President Donald Trump will give an update on the Iran war on Wednesday, April 1, according to White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt.
“TUNE IN: Tomorrow night at 9PM ET, President Trump will give an Address to the Nation to provide an important update on Iran,”Leavitt said on X Tuesday evening.
The news comes after Trump shared an updated timeline for the end of the war on Tuesday, telling reporters in the Oval Office that he expects it to be over within “two weeks, maybe three.”
“I would say within two weeks, maybe, two weeks, maybe three,” Trump said when asked about how much longer it would take for the war to end. “I think within two or three weeks, we’ll leave. There’s no reason for us to do this.”
Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth on Tuesday said the coming days in the Iran war will be “decisive,” as the Islamic Republic’s armed forces threatened to strike U.S. tech companies in the Middle East and Americans at home saw higher prices at the pump.
The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps threatened to attack U.S. companies in the region, including Oracle, Microsoft, Apple, Google, Meta, Palantir, Nvidia and Tesla, among others. The IRGC said strikes could begin as soon as Wednesday and urged those near U.S.-owned facilities to leave. The White House said the U.S. would be ready to respond. In Saudi Arabia, the State Department advised all Americans to shelter in place, citing threats against U.S. citizens.
Trump signaled that the U.S. might abandon its efforts to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, telling allied countries to “start learning how to fight for yourself, the U.S.A. won’t be there to help you anymore.” A day earlier, he threatened to bomb civilian infrastructure in Iran if peace talks fail. Iranian officials maintain that they are not involved in negotiations with Washington and vowed to “severely punish aggressors.”
As Iran tightened its control over the strait, which carries one-fifth of the world’s oil exports, average gasoline prices in the U.S. rose above $4 a gallon for the first time since 2022.
Michael Loria
Secretary of State Marco Rubio promised on Tuesday evening that although the end of the Iran war will not come “tomorrow,” it will come soon.
“We can see the finish line,” Rubio told Sean Hannity of Fox News on Tuesday evening. “It’s not today, it’s not tomorrow, but it’s coming; we’re going to get to the point where our military will have achieved all the objectives of this mission.”
Rubio’s comments come as Trump made similar points earlier on Tuesday about the U.S. military achieving its objectives in Iran. The president’s comments came as he estimated the war would last another “two weeks, maybe three.”
Michael Loria
President Trump will deliver an address to the nation on Wednesday evening to “provide an important update on Iran,” White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt announced Tuesday evening.
“TUNE IN,” Leavitt said in a statement. “Tomorrow night at 9PM ET, President Trump will give an Address to the Nation to provide an important update on Iran.”
Trump’s move to address the public comes as some two-thirds of Americans say they want the administration to end the fighting, even if it means the nation does not achieve the president’s goals.
Michael Loria
President Donald Trump told reporters in the Oval Office Tuesday that he estimated the war would be over in “two weeks, maybe three.”
“I would say within two weeks, maybe, two weeks, maybe three,” Trump said when asked about how much longer it would take for the war to end. “I think within two or three weeks, we’ll leave. There’s no reason for us to do this.”
The president’s estimate comes as the war stretches past the one-month mark. Trump at the outset of the war promised it would end soon and estimated it would last six weeks at the longest.
Michael Loria
Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa said Tuesday at an event in London that he would keep his country, newly at peace after over a decade of civil war, out of the Iran war.
“Unless Syria is directly targeted by any party, it will stay out of this war,” Sharaa said at a talk at the Chatham House policy institute in London. “Fourteen years of war is enough for Syria.”
Comments on the war from the newly elevated president of Syria come as the Iran war has dragged about a dozen states throughout the Middle East into the fighting. Iran and its ally Hezbollah in Lebanon and the Houthis in Yemen have quickly moved to target U.S. and Israeli military installations throughout the region.
Under Sharaa, a former al Qaeda militant who overthrew dictator Bashar al-Assad, Syria has stayed out of the fray.
“We are not ready for another war experience,” Sharaa said. “He who understands the turmoil of war understands the value of peace.”
Michael Loria
Two-thirds of Americans want the U.S. to end its mission in Iran quickly, even if that means the country does not achieve the goals set by the Trump administration, a new Reuters/Ipsos poll found.
