A satellite image shows an oil terminal at Kharg Island, Iran, February 25, 2026. 2026 Planet Labs PBC/Handout via REUTERS
HERE IS THE LATEST
- President Trump said Thursday that the U.S. would launch “very hard” new strikes on Iran within hours and seize vital Iranian oil infrastructure, including Kharg Island, “in the not too distant future.”
- Kuwait, Bahrain and Jordan said they intercepted Iranian missiles and drones early Thursday after the U.S. military launched a new round of strikes on Iran. President Trump warned Wednesday that Iran would “pay the price” for not accepting a peace deal.
- An Indian official said a senior U.S. diplomat was summoned to hear the country’s “strong protest” after three Indian mariners were killed on a tanker. The U.S. military said it targeted the vessel for violating the U.S. blockade of Iran’s ports. At least two other Indian-crewed commercial vessels have been struck in recent days.
Sen. Kennedy, a Trump ally is “worried” about a Kharg Island operation. “This is how it started in Vietnam “, he says
Louisiana Sen. John Kennedy, a staunch Republican ally of President Trump, expressed concern for a potential operation to take Iran’s Kharg Island after the president said earlier it was part of the plan.
Kennedy even compared the idea of an operation on Kharg Island, a key location for the country’s oil production, to the quagmire that became the Vietnam War.
“I’m worried about the move on Kharg Island,” Kennedy told reporters Thursday on Capitol Hill. “I’m not saying the president’s wrong, but this is how it started in Vietnam. Committing troops is a very, very, very dramatic step.”
However, Kennedy took a strong stance against negotiations with Iran, saying, “I have never believed that Iran will say truthfully, ‘OK, we’ve given up, we’re not going to develop a nuclear warhead.’ They may promise to do that, but they lie like fish swim.”
He added, in relation to the key demand about unfreezing Iranian assets, “We should not give them a dime, not in any deal.”
Israeli strikes on Lebanon’s Tyre wound 10 hospital staff, facility’s CEO says. 17 hospitals have been damaged in the war.
An Israeli strike wounded 10 staff members of a hospital in the Lebanese city of Tyre on Thursday, the facility’s director told the French news agency AFP, as Israel continued its military operations across the south of the neighboring nation targeting Iranian-backed Hezbollah.
All three of the city’s hospitals have been hit by strikes since the start of the latest war between Hezbollah and Israel in early March.
“An area located around 15 metres (50 feet) from the hospital was targeted, and 10 members of the medical and administrative staff were wounded,” said Dr. Salman Aydibi, who runs Hiram hospital. He said the strike shattered windows and damaged cars parked in front of the facility.
“This is the sixth time that the area of the hospital has been targeted by Israeli raids since the start of the war,” he said.
On Tuesday, the Israeli military told all residents of Tyre to evacuate, and an AFP correspondent saw residents fleeing in heavy traffic, heading north after the warning.
Lebanon’s health ministry said late last month that an Israeli strike in the vicinity of Hiram hospital wounded 13 staffers. The following day, an Israeli strike near Tyre’s Jabal Amel hospital killed four people and wounded 127 others, including 39 staffers, the health ministry said.
The Lebanese Italian hospital in Tyre was damaged by an Israeli attack in April.
Lebanon’s health ministry says 17 hospitals have been damaged in the war, three of which have been forced to close, while 132 rescuers and medical personnel have been killed.
U.N. chief calls for disarming Hezbollah and for “comprehensive ceasefire” in Lebanon,
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called Thursday for a “comprehensive ceasefire” in Lebanon and for the Lebanese government to have a “monopoly on weapons” in the country, implicitly supporting the disarmament of the Iranian-backed Hezbollah group.
“Since March, we have witnessed a serious escalation,” Guterres wrote in a post on X, “as Israel intensified its operations in Lebanese territory & Hizbullah fired deeper into Israel.”
“The process must start with a comprehensive ceasefire respected by all parties everywhere,” he said, adding: “I fully support a monopoly on weapons by the Lebanese Government.”
Lebanon has long sought to disarm Hezbollah, which is one of Iran’s most powerful proxies in the region.
The war between Israel and Hezbollah has raged since March 2, with both sides accusing each other daily of violating a U.S.-brokered ceasefire signed between the Israeli and Lebanese governments in April.
Lebanon’s health ministry said Thursday that at least 3,711 people have been killed in the country by Israel’s military actions since the war began, with another 11,483 wounded. Lebanese authorities say more than 1 million people have been displaced from their homes by Israel’s aerial assault and ground offensive.
At least four civilians and 31 Israeli soldiers have been killed by Hezbollah attacks on Israel and against forces in southern Lebanon, according to the independent Institute for National Security Studies in Israel.
Iran is not involved in new talks with the U.S, semi-official Iranian news agency claims
Iran is not involved in new talks with the United States, a source close to the country’s negotiating team was quoted as saying Thursday by the semi-official Fars News agency.
The report was dismissive of ongoing efforts by Qatari and Pakistani officials to mediate a deal between the U.S. and Iran.
Fars quoted its anonymous source as saying Iran had stuck to its positions throughout indirect negotiations, and it noted that a draft memorandum of understanding tabled by Tehran had not gained U.S. approval.
Referring to recent U.S. military threats, the source told Fars: “The primary reason for the increased pressure is Iran’s steadfastness in defending its positions at the negotiating table.”
President Trump repeated his assertion earlier this week that Iran and the U.S. were close to a deal, but the last few days have seen major hostilities resume. On Thursday, Mr. Trump said the U.S. would hit Iran “very hard” within hours, vowing “bigger” strikes and threatening to seize key Iranian oil infrastructure.
U.S. Treasury chief says Gulf countries will be compensated for damages with funds “from Iranian Accounts”
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Thursday that Iran would be made to pay for any damage it does to U.S. allies in the Gulf.
“Any damage it [Iran] inflicts on our allies in the Gulf will be paid for with funds extracted from Iranian Accounts,” Bessent said on X, without offering any further details.
A source familiar with Bessent’s thinking told CBS News on Saturday that the Treasury was seeking estimates from Gulf allies of the costs associated with repairing the damage caused by Iran’s ongoing attacks.
Bessent said Thursday that “any tolls paid to the Persian Gulf Strait Authority” – the newly-created Iranian agency Tehran insists is in charge of overseeing commercial traffic through the Strait of Hormuz – “will be offset by funds extracted from their accounts.”
“Every attack Iran launches will only deepen the economic and financial consequences it faces,” Bessent said.
The U.S. has sanctioned multiple Iranian entities and individualssince the current regime came to power with 1979’s Islamic Revolution.
As part of those measures, the U.S. and its partners have seized billions of dollars in Iranian assets in bank accounts around the world. Bessent may have been referring to those frozen accounts in his post on X Thursday.
A key Iranian demand in its negotiations with the U.S. has been the lifting of sanctions and the release of its frozen financial assets.
