Iran-US war highlights: Trump to address nation and provide update on Iran on Thursday, White House says

Iran-US war news LIVE: Donald Trump said that the United States could end its military attacks on Iran within two to three weeks and that Tehran did not have to make a deal as a prerequisite for the conflict winding down.

The remarks underscored the shifting and at times contradictory statements from Washington about how the war, now in its fifth week, might end, Reuters reported.

"We'll be leaving very soon," Trump told reporters at the White House on Tuesday, saying the exit could take place “within two weeks, maybe two weeks, maybe three.”

Iran-US war news LIVE: United States President Donald Trump will provide an update on Iran in an address to the nation at 9 pm on Wednesday (0100 GMT on Thursday and 6.30 am IST on Thursday), White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt said on X.

Iran-US war news LIVE: United States President Donald Trump makes it clear that he is expecting the world to help him fix the unintended damage that it has caused as he weighs an exit from the conflict nearly a month after it saw a violent escalation.

Trump is taking an increasingly annoyed tone toward Europe's lack of support for the US-Israeli war effort. He also is giving short shrift to the fact that his decision contributed to disrupting the flow of oil to global markets through the crucial Strait of Hormuz, which Iran has managed to largely choke off even as Trump insists that Iran has been “decimated,” news agency AP reported.

Iran-US war news LIVE: Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian expressed Tehran's readiness to conclude the current hostilities against what he termed "US-Israeli aggression," provided the Islamic Republic receives "firm guarantees" against future domestic strikes, reported state broadcaster Press TV.

During a telephonic discussion on Tuesday with European Council President Antonio Costa, Pezeshkian maintained that the primary resolution for "normalising the situation" necessitated an immediate cessation of attacks by the opposing forces.

Iran-US war news LIVE: United States President Donald Trump on Tuesday said that US forces would end operations in Iran "very soon," evoking a timeline of two to three weeks as his administration pursues talks with Iranian authorities while continuing its aerial campaign.

Asked during a White House event about the impact of high fuel prices since the start of the war on February 28, Trump said that "All I have to do is leave Iran, and we'll be doing that very soon, and they'll become tumbling down."

(AFP)

Iran-US war news LIVE: US defense secretary Pete Hegseth on Tuesday said that the next few days in the war against Iran would be decisive and warned Tehran that the conflict would intensify if it did not make a deal.

Hegseth, who reported he visited US troops in the Middle East on Saturday, said President Donald Trump was willing to make a deal with Iran to end the war. Talks were ongoing and gaining strength, but the US was prepared to continue the war if Iran did not comply, he said.

"We have more and more options, and they have less ... in only one month we set the terms, the upcoming days will be decisive," Hegseth said in Washington. “Iran knows that, and there's almost nothing they can militarily do about it,” he added.

(Reuters)

Iran-US war news LIVE: Explosions rocked Syrian capital Damascus on Tuesday after Israeli defenses intercepted Iranian missiles, Syrian state television reported.

Iran-US war news LIVE: As the US-Iran conflict nearly marks a month of escalation, an UN-based rights group HRANA said 3,492 people have been killed since the war erupted. It said 1,574 of those were civilians, including at least 236 children.

The group says its data comes from field reports, local contacts, medical and emergency sources, civil society networks, open-source materials and official statements.

The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies said on Friday that at least 1,900 people have been killed and 20,000 injured in Iran in the U.S.-Israeli strikes so far.

(AP)

Iran-US war news LIVE: United States President Donald Trump on Tuesday said that the war with Iran is “coming to an end”.

As he spoke to NBC News, he pointed towards a possibility of de-escalation after weeks of the conflict.

In a separate interview with the New York Post on the same day, Trump reiterated the message, saying the conflict is nearing the end.

“We’re not going to be there too much longer. We’re obliterating the s–t out of them right now,” Trump said in a phone interview.

Iran-US war news LIVE: Pope Leo XIV on Tuesday expressed hope that the US-Israel war on Iran could be finished before Easter in remarks to reporters as he left the papal retreat at Castel Gandolfo outside of Rome on Tuesday.

“I’m told that President Trump has recently stated that he would like to end the war,’’ the U.S.-born pope said. “I hope that he’s looking for an off-ramp,” news agency AP reported quoting the Pope as saying.

“Hopefully he’s looking for a way to decrease the amount of violence, of bombing, which would be a significant contribution to removing the hatred that’s being created, that’s increasing constantly in the Middle East and elsewhere,” he added.

Iran-US war news LIVE: Commander of the Aerospace Force of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) - Majid Mousavi visited underground missile bases and launch operators, footage from Iranian state TV showed on Tuesday.

The move comes days after he had come under criticism from senior IRGC officials for being absent during ongoing clashes and leaving his forces without leadership, Iran International reported.

