Here's the latest
• State of possible talks: The White House said talks with Iran are proceeding apace, even after Tehran did not immediately accept a 15-point plan to end the war. The US is working to arrange a meeting in Pakistan to discuss an off-ramp, two administration officials tell CNN.
• Iran’s response: Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi acknowledged that messages have been exchanged with the US through mediators, but said that Washington’s shift in tone amounted to an acknowledgment of failure after previously demanding Tehran’s “unconditional surrender.”
• Protecting key island: Iran has been laying traps and moving military personnel and air defenses to Kharg Island in preparation for a possible US operation to take control of the island, according to people familiar with US intelligence reporting.
• Strait of Hormuz: Multiple vessels have passed through the strait, tracking data appears to show, as Iran says it will charge countries a fee for safe passage.
There was bipartisan dissatisfaction among House Armed Services members over Iran briefing
Members of the House Armed Services Committee said they were unsatisfied with a briefing by Trump administration officials over the war in Iran, its objectives and timeline, the latest sign of growing angst over the war effort even among members of Trump’s own party.
The frustration arose as lawmakers are bracing for a supplemental request to fund the war effort and restock munitions used so far.
Here’s what some lawmakers on the committee said:
- Rep. Nancy Mace, a Republican from South Carolina, said she felt “misled” during the briefing and the officials “didn’t have a lot of answers.” She said she would not vote for additional funding right now: “The longer this goes on, the less support for the war.”
- Rep. Clay Higgins, a Republican, said he personally was happy with the briefing, but that it was “contentious.” He said, “I believe members kind of went in there determined to not be satisfied with the administration.”
- Rep. Derrick Van Orden, another Republican and Navy SEAL veteran, said he would oppose troops on the ground in Iran, but seemed supportive of approving the request for more military funding.
- Rep. Adam Smith, the top Democrat on the committee, said there is still a “gap” between what the administration says its objectives are in Iran and how they can effectively carry them out. He argued his GOP colleagues are “caught” now in a difficult messaging position.
- Rep. Jason Crow, a Democrat and combat veteran, also said that Congress is still “not getting answers” from the administration about its strategy and end game. “This war is now in its third, going into its fourth week, there are more questions than answers,” he said.
USPS says packages will cost more to ship due to rising fuel prices and war with Iran
The US Postal Service will charge a first-ever 8% fuel surcharge on packages, adding to the costs for American consumers and businesses as a result of the war with Iran.
The surcharge is temporary and will only apply to packages, not letter mail, according to a news release from USPS. Consumers and businesses will start seeing the fee on April 26.
Carriers, including UPS and FedEx, have automatic surcharges that kick in when fuel prices go above certain thresholds. Meanwhile, USPS has previously opted for flat-rate pricing that doesn’t change with fuel costs.
In addition, about 30% of the world’s raw materials for making fertilizer are shipped through the Strait of Hormuz, leading to higher food costs. CNN’s Lynda Kinkade discussed today.
Iran acknowledges indirect "exchange of messages" with US but denies negotiations
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi questioned US calls for negotiations, saying Washington’s shift in tone amounts to an acknowledgment of failure after previously demanding “unconditional surrender.”
Araghchi also said the US has sent multiple messages to Tehran in recent days through what he described as “friendly countries,” but he stressed that the communications do not amount to negotiations.
“Didn’t the Americans say ‘unconditional surrender’?” Araghchi said in a televised interview aired Wednesday on the state-run Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB) network. “So why are they talking about negotiation now?”
Araghchi added that “the fact that they are talking about negotiation now is exactly an admission of defeat.”
“The fact that messages are being sent and we respond with warnings or state our positions is not called negotiation or dialogue; it is an exchange of messages,” he stressed.
“In these messages, ideas were raised that have been conveyed to top authorities, and if a position needs to be taken, they will announce it,” Araghchi said.
The White House, for its part, said talks with Iran are proceeding apace, even after Tehran did not immediately accept a 15-point plan to end the war.
Earlier, Araghchi cited an NBC News report that said President Donald Trump is being shown curated videos highlighting successful US strikes. The foreign minister denounced the daily “selling” of the war to the US public and even to the president himself.
US public dissatisfaction with the Iran war is high, new polls show
Public dissatisfaction with the Iran war is high, according to a set of new polls released Wednesday.
Americans say, 59% to 38%, that the US made the wrong decision in using military force in Iran, a new Pew Research survey finds. Just one-quarter (25%) of Americans say that military action against Iran is going extremely or very well, with 28% saying it’s going somewhat well, and 45% that it’s going not too well or not at all well.
A 61% majority disapprove of how President Donald Trump is handling the military action against Iran, with 37% approving.
