Here's the latest
• Status of negotiations: President Donald Trump said the US has had “very good talks” with Iran over the past 24 hours, but there’s no deadline for when he expects to hear back from Tehran. A regional source told CNN the two sides are moving closer to an agreement on a memo to end the war.
• Key waterways: Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy said safe passage through the Strait of Hormuz is possible under “new procedures,” Iranian media reported. The US military also disabled an Iranian-flagged tanker in the Gulf of Oman when it attempted to sail toward an Iranian port.
• In Lebanon: Netanyahu said Israel targeted a top Hezbollah commander in the first strike in Beirut since the ceasefire in Lebanon.
Trump says he met with Chevron and ExxonMobil executives to discuss oil
President Donald Trump said Wednesday — after referencing the war in Iran — that he met with top executives from major US oil companies, including Chevron and ExxonMobil, to discuss oil and Venezuela.
“Enemies have great pride. We went into Venezuela, smart people, great people, a really strong military. We won it very quickly, and it’s been a great thing for Venezuela,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office, after saying that Iranians, “have great pride.”
The president added that energy companies are eager to expand operations. He also met with some oil executives last week, when some praised his move to blockade Iranian ports, according to previous CNN reporting.
The president hosted guests at the White House Tuesday night for a “Rose Garden Club” dinner.
Trump touts "very good talks" over past 24 hours but says "never a deadline" on response
President Donald Trump said the US has had “very good talks” with Iran over the past 24 hours but that there’s “never a deadline” on when he expects to hear back from Tehran on a US proposal to end the war.
“We’re in good shape,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office on Wednesday. “Now we’re doing well, and we have to get what we have to get. If we don’t do that, we’ll have to go a big step further. But with that being said, they want to make a deal.”
Pressed on whether there’s a deadline for hearing back from Iran on the latest US proposal, Trump hinted at an open-ended timeframe. “Never a deadline; it’ll happen. It’ll happen, but never a deadline,” he said.
Trump also again claimed that Iran has agreed to his chief demand of not having a nuclear weapon.
“Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon, and they won’t, and they’ve agreed to that, among other things,” the president said, though there is no indication yet on what Iran has or has not agreed to.
Photo shows Israeli soldier desecrating statue of Mary in Lebanon
The Israeli military is investigating after a photo circulating on social media showed a soldier desecrating a statue of the Virgin Mary in Debel, Lebanon - the same town where Israeli soldiers were photographed destroying a crucifix last month.
In the photo, which was geolocated by CNN, a soldier in Israeli army fatigues holds what appears to be a lit cigarette to the mouth of a statue of Mary to make it seem as if the statue is smoking.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said Wednesday that it is reviewing the picture and “views the incident with the utmost severity.” The IDF said the picture was taken “several weeks ago.”
CNN is unable to verify when the photo was taken, or which account originally posted it.
The photo’s circulation follows two other incidents in Debel, a small, predominantly Christian village in southern Lebanon that the Israeli military has occupied for weeks. The Israeli military jailed two troops and questioned six others after an Israeli soldier was photographed damaging a statue of Jesus Christ in April.
Days later, the IDF said it had launched another review after a video appeared to show Israeli troops damaging solar panels and a vehicle outside of Debel.
Israel’s military chief Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir later cautioned top defense officials about unspecified “unethical incidents,” warning that the “erosion of values and standards can be as dangerous as operational threats.”
"All parties must lift the blockade," France's Macron says after talk with Iran's president
French President Emmanuel Macron has called for the resumption of traffic in the Strait of Hormuz after holding a conversation with Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian on Wednesday.
“All parties must lift the blockade of the strait, without delay and without conditions. We must durably return to the regime of full freedom of navigation that prevailed before the conflict,” Macron said in a statement posted to X.
The French leader encouraged others to consider joining a multinational mission proposed by France and the United Kingdom that would seek to secure shipping in the waterway.
“Recent events clearly demonstrate the usefulness that such a mission would have. I have invited the Iranian president to seize this opportunity, and I intend to discuss this matter with President (Donald) Trump,” Macron said.
