Iran and Israel vow to fight on as markets react to Trump saying war should end “very soon”

Ali Larijani, the Secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, threw President Trump’s latest threat back in his face on Tuesday, warning that Iran would not be cowed by the U.S. leader’s “empty threats” and even threatening to make Americans “disappear.”

Re-sharing a Monday post by Mr. Trump, in which the American leader threatened to strike Iran “TWENTY TIMES HARDER than they have been hit thus far” if the Islamic Republic continued impeding the flow of crude oil through the Strait of Hormuz, Larijani said:

“The Iranian people of Ashura do not fear your empty threats; even those greater than you have failed to erase them… so beware lest you be the ones who disappear.”

Iran’s military vowed earlier Tuesday to keep up its strikes on Gulf states and shipping in the region, both of which have sent oil prices up and stock prices down over the course of the past week, though Mr. Trump’s suggestion on Monday that the war would end “very soon” did ease those market strains, at least in the short term.

Mr. Trump boasted that U.S.-Israeli strikes had destroyed much of Iran’s military capacity, saying U.S. objectives were “pretty well complete,” though neither Iran nor Israel have indicated any interest in a near-term deal to end the fighting. 

The head of energy giant Saudi Aramco warned Tuesday that the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran could have “catastrophic consequences” on oil markets, describing the crisis as unprecedented.

CEO and president Amin H. Nasser said it was vital to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, which typically carries about 20% percent of global oil supplies but has been closed by the ongoing war.

Oil prices have swung wildly over supply disruptions, rocketing 30% Monday before plunging again on predictions by President Trump that the war would end “very soon.”

“The disruption has caused a severe chain reaction in not only shipping and insurance but there’s also a drastic domino effect on aviation, agriculture, automotive and other industries,” Nasser told a media call to announce Aramco’s 2025 earnings. “There would be catastrophic consequences for the world’s oil markets the longer the disruption goes on, and the more drastic the consequences for the global economy. While we have faced disruptions in the past, this one by far is the biggest crisis the region’s oil and gas industry has faced.”

CBS/AFP

A ship likely came under Iranian attack in the Persian Gulf on Tuesday, off the coast of the United Arab Emirates’ capital, according to an advisory from the British military’s maritime trade authority.

A day after President Trump issued a new warning to Iran to stop inhibiting the flow of crude oil through the vital Strait of Hormuz shipping lane, the apparent attack on the bulk carrier not far west of the Strait’s western entrance could indicate an expansion of the Islamic Republic’s assaults against shipping in the region.

The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations center said a captain aboard the cargo ship reported seeing “a splash and heard a loud bang in close proximity of” the vessel, which was not immediately identified.

Iran launched new attacks Tuesday at Gulf Arab countries as it keeps up pressure on the region.

Incoming missile sirens sounded early in the morning in Dubai in the United Arab Emirates and in Bahrain, while Saudi Arabia said it had destroyed two drones over its oil-rich eastern region and Kuwait’s National Guard said it had shot down six drones.

One Iranian drone strike hit a residential building in Bahrain’s capital, Manama, overnight, killing a 29-year-old woman and wounding eight others, the country’s Interior Ministry said. 

The UAE ministry blamed the deaths on “blatant Iranian aggression against a residential building in Manama.”

Iran has repeatedly hit Bahrain, which hosts the U.S. 5th Fleet.

Israeli strikes also hit southern and eastern Lebanon overnight, state media reported Tuesday, as Israel targets the Lebanese group Hezbollah, a powerful Iran proxy.

In addition to firing missiles and drones at Israel and American bases in the region, Iran has been targeting energy infrastructure which, combined with its stranglehold on the Strait of Hormuz, sent oil prices soaring early this week.

CBS/AP

The United Arab Emirates said its consulate in the northern Iraqi city of Erbil was targeted with drones on Tuesday, after Iran vowed to continue its attacks against U.S. interests and allies in the region. 

“The United Arab Emirates has strongly condemned and denounced the unprovoked terrorist drone attack that targeted the UAE Consulate General in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, which resulted in material damage with no injuries reported,” the UAE Foreign Ministry said in a statement, adding that “such acts represent a dangerous escalation and a threat to regional security and stability.”

The semi-autonomous Iraqi region’s Kurdistan Regional Government also issued a statement strongly condemning what it called unlawful attacks targeting civilians, civil institutions, and diplomatic missions, citing the overnight attack on the UAE’s mission.

The U.S. military has a significant number of troops and hardware deployed to bases at Erbil’s international airport and just outside the city, and there is also a U.S. consulate in the city. The U.S. bases have been targeted by Iranian drones since the war began, but there have been no casualties.

