Trump orders ceasefire extended after Iran peace talks cancelled in Pakistan

Senate Republicans are still backing President Donald Trump’s war in Iran as the deadline for Congress to get involved is rapidly approaching.

Republicans beat back a fifth attempt by Democrats to call for an end to the war in the Middle East, a day after Trump extended the fragile ceasefire for next several days on the grounds that Iran’s government was “seriously fractured.”

The failed vote to rein in Trump’s war authorities came on the 54th day of the conflict.

Whether the administration can strike a long-lasting peace deal remains unclear. Lawmakers are also growing more concerned about the cost, length and end game of the war.

“This war has simply been a disaster, and there is absolutely no reason we should go full steam ahead back into it,” said Sen. Tammy Baldwin, D-Wis., who forced the vote.

And next week, the conflict will officially hit the 60-day mark. Congress is required to weigh in on continuing the conflict under the War Powers Resolution.

Still, the fast-approaching inflection did little to sway Republicans, who have stayed largely unified against Democrats’ deluge of war powers resolutions since the conflict began. Democrats aren’t done forcing votes, either, and have another six resolutions teed up.

“Our caucus is united and focused on ending the war in Iran,” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said. “And we’re going to keep voting on those resolutions again and again and again.”

And Republicans aren’t totally united on whether to put an Authorization for Use of Military Force (AUMF) on the floor.

Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, has been working on an AUMF in the background that would allow lawmakers to have a say on what comes next in Iran.

“We’ll see what our kind of conference’s will is on that and where our members are,” Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., said.

This is an excerpt from a report by Alex Miller.

The U.S. naval blockade targeting Iran’s ports and oil exports is already effective, according to United Against Nuclear Iran (UANI), which says the operation is disrupting shipments and pressuring its economy.

UANI, a nonprofit group focused on countering Iranian threats, says the blockade is working as intended by targeting high-value oil shipments rather than all Iran-linked vessels, with early signs of deterrence including diverted ships and abandoned port calls.

“We commend President Trump for ordering the continued blockade of Iranian ports and the U.S. Navy for its highly professional and highly effective, but yet prudently selective, use of force against key Iranian shipping interests,” United Against Nuclear Iran (UANI) Chairman Gov. Jeb Bush and CEO Ambassador Mark D. Wallace said in a statement.

“The confusion in media reports constitutes a misunderstanding of the naval blockade,” they said.

The blockade took effect April 13 as U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) confirmed that forces were “executing the mission to blockade ships entering and departing Iranian ports,” UANI said in a statement.

“The administration aims to cut off the regime’s primary revenue source from crude exports, primarily to China,” the statement said.

“This applies critical pressure on the regime to open the Strait of Hormuz to international shipping and return to ceasefire talks.”

CENTCOM has reported at least 29 vessels turned around or went back to port, with several VLCCs abandoning Iranian port calls, with the organization saying the successes “demonstrate early deterrence against major sanctions-evading shipments.”

Under the U.S. Commander’s Handbook on the Law of Naval Operations (NWP 1-14M), a blockade is “a belligerent operation to prevent vessels and/or aircraft of all nations, enemy as well as neutral, from entering or exiting specified ports, airfields, or coastal areas belonging to, occupied by, or under the control of an enemy.”

“The U.S. is not attempting to interdict every vessel with any connection to Iran. Rather, enforcement efforts are focused on vessels entering or departing Iranian ports; and ships engaged in the transport of declared contraband cargos, as well as U.S.-sanctioned Iranian cargoes, particularly crude oil and petroleum products,” the statement said.

Just because “Iran-linked” vessels are still transiting international waters, this is “not evidence of failure—it reflects the reality that many such vessels are not engaged in activity covered by the blockade,” the UANI said.

Sen. Rick Scott called on the United States Wednesday to escalate its efforts against Iran, urging leaders to “finish the job” and permanently eliminate the country’s nuclear threat.

“Iran has spent 47 YEARS funding terror, killing Americans, and trying to get its hands on a nuclear weapon to do more damage,” Scott said in a post shared on X.

“We went after this terrorist regime for a reason, and now it’s time to FINISH THE JOB,” he added.