“The return of calm in the strait will help advance negotiations on the nuclear issue, the ballistic issue, and the regional situation,” he added.
During the phone call with Macron, Pezeshkian spoke about Iran’s “deep distrust toward the United States,” according to a statement in Iranian state media.
Here's the latest on diplomatic efforts to end the US war with Iran
The United States and Iran are moving closer to an agreement on a short memorandum that aims to end the Iran war, a regional source familiar with the negotiations sad.
Remember: The one-page memorandum would declare an end to the conflict and trigger a 30-day period resolving nuclear demands, unfreezing of Iranian assets and negotiating security in the Strait of Hormuz, one person familiar told CNN.
US President Donald Trump has threatened the resumption of bombing if Iran doesn’t agree to a deal.
Here’s where things stand:
- Iran is still reviewing the US’ latest proposal, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei said in interviews with Iranian media outlets. Tehran will convey its response to Pakistani mediators, he said.
- The terms of a potential deal with Iran would include Tehran shipping its enriched uranium stockpile to the US and pledging not to operate its underground facilities, Trump told PBS News.
- Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is holding talks with Trump administration officials to better understand the latest developments in the negotiations between the US and Iran, according to an Israeli source. Israel is concerned about potential last-minute US concessions, the person said.
- Trump said at an event today the US has the situation in Iran “very much under control.” He said: “We’re dealing with people that want to make a deal very much. We’ll see whether or not they can make a deal that’s satisfactory to us.”
- Meanwhile, the speaker of Iran’s parliament and one of the negotiators in past talks with the US in Pakistan, Mohammad Ghalibaf, warned Iranians of a hard road ahead in a series of audio messages posted by state media.
CNN’s Kit Maher, Max Saltman, Nic Robertson, Alayna Treene, Kevin Liptak and Tal Shalev contributed reporting ton this post.
Israel targets top Hezbollah commander in first strike in Beirut since ceasefire
Israel targeted a top Hezbollah commander on Wednesday evening in the first strike in Beirut since the ceasefire in Lebanon.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a statement that Israel had targeted the commander of the elite Radwan force. The strike was coordinated in advance with the US, an Israeli source told CNN.
Netanyahu did not name the target of the strike, but he said the Radwan force militants under his command were responsible for launching attacks at Israeli communities and soldiers.
The joint statement with Defense Minister Israel Katz did not say the target of the strike had definitively been killed. An Israeli official told CNN that Israel believes the deputy commander of the Radwan force was also hurt in the attack.
Israel has not carried out a strike in the Lebanese capital of Beirut since the beginning of the US-brokered ceasefire, instead focusing its firepower on southern Lebanon, which the Israeli military asserted was permitted under the ceasefire agreement.
At the beginning of Wednesday’s cabinet meeting, Netanyahu said he expected to speak with President Donald Trump later Wednesday night.
The strike comes as the Trump administration is trying to arrange a direct meeting between Netanyahu and Lebanese President Joseph Aoun. But Aoun said such a meeting would first require Israel to stop attacking Lebanon.
Melania Trump reflects on attending dignified transfer while honoring military mothers
First lady Melania Trump at an event for military mothers on Wednesday reflected on attending a dignified transfer of US service members last March, acknowledging that the United States is in a time of “military conflict.”
Thirteen US service members have died in Operation Epic Fury, which Secretary of State Marco Rubio told reporters Tuesday had concluded.
“And whereby we honor our selfless and valiant service members regularly, today is the day we hold their mothers in the highest regard,” she said from the East Room. She also said that while most people know her husband as a “strong commander in chief,” that his “empathy transcends the role” — a line that spurred laughs in the room.
The first lady hosted a similar event last year at the White House, but this year it was hosted amid President Donald Trump’s war with Iran. Just hours before the event, Trump warned on social media that if a deal isn’t reached, the “bombing starts” and it will “higher level and intensity than it was before.”