About 66% of respondents said they wanted U.S. officials to end the country’s involvement in the conflict. Around 27% said the country should finish its mission, even if the war goes on for an extended period of time. About 6% of respondents did not answer the question.
The poll comes as the war stretches past the one-month mark. Trump had promised a quick operation but the war shows no signs of letting up and peace talks show no outward signs of progress.
About 40% of Republican respondents supported ending the war soon even if the president does not achieve his goals. Around 57% supported a longer war.
The survey was conducted Friday through Sunday and polled 1,021 people.
Michael Loria
FIFA fully expects the Iranian men’s national soccer team will compete at the upcoming World Cup in the United States.
“We live in the real world and we know that it’s a very complicated situation but we’re working on it and we’re going to make sure Iran plays in this World Cup in the best conditions,” FIFA president Gianni Infantino told Univision Monday. “They qualified fairly for this World Cup.”
The war between the U.S. and Iran is a conflict between the leaders of the two nations, the FIFA president suggested. But a country’s soccer team represents its people rather than its leaders.
Infantino’s comments come as the war has made it unclear whether the team will participate in the upcoming tournament. Trump previously said the team should avoid the tournament “for their own life and safety,” though he has since walked back his comments.
Iran is scheduled to play Belgium in Englewood, California, on June 21 and Egypt on June 26 in Seattle.
Rebecca Morin
The U.S. Department of State on Tuesday said it is “aware” of the kidnapping of an American journalist in Iraq and warned Americans, including journalists, to not travel to that country.
Dylan Johnson, assistant secretary of state for global public affairs, said in a statement on X that the State Department is coordinating with the FBI to ensure the release of the journalist, who they did not name, as quickly as possible.
An individual with ties to the Iranian-aligned militia group Kataib Hizballah who is believed to be involved in the kidnapping has been taken into custody by Iraqi authorities, Johnson said. Iraq is at a Level 4 travel advisory, meaning Americans are advised not to travel to Iraq and to leave the country.
“The State Department strongly advise all Americans, including members of the press, to adhere to all travel advisories,” Johnson said in the statement.
Johnson did not name the kidnapped journalist. However, several media outlets identified the journalist as Shelley Kittleson.
Andrea Riquier
The stock market surged into the close Tuesday even as the oil price hit a fresh high.
The Dow added more than 1,100 to close near 46,341, while the Nasdaq jumped nearly 4%, adding nearly 800 points. The broad S&P 500 gained nearly 3%, and finished trading near 6,526. The benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury yield fell more than 3 basis points to about 4.31%, its lowest since last week.
Some press accounts attributed the optimism on Wall Street to various reports that both U.S. President Donald Trump and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian would be willing to negotiate a détente.
Oil traders ignored such rumors. A barrel of brent crude hit a recent high of $118 a barrel, after being higher during the trading day. A gallon of gas averaged $4.018 nationwide, according to AAA.
It’s worth noting, however, that Tuesday marks both the end of the month and the end of the quarter, which means massive institutional investors like mutual funds need to rebalance their portfolios.
What’s more, after a bruising few weeks that saw two of the three stock indexes slide into correction territory, some investors may have simply seen Tuesday as a buying opportunity.
Zac Anderson
As Iran threats to attack U.S. companies amid an ongoing U.S. and Israeli military campaign against the country, American forces stand ready to curtail such attacks, according to a White House official.
The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps threatened to start attacking U.S. companies in the Middle East on April 1, according to Iranian state media outlets. Microsoft, Google, Apple, Intel, IBM, Tesla and Boeing are among 18 companies singled out for potential attacks.
Christopher Cann
Iran and its proxies no longer threaten the existence of Israel, said Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in a video address on Tuesday, adding that the war has led to new alliances between Israel and “important” countries in the Middle East.
“We are building new alliances in the region against the shared Iranian threat,” Netanyahu said. “Soon, I hope to share more details with the citizens of Israel.”
Netanyahu said the Iranian regime will fall sooner or later. He did not say when he anticipates the U.S.-Israel war with Iran to end.
The prime minister added that Israel has created a “wide buffer zone” in southern Lebanon. Those comments come after Israel’s defense minister outlined plans to destroy all homes in Lebanese villages near the Israeli border and indefinitely block hundreds of thousands of people from returning to the area.
Israel says its ground invasion into southern Lebanon and its move to control a large portion of Lebanese territory is to protect northern Israel from Hezbollah.