In an AP-NORC poll, 59% of US adults say that the recent US military action against Iran has gone too far, with 26% saying that it has been about right, and 13% that it hasn’t gone far enough.
And in a Quinnipiac University poll, registered voters oppose the US military action against Iran 54% to 39%. Views are sharply polarized, with 92% of Democratic voters and 64% of independent voters opposed to military action, and 86% of Republican voters in favor. The level of opposition overall is stable from a poll taken earlier in March, just after the US launched its war against Iran.
The Pew Research poll was conducted March 16-22, and surveyed 3,524 US adults using a nationally representative panel; results among the full sample have a margin of error of +/- 1.8% points. The AP-NORC poll was conducted March 19-23, and surveyed 1,150 US adults using a nationally representative panel; results among the full sample have a +/- 4.0% point margin of error. The Quinnipiac University poll was conducted March 19-23 and surveyed 1,191 registered voters using live-interviewer calls to landlines and cell phones; results among the full sample have a +/- 3.6% point margin of error.
White House says talks "productive" but also warns Iran. Here's the latest from briefing
With the Iran war into its fourth week, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters today the US timeline is still four to six weeks.
US President Donald Trump’s preference is “always peace,” Leavitt said during her daily briefing.
Here’s what else Leavitt said about the war today:
- “Productive” talks continue, she said, even after Iran did not immediately accept a 15-point plan offered by the US to bring the war to an end.
- Leavitt declined to promise Trump would seek congressional authorization before deploying troops in Iran, saying “at this moment, it’s unnecessary” and he “likes to maintain options at his disposal.”
- The press secretary denied any change that is making JD Vance more of an active participant in negotiations as the vice president appears to be taking a leading role in the Iran talks.
- Leavitt said it’s “too soon to say,” if the administration — which has been touting peace talks with Tehran — is satisfied with new Iranian leadership.
CNN’s Adam Cancryn, Maureen Chowdhury, Betsy Klein, Donald Judd and Kevin Liptak contributed to this report.
What Iranians are saying about possible US-Iran negotiations
Ordinary Iranians say they feel trapped between geopolitical posturing and the threat of war: frustrated, divided and unsure what comes next.
CNN’s Leila Gharagozlou reports on what else people had to say:
Ordinary Iranians say they feel trapped between geopolitical posturing and the threat of war: frustrated, divided and unsure what comes next. CNN's Leila Gharagozlou reports.
Iran warns of possible Bab el-Mandeb front if military action targets southern Iran
An Iranian military source has warned that Tehran could open additional strategic fronts, including around the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, if the US and Israel undertake military actions against Iranian islands or attempt to pressure the country through naval operations.
The Bab el-Mandeb Strait connects the Red Sea to the Gulf of Aden and the Indian Ocean, acting as a vital chokepoint for global trade, particularly oil and natural gas shipments.
“If the enemy attempts any ground action on Iranian islands or any part of our territory, or tries to impose costs on Iran through naval movements in the Persian Gulf or the Sea of Oman, we will open other fronts as a ‘surprise,’” the source said, as cited by Iran’s semi-official Tasnim News Agency on Wednesday.
The military source specifically referenced the Bab el-Mandeb Strait to Tasnim, which is affiliated with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, and asserted that Iran has both the capability and determination to create a credible threat in that area if tensions escalate.
“If the Americans intend to take reckless actions regarding the Strait of Hormuz, they should be careful not to add another strait to their list of challenges,” the source added.
Approximately 12% of total global seaborne-traded oil and a significant portion of liquefied natural gas pass through the Bab el-Mandeb Strait annually.
Iran’s parliamentary speaker, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, also warned Wednesday that Tehran has intelligence indicating “enemies” are preparing to seize one of Iran’s islands with support from a regional country.
“Our forces are monitoring all enemy movements, and if they take any step, all vital infrastructure of that regional state will be targeted with continuous, relentless attacks,” Ghalibaf said in a post on X but without naming the state.
White House says Vance's role in Iran talks hasn't changed
The White House denied that there’d been any change that is making JD Vance more of an active participant in negotiations with Iran as the vice president now appears to be taking a leading role in those talks.
“I don’t think anything has changed. The vice president has always been a key member — the president’s right-hand man and a key member of the president’s national security team. He’s been part of these discussions throughout this entire course of the administration,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Wednesday when pressed by CNN’s Kristen Holmes.
Trump, Leavitt said, seeks Vance’s counsel “on all matters, both foreign and domestic.”
Pressed by CNN on whom in Iran the US is negotiating with, Leavitt declined to say.
