Trump warns U.S. will act if deal fails as Tehran says it's proceeding 'with vigilance'

Click here to follow the latest updates in the conflict with Iran.

Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said Wednesday that safe passage through the Strait of Hormuz is only possible through routes designated by Tehran.

The IRGC said it will take action against vessels that fail to comply with its requirements, Reuters reported.

"A few hours ago, without prior notice or coordination with the Islamic Republic of Iran, some authorities announced a new route for the passage of ships through the Strait of Hormuz, which is unacceptable and completely dangerous," the IRGC said in a statement published by official media, Iran International reported.

"It is hereby announced to all that the only permitted route for passage through the Strait of Hormuz is the route designated by the Islamic Republic of Iran," the statement said.

President Donald Trump on Wednesday declared that the Middle East is entering an era of peace for the first time in thousands of years amid a "historic" agreement with Iran.

“And last week we signed a historic agreement to end the conflict with Iran, fully reopened the Strait of Hormuz and accomplished what no president has ever been able to accomplish before,” Trump said in Washington, D.C., at the Great American State Fair kickoff on the National Mall.

“Iran will never have a nuclear weapon, and thanks to the power and skill of the United States Armed Forces today,” he added.

“Iran has no navy, no air force, no antiaircraft capacity, no missile launches, no manufacturing, and their leadership has been obliterated,” Trump said before adding that “for the first time in 3,000 years, we are finally going to have peace in the Middle East.”

The president also said that within “one week Iran was essentially finished in one hour.”

Chief Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell confirmed Wednesday that the Defense Department's share of the supplemental funding request to cover expenses associated with the war in Iran totals $67 billion.

"We look forward to working with Congress to get this passed on behalf of the Warfighter and ensure we remain ready to respond to contingencies TODAY" Parnell said in a statement posted on X.

He also said the $350 billion included in Reconciliation 3.0 represents a "GENERATIONAL investment in our military."

"Without which," he said, "we cannot build Golden Dome, reshore critical minerals supply chains, scale munitions production, and make critical quality-of-life investments for our amazing service members."

"This guarantees our military dominance for decades to come, creates thousands of well-paying jobs in America, and ensures both PEACE THROUGH STRENGTH and PROSPERITY THROUGH STRENGTH," he added.

Echoing Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth's remarks about maintaining "the world's strongest military" to safeguard economic stability, predictability and American advantage, Parnell warned that the nation's "future military dominance hangs in the balance."

"We must pass Reconciliation 3.0," he said.

"This isn't optional — it's essential to modernize our forces, support our troops, crush our adversaries, and restore the warrior ethos President Trump demands."

"No more delays, no more excuses. Let's get it done for the greatest military in the history of the world," he added. 

Iran's battered economy and U.S. financial pressure forced the regime to the negotiating table, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said as the Trump administration eased some sanctions to keep talks on track.

Speaking with Bret Baier at the Economic Club of New York on Tuesday, Bessent said the temporary sanction relief has its own purpose.

"The Iranians were always selling oil. It was going to China, but at a discount," Bessent said. "It is a carrot that we can always pull back."

"We want them to see what it feels like not having the sanctions on, and then we can always put them back on," he added.

Bessent said Iran's economy has been "devastated" by economic turmoil.

"They've got more than 100% inflation. Troops weren't getting paid, so we have political economy to work with, and that's what brought them to the table," he said.

Bessent also predicted economic gains for Americans once the conflict ends.

"We're going to get on the other side of this conflict, and the inflation will come back to target," he said.

"Prosperity and security are linked, and for decades we detached security and prosperity. We can't have real, durable prosperity without economic security." 

U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Mike Waltz warned Wednesday that if Iran does not abandon its fixation with its nuclear program, all options remain on the table, including the reimposition of sanctions.

“As Secretary Bessent said, it is a temporary license on the sanctions,” Waltz told Martha MacCallum on “The Story,” referring to Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent’s temporary 60-day general license allowing the production, sale and delivery of Iranian oil as part of an emerging diplomatic framework.

“The sanctions aren't being lifted,” Waltz said, adding that it is a “temporary license while we go through these negotiations.”