Vice President JD Vance, second lady Usha Vance, Education Secretary Linda McMahon and the wife of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth also attended.
President Trump brought some guests on stage to deliver brief remarks, including Melody Wolfe, the mother of Andrew Wolfe, a national guardsman who was shot outside a metro station near the White House last November and survived his injuries.
US military disables Iranian-flagged tanker trying to reach Iranian port
The US military disabled an Iranian-flagged tanker in the Gulf of Oman on Wednesday by firing “several rounds” of ammunition from a fighter jet into the ship’s rudder when it attempted to sail towards an Iranian port, US Central Command announced Wednesday.
The M/T Hasna, an oil tanker, was in international waters enroute to an Iranian port in the Gulf of Oman when US forces “issued multiple warnings” telling the ship it was in violation of the ongoing US’ blockade, the command said.
“After Hasna’s crew failed to comply with repeated warnings, US forces disabled the tanker’s rudder by firing several rounds from the 20mm cannon gun of a US Navy F/A-18 Super Hornet launched from USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN 72),” the CENTCOM post on X said. “Hasna is no longer transiting to Iran.”
The US and Iran have been exchanging fire over the last several days despite the nearly month-old ceasefire, which US officials insisted on Tuesday was still in effect. Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Dan Caine said at a press briefing on Tuesday that Iran had attacked US forces more than 10 times since the ceasefire’s start.
President Donald Trump said, in a social media post Tuesday night, that although diplomatic talks between Iran and the US were progressing, he would continue the US blockade of Iranian ports.
Trump tells military mothers US has situation in Iran "very much under control"
The US has the situation in Iran “very much under control,” President Donald Trump told told military mothers at the White House on Wednesday, musing about the potential for reaching a deal.
“We’re dealing with people that want to make a deal very much. We’ll see whether or not they can make a deal that’s satisfactory to us. We have it very much under control,” Trump said, calling the US naval blockade of ships entering and exiting Iranian ports “like a wall of steel nobody goes through.”
Trump reiterated that if Tehran doesn’t agree to a deal to end the war, they’ll eventually be forced to.
“We’ll see whether or not they are agreeing, and if they don’t agree, they’ll end up agreeing shortly thereafter. So that’s the way it is. And I thought you might want to have a little rundown,” he said.
Trump has threatened the resumption of bombing if Iran doesn’t agree to a deal, though the administration has stressed in recent days that the president prefers a diplomatic resolution.
Why Iran's "mosquito fleet" is having a big impact
What some military experts refer to as Iran’s “mosquito fleet” is causing disruption in the Strait of Hormuz.
CNN’s Nic Robertson explains why these small boats are so effective:
What some military experts refer to as Iran’s “mosquito fleet” is causing disruption in the Strait of Hormuz. CNN’s Nic Robertson explains why this fleet of small boats is so effective.
Pope Leo jumps on video call with priests in southern Lebanon
Pope Leo XIV surprised a group of parish priests from villages in southern Lebanon with a video call on Wednesday morning, according to Vatican News.
A screenshot of the conference call shows several small screens with the faces of each priest smiling broadly at the surprise appearance of the pontiff, who can be seen in the center, dialing in from Rome.
During the call, which was only a few minutes long, Pope Leo passed on his “encouragement” to the priests for their work. He also said they were in his prayers and gave them his blessings.
The holy men are from several villages near Lebanon’s border with Israel that have been fully surrounded by Israeli forces.
The priests had been asked to join a virtual morning meeting with the Vatican’s ambassador to Lebanon, Archbishop Paolo Borgia. But once everyone had joined, Borgia told them Leo wanted to say a few words.
Father Toni Elias, parish priest in Rmeish, described the call as “beautiful.”
“The pope encouraged us, told us he prays for us, that he supports us, and he gave his blessing, in the hope that peace will soon be achieved,” he told Vatican News. “It was a breath of hope and trust that was much needed.”
The video call comes ahead of US Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s meeting with Leo on Thursday. Yesterday Rubio denied the upcoming meeting is an attempt to improve diplomatic relations after US President Donald Trump’s barrage of attacks against the US-born pontiff.