“We’re not gonna get into the details of these negotiations and conversations that continue to take place. As, of course, you can imagine, they are very sensitive diplomatic discussions,” she said.
Administration officials are working to arrange a meeting with officials, including Vance, in Pakistan this weekend to discuss an off ramp to the war, two senior administration officials told CNN. But they cautioned that the timing of the expected trip is fluid, as is the location and who may attend.
Iranian representatives have told the administration they do not want to re-enter talks with envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, CNN has reported. Trump told reporters Tuesday that Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio are also participating in talks.
White House: Iran talks not at dead end, despite initial resistance from Tehran to US plan
The White House said talks with Iran are proceeding apace, even after Iran did not immediately accept a 15-point plan offered by the United States to bring the war to an end.
“Talks continue. They are productive, as the president said on Monday, and they continue to be,” press secretary Karoline Leavitt said today.
She said the discussions had not hit a dead end, despite Iranian resistance to the American plan.
She declined to provide details about the US proposal, which President Donald Trump first revealed on Monday.
White House said it’s “too soon to say” whether it is satisfied with Iran’s new leadership
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said today that it’s “too soon to say,” if the Trump administration — which has been touting peace talks with Tehran — is satisfied with new Iranian leadership.
Pressed on comments President Donald Trump made Tuesday that the administration has “achieved regime change” in Iran, Leavitt defended the president’s remarks during today’s press briefing.
“Their entire leadership has been killed, and nobody has really seen or legitimately heard from this alleged new leader,” she told reporters. “There has been a change in leadership — I mean, regime leadership, which is what the president said.”
But when asked if the administration was satisfied with Iran’s new leaders, she replied that it was “too soon to say.”
Death toll once again climbs in the Middle East as strikes continue
As attacks continue across the Middle East, the death toll across the region is mounting, with new fatalities reported today in Iran, Lebanon and Iraq.
CNN is keeping a tally of figures released by regional authorities, though it is not able to independently verify these numbers.
Here’s what authorities have said about the number of people reportedly killed in the Middle East since the war began on February 28:
- Iran: More than 1,750 people have been killed in Iran since the war began, Iran’s deputy permanent representative to the International Maritime Organization said today, according to the state-run Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA). The US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA) said yesterday that at least 1,455 civilians, including 217 children, and 1,167 military personnel have been killed in the same time frame. It categorized 669 other fatalities as “unclassified” since it has not yet determined whether they were civilian or military.
- Lebanon: In an update today, Lebanon’s Health Ministry said that at least 1,094 people have been killed in Israeli strikes in the country since March 2. At least 121 children are among those killed, it said.
- Iraq: At least 96 people have been killed across Iraq since the conflict began, according to authorities, including seven Iraqi service members killed in an attack on a clinic associated with the country’s Defense Ministry this morning. In the Kurdistan Region, a semi-autonomous federal region of Iraq, at least 13 people have been killed since the start of the conflict, according to the Kurdistan Regional Government, including six Kurdish Peshmerga fighters killed yesterday.
- Israel: At least 17 people have been killed by strikes inside Israel since the war began, including a civilian who was killed by friendly fire along the country’s border with Lebanon this weekend, the Israeli military said. This figure does not include people who died indirectly because of strikes. A woman was also killed by Hezbollah rocket fire into northern Israel yesterday, according to Israeli emergency services. Two Israeli soldiers were killed in Lebanon on March 8, according to the Israeli military.
- US: Thirteen US service members have been killed since the start of the conflict, including six who died when their refueling aircraft crashed in Iraq on March 12. An additional six US service members were killed in an Iranian strike on a makeshift operations center in Kuwait on March 1. Another US soldier died nearly a week after sustaining injuries during an attack on Saudi Arabia the same day, according to CENTCOM.
Dozens of people have also been killed in other countries in the region since the conflict began. Deaths because of the conflict have been reported in the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Kuwait, the occupied West Bank, Oman, Bahrain and Saudi Arabia since February 28, according to local authorities.
CNN’s Charbel Mallo, Aqeel Najim, Nechirvan Mando, Dana Karni, Eugenia Yosef, Oren Liebermann, Tal Shalev, Tamar Michaelis, Haley Britzky, Brad Lendon, Piper Hudspeth Blackburn, Isabelle D’Antonio and Mohammed Tawfeeq contributed to this report.
White House reiterates Iran war timeline is "approximately 4 to 6 weeks"
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt reiterated that the timeline for the war with Iran is still four to six weeks when asked if the conflict will end before President Donald Trump’s planned trip to China in mid May.
“Again, as I’ve said, we’ve always estimated approximately four to six weeks. So, you could do the math on that,” Leavitt said during today’s White House press briefing.
