Iran war live updates: Trump says US may escort tankers through Strait of Hormuz; IDF launches strikes on Iran | US-Israel war on Iran

The US navy could begin escorting oil tankers through the strait of Hormuz if necessary, president Donald Trump said on Tuesday, in one of the administration’s most aggressive steps yet to attempt to contain soaring energy prices sparked by the US-Israel war with Iran.

As the escalating conflict in the Middle East has raised risks to shipping through key waterways, Trump said that he had ordered the US international Development Finance Corporation (DFC) to provide political risk insurance and financial guarantees for maritime trade in the Gulf.

Global crude prices have spiked since Israeli and US forces began striking Iran over the weekend, leading to fighting that has interrupted Middle East oil tanker shipments.

Ship owners and analysts were uncertain that military escorts and insurance backstopping by the DFC would be enough to stop rising prices, however. The DFC, launched in 2019, is a government agency that partners with private investors to support projects in developing countries.

Trump has made lower fuel costs for Americans central to his economic messaging, and the move signals a willingness to use financial and military tools to prevent disruptions to global crude supplies.

“No matter what, the United States will ensure the free flow of energy to the world,” Trump said in a social media post.

Share

Key events

Show key events only

Please turn on JavaScript to use this feature

Qatar, which hosts a major US military base and has been targeted by multiple Iranian strikes since the outbreak of the war, reported after midnight Wednesday that it had dismantled two spy cells linked to Iran’s Revolutionary Guards.

Ten suspects were arrested who “admitted during the investigation their links to the Revolutionary Guards and having been instructed to conduct espionage and sabotage activities,” the nation’s official press agency said.

ShareJonathan Yerushalmy

The US military has claimed that the first 24 hours of the operation in Iran was nearly double the scale of the first day of the “shock-and-awe” strikes on Iraq in 2003.

American forces have struck nearly 2,000 targets so far in Iran “as part of the largest firepower buildup in the region in a generation,” Admiral Brad Cooper of US Central Command has said.

“We have severely degraded Iran’s air defenses and destroyed hundreds of Iran’s ballistic missiles, launchers and drones,” Cooper said, adding that the US will “continue with 24/7 strikes into Iran.”

In March 2003, the US hit Iraq with more than 1000 strikes as it began the invasion that would eventually topple the government of Saddam Hussein. The “shock and awe” bombing campaign flattened the regime’s infrastructure in and around Baghdad and laid the groundwork for the military’s ground assault.

Share

The Trump administration plans to meet with executives from the biggest US defence contractors at the White House on Friday to discuss accelerating weapons production, as the Pentagon works to replenish supplies after strikes on Iran and several other recent military efforts, five people familiar with the plan told Reuters.

Companies including Lockheed Martin and Raytheon parent RTX, along with other key suppliers, have been invited to attend the meeting, the people said, speaking on condition of anonymity because the discussions are private.

The meeting underscores the urgency felt in Washington to shore up weapons stocks after the Iran operation drew heavily on munitions.

Share

At least 30,000 people have been displaced in Lebanon, according to the United Nations, following heavy Israeli airstrikes in the country. Thousands of Syrians have crossed the border to their home country, many of whom had fled to Lebanon during the civil war

See this video for on the ground scenes.

Tens of thousands displaced in Lebanon as Israeli strikes continue – videoShareCallum Jones

Global markets look set for another turbulent day.

In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 continued to fall on Wednesday, and was down about 1.7% during early trading. In Seoul, the Kospi – which dropped 7.2% on Tuesday – fell by a further 3.1% at the open.

But Wall Street looks set to open flat in New York, according to pre-market trading data.

With all eyes still on the Strait of Hormuz – one of the most important arteries for global trade, which has been in effect closed by Iran – oil prices will also be in focus later after Donald Trump suggested the US could begin escorting tankers.

Share

Donald Trump has attempted to counter a simmering anti-Israel backlash in Congress and among his own Maga supporters by denying suggestions that he had been bounced into attacking Iran because Israel had already decided to do so.

Amid growing criticism among opponents and allies alike, Trump rebuffed claims that he had struck Iran only because Israel had forced his hand, a suspicion fuelled by comments made by Marco Rubio, the secretary of state.

United States President Donald J Trump during a bilateral meeting with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington DC – 03 Mar 2026 Photograph: ABACA/Shutterstock

Asked whether Israel had pushed him into launching military action, Trump told reporters: “No. I might have forced their hand.”

Read the full report here:

Share

Updated at 20.28 EST

The Central Intelligence Agency’s station at the US embassy in Saudi Arabia was hit on Monday by a suspected Iranian drone, a source familiar with the matter told Reuters on Tuesday.

There is no indication the station was the target, the source said. The CIA declined to comment.

The attack came amid ongoing strikes in the Middle East following Saturday’s US and Israeli attacks on Iran.

The embassy, which is located in the Saudi capital of Riyadh, is among the US sites that have been hit so far in the conflict. Saudi Arabia’s defense ministry said the embassy was hit by two drones, which resulted in a limited fire and some material damage.

Share

The US military has destroyed 17 Iranian ships, including a submarine, and struck nearly 2,000 targets in Iran, the commander of the US Central Command said on Tuesday.

Tankers are seen off the coast of the Fujairah, as Iran vows to close the Strait of Hormuz, amid the US-Israel conflict with Iran, in Fujairah, United Arab Emirates, 3 March 2026. Photograph: Amr Alfiky/Reuters

“Today, there is not a single Iranian ship underway in the Arabian Gulf, Strait of Hormuz, or Gulf of Oman,” U.S. Central Command’s Brad Cooper said in a video posted to X.

Share

Canadian prime minister Mark Carney called on Wednesday for the rapid de-escalation of the conflict unleashed by US-Israeli strikes on Iran, urging all parties to respect the international rules of engagement.

Speaking in Sydney, Carney said the war in the Middle East represented “another example of the failure of the international order”.

Canada’s defence minister David McGuinty, left, talks with Canada’s prime minister Mark Carney as they walk to a news conference, in Sydney, Australia, Wednesday, 4 March 2026. Photograph: Adrian Wyld/AP

“Canada calls for a rapid de-escalation of hostilities and is prepared to assist in achieving this goal,” he said.

“Canada reaffirms that international law binds all belligerents,” he said.

Share

The Pentagon has released the names of four of the six service members who have been killed in the Iran war, saying they died in a drone strike in Kuwait.

All four Army Reserve soldiers were killed Sunday when a drone hit a command centre in Port Shuaiba, Kuwait. That was just a day after the US and Israel launched its military campaign against Iran, which has launched retaliatory strikes.

The soldiers, assigned from the 103rd Sustainment Command in Des Moines, lowa, were:

Capt. Cody A. Khork, 35, of Winter Haven, Florida

Sgt. 1st Class Noah L. Tietjens, 42, of Bellevue, Nebraska

Sgt. 1st Class Nicole M. Amor, 39, of White Bear Lake, Minnesota

Spc. Declan J. Coady, 20, of West Des Moines, lowa.

This combination shows (L/R) Sgt. 1st Class Nicole Amor, 39, Sgt. Declan Coady, 20, Capt. Cody Khork, 35, and Sgt. 1st Class Noah Tietjens, 42, who died on 1 March 2026 in Kuwait at the Port of Shuaiba, during an unmanned aircraft system attack. Photograph: Brent Newton/US ARMY/AFP/Getty ImagesShare

Updated at 19.02 EST