President Donald Trump’s latest Truth Social meme threatens Iran in less than subtle terms(@realDonaldTrump/Truth Social)
Here is the latest on the war in Iran and Lebanon
- President Trump issued a new warning to Iran early Wednesday morning, telling the regime to “get smart soon” and make a deal to end the war and reopen the Strait of Hormuz. His social media post included an AI image of himself with a rifle and explosions in the background.
- A senior Iranian lawmaker re-issued a threat on behalf of the regime warning that if the U.S. continues intercepting its ships, Iran may ask its Houthi allies in Yemen to disrupt the Bab el-Mandeb strait, another vital chokepoint for Middle Eastern energy supplies.
- Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is facing questions from lawmakers Wednesday for the first time since the Trump administration launched its joint war with Israel against Iran. Democrats have accused the White House of engaging in a war that wasn’t needed, and without congressional approval.
Iran has executed at least 21 people, arrested more than 4,000 since war began, U.N. says
Iran has executed at least 21 people and arrested more than 4,000 since the beginning of the Middle East war, the United Nations said, criticizing the Islamic Republic’s “harsh and brutal” treatment of its people.
Since the U.S.-Israeli strikes sparked the war in late February, “at least nine people have been executed in connection with the January 2026 protests, 10 for alleged membership in opposition groups, and two on espionage charges,” the U.N.’s rights office said.
Senior Iran politician renews threat to Bab el-Mandeb strait
Alaaeddin Boroujerdi, Deputy Head of the National Security Committee, warned Tuesday that Iran could retaliate in kind for the U.S. military blockade of its ports, which has seen interdictions and the seizure of some vessels. He claimed its forces could “easily respond to any such action by seizing one of the ships present in the region and, in effect, bringing it to Iran’s shores.”
“We have not yet revealed our new cards,” he said, renewing a threat to another strategic Middle Eastern shipping lane.
“In fact, the importance of Bab el-Mandeb may be no less than that of the Strait of Hormuz,” he said, referring to another crucial chokepoint for energy supplies in the region that Tehran has threatened previously to ask its Houthi rebel allies in Yemen to block with attacks on commercial vessels.
Iran’s “Yemeni allies are waiting to block it and deliver another blow to America, its economy, and its illegitimate interests worldwide,” Boroujerdi said.
Already, Iranian forces have seized two commercial ships that it accused of violating its restrictions on the Strait of Hormuz.
Iranian lawmaker vows Tehran “will never relinquish its control over the Strait of Hormuz”
Alaaeddin Boroujerdi, Deputy Head of the National Security Committee in the Iranian Parliament, said Wednesday that Iran “will never relinquish its control over the Strait of Hormuz.”
In remarks broadcast by Iranian state media, Boroujerdi claimed Iran still had sufficient missile stockpiles to sustain several years of war, adding that the U.S. and other Western countries had “come to believe in the capabilities of the Islamic Republic.”
He said Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf was managing negotiations with the U.S., which have been carried out only indirectly, via Pakistani mediators, since a first round of unsuccessful direct talks in early April.
Since then Iran has maintained an effective blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, a vital shipping lane for global energy supplies, only permitting a select few vessels to transit the waterway with coordination — and reportedly for large fees. The U.S., in response, has imposed a military blockade of all Iranian ports and vessels linked to the country.
Boroujerdi dismissed those U.S. actions as ineffective, calling the blockade “a passive and worthless move” and claiming the U.S. would “not dare act” against some vessels “because they belong to other countries, such as China and others that the United States does not dare confront.”
The Pentagon said that, as of Tuesday, it had forced 39 vessels attempting to enter or depart from Iranian ports to turn around since the blockade began.
Lebanese army soldier killed in Israeli strike– A Lebanese army soldier was killed Wednesday along with his brother in an Israeli strike that targeted the motorcycle on which they were traveling from the soldier’s work post to his home in the village of al-Souaneh, the army said in a statement.
The Lebanese army has stood on the sidelines during the latest Israel-Hezbollah war, which began on March 2 when the militant group launched a salvo of missiles into Israel, two days after the U.S. and Israel launched their attacks on Iran. But soldiers have frequently gotten caught in the crossfire.
A total of 20 Lebanese army soldiers have been killed by Israeli strikes since March 2, most of them while en route to or from their duty stations, the army said. Altogether, more than 2,500 people have been killed in Lebanon during the war and during a shaky ceasefire implemented earlier this month that has reduced but not halted the fighting.
CBS/ NBC