“We need to END their nuclear ambitions, stand firmly with our allies, and NEUTRALIZE THE THREAT for good,” Scott said.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Wednesday that President Donald Trump is giving Iran room to respond to U.S. demands, but expects Tehran to present a “unified proposal.”

Leavitt told reporters that Trump has not imposed a specific cutoff for Iran to act, emphasizing that the president also offered Tehran “flexibility.”

“So, again, the president’s offering them a little bit of flexibility because we want to see a unified proposal to the president’s very strong proposal. And he’s made his red lines very clear,” Leavitt said.

“The president has not set a deadline himself. Ultimately, he will dictate the timetable,” she said.

Addressing the naval blockade on Iranian ports set on April 13, Leavitt said the administration believes it holds the upper hand.

“And again, he is satisfied with the naval blockade. And he understands that Iran is in a very weak position and the cards are in President Trump’s hands right now,” she said.

Leavitt also pointed to Trump’s decision to extend the ceasefire indefinitely, saying it reflects pressure on Iran to respond.

She said that Trump chose to extend the ceasefire because it’s Iran that needs to “get their act together.”

“The White House and our intelligence community certainly have a good understanding. However, we want to see a unified response and a unified proposal to the previous question’s point,” she clarified.

In another interview, Leavitt said that Iran must turn over its enriched uranium to the United States.

The U.S. Embassy in Beirut urged U.S. citizens to leave Lebanon in a security alert issued Wednesday.

While commercial flight options remain available, the embassy also recommended that “U.S. citizens in Lebanon who choose not to leave prepare contingency plans for emergency situations.”

“The security environment remains complex and can change quickly,” the embassy said in a statement.

It also warned Americans not to visit areas where there had been military activity, as these might contain unexploded ordnance.

The notice warned of “ongoing risks of terrorism and kidnapping throughout Lebanon” and said “locations frequented by U.S. citizens and tourists in Beirut or elsewhere in Lebanon may become a target for these attacks.”

“U.S. citizens should avoid demonstrations, protests, or any large gatherings as these have the potential to quickly turn violent and with little notice,” the statement also said.

A 10-day ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon has been in place since April 16.

A second French soldier has died after an attack on United Nations peacekeepers in Lebanon, French President Macron said Wednesday.

The soldier, Chief Corporal Anicet Girardin, had been severely wounded on April 18 and died of his wounds on April 21 after being evacuated to France, the president said in a post on X.

“Corporal Anicet Girardin of the 132nd Cynotechnical Infantry Regiment of Suippes, repatriated yesterday from Lebanon where he had been seriously wounded by Hezbollah fighters, died this morning from his injuries,” Macron said, before adding that “he died for France.”

“The Nation, which will pay tribute tomorrow to Warrant Officer Florian Montorio, mortally wounded during the same ambush, salutes with emotion the memory of Corporal Anicet Girardin and his sacrifice. It also extends its most sincere thoughts and deepest compassion to his family, his loved ones, as well as to the families of the other wounded,” Macron said.

“It pays homage to the exemplary commitment of our armed forces within UNIFIL, which work with courage and determination in the service of France and peace in Lebanon,” he added.

One of Girardin’s colleagues was also killed while clearing a road in southern Lebanon in the same attack on the peacekeeping mission. Hezbollah has denied any involvement, Reuters reported.

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt slammed a report on Wednesday that claimed Iran’s military was more capable than the U.S. administration was letting on.

“The legacy media is doing PR for the Iranian regime… again,” Leavitt said in a post shared on X.

“The truth is that under President Trump’s leadership, the U.S. military decimated the Iranian regime’s capabilities in just 38 days,” she added.

“Iran’s defense industrial base was almost completely destroyed. Iran’s ability to build and stockpile ballistic missiles and long-range drones has been set back by years. The vast majority of Iran’s ballistic missiles, launcher vehicles, and long-range attack drones were destroyed. The Iranian navy was annihilated with more than 150 of their ships sunk. And Iran’s air forces are functionally and operationally irrelevant now,” Leavitt added.

