Live Updates: Iran backs off regional strikes unless provoked, mocks Trump’s surrender demand

President Donald Trump declared Saturday that the U.S. is “taking out tremendous amounts of oil” from Venezuela while vowing to “take care” of Cuba’s regime following America’s focus on Iran. 

The president, speaking at the Shield of the Americas Summit in Florida, prefaced his remarks by saying that since the January operation to capture former Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro, the administration has “been working closely with the new president of Venezuela, Delcy Rodriguez,” and, “she’s doing a great job working with us.”

“And we’re taking out tremendous amounts of oil. They’re making more money now than they’ve ever made, ever made. We have the big oil companies in. They are making more money, we’re getting some,” Trump said. “They’re getting a lot. They’re making more money now than they’ve ever made in the history of their country.” 

“And I’m pleased to say that this week we have formally recognized the Venezuelan government. We’ve actually legally recognized them. We have also just reached a historic gold deal that’s called the gold deal with Venezuela, to allow our two countries to work together to facilitate the sale of Venezuelan gold and other minerals,” Trump continued, describing a license issued by the Treasury Department Friday that prohibits people and companies from Iran, North Korea, Russia and Cuba from doing business with Minerven – Venezuela’s state-owned gold mining company – among other measures.

“As we achieve a historic transformation in Venezuela, we’re also looking forward to the great change that will soon be coming to Cuba. Cuba’s at the end of the line,” Trump also said. “They’re very much at the end of the line. They have no money, they have no oil. They have a bad philosophy. They have a bad regime that’s been bad for a long time. And they used to get the money from Venezuela. They get the oil from Venezuela, but they don’t have any money from Venezuela. They don’t have any oil,” Trump added. 

This is an excerpt from an article by Greg Norman-Diamond.

President Donald Trump disembarked from Air Force One at Dover Air Force base on Saturday afternoon for the dignified transfer of the six U.S. service members who were killed supporting Operation Epic Fury against Iran.

President of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan said the Gulf nation was in a time of war as he visited five civilians who were wounded in Iranian strikes.

 “The UAE has thick skin and bitter flesh – we are no easy prey,” said Sheikh Mohammed.

The UAE’s Defense Ministry said on Saturday that it had intercepted Iranian missiles and drones, while attacks from Tehran left three dead and 112 wounded sine the start of the war.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

One week into the U.S. and Israeli attacks on Iran, two Republican senators on the Senate Armed Services Committee say the military operation has “degraded” Tehran’s ability to strike back.

But in exclusive interviews with Fox News Digital, Sens. Rick Scott of Florida and Ted Budd of North Carolina emphasized that the fighting will not lead to U.S. involvement in “forever wars” in the volatile Middle East.

“Our military is doing a great job,” Scott said. And pointing to Iran, he said, “They want to destroy America. We’ve got to stop them.”

Budd highlighted that “we have significantly degraded Iran’s ability to shoot back at us… their capacities are degraded. We’ve had great success.”

Budd and Scott were interviewed as they attended an economic conference in Florida hosted by the Club for Growth, an influential and politically potent conservative group that pushes for fiscal responsibility.

This is an excerpt from an article by Paul Steinhauser.

Qatar, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) all reported interceptions of Iranian missiles and drones on Saturday, hours after Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said Tehran would halt attacks on neighboring nations.

The UAE’s Defense Ministry said it was intercepting missiles and drones, while Qatar’s Defense Ministry said it intercepted a missile attack. Additionally, sirens went off in Bahrain for the seventh time on Saturday.

Hours before the reported interceptions, Pezeshkian apologized to neighboring countries and said Iran would only launch attacks if it was hit first.

“I should apologize to the neighboring countries that were attacked by Iran, on my own behalf,” he said, according to The Associated Press. “From now on, they should not attack neighboring countries or fire missiles at them, unless we are attacked by those countries. I think we should solve this through diplomacy.”

The apology came after U.S. Central Command called out Friday how Iran has attacked 12 different counties in the region since Operation Epic Fury began. CENTCOM said those attacks included Iran firing attack drones at civilian, residential neighborhoods in Bahrain.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) on Saturday released a video of the Israeli Air Force (IAF) intercepting an Iranian UAV before it was able to cross into Israeli territory.

“Since the start of Operation ‘Roaring Lion’, the Israeli Air Force has intercepted over 110 UAVs that were launched by the Iranian terror regime toward the State of Israel,” the IDF said in a statement.

“Operation Roaring Lion” is the name that Israel uses for Operation Epic Fury.

“This is part of a central IDF effort to thwart the threats to Israeli civilians while degrading the Iranian terrorist regime’s military infrastructure,” the IDF added.

President Donald Trump on Saturday addressed the Shields of the Americas summit in Doral, Fla., where he spoke about Operation Epic Fury. The president touted U.S. forces’ successes and spoke about the six service members who lost their lives.