Iran still reviewing US proposal, Foreign Ministry spokesperson tells media
Iran is still reviewing the United States’ latest proposal, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei said in interviews with Iranian media outlets.
“The US plan and proposal is still under review by Iran, and after finalizing its viewpoints, Iran will convey them to the Pakistani side,” Baghaei told the Iranian Student News Agency (ISNA) on Wednesday.
The spokesperson later emphasized in an interview with state broadcaster IRIB that the review is still underway and that Iran hasn’t yet submitted its reply to the Pakistani mediators.
“The exchange of messages through the Pakistani mediator is ongoing, and reviews of the exchanged texts continue,” Baghaei said. “Iran’s response to the US views regarding our country’s 14-point proposal has not yet been conveyed to the Pakistani side.”
Iran's parliament speaker and negotiator warns country of tough times ahead
Mohammad Ghalibaf, the speaker of Iran’s parliament and one of the negotiators in past talks with the US in Pakistan, warned Iranians of a hard road ahead in a series of audio messages posted by state media.
The US seeks “to destroy the country’s unity in order to force us into surrender,” Ghalibaf said. “Of course, let me also say that we do not underestimate the possibility of military attacks, especially terrorist attacks.”
Ghalibaf’s statements come as President Donald Trump has threatened to bomb Iran further if a final agreement isn’t reached. Around the same time on Wednesday, Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei appeared to suggest in a social media post that the US is negotiating in bad faith.
Much of Ghalibaf’s audio message focused on belt-tightening, saying that the US intends to break Iran through “economic pressure,” and requesting that Iranians practice thriftiness, calling frugality a “missile that people can fire into the heart of the enemy.”
“My request to all people is that you yourselves practice saving and frugality, and also seriously encourage others to do the same,” Ghalibaf said, calling all “intellectuals and specialists” to approach the government directly with ideas to “solve the problems that arise because of the war.”
The parliamentarian also noted that “the people of America are facing a serious challenge from rising living costs,” favorably contrasting Iranians with their American counterparts.
“Experts specializing in Iran admit that no matter how much economic pressure the Iranian nation faces, because of their independence, the dignity of their homeland, and their faith and beliefs, they will endure these hardships,” Ghalibaf said.
A deal with Iran would require Tehran to send enriched uranium stockpile to US, Trump says
President Donald Trump told PBS News today that the terms of a potential deal with Iran would include Tehran shipping its enriched uranium stockpile to the United States and pledging not to operate its underground facilities.
News of positive movement from Pakistani mediators helped spur Trump on Tuesday to announce a pause of “Project Freedom” — an operation to guide stranded ships out of the Strait of Hormuz — citing progress in negotiations with Iran, two administration officials said.
Trump’s top priority is finding a diplomatic offramp to the war and reopening the strait swiftly, the administration officials said.
The president on Wednesday expressed optimism about the prospects of soon reaching a deal, but he acknowledged the US has been down this road before. “Yeah, I think so, but I felt that way before with them, so we’ll see what happens,” he told PBS News.
More on negotiations: A one-page plan being floated internally contains provisions that have been at the heart of negotiations to end the conflict, a person familiar with the plan told CNN. The document would declare an end to the war while triggering a 30-day negotiation period on resolving sticking points, including on nuclear issues, unfreezing Iranian assets and future security in the Strait of Hormuz, the person said.
Precise details of the plan couldn’t immediately be verified, but the source familiar said it would include discussion of a moratorium on uranium enrichment for a period of longer than 10 years. A previous US proposal had set it at 20 years. The plan also requires Iran to ship its stockpile of highly enriched uranium out of the country, but details were still being negotiated.
America’s energy shock absorbers are shrinking
US energy stockpiles continue to shrink rapidly because of the supply shock caused by the war in the Middle East, according to federal data released Wednesday.
The sharp decline in inventories, which act as shock absorbers during a time of crisis, underscores tightening supplies as the energy crisis lingers.
