Welcome to ongoing coverage of developments in the Middle East. Donald Trump stated that Iran has consented to forgo nuclear arms and that the nation’s top religious authority is participating in discussions with the United States. These assertions came in an interview on a New York Post podcast released today, coinciding with renewed violence in the Gulf following exchanges of attacks between the US and Iran. The president indicated he could encounter the Iranian leader at a future time and expressed interest in such a meeting. Officials have previously asserted that the leader suffered significant harm during the strike that killed his predecessor at the outset of hostilities. The comments follow remarks by the secretary of state at a congressional session yesterday noting signs of greater involvement by the leader in peace efforts, despite his absence from public view since fighting started on 28 February. The secretary is scheduled to testify again before a House foreign affairs panel today. Additional events include one fatality and multiple injuries from an Iranian drone strike on Kuwait’s airport, per local officials and media. Air traffic halted earlier but partially restarted after aviation authorities evaluated the site. The incident occurred shortly after US forces used a missile to stop a vessel challenging the blockade at the strait of Hormuz and reported repelling Iranian counterstrikes while targeting locations on Qeshm Island. Iran’s Revolutionary Guards claimed missile and drone assaults on the US Fifth Fleet base in Bahrain, which US Central Command rejected. The command noted two Iranian projectiles aimed at Kuwait fell short or disintegrated, while three directed at Bahrain were intercepted. US units also downed three attack drones launched toward civilian vessels in regional waters. In Lebanon, Israel continued operations in the south against Hezbollah one day after Trump urged the Israeli leader to avoid striking Beirut and escalating the three-month conflict. Airstrikes and shelling killed at least eight, according to Lebanese reports. The Israeli military directed residents of Nabatieh to evacuate before further action. Lebanon’s government plans to pursue a complete truce in fresh talks with Israeli representatives in Washington that opened Tuesday. Hezbollah reported firing at Israeli positions near Beaufort and vehicles south of Nabatieh but has not claimed cross-border actions since Monday.