Leavitt’s criticism was said to be focused on a report by CBS. Citing multiple U.S. officials, the outlet reported that about half of Iran’s stockpile of ballistic missiles and its associated launch systems were still intact as of the start of the ceasefire in early April.

In a House Armed Services Subcommittee hearing on April 16, the director of the Pentagon’s Defense Intelligence Agency had warned of Iran’s remaining capabilities:

“Despite significant degradation of Iranian military capabilities through coalition strikes in Operation Epic Fury, Tehran retains thousands of missiles and one-way attack UAVs capable of threatening U.S. and partner forces throughout the region,” Director of the Defense Intelligence Agency Lt. Gen. James Adams said.

Two Iranian writers will receive the 2026 PEN Barbey Freedom to Write Award, PEN America said on Wednesday.

Golrokh Ebrahimi Iraee and Ali Asadollahi will receive the award, which honors jailed writers targeted for their expression. They will be honored at PEN America’s Literary Gala in New York on May 14.

“These writers embody the courage and creativity it takes to express their viewpoints openly in the face of unrelenting persecution,” Summer Lopez, co-CEO of PEN America, said in a statement.

Iraee is still imprisoned in Tehran’s Evin Prison after years of arrests and repeated jail terms.

Poet and translator Asadollahi was arrested in January during Iran’s crackdown and was released on bail in March after international pressure.

U.S. Ambassador Tom Barrack is pushing back after backlash over remarks seen as equating Israel with Hezbollah, insisting his comments reflect “realism” and not a change in U.S. policy.

Barrack appeared to equate America’s closest ally in the Middle East with a U.S.-designated terrorist organization, suggested Turkey should soon regain access to the F-35 program despite its purchase of Russia’s S-400 system, and argued that only “powerful leadership regimes” have succeeded in the region.

In exclusive written answers to Fox News Digital’s questions, Barrack rejected accusations that he was softening the administration’s stance toward Hezbollah or Iran, and argued that President Donald Trump’s “peace through strength” approach requires a more pragmatic reading of the Middle East.

Fox News Digital: During your remarks at the Antalya Diplomacy Forum Friday, you described the Israel–Hezbollah ceasefire as a “time out” and said that “everybody has been equally untrustworthy.” How do you reconcile that characterization with the U.S. designation of Hezbollah as a terrorist organization?

Does your statement that the goal is “not killing Hezbollah” reflect any shift from the previous “maximum pressure” approach toward a strategy of containment or political inclusion?

U.S. Ambassador to Turkey and Special Envoy for Syria Tom Barrack: Let me be very clear about my remarks at the Antalya Diplomacy Forum on April 17.

When I described the Israel–Hezbollah ceasefire as a ‘time out’ and said that ‘everybody has been equally untrustworthy,’ I was simply stating the obvious reality on the ground. This is realism, not criticism of any side.

The November 2024 ceasefire and the recent April 2026 ceasefire have repeatedly proven fragile because all parties — Israel, Hezbollah and their backers — have tested the limits in the past.

Historical patterns of violations, rearmament and proxy escalation confirm that mutual mistrust is the core challenge.

That mutual mistrust is exactly why this administration brokered the ceasefire in the first place: to stop the senseless killing, create breathing room and build a monitored, enforceable path forward that strengthens Lebanese sovereignty and Israeli security.

This is an excerpt from a report by Efrat Lachter.

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said Wednesday that Tehran remains open to a deal with Washington, but accused the United States of impacting progress through what he described as obstructive tactics.

“The Islamic Republic of Iran has always welcomed and continues to welcome dialogue and agreement,” Pezeshkian said in a post shared on X.

“Bad faith, siege, and threats are the main obstacles to genuine negotiation,” he added.

“The world is witnessing your hypocritical empty talk and the contradiction between your claims and your actions,” Pezeshkian added.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt lashed out at CBS News over a report suggesting Iran’s military capabilities are greater than President Donald Trump’s administration has suggested.

Leavitt highlighted the CBS report in a post on X, accusing the outlet of pushing Iranian narratives. The CBS report cited sources saying, among other things, that 60% of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps’ naval arm is still in operations.