Inventories of distillate fuels, including diesel, tumbled by 1.3 million barrels last week to the lowest level since April 2003, according to the US Energy Information Administration. Those inventories are now 11% below their five-year seasonal average.
Prices for diesel, a critical fuel used by truckers, railroads and farmers, hit record highs in recent days in Wisconsin, Illinois and Michigan amid refinery outages.
Stockpiles of gasoline and crude oil also fell significantly last week. Gas inventories are now 4% below their seasonal average.
The Strategic Petroleum Reserve, the emergency stockpile the Trump administration is tapping to ease the supply crunch, tumbled by another 5.2 million barrels last week.
US oil exports fell 26% last week from all-time highs. However, exports remain elevated as European and Asian countries seek to replace crude trapped in the Middle East by the closure of the Strait of Hormuz.
Chevron CEO Mike Wirth warned earlier this week that as inventories continue to shrink, fuel could become even scarcer.
“We will start to see physical shortages,” Wirth said at the Milken Institute Global Conference, noting this would start in Asia, move to Europe and hit the United States last.
A timeline of “Project Freedom,” the US mission to guide ships through the Strait of Hormuz
President Donald Trump announced yesterday that he will be pausing “Project Freedom,” the US military mission to guide ships through the Strait of Hormuz that began earlier this week.
Here’s a look at how the operation rolled out — and was abruptly paused:
- On Sunday, Trump announced the military effort, saying that “Countries from all over the World, almost all of which are not involved in the Middle Eastern dispute” had asked the US to free up ships “locked up” in the Strait of Hormuz.
- Shortly afterward, US Central Command (CENTCOM) said the effort would include guided-missile destroyers, more than 100 land- and sea-based aircraft, and 15,000 service members.
- On Monday, a top Iranian military official warned that “any foreign military force, especially the invading American army” would be attacked if they tried to approach or enter the Strait of Hormuz. Later in the day, the state news agency IRNA claimed that Iran’s navy prevented the entry of “enemy destroyers” into the Strait of Hormuz.
- CENTCOM denied claims from Iranian state media that a US vessel was struck by Iranian missiles near the waterway, and announced that two US-flagged merchant vessels had successfully transited through the strait. Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) denied this.
- US Central Command chief Adm. Bradley Cooper also told reporters Monday that the US military “blew up” six small Iranian boats in the Strait of Hormuz after Iran launched “multiple cruise missiles, drones and small boats” at US Navy ships and at commercial ships being “protected” by the US military.
- Yesterday, US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth insisted the ceasefire between the US and Iran was “not over,” even though both sides exchanged fire the day prior. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the combat operation launched in February against Iran was done, suggesting the US priority now was reopening the Strait of Hormuz. He also said multiple countries had expressed willingness to support “Project Freedom.”
- In a post on Truth Social yesterday evening, Trump said the US would temporarily pause its operation, saying “great progress” had been made in peace talks with Iran.
CNN’s Isabelle D’Antonio, Natasha Bertrand, Laura Sharman, Tim Lister, Michael Williams, Mohammed Tawfeeq, Zachary Cohen, Aileen Graef and Alejandra Jaramillo contributed to this reporting.
Netanyahu holding talks with US officials to better understand Iran negotiations
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is holding talks on Wednesday with officials in the Trump administration, according to an Israeli source familiar with the details, in order to better understand the latest developments in the negotiations between the US and Iran.
The source told CNN that Netanyahu is seeking updates on the state of the negotiations and aims to understand what is currently on the table. Israel is concerned, the source said, about potential last minute US concessions aimed at securing an agreement to end the war with Iran.
It’s unclear with whom Netanyahu has spoken. CNN has reached out to the White House for comment.
A US official told CNN that Netanyahu has regularly spoken to US officials to stay updated on negotiations between the US and Iran.
Israel is particularly worried about the possible lifting of economic sanctions on Iran, the source said, and is pushing for restrictions to be imposed on Iran’s proxy network as well as its ballistic missile program. In addition, Israel wants to ensure that any agreement preserves the Israeli military’s freedom of action against regional threats.
