LIVE | 140 US service members wounded in Iran war, eight 'remain listed as severely injured'

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt assured that the U.S. Navy had not escorted "at this time" any oil tanker through the Strait of Hormuz, although she recalled that the president had promised measures to protect navigation through the narrow arm of the sea through which 20% of the world's oil flows.

Leavitt's denial comes after Energy Secretary Chris Wright posted that an oil tanker had been escorted. Wright later deleted the post. From Iran, spokesmen for the Revolutionary Guard Corps came out to deny that any American ship had crossed the strait: "None of the U.S. warships have dared to approach even the Sea of Oman, the Persian Gulf or the Strait of Hormuz during the war."

The president of the Iranian Football Federation, Mehdi Taj, hinted that the Iranian national team could pull out of the 2026 FIFA World Cup. The men's national team is scheduled to compete in at least three matches in the United States as part of Group C, also comprised of Belgium, Egypt and New Zealand.

The start of the armed conflict sowed unknowns about the country's participation. Taj did not refer to the military attacks, but rather to a recent episode with the women's national team: five players requested and received asylum in Australia after participating in the group stage of the Asian Football Confederation.

"If the World Cup is like this, who in their right mind would send their national team to a place like this?" asked Taj on Iranian state television, according to AFP. He also claimed that the asylum seekers had been kidnapped.

World

Between soccer and exile: Iranian women's national team afraid to return home

Diane Hernández

(AFP) Oil prices plunged Tuesday after Energy Secretary Chris Wright announced that the U.S. Navy had escorted an oil tanker through the Strait of Hormuz. This information was later denied by the Trump Administration itself. 

At about 12:15 p.m. EST, Brent oil futures were down 15% at $84.09 a barrel after Wright reported the successful navigation of a waterway that has been virtually closed since the United States and Israel declared war on Iran on Feb. 28.

(With information from AFP) The speaker of the Iranian parliament, the influential Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf, promised a “tit-for-tat” response to any attack on the country's infrastructure.

“Today we fight tit-for-tat, without compromise or exception, and if they attack our infrastructure, we will also attack theirs,” Qalibaf wrote on X.

Republican Senator Lindsey Graham (South Carolina) has asked the Trump administration to withdraw military bases from Spain following the Spanish government's refusal to support the United States in the conflict with Iran.
​
Graham also called for all trade relations with Spain to be severed.

The head of Iran's High Security Council, Ali Larijani, scorned Trump's warnings to strike "very hard" if the Iranina regime continued blocking the transit of commercial vessels through the Strait of Hormuz and threatened the U.S. president, warning him to beware of being "eliminated."

"Iran is not afraid of your empty threats. Others more powerful than you tried to eliminate the Iranian nation and did not succeed. Be careful, so that you won’t get eliminated," Larijani retorted on X.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said strikes against Iran will intensify Tuesday, with the heaviest bombing since Washington launched the war 10 days ago.

"Today will be yet again, our most intense day of strikes inside Iran," Hegseth told a news conference at the Pentagon.

Israel and Iran resumed heavy strikes throughout Tuesday. The Israel Defense Forces announced a new wave of attacks against Tehran, while sirens warning residents sounded in several parts of the Jewish state after the detection of several missiles launched by the ayatollahs' regime.

In addition, explosions were reported in the United Arab Emirates and Qatar. The government of the latter emirate denounced that Iranian attacks are targeting the population and energy facilities, warning of the damage they are producing.

The ongoing war in the Middle East could prove disastrous for the oil market, making it essential to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, said on Tuesday Saudi Aramco oil company Chairman and CEO Amin H. Nasser.

"The longer the disruption lasts, the more catastrophic the consequences for world oil markets and the more drastic the consequences for the global economy," he said in a conversation with media on the 11th day of conflict.

"It is absolutely crucial that maritime traffic resumes in the Strait of Hormuz," through which 20% of the crude oil consumed globally transits and de facto closed by the Iranians in retaliation for U.S. and Israeli attacks, Nasser added.

Investors were quick to react to the comments from Donald Trump predicting an early end to the war, which translated into a drop in crude oil prices of around 10% on Tuesday, before losses narrowed to around 5%. European gas prices sank 15%, after rising as much as 30% on Monday.

Early in Europe, a barrel of West Texas Intermediate (WTI), the U.S. market benchmark, was down 8.95% to $86.29. That of North Sea Brent, the European benchmark, lost 8.85% to $90.20. Both fell more than 10% at the start of the session.

The contrast is stark compared with Monday, when prices rode $120 a barrel in Asian markets, with rises of more than 30%.

The London, Paris, Milan, Frankfurt and Madrid stock exchanges continued the stock market euphoria started on Wall Street on Monday and prolonged throughout the day in Asia and were up at the start of Tuesday, with gains of more than 2% except in the case of the London trading floor (+1.63%) after the first operations.

Gains that seem to consolidate the market turnaround as seen in Asia and, earlier in the U.S. Seoul gained 5.4% at the close and Tokyo 2.9%. In the Chinese markets, Hong Kong rose 2.2% and Shanghai 0.7%.

This came after all three major Wall Street indexes closed sharply higher, after reversing initial heavy selling.

The Israeli prime minister, key to deciding the end of the war as indicated by Donald Trump, downplayed the euphoria unleashed by the U.S. president's statements about a possible early end to hostilities against Iran.

The Israeli leader assured that his attack is "breaking the bones" of Iranian power. But "we are not done yet," he warned.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abas Araqchi, assured that they are prepared to continue missile strikes "as long as necessary"and ruled out talks with Washington to end the war.

Negotiations "are no longer on the agenda," he said after U.S. President Donald Trump asserted that the war would end "very soon."

Turkey's Defense Ministry announced the deployment of a Patriot anti-aircraft defense system in the center of the country, a day after NATO's interception of a second missile launched from Iran aimed at its airspace.

In a telephone interview with the CBS network, Trump noted that he meditates "taking control" of the Strait of Hormuz to guarantee passage to commercial vessels in this vital artery for the world economy. The president noted that at the moment "there are already ships crossing it, but he aspires to resume the pre-conflict pace.

However, the Guards of the Revolution again insisted that they will not allow oil exports from the region for the duration of the war.