“As the president has repeatedly said, if they don't live up to their end of the bargain, if they don't negotiate in good faith, if they aren't prepared to finally give up this obsession with a nuclear program, they get slapped back on, and all options are on,” Waltz said.

Tehran blasted NATO on Wednesday, accusing it of complicity in U.S. strikes against Iran as Secretary General Mark Rutte highlighted support from alliance members during a meeting with President Donald Trump at the White House.

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei's remarks came as the NATO chief also dismissed reluctance among some U.S. allies to support military action against Iran as "isolated cases."

“This is a clear and damning admission of NATO’s active complicity in an unlawful war of aggression against a sovereign U.N. member state — a flagrant violation of peremptory norms of international law and the core principles of the U.N. Charter,” Baqaei wrote on X.

“The Organization and its individual member states that participated in such decision-making must be held accountable for all the consequences,” he added before stating that Italy and Romania are “explicitly named by NATO's secretary general to have participated in the aggression against Iran.”

Baqaei also accused the countries of having “assisted the American-Israeli aggression against” Iran and colluding in a “blatant act of aggression and in the commission of mass atrocities against Iranian people.”

Rutte had said Italy allowed U.S. military aircraft to take off from American bases in the country during strikes on Iran.

He also said military tanker operations required additional capacity at Bucharest's airport, leading Romanian authorities to reduce commercial air traffic.

Australia’s spy chief said Wednesday that Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) used two agents with ties to Australia to direct arson attacks against Jewish targets in 2024.

Mike Burgess, director-general of the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO), told The Associated Press that an Australian citizen based in Iran directed the firebombing of a kosher restaurant in Sydney, while a former Australian resident living in Iraq directed an attack on Melbourne’s Adass Israel Synagogue.

Burgess said the Australian citizen was a senior Revolutionary Guard operative overseeing the group’s global networks, while the former resident was recruited through Iraqi militia groups due to his criminal connections.

Both cases remain under investigation, Burgess said, declining to identify the suspects.

“Iran continues to view Australia as a legitimate target for covertly directed acts of violence,” Burgess told the outlet. 

President Donald Trump on Wednesday warned Iran against imposing costs on ships using the Strait of Hormuz, saying such a move could derail U.S. negotiations.

"Yeah. It would be unacceptable to me," Trump told reporters at the White House and sitting alongside NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte.

The comments came after Trump said that Iran had indicated there are "NO TOLLS, NO INSURANCE COSTS, & NO OTHER CHARGES OF ANY KIND BEING SOUGHT OR RECEIVED BY IRAN ON SHIPS TRAVELING THE STRAIT OF HORMUZ."

"If this is false information, negotiations would end, immediately!" Trump wrote on Truth Social.

A spokesman for Iran's parliament National Security Committee had said Tehran would not yield to regional pressure over the waterway.

"The Islamic Republic did not conquer the Strait of Hormuz through negotiation, so it would not now give it up through negotiation," Ebrahim Rezaei wrote on X on Wednesday, adding that Iran "is not influenced by others."

Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., revealed Wednesday that he got into a heated exchange with President Donald Trump during a closed-door Senate GOP lunch amid reports of a clash between the two over Iran policy and congressional war powers.

Cassidy said Trump questioned why any Republican would support a War Powers Resolution related to Iran, prompting the Louisiana senator to defend his position.

"I'm not voting for war powers until I get a briefing. At which point, as I recall, he did not particularly care for my comments, raised his voice, and I lost my temper — that's not appropriate, it's the Irish in me — but I again matched his tone and his volume, and it went back and forth," Cassidy told Fox News.

"I make no apologies for standing up to the president — if you will — trying to demand that more information be shared with the Senate and more information be shared with the American people," Cassidy added.

According to Cassidy, Trump raised his voice during the exchange, prompting the senator to lose his temper. Cassidy said the argument grew so heated that fellow Republican senators eventually urged him to sit down.

"I am sticking up for the American people, even if I'm speaking to the president," Cassidy said.

"I made it clear that I wasn't going to be bullied, made it clear that I think we need answers, and that was that," he added.

