The Latest: US submarine sinks Iranian navy ship as war expands
A U.S. submarine sank an Iranian warship in international waters, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said Wednesday. In addition to striking Tehran, Israel hit the Iranian-backed Hezbollah militant group in Lebanon, while Iran fired on Bahrain, Kuwait and Israel.
As the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran spirals, the U.S. Senate is heading to vote on a war powers measure demanding congressional approval before further attacks. The resolution and a twin House bill face long odds in the Republican-controlled Congress, and Trump would almost certainly veto them anyway.
The war has killed more than 1,000 people in Iran, more than 50 in Lebanon and around a dozen in Israel, according to officials in those countries. The United Nations says 100,000 people fled the Iranian capital in the war’s first two days alone.
Oil prices have soared following Iranian attacks on traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, and global stock markets have been hammered over worries that the spike in oil prices may grind down the world economy. U.S. stocks appeared steadier at Wednesday’s opening.
Here is the latest:
Democrats fill the Senate chamber as they cast war powers resolution votes
Senate Democrats are trying to underscore the gravity of the moment as they cast votes on legislation that would halt President Donald Trump from carrying out further attacks on Iran.
They have filled the Senate chamber and are sitting at their desks as the vote gets underway. During typical votes, senators stop into the chamber to cast their vote, then leave.
Senate Democrats stood when their names were called to say yay or nay, while the Republican side of the chamber was mostly empty.
Republicans have already signaled they will oppose the measure.
Israel to ease some public restrictions starting Thursday
Israel’s Home Front Command said workplaces may reopen and gatherings of up to 50 people will be allowed if there is nearby shelter starting Thursday at noon, although schools will remain closed.
The nationwide shutdown, imposed when the war began Saturday, is being loosened as the Israeli military says incoming missile fire has dropped in recent days.
However, Israelis are still “spending a lot of time in shelters,” acknowledged Brig. Gen. Effie Defrin, a military spokesperson.
At a Pentagon briefing Wednesday, the US Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman, Gen. Dan Caine, said that the number of ballistic missiles fired off by Iran is down by 86% from the first day of the war, and that there’s been a 23% drop in the last 24 hours.
More on the war powers vote in the Senate
Republican senators, who hold a majority in the chamber, have almost all said they will vote against the war powers legislation, but the effort has forced a debate on the Iran conflict in the Senate.
It’s also putting senators on the record as they look ahead to midterm elections and the consequences of a conflict that has spread rapidly across the Middle East.
Rubio assures Turkey of US support after Iranian missile incident
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio told Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan that attacks on Turkey’s territory are unacceptable and pledged full U.S. support after an Iranian missile headed toward the country was shot down, the State Department said Wednesday.
Debate is underway in Congress over war powers resolutions
The Senate is preparing for an afternoon vote on the measure that would prevent Trump’s ability to continue engaging the U.S. military in hostilities against Iran without approval from Congress.
And in the House, which is set to vote Thursday, Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries delivered a lengthy speech calling out the Trump administration’s shifting rationale for the attack.
“Why is the president unwilling or unable to make his case directly to the American people?” the leader asked.
“The president has a responsibility to justify plunging America into another war,” Jeffries said.
Both resolutions are expected to fail in Congress, where Trump’s Republican Party holds a slim majority and largely backs the military operation in Iran.
Civilians in northern Iraq feel caught in the crossfire
Ibrahim Jawdat woke around 2:45 a.m. Wednesday when a drone exploded beside his family’s home in Irbil, shattering windows and spraying glass across his bed.
Neighbor Hawkar Hadi’s house was also damaged, with broken windows and shrapnel lodged in walls and furniture.
“It’s difficult to be a victim of a war that we’re not part of,” he said. “We’re paying the cost of things we didn’t do.”
Iran and allied Iraqi militias have fired missiles and drones at U.S. bases and the U.S. consulate in Irbil, the capital of the semiautonomous Kurdish region in northern Iraq. Most have been intercepted, though some have fallen in residential areas.
There have been more than 100 attacks on Irbil since the war began, Gov. Omed Khoshnaw told reporters Wednesday, and he urged Baghdad to compensate residents for damage.
South Africa advises citizens to leave the Middle East as more ‘heavy attacks’ expected
More than 6,400 South Africans have registered on a system opened for citizens to advise the government of their location, the Foreign Ministry said in a statement Wednesday.
The ministry said it was urging its citizens to depart on the limited number of commercial flights that have resumed.
UN says Israel and Hezbollah are violating Lebanon’s ceasefire
United Nations peacekeepers said Wednesday they observed rockets fired from Lebanon into Israel and Israeli military activity and airstrikes near several villages.
Both sides are in violation of a 2006 U.N. Security Council ceasefire, according to the peacekeeping force, while Israel is also breaching Lebanon’s sovereignty. The 7,500-strong force said it remains on the ground in southern Lebanon.