Trump has suggested he wants to wrap up the war soon, although he has been noncommittal on a timeline.
Leavitt announced Wednesday that Trump’s trip to China, which was delayed after the start of the war, will now take place May 14 and 15.
White House declines to commit to seek congressional authorization before deploying troops
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt declined to promise that President Donald Trump would seek congressional authorization before deploying troops in Iran, saying Monday only that “at this moment, it’s unnecessary.”
“The formal authorization from Congress is not necessary because we’re currently in major combat operations in Iran,” she said during a press briefing.
Leavitt added that the administration “will always abide by the law,” but did not address how the White House would handle any decision to put US soldiers on the ground.
“The president likes to maintain options at his disposal,” she later said when asked about the approximately 1,000 US soldiers with the Army’s 82nd Airborne Division preparing to deploy in coming days to the Middle East.
More than 1,750 people killed in Iran, state media reports, citing official
More than 1,750 people have been killed in Iran since the US-Israeli war began on February 28, the state-run Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA) reported today, citing an Iranian official.
The update is the first full death toll released by any Iranian official in weeks and came in a speech delivered to the International Maritime Organization (IMO) by Iran’s deputy permanent representative, Pouria Kolivand.
In addition to the more than 1,750 people killed in the war, 22,800 people have been injured and hundreds of hospitals and schools have been destroyed, Kolivand said, according to IRNA.
Some 3 million people inside the country have been displaced, and 500,000 have been made homeless, he continued.
Earlier today, the country’s Health Ministry said that 208 children have been killed in the conflict, IRNA reported.
The US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA) said yesterday that at least 1,455 civilians, including 217 children, and 1,167 military personnel have been killed since February 28. It described an additional 669 fatalities as “unclassified” because it has not yet determined whether they were civilian or military.
How the Iran war is renewing demand for China's electric vehicles
The Iran war has left energy-starved nations in Asia resorting to increasingly extreme measures to keep their economies afloat. Many consumers on the continent are turning to electric vehicles from China as an alternative.
CNN’s Stephanie Yang reports on the renewed demand in Asia for cheap electric vehicles:
The United States and Israel’s war with Iran has sent fuel prices skyrocketing. Stephanie Yang reports this is also sparking interest in clean energy and could give China’s EV makers a much-needed boost.
Remember: Asian countries are heavily reliant on imports from the Middle East, which accounts for about 60% of the region’s oil supply.
Amid US diplomacy, Netanyahu says war on Iran "is still ongoing"
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Wednesday that “the broader campaign against Iran is still ongoing, despite what is reported in the media,” amid the Trump administration’s diplomatic efforts to engage with Iran.
Speaking to mayors and local officials from Israel’s northern border communities, Netanyahu addressed Israel’s continuing military campaign against Hezbollah and said “the dismantling of Hezbollah remains a top priority,” which he linked to Israel’s wider conflict with Iran. “We are fully resolved to do everything necessary to fundamentally change the situation in Lebanon,” he said.
Netanyahu told the mayors that Israel is expanding its military presence in what he described as a “buffer zone” in southern Lebanon. He said it was established to push Hezbollah forces farther from the border and to protect Israeli communities.
“We have created a genuine security buffer that prevents any ground incursion into the Galilee and our northern border,” he said. “In essence, we are creating a broader safety belt.”
The Israeli prime minister said Israel has neutralized “most of Hezbollah’s missile threat,” though he acknowledged that “there is still work to do.” He added that Israeli forces have “eliminated” the threat of a Hezbollah ground invasion, which he described as “an incursion by thousands of Radwan fighters, above and below ground.” He referred to an elite Hezbollah special operations unit whose mission is to infiltrate Israeli territory.
“We have eliminated that threat,” Netanyahu said. “It no longer exists.”
US sent Iran a 15-point proposal as White House seeks talks with Tehran. Read more here
President Donald Trump’s view of the war with Iran shifted this week after he initially issued an ultimatum over the Strait of Hormuz, only to pull back after a few conversations with a mystery official in Tehran.
Now, sources say the White House is working to arrange a meeting in Pakistan this weekend to discuss an off-ramp to the war. This comes as the US shared a 15-point list of expectations with Iran via Pakistan, sources said.
Meanwhile, the war continues to wreak havoc in the region. If you’re just joining us, catch up on the latest developments:
On potential US-Iran negotiations:
- An Iranian official has outlined five conditions for ending the war in response to a 15-point proposal from the US, state media outlet Press TV reported on Wednesday.
- Earlier, Iran said it will not accept a ceasefire and believes it would not be “logical” for it to enter talks with the US, Iran’s semi-official news agency Fars reported, citing a source with knowledge of the diplomatic activity.
