Washington: US President Donald Trump on Wednesday claimed that Iran’s president wanted a ceasefire ahead of his speech to the American people.Trump made the claim on his Truth Social website.Trump said “Iran’s New Regime President,” however.Iran still has the same president.Trump also said that a ceasefire would only happen when the Strait of Hormuz is “open, free, clear”. “Until then, we are blasting Iran into oblivion or, as they say, back to the Stone Ages!!!” he wrote.Iran had no immediate response to Trump’s post.Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi in an interview with Al Jazeera aired late on Tuesday signalled Tehran’s willingness to keep fighting.”You cannot speak to the people of Iran in the language of threats and deadlines,” he said. “We do not set any deadline for defending ourselves.” APIran calls Trump’s remarks on Tehran asking for ceasefire ‘false, baseless’April 1, 2026 8:30 pmDubai: Iran Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei on Wednesday called US President Donald Trump’s remarks on Tehran allegedly asking for a ceasefire “false and baseless”. Also, Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard separately issued a statement saying the Strait of Hormuz “is firmly and decisively under the control” of its forces. “This strait will not be opened to the enemies of this nation through the ridiculous spectacle by the president of the United States,” it added. APTrump says US may exit Iran war soon and threatens to quit NATO, as oil crisis escalatesApril 1, 2026 5:27 pmWashington/Jerusalem/Cairo: Global oil supplies are expected to be hit twice as hard this month as in March, the International Energy Agency said on Wednesday, underlining the urgent need to resolve the conflict over Iran that US President Donald Trump said could end soon. While Trump signalled he could wind down the war within weeks even without a deal, he also scaled up threats to pull the United States out of the NATO defence alliance if European states did not help stop Iran blocking the Strait of Hormuz. “I was never swayed by NATO. I always knew they were a paper tiger, and (Russian President Vladimir) Putin knows that too, by the way,” Trump told Britain’s Daily Telegraph, saying he had moved beyond merely reconsidering US membership. The remarks on the war underscored Washington’s shifting and at times contradictory statements about a conflict that has killed thousands, spread across the region and caused unprecedented energy disruption. “We’ll be leaving (the Iran conflict) very soon,” Trump told reporters, saying that could be “within two weeks, maybe two weeks, maybe three.” “Iran doesn’t have to make a deal, no,” he said, when asked if successful diplomacy was a prerequisite for the US to end what it calls “Operation Epic Fury”. ReutersIsrael hits Iranian fentanyl plant and kills 5 in strikes on BeirutApril 1, 2026 2:43 pmIn Iran, Israel said it had hit a plant producing fentanyl, a powerful synthetic opioid, to allegedly be used in a chemical weapons programme. Iran acknowledged the strike on Tofigh Daru factory, but insisted it only supplied “hospital drugs” used for medical purposes. The strike happened on Tuesday, both the Israelis and the Iranians said.No signs of Iran relinquishing grip on Strait of Hormuz shippingApril 1, 2026 2:43 pmTrump has been under growing pressure to end the war as Iran’s grip on shipping through the Strait of Hormuz and its attacks on regional energy infrastructure have sent gas prices skyrocketing to their highest level since 2022 and caused broad stock market fluctuations. Iran throttled ship traffic through the strait, which leads from the Persian Gulf to the open ocean, after it was attacked by the US and Israel on February 28.US could end Iran war in two to three weeks, says TrumpApril 1, 2026 2:43 pmWashington: President Donald Trump said the United States could end its military attacks on Iran within two to three weeks and Tehran did not have to make a deal as a prerequisite for the conflict to wind down. The remarks underscored the shifting and at times contradictory statements from Washington about how the war, now in its fifth week, might end. “We’ll be leaving very soon,” Trump told reporters at the White House on Tuesday, saying the exit could take place “within two weeks, maybe two weeks, maybe three.” Asked if successful diplomacy with Iran was a prerequisite for the US to conclude what it has dubbed “Operation Epic Fury”, Trump said it was not. “Iran doesn’t have to make a deal, no,” he said. “No, they don’t have to make a deal with me.”Israeli military says drone downed by surface-to-air missile in southern LebanonApril 1, 2026 10:46 amA surface-to-air missile downed an Israeli military drone during operational activity in southern Lebanon overnight on Tuesday, the Israel Defense Forces said on Wednesday.Kuwait says Iran drone attack sets airport fuel tanks ablaze, no casualtiesApril 1, 2026 9:21 amAn Iranian drone attack struck fuel tanks at Kuwait International Airport on Wednesday, sparking a massive fire but causing no casualties, Kuwait’s state news agency KUNA said. The latest of several attacks on the airport and fuel storage there came as the US-Israeli war on Iran broadens with Tehran’s strikes on Israel and Gulf Arab states that host US military installations. Wednesday’s attack caused significant damage to airport fuel tanks belonging to the Kuwait Aviation Fuelling Company, the agency cited a spokesperson for the civil aviation authority as saying.Trump plans national address on IranApril 1, 2026 8:44 amThe White House has said Trump would address the nation “to provide an important update on Iran” at 9 p.m. EDT on Wednesday (0100 GMT on Thursday).War continues to rageApril 1, 2026 8:44 amThe war has also revived conflict between Israel and the Iran-backed Lebanese group Hezbollah. At least seven people were killed and 24 wounded in two Israeli strikes in the Beirut area, the Lebanese health ministry said on Wednesday, in attacks that hit vehicles in Beirut’s southern outskirts and in an area just south of the capital.Tehran threatens to target major US companies in retaliationApril 1, 2026 8:44 amIran’s Revolutionary Guards on Tuesday hit back with a new threat against US companies in the region starting on Wednesday. It listed 18 businesses including Microsoft, Google , Apple, Intel, IBM, Tesla and Boeing that would be targeted from 8 p.m. Tehran time (1630 GMT). When asked if he was concerned about threats to the companies, President Donald Trump said no.