“I don’t think talking with the Americans would be on our agenda anymore,” Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told PBS News on Monday, saying Tehran had a “very bitter experience” during previous negotiations with the U.S.

Iran has responded to the U.S.-Israeli attacks with drone and missile strikes targeting Israel and U.S. interests and Gulf Arab states across the region. Shipping traffic through the strategic Strait of Hormuz, through which nearly 20% of the world’s crude oil usually transits, has ground to a virtual halt.

Iranian forces have repeatedly targeted oil tankers passing through the strategic waterway since the war began.

In the interview with PBS News, Araghchi insisted that Iran was acting in “self-defense,” and he insisted that the Islamic Republic was “prepared to continue attacking them with our missiles as long as needed and as long as it takes.”

CBS/AFP

Iran’s powerful Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) mocked President Trump’s apparent bid to lessen the economic impact of the war, warning: “The Iranian armed forces … will not allow the export of a single liter of oil from the region to the hostile side and its partners until further notice.”

“It is we who will determine the end of the war,” said the IRGC, which is seen as close to Iran’s new supreme leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, in a statement carried by Iranian state media. “The equations and future status of the region are now in the hands of our armed forces. American forces will not end the war.”

Mr. Trump indicated Monday that he would decide when the war would end and threatened to strike Iran “TWENTY TIMES HARDER than they have been hit thus far” if it continues blocking the flow of crude oil tankers through the Strait of Hormuz.

CBS/AFP

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned that Israel’s military offensive against Iran was “not done yet,” saying the operation was degrading Iran’s clerical leadership.

“Our aspiration is to bring the Iranian people to cast off the yoke of tyranny; ultimately, it depends on them. But there is no doubt that with the actions taken so far, we are breaking their bones – and we are not done yet,” Netanyahu said during a visit to the National Health Command Center on Monday night, according to a statement published Tuesday.

Netanyahu’s rhetoric came after slightly mixed signals from the Trump administration. President Trump said Monday that the war was “going to be ended soon” and that U.S. objectives were “pretty well complete.” 

Asked about the Pentagon posting on X the same day that, “We have Only Just Begun to Fight,” Mr. Trump said: “I think you could say it both. The beginning, it’s the beginning of building a new country.”

CBS/AFP

President Trump said he’s the only one in his administration who has suggested that Iran bombed a girls’ school “because I just don’t know enough about it.”  

A preliminary U.S. assessment suggests that the U.S. was “likely” responsible for the deadly attack but did not intentionally target the school and may have hit it in error, a person briefed on the preliminary intelligence told CBS News.

“It’s something that I was told is under investigation,” Mr. Trump said. “But Tomahawks are used by others. … Numerous other nations have Tomahawks. They buy them from us.” 

Mr. Trump said he would accept “whatever” the investigation shows. 

“I’m willing to live with that report,” he said. 

Without providing evidence, the president had said Saturday that the U.S. believes the bombing “was done by Iran” and cited information he had seen.

President Trump warned Iran against blocking the Strait of Hormuz, a crucial chokepoint for the world’s oil industry, as the war with Iran has brought shipping traffic in the strait to a virtual standstill — causing oil prices to spike since the war began.

“If Iran does anything that stops the flow of Oil within the Strait of Hormuz, they will be hit by the United States of America TWENTY TIMES HARDER than they have been hit thus far,” he said on his Truth Social platform. “Additionally, we will take out easily destroyable targets that will make it virtually impossible for Iran to ever be built back, as a Nation, again — Death, Fire, and Fury will reign upon them — But I hope, and pray, that it does not happen!”

Mr. Trump has repeatedly threatened to ramp up strikes on Iran if it disrupts the Strait of Hormuz, which lies between Iran and the Arabian Peninsula and carries roughly 20% of the world’s oil. Earlier Monday, he told CBS News he was considering taking over the waterway.

Vice President JD Vance participated in a dignified transfer for Army Sgt. Benjamin N. Pennington, the seventh American service member who was killed in the U.S.-Iran conflict.

Vance flew to Dover Air Force Base in Delaware for the arrival of Pennington’s remains. The vice president was seen saluting during the ceremony, alongside Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Dan Caine.

A Kentucky native, 26-year-old Pennington was assigned to the 1st Space Battalion in Colorado. He was injured during a March 1 attack on a base in Saudi Arabia and died from his injuries a week later, according to the Pentagon.

A dignified transfer for six other U.S. service members who were killed took place last weekend, with President Trump in attendance.