- Separately, Israel is concerned that the US may declare a one-month ceasefire in order to facilitate negotiations with Iran, two Israeli sources said.
Strait of Hormuz:
- Many container ships delivering cargo from China to the Middle East are taking three times as long to reach the region than usual, a shipping analyst said.
- Multiple vessels have passed through the Strait of Hormuz since Tuesday morning, tracking data appears to show, as Iran says it will charge countries a fee for safe passage through the critical waterway.
- An oil company CEO and Germany’s economic minister have warned that energy shortages could hit Europe starting next month, if the war with Iran does not end.
Impact of war on the region:
- Israeli authorities rejected an Iranian claim that missiles struck Israel’s largest power plant. Iran’s semi-official Fars News Agency posted a video, geolocated by CNN, showing a large plume of smoke rising into the sky close to the plant, which it said had been hit in a wave of strikes.
- Iraq’s Foreign Ministry has summoned the chargé d’affaires of the US Embassy after multiple Iraqi service members were killed in an attack on a health care clinic associated with the country’s Defense Ministry, a military spokesperson said.
- Hezbollah chief Naim Qassem rejected talks with Israel while Lebanon remains under fire, deeming any negotiation in current conflict conditions “forced surrender.”
CNN’s Kevin Liptak, Kylie Atwood, Zachary Cohen, Jennifer Hansler, Alayna Treene, Kristen Holmes, Adam Pourahmadi, Lauren Kent, Nadeen Ebrahim, Eugenia Yosef, Anna Cooban, Billy Stockwell, Aqeel Najim, Catherine Nicholls, Ibrahim Dahman, Charlotte Reck, Olesya Dmitracova and Tal Shalev contributed to this report.
IDF says it struck Iran's only submarine research center
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said it struck an underwater-research center in Iran, an attack that it claimed has significantly stunted Iran’s ability to make submarines.
The strike on Tuesday targeted the facility in Iran’s central Isfahan province and has “significantly” limited Iran’s ability to “manufacture new and advanced submarines for the Iranian Navy, as well as upgrade its existing fleet,” the IDF said Wednesday.
According to the IDF, this center was the only one in Iran responsible for the design and development of submarines, as well as support systems for Iran’s navy.
EasyJet urges customers to book early and warns of potential summer price hike
EasyJet is advising globetrotters to book air travel tickets early to avoid a potential price hike toward the end of the summer if the Middle East conflict continues, a spokesperson for the company told CNN.
“We simply don’t know what pricing will be as it is dependent on a number of different factors,” including capacity, costs and demand, the spokesperson said. “Passengers will be more likely to get the best fares if they book early.”
On Monday, CEO Kenton Jarvis told Reuters passengers are protected in the short term as EasyJet is highly hedged regarding its fuel requirements in the coming months. But he warned higher prices will start “feeding through to the consumer towards the back end of the summer” if the war continues.
Jarvis’ comments to Reuters came just days after he told CNN’s Richard Quest the airline will not introduce a fuel surcharge as it contradicts their budget-friendly policies.
The aviation industry is working to keep customers’ costs stable amid surging oil prices caused by the effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz, the vital waterway that allows the flow of 20% of the global oil supply.
Iran responds to US proposal with its own conditions for ending the war, state media reports
An Iranian official has outlined five conditions for ending the war in response to a 15-point proposal from the United States, state media outlet Press TV reported Wednesday.
It is unclear if the person, whom Press TV described as a senior political-security official with knowledge of the details of the proposal, is authorized to speak on behalf of the Iranian government. But it’s notable that the information was reported by Press TV — an English-language state-run media outlet — suggesting that its intended audience was the American side and other English speakers.
According to Press TV, the conditions include:
- A complete halt to “aggression and assassinations.”
- Establishment of concrete mechanisms to ensure the war on Iran does not resume.
- Guaranteed and clearly defined payment of war damages and reparations.
- The condition that the war is concluded across all fronts and for all Iranian proxies throughout the region (which would require an end to Israel’s attacks on Lebanon that are targeting Hezbollah).
- Guarantee that Iran can exercise sovereignty over the Strait of Hormuz and that its legal right to the strait is recognized.
Press TV also reported that the Iranian official said Tehran will not allow US President Donald Trump to dictate the timing of the end of the war, noting: “Iran will end the war when it decides to do so and when its own conditions are met.”
Remember: It is unclear who is calling the shots in Iran, and if officials speaking to Iranian state media and semi-official media outlets are authorized to do so. Earlier this week, Trump said his envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner were involved in discussions that he said Iran initiated, but he did not share whom the US officials were talking with.