Cybele Mayes-Osterman
Since the Iran war began on Feb. 28, a total of 348 U.S. service members have been wounded, and 315 of those have returned to duty, according to Capt. Tim Hawkins, a spokesperson for U.S. Central Command.
Six soldiers are seriously wounded, he said.
Thirteen U.S. service members have been killed in the war – six in an Iranian drone attack on a base in Kuwait, one in another attack on Prince Sultan Air Base in Saudi Arabia, and the remaining six when their KC-135 aircraft crashed in Iraq.
Kathryn Palmer
Speaking to reporters outside the papal residence in Italy, Pope Leo repeated his call for an end to the U.S.-Israel war with Iran, expressing hope for a solution by the Easter holiday.
The pontiff said he hopes President Donald Trump is “looking for an off-ramp” when asked by a reporter if he has a message for leaders, echoing his comments made over the past several days lamenting the conflict.
“I will certainly continue to give this call to all leaders of the world, to say, ‘come back to the table for dialogue,'” he said. “Let’s look for solutions to problems. Let’s look for ways to reduce the amount of violence.”
The U.S.-born pope added that he would like to see peace, “especially” at Easter, on April 5. In an address to tens of thousands of people gathered in St. Peter’s Square on Palm Sunday, March 29, Pope Leo said God rejects the prayers of leaders who start wars and have “hands full of blood” and called the conflict “atrocious.”
Christopher Cann
The Department of State warned all Americans in Saudi Arabia to shelter in place as authorities monitor threats against U.S. citizens.
“We are tracking reports of threats against locations where American citizens gather,” the U.S. Embassy in Saudi Arabia said in a travel advisory.
“We advise U.S. citizens that hotels and other gathering points including U.S. businesses and U.S. educational institutions may be potential targets,” the advisory continued, urging people to stay inside and away from windows.
Christopher Cann
American journalist Shelley Kittleson was kidnapped in Iraq on Tuesday, according to multiple news outlets, triggering an intensive search that has led to one arrest.
Iraq’s Interior Ministry in a statement confirmed a foreign journalist was abducted and said it launched an immediate investigation, tracking the kidnappers’ movements. Authorities located a car used by the kidnappers, which had overturned as the suspects fled from police.
One person believed to be involved has been arrested, the ministry said.
“The Ministry affirms that efforts are ongoing to track down the remaining perpetrators and secure the release of the abducted woman, and to take due legal action against all those involved in this criminal act, in accordance with the law,” the ministry said. “Investigations are still underway to fully uncover the circumstances of the incident, and further details will be provided later.”
Al-Monitor, where Kittleson was a contributor, issued a statement calling for her “safe and immediate release.” The statement added: “We stand by her vital reporting from the region and call for her swift return to continue her important work.” Reuters also reported Kittleson had been abducted, citing unnamed Iraqi police sources.
Reuters
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said he has been receiving direct messages from U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff but they do not constitute “negotiations,” Qatar’s Al Jazeera TV cited him as saying on Tuesday.
The messages include threats or exchanged views delivered through “friends,” he added. Witkoff last week said during a Cabinet meeting that Pakistan and other regional countries were facilitating communications between Tehran and Washington.
Araqchi also said Tehran is prepared for any potential “ground confrontation.” The statement comes as the U.S. is building up its military presence in the region.
Christopher Cann
Israel will destroy “all” of the houses near Lebanon’s southern border and will stop hundreds of thousands of people from returning to the area as Israel establishes security of its northern border, a top Israeli official said on Tuesday.
Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz outlined plans to establish a security zone 20 miles deep into Lebanese territory, as it battles Iran-backed Hezbollah. Katz said Israel will maintain control over a large swath of southern Lebanon indefinitely, as senior cabinet ministers openly call for the territory to be formally annexed.
Israel initiated a ground invasion of Lebanon after Hezbollah launched rockets at northern Israel following strikes that killed Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.
In the fifth week of the war, strikes in Lebanon have killed at least 1,268, according to the Lebanese Health Ministry. More than 1.2 million people have been displaced.
Reuters
U.S. farmers plan to plant less corn and more soybeans in 2026 than last year, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said, as the Iran war drives up fertilizer and fuel prices.
The agency published on Tuesday its first survey-based U.S. crop acreage estimate of the year in a prospective plantings report, along with quarterly grain stocks data.