Israeli air force hits missile launchers in Iran
Israel’s military said Wednesday that its air force had destroyed Iranian ballistic missile sites in the west and central parts of the country, hitting the infrastructure being used to launch projectiles toward Israeli territory.
Iran’s barrages of ballistic missiles toward Israel have slowed and been mostly intercepted, however some have gotten through Israel’s defenses, causing damage and killing around a dozen people. Some experts say Iran may be holding its weapons in reserve to prolong the conflict.
Trump says he gives the US a 15/10 grade for Iran war
The president opened his remarks at an unrelated White House event on artificial intelligence that the U.S. is “doing very well on the war front, to put it mildly.”
Trump said someone asked him to rate on a scale of 10 how well he thought the U.S. was doing and said, “about a 15.”
Arab League tells Iran to halt attacks on Gulf nations
The ongoing strikes deepen an “unprecedented state of hostility” with Iran's neighbors in the Gulf, said Arab League chief Ahmed Aboul Gheit in a statement Wednesday.
He demanded Tehran stop the attacks, which he called a “strategic mistake,” saying “Iran must come to its senses.”
The Arab League, made up of 22 member states, promotes regional cooperation. However, it is widely seen as toothless and has long struggled to help solve conflicts.
Israel launches new wave of strikes on Tehran
The Israeli military says the strikes on the Iranian capital are targeting “military infrastructure.”
U.S.-Israeli strikes have killed more than 1,000 people in Iran so far.
Hezbollah leader vows to keep fighting Israel
In his first public address since joining the war, Hezbollah leader Naim Kassem said the Lebanese militant group rejects the government’s plan to disarm its fighters.
“As long as the (Israeli) occupation is present, then the resistance and its weapons are a legitimate right,” Kassem said.
Lebanon’s leaders say Hezbollah’s rocket fire into Israel is illegal and urged the Lebanese army to crack down on groups possessing weapons outside state control.
Lebanon’s cash-strapped military, backed by the U.S. and other governments, has been deploying in recent months across southern Lebanon where Hezbollah has a strong military presence. However, it’s unclear if the army is able or willing to disarm Hezbollah by directly confronting them.
UN says 100,000 people fled Tehran in the war’s first 2 days
The U.N. refugee agency, basing its estimates on Iranian officials, also said around 1,000 to 2,000 vehicles per day were reported leaving the capital, mostly toward the north.
Geneva-based UNHCR spokesman Babar Baloch said the latest reports on Wednesday indicated no increase in cross-border movements linked to the recent conflict “but the situation remains fluid.”
Spain’s government denies cooperating with US operations in Mideast, contradicting the White House
Spanish Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares on Wednesday denied that the government had changed its position on supporting the U.S. military operations against Iran, contradicting a White House spokesperson.
“I can refute (the White House spokesperson),” Albares told Spanish radio station Cadena Ser. “The position of the Spanish government regarding the war in the Middle East, the bombing of Iran and the use of our bases has not changed one iota.”
Albares spoke in Madrid shortly after White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt had said that Spain had changed its position and “they’ve agreed to cooperate with the U.S. military.”
First Israeli combat casualties of the war are reported as 2 soldiers wounded in Lebanon
The Israeli military said the two were wounded Wednesday by anti-tank fire while operating in southern Lebanon.
Hezbollah says its fighters attacked Israeli troops advancing toward the village of Khiyam and released video showing a missile striking a tank.
Israel said Tuesday its forces were moving deeper into Lebanon to establish “forward defensive positions” to protect northern Israel.
White House defends evacuation plans for Americans
The president’s top spokeswoman pushed back against criticisms that the administration didn’t do enough to ensure Americans could leave the Middle East following the U.S. war in Iran.
Leavitt insisted that “there have been plans in place” and that the State Department has been clear to those in the region to leave immediately.
“We will help every single American who wants to come home if they’re making that request of the State Department,” she said.
Leavitt also said a State Department hotline that told callers not to rely on help from the U.S. government to leave the region has been corrected.
US is investigating reports that a girls school in Iran was hit in strikes
Asked if U.S. strikes hit a girls school in Iran — as officials in the region have suggested — Leavitt said, “Not that we know of.”
She said U.S. defense officials are “investigating this matter” and added that she wanted to say “very strongly, the United States of America does not target civilians, unlike the rouge Iranian regime.”
Iran’s top diplomat posted on social media on Monday an aerial photo showing rows of graves that he said were for more than 160 girls killed during a U.S.-Israeli strike on an elementary school in Minab.
U.S. Central Command spokesperson Capt. Tim Hawkins said then that he was “aware of reports” that a school was struck and that officials were looking into them.
White House again says Iran war aimed to head off an attack
The White House press secretary said Wednesday the U.S. launched its operation partly out of concern Iran might strike American personnel and assets in the region first.
Leavitt said a phone call between Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu before they launched the war was “important with respect to the timeline.”
However, she said, “I think the president, prior to that phone call, had a good feeling that the Iranian regime was going to strike the United States assets and our personnel in the region.”