“We’re doing very well in Iran. You see the result and it’s been amazing. We’ve knocked out 42 Navy ships, some of them very large, in three days. That was the end of the Navy. We knocked out their air force. We knocked out their communications, and all telecommunications is gone. I don’t know how they communicate, but I guess they they will figure something out,” Trump said.

The president also said the world has witnessed the “supreme power” of the United States over the last year.

The U.S. State Department said on Saturday that more than 28,000 American citizens had returned to the U.S. from the Middle East since the start of Operation Epic Fury. The department said the figures do not include Americans who safely relocated to other countries or those who have left the Middle East and are on their way to the U.S.

The State Department said it had completed over a dozen charter flights to evacuate Americans from the Middle East. Additionally, the department said that while flight availability was improving, it would “ramp up” flights and ground transport operations, depending on the security situation.

The department said American citizens in Oman, Kuwait, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and Israel in need of travel assistance should complete the Crisis Intake Form. 

U.S. citizens in the Middle East who are in need of assistance can call the department’s taskforce 24/7, at +1-202-501-4444.

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) Ministry of Defense said on Saturday that the country’s air defense systems intercepted 16 ballistic missiles, 15 of which were destroyed while one fell into the sea. Additionally, the air defense systems detected 121 UAVs, 119 of which were intercepted, while the other two fell within the UAE’s territory.

“Since the start of the blatant Iranian aggression, a total of 221 ballistic missiles have been detected, of which 205 were destroyed, while 14 fell into the sea and two missiles landed within the territory of the UAE,” the ministry wrote on X. “A total of 1,305 Iranian UAVs have also been detected, of which 1,229 were intercepted, while 76 UAVs fell within the territory of the UAE. Eight cruise missiles were also detected and destroyed.”

The UAE’s Ministry of Defense noted that Iran’s attacks resulted in “three deaths of Pakistani, Nepali and Bangladeshi nationals, and 112 minor injuries among individuals of Emirati, Egyptian, Ethiopian, Filipino, Pakistani, Iranian, Indian, Bangladeshi, Sri Lankan, Azerbaijani, Yemeni, Ugandan, Eritrean, Lebanese, Afghan, Bahraini, Comorian and Turkish nationalities.”

Earlier on Saturday, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian apologized to neighboring nations and said that Tehran would halt its attacks unless it was hit first.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said on Saturday that more than 80 Israeli Air Force (IAF) fighter jets carried out a series of strikes in Iran. Among the targets was a university that the IDF said used by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) to train its officers. Other targets hit in the strikes included ballistic missile storage facilities, underground missile command infrastructure and launch sites aimed at Israel that were located in western and central Iran.

“These strikes degrade the Iranian regime’s ability to fire at Israeli civilians,” the IDF said.

Israel and the U.S. launched the conflict with Iran one week ago as both countries carried out attacks against Tehran. One of the strikes on Feb. 28 led to the death of Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

President Donald Trump said on Saturday that the U.S. was building ten new battleships that will be “100 times more powerful” than the ones from the 1940s.

“We’re building a thing called a battleship, like in the old days,” Trump said, remembering the U.S. Naval might seen during the World War II-era. “They’re pieces of art. Beautiful. Most beautiful. The big battleships of the 1940s.”

In remarks at the Shield of the Americas summit in Doral, Florida, Trump said he was told the new ships being built today are “100 times more powerful than what we were looking at with those guns.”

“We don’t want to use them. But by having them, nobody’s going to play games,” Trump said. “So just good to have. We don’t want to use them. They’ll say, oh, he’s very militaristic. I’m the one that ended eight wars.”

While speaking at the Shield of the Americas summit, President Donald Trump said that the U.S. would keep the war with Iran “to a minimum,” referencing the deaths of six U.S. service members.

“I’ll be leaving for Dover. Very sad situation to greet the families of the heroes who are coming home from Iran, coming home in a different manner than they thought they’d be coming home. But they’re great heroes in our country, and we’re going to keep it that way. And as always, when it comes to war, there’s always that. But we’re going to keep it to a minimum, I think,” Trump said in Doral, Florida.

The president added that Operation Epic Fury was “going to be something of service that we’re really providing not for the Middle East, but for the world.” 

“These were sick people, very sick people,” Trump added.

President Donald Trump said at the Shield of the Americas summit that Iran would have had a nuclear weapon if the U.S. had not carried out Operation Midnight Hammer last summer.

“They were very close to a nuclear weapon. They would have had one if we didn’t do our B-2 hit Midnight Hammer, they would have had it eight months ago. They would have had a nuclear weapon,” Trump said in Doral, Florida.

President Donald Trump is addressing the Shield of Americas summit, a gathering of leaders from the Western Hemisphere aimed at fostering cooperation to combat drug cartels, as the U.S. continues its attacks on Iran.