Corn and wheat require more costly fertilizer, making them less attractive than soybeans to growers with the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran disrupting global shipments.
Farmers’ planting decisions this spring have been complicated by rising input costs, weak grain prices and uncertainty over China’s demand for U.S. crops. U.S. stocks of corn, soybeans and wheat as of March 1 were up from a year ago, USDA said, reflecting ample supplies.
Bart Jansen
Lebanon’s ambassador told the United Nations the “humanitarian catastrophe is escalating” from Israel’s attacks on Hezbollah. But Israel’s ambassador said his country must respond to attacks Iran’s proxy.
Ahman Arafa, Lebanon’s ambassador, told the UN Security Council that 1,247 Lebanese have been killed, 3,680 injured and 1.2 million displaced since the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran began Feb. 28. The latest casualties included two Indonesian peacekeepers killed and two injured March 30 by a roadside explosion while moving in a convoy with the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL).
“The humanitarian catastrophe is escalating amid ongoing Israeli attacks,” Arafa said. “Israel continues to flatten towns and villages and to carry out large-scale incursions into Lebanese territory.”
Danny Danon, Israel’s ambassador to the United Nations, said Hezbollah set up launch sites for its missiles next to peacekeeper facilities and “put UNIFIL in the line of fire.” “We regret any incident in which UN personnel are harmed, but we cannot ignore the bigger picture,” Danon said. Hezbollah “acts as a proxy of Iran,” he added.
“We have no desire to remain or operate in Lebanon,” Danon said. “Our goal is to protect our communities and to push threat away from our border.”
Christopher Cann
President Trump on Tuesday told the New York Post that the Iran war will soon end and he believes the Strait of Hormuz will “automatically open” once American forces leave.
“I don’t think about it, to be honest,” he said about the waterway that Iran has effectively shut down for over a month, causing global energy prices to surge. “My sole function was to make sure that they don’t have a nuclear weapon. They’re not going to have a nuclear weapon. When we leave, the strait will automatically open.”
Trump added: “They have no strength left, and let the countries that are using the strait, let them go and open it.” His comments come hours after Trump told U.S. allies to open the strait themselves in a post on Truth Social.
Trump also told the New York Post that he anticipates the war will soon wind down.
“We’re not going to be there too much longer,” he told the outlet. “We’re obliterating the s— out of them right now, it’s a total obliteration.”
Christopher Cann
The World Health Organization condemned recent airstrikes that damaged the agency’s office in the Iranian capital of Tehran.
The organization’s director-general, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, in a statement on X said the strikes shattered the WHO’s office windows. None of the agency’s personnel were injured.
“Strikes impacting the operations and damaging the premises of WHO and other U.N. agencies, the locations of which have been clearly identified, cannot be tolerated and must be avoided at all costs.”
Israel and the U.S. have intensified their strikes on Iran in recent days, as the war entered its fifth week. It was unclear which country was responsible for the reported aerial assault near the WHO office in Tehran.
Christopher Cann
Pakistan and China on Tuesday announced a new five-point peace initiative that seeks to end the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran.
The initiative calls for an immediate ceasefire, an opening of negotiations, a halt to all attacks on civilian infrastructure, reopening the Strait of Hormuz, and the establishment of a peace agreement, according to Pakistan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The proposal comes after Pakistan’s foreign minister, Ishaq Dar, met with his Chinese counterpart in Beijing. The two parties said they agreed to pursue the five-point initiative to reach a peaceful resolution to the conflict, now in its fifth week.
Pakistan has been a key mediator in indirect talks between Tehran and Washington. An initial 15-point U.S. proposal was dismissed as “excessive” by Iranian officials.
Christopher Cann
The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps on Tuesday said it will target U.S. companies in the region starting Wednesday, April 1, in retaliation for attacks on Iran, the country’s state-owned media outlets reported.
The IRGC’s threat included a list of 18 companies, including Microsoft, Google, Apple, Intel, IBM, Tesla and Boeing.
“These companies should expect the destruction of their respective units in exchange for each terror act in Iran, starting from 8 PM Tehran time on Wednesday, April 1st,” the IRGC statement said.
Bart Jansen
After Trump threatened to target civilian energy facilities and desalination plants, military leaders said they review targets in Iran to ensure they are lawful.