“The legacy media is doing PR for the Iranian regime… again. The truth is that under President Trump’s leadership, the U.S. military decimated the Iranian regime’s capabilities in just 38 days,” Leavitt wrote.

“Iran’s defense industrial base was almost completely destroyed. Iran’s ability to build and stockpile ballistic missiles and long-range drones has been set back by years. The vast majority of Iran’s ballistic missiles, launcher vehicles, and long-range attack drones were destroyed. The Iranian navy was annihilated with more than 150 of their ships sunk. And Iran’s air forces are functionally and operationally irrelevant now,” Leavitt added.

Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Ghalibaf accused the U.S. of breaking its ceasefire with Iran by imposing a blockade on Iranian ports on Wednesday.

Ghalibaf said the blockade and Israel’s attacks on Lebanon constitute a “flagrant breach” of the ceasefire.

“A complete ceasefire only makes sense if it is not violated by the maritime blockade and the hostage-taking of the world’s economy, and if the Zionist warmongering across all fronts is halted; reopening the Strait of Hormuz is impossible with such a flagrant breach of the ceasefire,” Ghalibaf wrote.

“They did not achieve their goals through military aggression, nor will they through bullying. The only way forward is to recognize the rights of the Iranian nation,” he added.

President Donald Trump provided a few-day extension of the fragile ceasefire with Iran after a planned round of peace talks in Pakistan were abruptly canceled this week.

A White House official confirmed to Fox News on Wednesday that Trump extended the ceasefire with Iran for only 3 to 5 days.

The truce, according to the White House, will hold only until Tehran delivers a “unified proposal” to revive negotiations, underscoring how shaky the diplomatic track has become.

Despite the pause in direct military strikes, pressure on Iran has not eased. The U.S. is maintaining its naval blockade of Iranian ports in the Strait of Hormuz — a central source of leverage in the conflict and a significant strain on Tehran’s economy.

And Iran appears to be escalating in other ways, as well.

An Iranian news agency claims the Revolutionary Guard seized two vessels for alleged maritime violations and took them to Iranian shores, the first such seizures since the war began.

The rising tensions are putting a renewed focus on the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow but vital waterway and shipping passage at the center of the standoff and a crucial conduit for global energy supplies.

Bordered by Iran, Oman and the United Arab Emirates, the strait carries roughly 20 million barrels of oil every day, along with about one-fifth of the world’s liquefied natural gas (LNG). It also serves as a major route for refined fuels, including jet fuel.

Trump’s warning is part of a broader pattern of deadlines he has imposed on Tehran over the Strait of Hormuz. What follows is a timeline of those demands:

This is an excerpt from an article by Fox News’ Amanda Macias.

Iran has cancelled plans to execute eight women accused of protesting against the Tehran regime, President Donald Trump announced on Wednesday.

“Very good news! I have just been informed that the eight women protestors who were going to be executed tonight in Iran will no longer be killed. Four will be released immediately, and four will be sentenced to one month in prison,” Trump wrote in a statement on Truth Social.

“I very much appreciate that Iran, and its leaders, respected my request, as President of the United States, and terminated the planned execution. Thank you for your attention to this matter!” he added.

Trump drew attention to the eight women in an earlier post on Monday.

Pennsylvania Sen. John Fetterman blasted his own party on Tuesday, accusing Democrats and the American media of undermining U.S. efforts to topple the Iranian regime.

“Iran must be so excited by the American media and the Democratic Party,” Fetterman said on “Hannity.”

“It’s like, as long as we can hang on… more and more people continue to vote against the Trump administration.”

Fetterman’s remarks come as Democrats ramp up a pressure campaign to check the president’s authority and bring the Trump administration’s action against the Mideast adversary to a close.

The Pennsylvania Democrat has repeatedly broken with his party on Israel and the Iran war, arguing that Washington must remain focused on preventing the regime from acquiring a nuclear weapon.

“I’m the only Democrat effectively left in Congress to support Epic Fury,” Fetterman said.

“It’s almost as if we’ve forgotten, on the Democratic side, that the real enemy, the real threat, the real danger is Iran and its proxies too.”