Argentine President Javier Milei, Bolivian President Rodrigo Paz Pereira, Chilean President-elect Jose Antonio Kast, Costa Rican President Rodrigo Chaves Robles, Dominican President Luis Rodolfo Abinader Corona, Ecuadorian President Daniel Roy Gilchrist Noboa Azín, Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele Ortez, Guyanese President Mohamed Irfaan Ali, Honduran President Nasry “Tito” Asfura, Panamanian President José Raúl Mulino Quintero, Paraguayan President Santiago Peña and Trinidad and Tobago Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar are expected to attend the summit.

While the leaders meet, American forces are continuing to carry out Operation Epic Fury against Iran.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) spokesperson for Arabic media Col. Avichay Adraee issued warnings to civilians in Lebanon to evacuate certain areas as Israel hits Iranian proxy Hezbollah. The warnings included maps showing areas of southern Lebanon that the IDF planned to hit.

“The IDF will soon strike military infrastructure belonging to the Hezbollah terrorist organization, following its prohibited attempts to restore its activity in the area,” the warning read. “We call on residents of the structures marked in red on the attached map, as well as those in nearby structures: you are located near structures used by Hezbollah. For your safety, you must evacuate immediately and move at least 300 meters away.”

The IDF went on to warn that “remaining in the area of the marked structures puts you at risk.”

The IDF hit multiple Hezbollah targets after the terrorist organization launched rockets and drones toward Israel on March 2, its first attack since a November 2024 ceasefire ended the previous round of fighting. 

Fox News Digital’s Efrat Lachter contributed to this report.

President Donald Trump mocked Iran as the “loser of the Middle East” after Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian apologized to neighboring nations and vowed to stop attacking them unless it was hit first.

In a Truth Social post Saturday, Trump said Iran would maintain that “loser” status for decades “until they surrender or, more likely, completely collapse.”

In response to Operation Epic Fury, Iran had launched retaliatory missile and drone attacks against at least 12 other countries in the region, and some Arab states signaled a bolstered military posture and were weighing possible military action against Iran.

“Iran, which is being beat to HELL, has apologized and surrendered to its Middle East neighbors, and promised that it will not shoot at them anymore,” Trump wrote on Truth Social on Saturday. “This promise was only made because of the relentless U.S. and Israeli attack. They were looking to take over and rule the Middle East.”

“It is the first time that Iran has ever lost, in thousands of years, to surrounding Middle Eastern Countries. They have said, ‘Thank you President Trump’,” he continued. “I have said, ‘You’re welcome!’ Iran is no longer the ‘Bully of the Middle East,’ they are, instead, ‘THE LOSER OF THE MIDDLE EAST,’ and will be for many decades until they surrender or, more likely, completely collapse!”

“Today Iran will be hit very hard!” Trump vowed. “Under serious consideration for complete destruction and certain death, because of Iran’s bad behavior, are areas and groups of people that were not considered for targeting up until this moment in time. Thank you for your attention to this matter!”

Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister Majid Takht-Ravanchi cautioned European nations against joining the ongoing war in the Middle East during an interview with FRANCE 24.

Takht-Ravanchi told the outlet that Iran “already informed the Europeans and everybody else that they should be careful not to be involved in this war of aggression against Iran.” He went on to warn that any country that “joins America and Israel in the aggression against Iran, they will be also legitimate targets for Iran’s retaliation.”

The deputy foreign minister said that Iran was “negotiating in good faith” with the U.S. prior to the launch of Operation Epic Fury.

Takht-Ravanchi’s statement came hours before Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said Tehran would stop attacking neighboring nations unless it was attacked first.

Russian President Vladimir Putin reportedly spoke with Iranian President ​Masoud Pezeshkian and offered his condolences for civilians killed in what he called “the armed Israeli-American ‌aggression against Iran.” He also reportedly offered his sympathies over the killing of Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

The Russian president called for a cessation of hostilities in Iran and a return to diplomacy in a statement released by the Kremlin, according to Reuters.

“Vladimir Putin reaffirmed Russia’s principled stance in favour of an immediate ​cessation of hostilities, the rejection of force ​as a method to solve any issues surrounding Iran or ‌arising ⁠in the Middle East, and a swift return to the path of diplomatic resolution,” the Kremlin said, according to Reuters.

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian on Saturday apologized to neighboring countries that have been attacked by Iran, adding that future attacks will only take place in response to an attack.

“I should apologize to the neighboring countries that were attacked by Iran, on my own behalf,” he said, according to The Associated Press. “From now on, they should not attack neighboring countries or fire missiles at them, unless we are attacked by those countries. I think we should solve this through diplomacy.”

Pezeshkian made the apology during a prerecorded televised speech on Saturday after Iran launched repeated strikes on Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar and Oman.

The decision came after Iran’s temporary leadership council talked with the country’s armed forces amid alleged miscommunication in the ranks following the deaths of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and other leaders.

Pezeshkian also stated during the speech that the United States’ demand for an unconditional surrender is a “dream that they should take to their grave.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.