The threats have been contentious under international humanitarian law, under which the targeting of civilian facilities is prohibited.
Air Force Gen. Dan Caine, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said he couldn’t discuss any specific targets but that the military carefully reviews the risk to civilians and legal considerations in selecting targets.
“As targets come before us, we run them through the same process that we always do and always strike lawful targets in accordance with the normal procedures that we use,” Caine said.
Christopher Cann
President Trump told CBS News that he is not ready to pull American forces out from around Strait of Hormuz “quite yet,” but reiterated his demands that U.S. allies “take care of” securing the shipping lane.
“At some point I will, not quite yet,” Trump told the outlet. “But countries have to come in and take care of it. Iran has been decimated, but they’re going to have to come in and do their own work.”
“NATO is terrible, and they’re all terrible,” Trump said, adding that “If they want oil, come up and grab it. There’s no real threat, there’s no substantial threat because the country (Iran) has been decimated.”
His comments come hours after he earlier seemed to indicate that he could abandon U.S. efforts to reopen the critical oil passage, telling allies they need to “start learning how to fight for yourself, the U.S.A. won’t be there to help you anymore, just like you weren’t there for us.”
Despite Trump’s assurances that Iran is defenseless, an Iranian drone on Tuesday set a Kuwaiti oil tanker ablaze as it was at port in Dubai.
Bart Jansen
Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth said the United States is aware of reported Russian and Chinese assistance being provided to Iran but that the military is dealing with it.
“As far as Russia and China, we know exactly what they’re doing, what they are or are not doing,” Hegseth said. “We don’t have to air publicly what all of that is, but where necessary, we’re addressing it, we’re mitigating it or we’re confronting it head-on.”
Hegseth added later that the military is adapting to intelligence being provided to Iran from unnamed adversaries.
“There are some things that adversaries are doing to provide info and intel that they shouldn’t,” Hegseth said. “We’re aware of it. Ultimately, we move things around. One of the biggest principles you learn in the military is to not set patterns.”
Cybele Mayes-Osterman
Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth again refused to rule out that American boots could be on the ground in Iran, saying “we’re not going to foreclose any option.”
“Our adversary right now thinks there are 15 different ways we can come at them with boots on the ground. And guess what – there are,” he said.
“If we needed to, we could execute those options,” he said. “Or maybe we don’t have to use them at all.”
“The point is to be unpredictable,” he added.
Bart Jansen
Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth said three Air Force fighter captains who were shot down in their fighters by friendly fire from Kuwait early in the bombing campaign never left the theater of war.
“All dropped bombs over Tehran last night,” Hegseth said. “These men and women live the Iranian threat every day.”
Hegseth, who visited Central Command over the weekend, said he heard the same message from service members of all ranks and services asking for more and bigger bombs.
“Let’s finish the mission,” Hegseth said he was told.
Cybele Mayes-Osterman
Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth pressed other countries to help the United States open the Strait of Hormuz, echoing President Donald Trump’s posts on Truth Social urging countries to “build up some delayed courage, go to the Strait, and just TAKE IT.”
“There are countries around the world who ought to be prepared to step up,” Hegseth told reporters.
Hegseth said there was “lots we’re doing as well, some of which is known, some of which is not known.”
“There are many more vessels flowing through than there were,” he said.
Cybele Mayes-Osterman
Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth told reporters at a Pentagon news briefing on Tuesday that he was on the ground in the Middle East for half a day on Saturday.
Hegseth said he would not name where he was so that troops would not be targeted.
Hegseth said he spoke to pilots, witnessed operations, and met service members, including the Army targeting team who sank “the pride and joy of the Iranian navy” and an Air Force intel analyst “who defines target packages faster than the enemy can adapt.”
“‘Please thank the president from us.’ I heard that time and time again,” Hegseth said.
Three Air Force captains whose F-15 fighter jets were mistakenly shot down by Kuwait remained in the region and “all dropped bombs over Tehran last night,” he added.
The fighter jets crashed on March 2 and the crews of the planes “survived unscathed,” Kuwait’s defense ministry spokesperson Col. Said Al-Atwan said at the time.
Rachel Barber
The national average retail price of a gallon of gasoline surpassed $4 for the first time in more than three years, as the Iran war continues to drive oil costs up and raise prices at the pump.