The New York Post, citing multiple lawmakers, first reported the heated exchange, which centered on U.S. policy toward Iran and the War Powers Resolution aimed at limiting the president's military authority.

According to senators who attended the lunch, Trump was "mad as a murder hornet" after Cassidy joined three other Republicans in supporting the measure.

Fox News' Tyler Olsen contributed to this report.

NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte on Wednesday praised U.S. efforts to curb Iran’s nuclear ambitions, warning that Tehran was “exporting chaos” and terrorism while coming close to acquiring a nuclear weapons that would have threatened global security.

“About Iran. I really want to make clear how important it is what you are doing on Iran,” Rutte told reporters at the White House after a meeting with President Donald Trump.

“This is, first of all, about the nuclear capability,” he added before stating that Iran was “basically getting its hands on a nuclear capability, and that would have been a threat to the region.”

“That would have been a threat to the whole world,” Rutte added.

“This is a country that is exporting chaos. It is exporting terrorism, and they were very near to getting their hands on a nuclear capability,” the NATO head warned.

“You have seen it last week. And at the G7, all the leaders in the G7 applauded the fact that this nuclear capability has been degraded.”

“This is about security, about safety. This is the leader of the free world taking responsibility beyond the shores of the United States for the rest of the world.”

Rutte’s remarks came ahead of a pivotal NATO leaders summit in July.

Iran accused Washington on Wednesday of sending mixed signals about the memorandum of understanding (MOU) aimed at ending the conflict, with Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei saying U.S. statements risk deepening mistrust.

“The U.S. ruling establishment has never shown any sincerity in its behavior toward the Iranian nation,” Baqaei said in a post shared on X.

“Iran, while having ample reason for this suspicion, entered the diplomatic process in good faith and signed the memorandum of understanding to end the imposed war,” he added before stating that Iranians know that the “enemy's animosity will not end with the signing of a single agreement, and they will take every step with vigilance, bearing in mind the experiences of the past five decades, especially the developments of the last year and a half.”

“The contradictory statements by U.S. officials regarding the memorandum of understanding to end the imposed war will do nothing to reduce the accumulated distrust of Iranians and will merely serve as a reminder of past breaches of faith,” he said.

Baghaei said Washington should remember that the principle of "commitment for commitment" requires both sides to fulfill their obligations and avoid interpretations that contradict the memorandum's explicit language.

“The U.S. ruling establishment must bear in mind that the principle of "commitment for commitment" requires the fulfillment of reciprocal obligations and the avoidance of interpretations that are entirely at odds with the explicit wording of the memorandum of understanding text,” he added.

Around 20 million barrels of oil have exited the Strait of Hormuz in the last 24 hours, U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright said Wednesday before thanking President Donald Trump and the United States military.

“In the last 24 hours, 72 ships and 20 million barrels of oil have transited through the Strait of Hormuz, fully restoring pre-conflict flows.

Thank you, President Trump, and the U.S. military!” Wright said in a post shared on X.

Three stranded tankers carrying 5 million barrels of crude were also seen exiting the strait on Wednesday, shipping data showed, as the interim deal between Iran and the U.S. helped unlock supplies stuck in the Gulf.

TankerTrackers reported that Iran had exported 40 million barrels of crude oil since June 15.

“Exactly half of that amount shipped out in a single day, which was last Friday,” the maritime intelligence firm said in a post shared on X.

Access to Iran’s nuclear sites and materials struck by the United States will only be examined and resolved within the framework of a final deal, its deputy foreign minister said Wednesday.

Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi also said the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) had not met with the Iranian negociating team.

“In Switzerland, no meeting was held with Grossi, despite his request,” Gharibabadi said in a post on X.

“There is also no program for access to the attacked facilities and nuclear materials,” he added.

“These issues will solely be examined and resolved within the framework of the final agreement and as a result of the other party’s practical action in terminating all sanctions, and you cannot advance the ‘stir up and take over’ policy with media hype,” he added.

Ahead of the Lake Lucerne Summit between Iran and the United States, Rafael Grossi said the IAEA would be involved in technical discussions to implement the agreement, or memorandum of understanding, at the time.

