US President Donald Trump appeared to shift the narrative of the ongoing war with Iran on Monday (local time), suggesting that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth was one of the first to express support for military action against Tehran.
Speaking at a roundtable in Tennessee, Trump said: “Pete, I think you were the first to speak and say, ‘Let’s do it because you can’t let them have a nuclear weapon.’” Hegseth was sitting next to Trump.
Here are the main updates from the US-Israeli war with Iran:
1. Recounting the meeting, the US president said he consulted with senior officials before the decision to strike Iran was finalized. “I called Pete, I called General Caine, I called a lot of our great people … and I said, ‘Let’s talk. We have a problem in the Middle East … they’re very close to having a nuclear weapon,'” he noted.
2. Amid the ongoing conflict in the Middle East, a TRT World report indicated that Pakistan is now positioning itself as the main mediator in an effort to bring peace and broker a deal between the US and Iran. Media reports also suggest that Islamabad is likely to host the summit later this week and could potentially bring the US vice president and the speaker of Iran’s parliament to the meeting.
3. On Monday, Trump announced a five-day pause in fighting with Iran, citing “very good and productive talks.” However, Iranian media said the strikes continued on Tuesday as Tehran rejected talks with the US. According to the Tasnim news agency, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) launched strikes targeting American and Israeli targets. In the early hours of March 24, the IRGC announced that it had carried out the 78th wave of retaliatory strikes during Operation True Promise 4.
4. Israel said on Monday that the country’s air force had carried out a “wide wave of airstrikes” targeting the infrastructure of the Tehran regime. The wave of strikes came hours after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Tel Aviv would continue to attack Iran and Lebanon after he had a phone conversation with Trump, the BBC reported.
5. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi blamed the US and Israel for the “current state of insecurity” in the Strait of Hormuz. In an interview with his South Korean counterpart, Araghchi mentioned the ongoing military aggression in the Islamic Republic, adding that the current situation in the region and the insecurity in the Strait of Hormuz are a direct result of the illegal attacks by the US and the Zionist regime against Iran.
6. On Monday, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian spoke with Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and reaffirmed the Islamic Republic’s commitment to regional stability and cooperation. The meeting also included a discussion of their bilateral relations and the consequences of the “illegal war”. During his phone call, Pezeshkian emphasized that Iran did not start the war, adding that “an aggressive enemy without any reason, logic or legal basis committed military aggression against Iran during the nuclear negotiations, targeting the leader of the Islamic Revolution, Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei.”
7. Oil prices rose on Tuesday, driven by renewed supply concerns after Iran rejected claims of talks with the US aimed at resolving the Persian Gulf conflict. The denial was in contrast to remarks by Trump, who has indicated a potential deal is close.
Brent crude climbed to about $104 a barrel, while the U.S. benchmark West Texas Intermediate rose nearly 4%. The gains came after prices fell more than 10% in the previous session.
