Iran-US war latest: Trump ‘discussing massive offensive’ to force Tehran to open Strait of Hormuz

The US military said it had begun a new wave of strikes against Iran at 6 a.m. ET (1000 GMT) on Wednesday.

“The strikes are designed to further degrade military capabilities Iranian forces have used to attack commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz,” the US Central Command said in a post on X.

Senate Democrats derailed a key $1.15 trillion defense bill Wednesday, accusing President Donald Trump of dragging the United States into war with Iran without congressional approval and refusing to give him what they called a blank check for the conflict.

“Trump started this war without authorization, without a strategy, and without an exit,” Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer said as he urged colleagues to block the annual National Defense Authorization Act.

The procedural vote failed 50-46, falling short of the 60 votes needed to advance in the Senate. All Democrats opposed moving forward, while every Republican voted yes except Majority Leader John Thune, who voted no for procedural reasons to bring the bill back for another vote.

A British man detained in Iran has had two more years added to his jail sentence for speaking to the press about his incarceration, his family has learned.

Craig and Lindsay Foreman, both 53, have been on hunger strike 68 and 59 days respectively in protest at their treatment inside Iran’s notorious Evin prison.

The couple were arrested on a once-in-a-lifetime world motorbike tour 18 months ago, and were later sentenced to 10 years in prison on espionage charges, which they completely deny.

Yemen’s Houthi movement fired missiles at Saudi Arabia after accusing the kingdom of bombing an airport under their control on Monday, breaking a four-year truce in the conflict between the kingdom and the Iran-aligned group.

The move signals the end of a period of de-escalation and raises concerns that Iran could now start using its Houthi allies to close the Bab el-Mandeb gateway to the Red Sea, which would be the second global shipping choke point disrupted after the Strait of Hormuz.

President Donald Trump asked Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu to withdraw troops from southern Syria and Lebanon, according to Axios citing American and Israeli officials.

“They don’t want you here. You should redeploy,” he said.

As Dubai looks to build a new port and terminal to bypass the beleaguered Strait of Hormuz, it appears that Gulf countries are already preparing for a life without the crucial waterway.

Port operator DP World is in talks to develop new facilities in the coastal area of Fujairah to take pressure off its flagship Jebel Ali port, according to the Financial Times.

Jebel Ali, built in 1977, has made the UAE a hub of finance and trade, but weeks ago it was set alight by a piece of fallen debris from an Iranian missile. Since then, Dubai International Airport, US military bases and other facilities have come under direct attack.

An Indian national who went missing after an attack on commercial vessel GFS Galaxy off the coast of Oman is dead, his father-in-law said on Wednesday.

Heramb Karmarkar, 30, was a marine engineer on the Cyprus-flagged container ship that was attacked off the coast of Oman on Sunday.

The vessel, with 11 Indians in its 24-member crew, was struck by an “unidentified projectile”, Cyprus authorities had said.

Iran said it had struck the ship after it attempted to transit through an unauthorised route despite warnings to correct its course.

Karmarkar’s father-in-law, Vivek Tandon, told Reuters that the company operating the vessel had informed him of his son-in-law’s death.

India’s foreign ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Wednesday.

Karmarkar is the second Indian seafarer to be killed in the region in three days.

Another Indian seafarer was killed on Tuesday after two vessels were attacked while transiting the Strait of Hormuz.

At least seven personnel were killed in U.S. strikes on an Iranian military base in Bampur overnight, Iran’s army said on Wednesday, according to the semi-official Tasnim news agency.

The army said the strikes were intended to cause maximum casualties, with 13 missiles hitting a guesthouse, guard posts and accommodation facilities at the base near the southeastern city of Iranshahr.

It added that a number of personnel were also wounded and promised a “decisive response” to the attack.

Netanyahu wants ‌to meet US President Donald ⁠Trump, but it is not clear if he will, the ‌official ​added.

Donald Trump has constructed a trap for himself and the rest of the world from which there is no escape. Despite signing a ceasefire with Iran a month ago in Versailles, the “memorandum of understanding” has now collapsed.

Mr Trump may have, for now, reversed his threat to impose a 20 per cent toll upon all maritime traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, as the US prepares to resume its blockade of Iran’s ports. But peace is off the table.

Poorly drafted in an atmosphere of deep mutual mistrust, it has, in fact, degenerated into a memorandum of misunderstandings. Mr Trump has denounced it and called his Iranian interlocutors, previously the recipients of backhanded compliments, “scum”.