The watchdog will carry out inspections in Iran soon following an interim peace accord between the United States and ‌Iran, Grossi said on Wednesday, Reuters reported.

President Donald Trump’s son-in-law, businessman Michael Boulos, was photographed sitting next to Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Wednesday during a high-profile meeting with UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan.

Rubio shared a photo from the meeting on X.

“Met with UAE President @MohamedBinZayed in Abu Dhabi, where we discussed President Trump’s memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Iran, efforts to secure full and safe transit through the Strait of Hormuz, and regional stability,” Rubio said in the post.

“I thanked the UAE leadership for their unparalleled support, praised their courage and resilience in the face of Iran’s attacks, and reaffirmed our commitment to Emirati security and to our strong bilateral partnership.”

Boulos’ father, Massad Boulos, serves as Trump’s senior adviser on African affairs.

Asked about Boulos’ participation in the meeting, Rubio said: “He was just here because his brother lives here, and I’m a good friend of Michael, so we had a chance to catch up,” according to The Times of Israel.

President Donald Trump said Wednesday that Iran is so far agreeing to everything he wants during a 60-day negotiation phase to bring an end to the conflict, but warned that the United States would revert to doing what "we have to do" if Tehran fails to meet his demands.

“Our job numbers are incredible,” Trump told reporters at the White House.

“Anyway, I see that oil just broke the $70 mark,” he added.

“We would have thought that was going to happen. And that's during the war,” he said before adding that “Iran is being very nice.”

“They're agreeing to everything that I want, and they have to. Otherwise, we just go back and do what we have to do," Trump said.

An Iranian lawmaker claimed Wednesday that Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s reported interest in meeting Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei was part of a U.S.-Israeli plan to lay the groundwork for targeting the Iranian leader, according to reports.

Citing Iranian social media platform Eitaa, Iran International reported that Kamran Ghazanfari said Sharif’s meeting with Khamenei was part of a plot by the United States and Israel to pave the way for Khamenei’s “martyrdom."

Ghazanfari reportedly made the remarks on the social media platform, where he alleged that the planned meeting was intended to facilitate efforts against the supreme leader.

The comments came after Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian and Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi traveled to Pakistan on Tuesday for a state visit for talks focused on ongoing negotiations between Iran and the U.S. 

President Donald Trump said Wednesday that "the war is going very well" and "as you know, we're winning by a lot."

"Iran is making very big concessions. We'll see what happens. But it's been very, very, very powerful. it's going very, very well," Trump added.

The remarks come after a round of U.S.-Iran talks in Switzerland.

Last week, Trump and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian signed a 14-point memorandum aimed at ending the war. 

Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Wednesday that Lebanon and its military needs “to be able to control and secure more and more of their own territory, because that's who needs to control Lebanese territory, not a terrorist group like Hezbollah.”

Rubio made the comment as negotiations between Israel and Lebanon are unfolding in Washington and after Israel Defense Minister Israel Katz reportedly said Israeli troops won’t withdraw from a security zone in southern Lebanon “even if there is an American demand,”

“The only reason Israel is in Lebanon is because Hezbollah launches rockets and drones from there. They've made that clear,” Rubio said during a visit to Kuwait.

“And the talks continued today. They started yesterday. They'll go on today, they’ll go on tomorrow. And that's exactly what they're talking to the Lebanese about with our mediation. And that is our hope that the Lebanese Armed Forces and the legitimate, sovereign Lebanese government will continue to be able to control and secure more and more of their own territory, because that's who needs to control Lebanese territory, not a terrorist group like Hezbollah,” he continued.

“So that's the goal. And I think the Israelis have been clear. They don't have any quarrels with the Lebanese people, and they don't have any claims on the territory of Lebanon. The reason why they're involved there is because territory of Lebanon is being used to launch drones and missiles against Israel,” Rubio said. “But the more of that area the Lebanese Armed Forces is able to secure, the less of its in Hezbollah's control, the less Israel will be in Lebanon. But obviously, that's the process we're working through right now with these talks. That's at the core of these talks.”