This is an excerpt from an article by Fox News’ Taylor Penley.

Rep. Mike Lawler, R-N.Y., clashed with MS NOW host Katy Tur on Tuesday over the war in Iran, as the lawmaker accused her of pushing leftist talking points.

Tur asked Lawler about whether the Trump administration had a real strategy for the war, suggesting the president was “more desperate” than Iran. The GOP lawmaker brought up former President Barack Obama and the conflict in Libya.

“We don’t need to go back to Barack Obama. We can stick– no, let’s stick with President Trump. No, we don’t,” Tur said. “I want to live in the moment and I don’t want to do a 10-minute detour for President Obama.”

Lawler said, “Excuse me. It’s not a detour. It’s not a detour. It’s a relevant fact, OK? We were in a seven-month war in Libya that resulted in a civil war. Chuck Schumer and Nancy Pelosi fully endorsed it, fully embraced it, said everything was great, and the president was well within his authority.”

Tur asked how the example justified the current war in Iran. She said, “I’m talking about this president who promised no foreign wars.”

“I know you just want to spew out the talking points for the left here, but the fact is this: this was a just war that the president engaged in to stop this regime from possessing a nuclear weapon, and ultimately, you can say that over the past eight weeks — in your opinion, seemingly — nothing has been done, but the fact is their leadership is gone, the ayatollah is dead, the clerics are dead, the leadership of the IRGC is dead,” Lawler responded.

He continued, “The remnants are what we are dealing with right now. And yes, if you think they’re using the Strait of Hormuz as leverage is a problem, what do you think it would have been if they actually had a nuclear weapon? What do you think they would have done using a nuclear weapon to extort the rest of the world?”

This is an excerpt from an article by Fox News Hanna Panreck.

Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., suggested Wednesday that President Donald Trump is losing credibility with Iran by making threats only to repeatedly back down.

Trump made the statement while speaking with reporters at the U.S. Capitol amid Trump’s latest extension of the U.S.-Iran ceasefire.

“This President has a tendency of threatening to bring down terror on countries that don’t see things his way, and at the last minute, he relents. I think you lose a lot of credibility once you’ve done that a number of times,” Durbin told reporters.

EXCLUSIVE: U.S. Ambassador Tom Barrack is pushing back after backlash over remarks seen as equating Israel with Hezbollah, insisting his comments reflect “realism” and not a change in U.S. policy.

Barrack appeared to equate America’s closest ally in the Middle East with a U.S.-designated terrorist organization, suggested Turkey should soon regain access to the F-35 program despite its purchase of Russia’s S-400 system, and argued that only “powerful leadership regimes” have succeeded in the region.

In exclusive written answers to Fox News Digital’s questions, Barrack rejected accusations that he was softening the administration’s stance toward Hezbollah or Iran, and argued that President Donald Trump’s “peace through strength” approach requires a more pragmatic reading of the Middle East.

This is an excerpt from an article by Fox News’ Efrat Lachter.

President Donald Trump says it is “possible” that peace talks with Iran could start again within as soon as Friday, the New York Post reported.

Trump issued the statement in a text message to the outlet, saying the talks could begin within the next “36 to 72 hours.”

Peace talks were expected to begin on Wednesday, but Iran’s divided leadership failed to come forward with a “unified proposal.”

President Donald Trump’s extension of the ceasefire with Iran will last only for three to five days, a White House official confirmed to Fox News on Wednesday.

Trump announced the extension as the original ceasefire was set to expire Wednesday night. He said the U.S. would give Tehran more time to present a “unified proposal” under which peace talks could resume in Pakistan.

If the ceasefire ends without a deal, Trump has vowed to eliminate Iran’s energy and transportation infrastructure.

Fox News’ Lucas Tomlinson contributed to this report.

Retired Admiral William McRaven joined Fox News on Wednesday and warned of Iran’s threats to attack the energy infrastructure of its Gulf neighbors if the U.S. targets Iran’s own energy infrastructure.

