

Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, who is believed to have been injured in the strike, has not been seen in public ever since.

Oil fell below $100 per barrel and Asian shares jumped Wednesday over renewed optimism about a de-escalation of the Iran war.

Brent crude, the international standard, was down 4.7% to $99.05 per barrel.

Iran hit a tanker off the coast of Qatar and Kuwait International Airport early Wednesday as Tehran remained unrelenting in its attacks on its Gulf Arab neighbours, while acknowledging for the first time that Washington had been in direct contact about a possible ceasefire. (AP)

Brent oil price drops 5% on Iran war optimism.

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) airlines, including flydubai and Emirates, on Wednesday, through their websites, announced that Iranian nationals are not permitted to enter or transit the country, as reported by Xinhua.

However, the announcement made on the flydubai website said that Iranian nationals holding a UAE "Golden Visa" are exempt from the restriction, as reported by Xinhua. (ANI)

Israel's emergency medical service said 14 people including an 11-year-old girl were wounded during a missile attack that the military blamed on Iran and police said caused damage at several sites.

The military said it had "identified missiles launched from Iran towards the territory of the State of Israel" for the first time in about 20 hours, with air raid sirens activated across central Israel. (AFP)

The Israeli military said it carried out strikes on Wednesday on Tehran, where Iranian state broadcaster IRIB reported blasts in several areas.

IRIB said Tehran was under attack on Wednesday, reporting that explosions were heard in areas of the capital's north, east and centre.