On Wednesday, an Israeli official said, “The Americans did not surprise us.” The official said Netanyahu is in “continuous contact” with President Donald Trump. “It was made clear to us in these talks that President Trump is standing firm on his red lines, first and foremost the removal of nuclear material,” the official said.
This story has been updated with additional developments.
Stocks rise on hopes for US-Iran agreement
Stocks opened higher Wednesday as traders leaned in to hopes that the worst of the Iran war turmoil might be in the past.
The Dow rose 543 points, or 1.1%. The S&P 500 gained 0.9%, and the Nasdaq Composite rose 1%.
The S&P and Nasdaq extended gains after closing at record highs on Tuesday. The Dow was less than 1% away from its last record high set in February.
Stock futures jumped and oil prices fell early Wednesday after reports that Washington and Tehran might soon reach an agreement to end fighting.
Stocks have also been boosted by enthusiasm about artificial intelligence and a robust US corporate earnings season.
As of May 1, the S&P 500’s year-over-year earnings growth rate in the first quarter was on track to be the largest since the end of 2021, according to John Butters, senior earnings analyst at FactSet.
“Wall Street continues to double down on its bet that the war in the Middle East will not re-escalate and disrupt the market’s earnings-driven surge to all-time highs,” Kyle Rodda, senior financial market analyst at Capital.com, said in a note.
New memo signals US-Iran agreement to end war, and Israel strikes Lebanon
The US and Iran are inching closer to an agreement on a short memorandum to end the war, a regional source familiar with the talks told CNN, amid a renewed diplomatic push.
Elsewhere, the Israeli military conducted a wave of attacks on parts of eastern and southern Lebanon early Wednesday, killing a mayor and his three family members, according to Lebanon’s National News Agency. Israel said it was targeting Hezbollah “terror infrastructure” in several areas of the country.
Here’s what you need to know:
- One-page plan: The memorandum would declare an end to the war and trigger a 30-day period resolving nuclear demands, unfreezing of Iranian assets and negotiating security in the Strait of Hormuz, one person familiar told CNN. Trump officials cautioned that talks had previously fallen apart at the last minute.
- Oil prices dip below $100: The cost of Brent crude oil, the global benchmark, lowered to $97 a barrel on Wednesday, on reports of a possible peace deal.
- Trump threatens renewed “bombing”: US President Donald Trump warned the military would launch “higher level” attacks with “intensity” if Iran did not accede to an agreement, just hours after describing “great progress” between mediators.
- In Lebanon: Israeli strikes killed six people in Lebanon early Wednesday, according to Lebanon’s National News Agency (NNA). Lebanonese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam warned it was “too early” to speak of talks with Israel as attacks persisted.
- Tehran touts free passage through channel: Safe travel through the Strait of Hormuz is possible under “new procedures,” Iran’s Revolutionary Guards’ Navy said Wednesday, in Tehran’s first reaction to the suspended US operation aimed at guiding merchant vessels out.
- France aircraft carrier: The French defense ministry will deploy the Charles de Gaulle aircraft to the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden as part of a joint initiative with Britain to eventually restore free navigation in the choked Strait.
Lebanese PM says “too early” to speak of Netanyahu meeting
Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam said it is “too early” to speak of a potential meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, as the two countries continue negotiations to end Israel’s attacks.
He added that Lebanon seeks “peace” with Israel, not normalization, Lebanon’s National News Agency (NNA) reported. Any “high-level meeting with the Israeli side would require a lot of preparation,” he said.
On Monday, the Lebanese presidency said that preparatory talks are expected ahead of the next round of Lebanon-Israel negotiations in Washington, but didn’t specify when either of them might take place.
Salam said on Wednesday that consolidating the shaky ceasefire in the country will be the basis of the next round of negotiations. Lebanon will demand an Israeli withdrawal timeline and will “develop a plan to restrict weapons exclusively to state institutions,” he said, referring to the demilitarization of Hezbollah.