Iranian officials issued the threat as talks failed to kick off in Pakistan on Tuesday. McRaven warned against the U.S. escalating its military strikes, advocating instead for a temporary lifting of sanctions to encourage negotiations.

This is an excerpt from an opinion article by Majeed Gly, a Kurdish-American immigrant and president of the American Kurdish Committee.

Americans are debating whether this war was worth it. Thirteen soldiers have come home in caskets. Hundreds more carry wounds. No one takes that lightly. Least of all someone like me — who chose this country and wears its flag by choice, not by birth.

I was born on the Iranian border and raised in the shadow of its wars. I have seen firsthand what these policies do to the people of this region. I still travel across the Middle East — I was in Erbil, Riyadh and Dubai just recently. I know what people say when the cameras are off. It is not anger at America. It is relief.

But here is what the critics are missing. For millions of people across the Middle East, this war did not start on Feb. 28. It started decades ago. What changed is that a president decided to stop managing the problem and start confronting it. The people of the region noticed. I promise you — they noticed.

What most Americans never hear is what those people actually want. Not war. Not jihad. Not martyrdom. Across the Gulf, Iraq, Syria, Lebanon and Jordan, 140 million people are under the age of 30. They want what any young American wants: a job, a stable country and a future that is not hostage to someone else’s ideology. New leaders in Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Kurdistan and Syria are building toward exactly that. When I sit with young professionals in Erbil or Riyadh or Dubai, they talk about startups. They talk about AI. They talk about opportunity.

And this is not theory. Look at what happens when stability takes root. The UAE was empty desert 50 years ago. Today it is a global center of commerce where millions of people — including Americans — live, invest and build. The Kurdistan Region of Iraq, encircled by hostile forces, built one of the most open societies in the Middle East. It became the largest safe haven for persecuted Christians in the region. And despite a severe economic embargo by Iran-backed forces, Kurdistan built a stable, multibillion-dollar economy that houses nearly all U.S. forces in Iraq. People move there because it works. These places are not exceptions. They are previews of what the entire region can become.

What stops it, every time, is the same force. Iran-backed armed groups in Lebanon, Iraq and Yemen — all taking orders from Tehran, all blocking the future the rest of the region is trying to build. For 45 years, one capital has exported instability to every corner of this region — not because Iranians want it, but because a small circle of men in power profit from it.

Lt. Gen. Keith Kellogg (Ret.) is urging the U.S. to “finish the job” against Iran, calling for the seizure of strategic islands, crippling its energy sector and arming insurgents inside the country after a fragile ceasefire was extended in a bid to keep negotiations alive.

“Let’s not negotiate anymore. Let’s just walk away. Let’s finish the job,” Kellogg said Tuesday on “Hannity.”

Kellogg, who previously served as a special envoy for Ukraine and Russia under the Trump administration, argued that Iran’s damaged leadership and economic collapse present an opportunity to intensify pressure rather than pursue diplomacy.

He highlighted Iran’s “fractured” command structure as a point of weakness, arguing that the U.S. should compound pressure through economic and military means to force the regime to “buckle.”

“As I say, let’s create more problems for them and try to figure this out,” Kellogg said.

“That’s why I keep going back to take something like Kharg Island or seize the islands in the Strait of Hormuz with … the ARGs that you’ve got there, and you’ve got elements of the 82nd [Airborne]. They can take Kharg Island.”

“All of a sudden, now you’re creating and compounding the problem for them [Iran] to try to solve, and I don’t think they can solve it because they don’t have the leadership left that can figure this out.”

This is an excerpt from an article by Fox News’ Taylor Penley.

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), the elite branch of the Iranian armed forces, has blocked President Masoud Pezeshkian’s presidential appointments and erected what sources described as a security cordon around Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei, a report published Tuesday by Iran International said.

The IRGC effectively has assumed control over key state functions, the report claimed.

“It was always a matter of when, not if, the IRGC was going to step forward even more than it has in the last three decades,” Behnam Ben Taleblu, senior director of the Iran program at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, told Fox News Digital.

Pezeshkian has reached a “complete political deadlock” as tensions between his administration and the military leadership deepen, according to the report.

The reported shift could have major consequences far beyond Iran. 

