58m ago Three oil tankers hit in the Strait of Hormuz on Tuesday A British maritime agency said unknown projectiles hit three ships in the Strait of Hormuz on Tuesday. A crude oil tanker, an LNG tanker and a third vessel were “hit by an unknown projectile”, the UK Maritime Trading Operations Center (UKMTO) said, without giving further details. The Strait of Hormuz is currently a focal point of the war between Iran and the United States. About a fifth of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas passed through this strategic sea route before the war. 5:44 AM Celebrating US withdrawal from Iraq by Iranian-backed militias The US military announced Wednesday that it has completed the withdrawal of all US troops from Iraq, ending a 12-year mission to fight the Islamic State group. The withdrawal, agreed to two years ago, comes against the backdrop of the ongoing war between the United States and Iran that has also at times spilled over into Iraq, with Iranian-backed militias firing on American troops and the United States attacking the groups’ strongholds. The withdrawal was welcomed by Iranian-backed groups, but raised concern among some other Iraqis, particularly in the Kurdish region. “The expulsion of the defeated occupation forces from the land of Iraq is the beginning of full sovereignty,” Abu Mujahid al-Assaf, a security official for the powerful Kataib Hezbollah militia, said in a statement. Bases there have been regularly attacked since the United States and Israel launched their war against Iran on February 28. Iran-backed Iraqi militias have also coordinated with Yemen’s Houthi rebels to attack Saudi Arabia. CBS/AP 4:41 AM Iran reportedly received a formal response from the United States regarding the ceasefire proposal. Iranian officials said Wednesday they have received the United States’ formal response to their proposal to end the Middle East war, state media reported, days after President Trump publicly rejected the plan. In the meeting, the US side’s proposal was presented to President Masoud Pezeshkian by Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi,” government spokesperson Fatemeh Mohajerani told the official IRNA news agency. 4:04 AM Pakistan vows to help defend Saudi Arabia from Iran-backed Houthis Pakistan will use “any means that are available” to defend Saudi Arabia against Iran-backed Houthi rebels, the defense minister said on Tuesday. of the country, offering one of Islamabad’s clearest indications yet that it could become directly involved in the growing regional conflict. Defense Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif declined to say whether Pakistani forces had already engaged in airstrikes. He said, however, that Pakistan’s military capabilities would be available to Saudi Arabia under a new mutual defense pact with Saudi Arabia and Turkey. available at our disposal, it will also be available for Saudi Arabia. I think it is a categorical statement,” Asif told reporters during a visit to Rome when asked if Pakistan had been involved in airstrikes against Iranian operators in Yemen. 3:27 AM Iran reportedly received comments from the United States on the proposed ceasefire plan, to discuss on Wednesday Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi received comments from the United States on the proposed plan for a seven-day ceasefire, which would aim to build trust between the two sides, according to an official quoted by the agency. Reuters news Iran last week proposed a seven-day plan for a ceasefire and gradual reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, depending on the US meeting conditions set out in the mid-June Memorandum of Understanding that collapsed after several weeks. Trump has publicly rejected the Iranian proposal, according to the Reuters report, the disagreement between the two sides currently centers on the sequence of the plan, and Araghchi will discuss it in Tehran on Wednesday 3:27 AM Trump “stuck in a. quagmire” when it comes to war, Iran’s security chief says President Trump is deadlocked when it comes to deciding between more war and negotiations, according to Maj. Gen. Mohsen Rezaei, head of Iran’s influential Supreme National Security Council. “We declare our conditions, but Trump is incapable of making decisions,” Rezaei said Tuesday during a meeting with Azerbaijan’s deputy prime minister, Shahin Mustafayev. “Trump is stuck in a quagmire in which he cannot can negotiate or fight.” Several Iranian officials have said they are waiting for a response on the proposal made during last week’s UN General Assembly, however, Trump already dismissed the plan on Saturday. “Our plan, which became known as the seven-point plan, was conveyed to the Americans through the Qatari intermediary,” Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told reporters in New York on Monday. “Despite the things that the American president and others said, I said we are waiting for a response US official through intermediary.” Rezaei highlighted the strict sanctions on airlines that went into effect last week, calling them an “air blockade,” as a sign of “desperation.” 3:27 AM US sanctions companies that allegedly supplied equipment to the Iranian military The US Treasury Department imposed sanctions on Tuesday on 10 people and companies accused of helping Iran’s military logistics agency acquire weapons and electronics. Targets include people based in Iran, Beijing, Hong Kong and Pakistan. The sanctions are part of a Trump administration initiative called Operation Economic Paria, which aims to pressure Iran by isolating its government and its economy. “The Treasury will not tolerate any support for the regime and will continue to identify, expose and isolate Iran’s enablers,” Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in a statement 3:27 AM Iran’s military says the only way it will end the war is if the United States admits defeat. Iran’s Revolutionary Party said the only way for the war in Iran to end is for Washington to admit defeat and leave. IRGC spokesman Gen. Hossein Mohebbi delivered the message at a news conference Tuesday in Tehran, reading what he called a “letter to the American people.” The message was apparently intended for the American public just weeks before the Nov. 3 midterm elections for the U.S. Senate and Congress, a vote in which the Republican Party faces Trump. fierce headwinds as he seeks to maintain control of Congress. Later, speaking to The Associated Press, Mohebbi urged Americans to reconsider his leadership and take to the streets and protest the president’s policies to denounce what he called the U.S. government’s warmongering policies. He accused the United States of using Iran’s nuclear program as a ruse to “loot Iran’s wealth” and turn the country “back into a colony.”