The average cost of unleaded gas has climbed more than a dollar in the month since the war began. As of Tuesday morning, regular unleaded is averaging $4.02, up from $2.98 in February, according to AAA.
Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, topped more than $100 a barrel on Monday for the first time since 2022 when Russia invaded Ukraine.
Bart Jansen
Trump continued his complaints against Western allies for not contributing to the war on Iran by chastising France for not allowing U.S. planes headed to Israel to fly over its territory.
Trump has argued that other countries should have contributed more to the war effort to prevent Iran from developing a nuclear weapon. In particular, he has said the United States protected the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and its members, but that they didn’t participate in Iran.
“The Country of France wouldn’t let planes headed to Israel, loaded up with military supplies, fly over French territory,” Trump said on social media on Tuesday. “The U.S.A. will REMEMBER!!!”
Bart Jansen
Trump encouraged other countries concerned about Iranian threats against shipping in the Strait of Hormuz to “just TAKE IT.”
Trump said in a social media post on Tuesday that countries such as the United Kingdom, which are worried about the lack of oil tankers traveling through the strait, could “buy from the U.S.” He also suggested they could “build up some delayed courage, go to the Strait, and just TAKE IT.”
Trump has voiced frustration repeatedly with the lack of support from other western countries when the U.S.-Israeli war against Iran began on Feb. 28. But the president contends there is no excuse for the lack of participation now that Iran’s navy has been sunk and its air defenses severely weakened.
“You’ll have to start learning how to fight for yourself, the U.S.A. won’t be there to help you anymore, just like you weren’t there for us,” Trump said. “Iran has been, essentially, decimated. The hard part is done. Go get your own oil!”
Bart Jansen
The head of U.S. Central Command, Adm. Brad Cooper, who is overseeing the war on Iran, visited Israel and recognized more than 40 servicemembers with medals for exceptional performance.
During the trip to Tel Aviv on Sunday and Monday, Cooper met with Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir, chief of the general staff of the Israel Defense Forces, according to U.S. Capt. Tim Hawkins, spokesperson for Central Command.
The two leaders discussed progress made during ongoing operations to eliminate Iran’s ability to attack other countries, Hawkins said in a statement. The military leaders also reaffirmed the partnership between the U.S. and Israel, Hawkins said.
Michael Loria
A fully loaded Kuwaiti crude oil tanker at port in Dubai was set ablaze by an Iranian attack that damaged the vessel’s hull.
Kuwait’s Al Salmi tanker was attacked at the port connected to the United Arab Emirates city better known as a destination for influencers, Reuters and The New York Times reported. Both publications cited a Kuwaiti state news agency that in turn cited the Kuwait Petroleum Company. Government officials in Dubai also confirmed the attack.
The attack comes at a moment where Iran’s attacks on oil vessels from countries allied with the U.S. have driven up oil prices and threatened the global economy. According to reports, the vessel was loaded with two million barrels of oil from Kuwait and Saudi Arabia and was bound for China.
Government officials in Dubai first reported the attack at around 3:30 a.m. local time. They said the attack involved a drone. No injuries were reported. Authorities in Dubai confirmed the fire had been extinguished by about 5:30 a.m.
Photos of the attack were not immediately available. The Emirates have strict laws around photographing evidence of attacks. Human rights lawyers are warning travelers that they face arrest for taking pictures of attacks.
Michael Loria
A bombing campaign targeting Iranian civilian infrastructure could backfire against the United States by creating a groundswell of popular support among the Iranian people for the regime in Tehran’s war effort, experts warn.
“At the moment the people who want to continue the war are the hardliners inside the regime,” Maryam Saeedi, an assistant professor of economics at Carnegie Mellon University, told USA TODAY. But attacking civilian infrastructure has “the potential drawback that a lot of ordinary people become more and more against the U.S. and Israel, giving the regime more legitimacy, at a moment where its legitimacy is very low.”
Trump on Monday threatened to carry out a massive bombing campaign of Iranian civil infrastructure. He threatened to destroy electricity plants, oil wells and Kharg Island, the country’s main oil export terminal.
Many Iranians worry the country’s people are being treated as collateral by military leaders involved in the conflict, Saeedi said.
“The only people no one seems to care about are Iranian people, who are ruled by a dictatorship and being attacked by two different countries,” said Saeedi.