Analysts say a more powerful IRGC likely would mean a more confrontational Iran, less willing to compromise in talks with Washington and more inclined to continue military escalation across the region. With U.S.-Iran negotiations already faltering and uncertainty growing over whether Tehran will even send negotiators to the next round of talks, the rise of the Revolutionary Guard raises fresh doubts about who actually is making decisions in Iran and whether any civilian official can still speak for the regime.

“But it’s a mistake to assume this is some sort of coup,” Ben Taleblu said. “This has been the process in Iran for years now, as the regime has chosen conflict over cooperation and emboldened its security forces at every juncture.”

Pezeshkian’s recent effort to appoint a new intelligence minister collapsed after direct pressure from IRGC commander Ahmad Vahidi, sources told Iran International, arguing that all proposed candidates, including former Defense Minister Hossein Dehghan, were rejected.

Vahidi reportedly insisted that under wartime conditions, all critical and sensitive positions must be chosen and managed directly by the Revolutionary Guard until further notice.

“By any standard, Vahidi is considered a radical even within the regime’s hardline elite, and his rise is a warning that Tehran’s war machine now calls the shots,” Lisa Daftari, foreign policy analyst and journalist, told Fox News Digital.

This is an excerpt from an article by Fox News’ Efrat Lachter.

An Israeli special operations veteran argued that taking Iran’s Kharg Island stronghold will “always be on the table” Wednesday.

Israeli veteran Aaron Cohen made the statement as tensions in the Strait of Hormuz continue to rise, with Iranian forces firing on at least three vessels Wednesday.

Kharg Island serves as the main export hub of crude oil for Iran, making it absolutely essential for the regime.

Iranian state media reports that Iranian forces have taken custody of two trade vessels in the Strait of Hormuz after opening fire on the ships Wednesday.

Reports say the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps have taken custody over the Panama-flagged MSC Francesca and Liberia-flagged Epaminondas and are bringing them to Iran.

Reports said Iran fired on a third vessel in the strait as well, but did not take it into custody.

International ship tracking from Marine Traffic shows both vessels stationary off the coast of Iran in the strait.

News of Iran’s assault on the vessels first came from the United Kingdom Maritime Operations, which reported an IRGC gunboat had caused significant damage to the bridge of one of the container ships.

President Donald Trump’s new ceasefire with Iran will be a short one, Fox News’ Sean Hannity reported Tuesday night.

Hannity cited multiple unnamed sources who told him the ceasefire is expected to be brief.

The U.S. said the truce is expected to continue until Tehran presents a “unified proposal” for peace talks to continue in Pakistan.

In what appears to be the second recent maritime incident in the region, a cargo ship has reportedly been fired upon near Iran, the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) Centre noted.

“UKMTO has received a report of an incident 8NM west of Iran. A master of an outbound cargo ship reports having been fired upon and is now stopped in the water. Crew are safe and accounted for. There is no reported damage to the vessel,” the UKMTO warning notes.

A prior UKMTO notice had noted a report that a container ship was fired upon by an Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps gun boat near Oman.

“UKMTO has received a report of an incident 15NM northeast of OMAN. The Master of a Container Ship reported that the vessel was approached by 1 IRGC gun boat, no VHF challenge that then fired upon the vessel which has caused heavy damage to the bridge. No fires or environmental impact reported. All Crew reported safe,” the UKMTO warning stated.

President Donald Trump said Iran is “collapsing financially” as tensions over the Strait of Hormuz continue to escalate.

“They want the Strait of Hormuz opened immediately- Starving for cash! Losing 500 Million Dollars a day,” Trump said. “Military and Police complaining that they are not getting paid. SOS!!!”

The comments echoed a similar post from Trump earlier Tuesday, when he said the Iranian regime is trying to “save face” over the closure of the strait.

“Iran doesn’t want the Strait of Hormuz closed; they want it open so they can make $500 million a day (which is, therefore, what they are losing if it is closed!),” Trump wrote in the earlier post.

“They only say they want it closed because I have it totally BLOCKADED (CLOSED!), so they merely want to ‘save face,’” he added.