Iran-US war news LIVE: The United States is sending a third aircraft carrier strike group to the Middle East, with the USS George H.W. Bush set to join the USS Abraham Lincoln and USS Gerald R. Ford already operating in the region, The Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday citing US officials.

According to the report, the fresh deployment could leave three US aircraft carriers stationed in the area for the foreseeable future, marking a significant expansion of Washington’s naval presence in the area.

Iran-US war news LIVE: As the conflict between the US and Islamic Republic continue wreaking havoc for nearly one month, Iranian missiles keep penetrating the Israeli airspace and kill civilians.

Iranian drones slip through its neighbors’ air defenses, shattering Gulf Arab nations’ carefully curated images of invincibility and wounding US troops. Its threats to attack oil and gas tankers strangle the Strait of Hormuz, sending energy prices soaring, reported news agency AP.

Iran-US war news LIVE: United States President Donald Trump on Tuesday asked the nations who are upset by the high fuel rates after ongoing tensions with Iran to “go get your own oil”.

The shooting fuel prices were triggered as Iran continues to maintain chokehold on the Strait of Hormuz, a major route in trade.

The US-Israeli war with Iran has caused major disruptions to the world’s supply of oil and natural gas, roiling global markets.

US gas prices jumped past an average of $4 a gallon for the first time since 2022 as fuel prices continue to soar worldwide. The last time US drivers were collectively paying this much at the pump was nearly four years ago, following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, reported news agency AP.

Iran-US war news LIVE: Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa said on Tuesday his country will stay out of the U.S.-Israeli war against Iran unless Syria is subject to aggression and has no diplomatic solutions.

“Unless Syria is targeted by any party, Syria will remain outside any conflict,” Reuters reported quoting the Syrian president as saying in a speech at an event hosted by think tank Chatham House in London.

The month-long conflict has spread across the region, killing thousands, disrupting energy supplies, and threatening to send the global economy into a tailspin

Iran-US war news LIVE: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday said that his country would press ahead with its military campaign against Tehran, declaring that it would continue to "crush Iran's terror regime".

"The campaign is not over," he said in a televised statement. “We will continue to crush the terror regime.”

His statements followed that of Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, where he said that the Islamic Republic had the “necessary will” to end the war with Israel and the United States, but was seeking guarantees that the conflict would not be repeated.

(AFP)

Iran-US war news LIVE: United States President Donald Trump on Tuesday said that negotiations between the US and Iran are going well.

"The negotiations with Iran are going well," US President Donald Trump told Axios in a phone call on Tuesday.

Iran-US war news LIVE: Speaking of heightened tensions in the Middle East for nearly one month now, US ambassador to the United Nations told a meeting of the Security Council on Tuesday that the citizens should not face the daily dangers posed by Iran.

"The suffering in this region is immense and has gone on for far too long. Parents, children and grandparents... should not face the daily dangers caused by Iranian-backed terrorists," the US ambassador Michael Waltz said on Tuesday.

"People in this region deserve a different future, one defined by security and economic opportunity and normal life, not by rockets, tunnels and the constant threat of escalation and retaliation," Waltz said.

(Iran International)

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said on Tuesday his country had the "necessary will" to end the ongoing war with Israel and the United States, but was seeking guarantees that the conflict would not be repeated.

"We possess the necessary will to end this conflict, provided that essential conditions are met -- especially the guarantees required to prevent repetition of the aggression," Pezeshkian said in a phone conversation with the president of the European Council, according to a statement from his office, reiterating a key demand of Tehran's.

Iran-US war news LIVE: Iran foreign minister Abbas Araghchi on Tuesday said the country would face difficulties in rebuilding trust with its neighbours, Reuters cited Al Jazeera TV as reporting.

However, Araghchi expressed confidence that Tehran would eventually rebuild trust with West Asian countries.

Iran-US war news LIVE: Iraqi police sources have said they are chasing a vehicle in which a foreign journalist was taken, Reuters news agency reported.

Police sources said she was taken by force by four men in civilian clothes. The search is focused in the eastern part of the capital where the kidnappers' vehicle was headed, police sources added.

Iran-US war news LIVE: Iran on Tuesday said it has the “will” to end the conflict in West Asia, but was seeking guarantees, AFP reported.

This comes even as the United States has, over the past few days, said talks with Iran had been “productive” and were “going well.” US stocks jumped after Iran's remark on ending the conflict.

Iran-US war news LIVE: Iraq's interior ministry on Tuesday said a foreign journalist was kidnapped in the country, the Associated Press reported.

According to Reuters, the journalist held a US passport, two Iraqi sources said.

Iran-US war news LIVE: Multiple explosions were heard in central Tehran, AFP reported citing its journalist.