White House says Trump spoke to Kurdish leaders about US bases in Iraq
Leavitt was asked about reports that Trump had a conversation with Kurdish leaders in Iraq and has sought military support for Iranian Kurdish groups.
“He did speak to Kurdish leaders with respect to our base that we have in northern Iraq. But as for any report suggesting that the president has agreed to any such plan is completely false and should not be written,” Leavitt said.
White House says Trump thinks the US public supports war with Iran
Asked if Trump thinks that Americans support the Israel-U.S. war in Iran — even though Trump hasn’t given a national address to personally make the case — Leavitt said, “I think he does.”
“This was a rogue terrorist regime that has been threatening the United States, our allies and our people for 47 years,” she said. “And the American people are smart enough to know that, and they’re smart enough to listen to the president himself — not just over the past year, in the second term, but during his first term as president.”
Recent polling shows that, prior to the U.S.-Israel strikes that started last weekend, 61% of Americans said Iran was an “enemy” of the U.S., but only about 3 in 10 Americans said they had “a great deal” or “quite a bit” of trust in Trump.
White House claims that Spain has agreed to cooperate with US operations in Mideast
The White House on Wednesday said Spain has agreed to cooperate with U.S. operations in the Mideast after Trump had threatened to cut off trade with Madrid.
“With respect to Spain, I think they heard the president’s message yesterday loud and clear,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said. “And it’s my understanding over the past several hours, they’ve agreed to cooperate with the US military. And so I know that the US military is coordinating with their counterparts in Spain.”
Trump on Tuesday said he was going to “cut off all trade with Spain,” the day after Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares said his country would not allow the U.S. to use jointly operated bases in southern Spain in any strikes not covered by the United Nations’ charter.
White House says US ground troops in Iran ‘not part of the plan for this operation at this time’
Leavitt said she would not take away military options on behalf of the president by ruling it out, saying that leaders in the past take options off the table “without having a full understanding of how things could develop.”
“It’s not part of the current plan, but I’m not going to remove an option for the president that is on the table,” Leavitt said.
Trump to attend transfer of soldiers’ remains
Trump plans to attend the dignified transfer at Dover Air Force Base of U.S. troops killed in the Middle East conflict, the White House said Wednesday, one of the most solemn duties undertaken by the commander in chief.
The Pentagon is working to schedule the transfer. The U.S. has said six soldiers were killed.
“These heroes represent the very best among us,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Wednesday.
Emptier streets in Tehran as strikes on Iran intensify
Columns of heavy smoke could be seen rising in the western and eastern parts of the capital on Wednesday, as anti-aircraft batteries thudded intermittently and ambulances sped by.
Security forces and plainclothes officers were on the streets while fewer civilians than usual walked by briskly.
Groceries and bakeries were less crowded than usual. Mostly, customers stocked up on bottled water and dried thin breads — a sign they were preparing for a longer war.
“I preferred to stay in my city since I love this city more than any other place,” said Bagher Abbasi, a 32-year-old taxi driver. “Maybe I can be more useful here in helping those who may need my service.”
Mexico says 279 citizens evacuated from Middle East
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum announced the figure Wednesday. The foreign ministry said on X that most of the evacuees left by land from Israel, the United Arab Emirates, Lebanon and Qatar, and that they left through Egypt, Jordan and Turkey.
Iranians use brief internet access to send messages of hope and fear
Internet access in Iran is almost entirely shut down, meaning residents use the brief windows of connectivity to send messages to the outside world.
A 23-year-old in Tehran told The Associated Press on Wednesday he hopes U.S. and Israeli strikes topple the Islamic Republic.
“It has to fall or they will take their revenge on us,” he wrote. He said that in January, he had joined anti-government protests in which security forces shot thousands of demonstrators and arrested tens of thousands more.
Another resident in the capital’s Velenjak neighborhood told the AP that “conditions in Tehran are falling apart fast” under the air campaign. As she spoke, ambulance sirens wailed and pro-government slogans blared from nearby mosque loudspeakers.
“The possibility of moving around isn’t as much as before,” she said, adding: “I hope whatever is good for Iran, happens.”
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By Amir-Hussein Radjy in Cairo.
More on the container ship struck off Oman
Merchant ship MV Safeen Prestige, which flies the Maltese flag and owned by an Egyptian company, was hit by two missiles Wednesday afternoon while passing through the Strait of Hormuz. That’s according to Malta’s minister for transport, infrastructure and public works, Chris Bonett, speaking in Parliament.
He said that the ship caught fire, primarily in the engine room, and that the vessel suffered relatively heavy damage. However, the 24 seafarers aboard — 21 Egyptians and 3 Ukrainians — did not suffer injuries and were rescued by Oman’s navy, he said.
Earlier Wednesday, a British military agency, the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations, announced that the vessel was heading east through the Strait of Hormuz when it was hit by an unknown projectile, and that the ship had a fire in its engine room.
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