Iran calls out Trump over 'fake' ceasefire claim

• Says Strait of Hormuz 'fully' under its control • Trump considers quitting NATO • Discusses Iran ceasefire talk

WASHINGTON/TEHRAN:

US President Donald Trump on Wednesday claimed Iran's president wanted a ceasefire ahead of his speech to the American people which was quickly denied by Iran.

Trump made the claim on his Truth Social website. Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesperson said Trump's remarks were "false and baseless."

Earlier, in a Truth Social post, the US president said Iran's "new regime president" had made the request - but he didn't clarify who he was referring to.

Trump said the US would consider a ceasefire "when Hormuz Strait is open, free, and clear. Until then, we are blasting Iran into oblivion or, as they say, back to the Stone Ages!!!"

The president also said he's considering leaving Nato - but an act passed in 2023 means it would not be straightforward.

On the war front, loud booms were heard in Tel Aviv as Israeli defenses intercepted Iranian missiles on the first night of Passover. Meanwhile, in Lebanon, health officials said at least 50 people were killed in Israeli attacks within 24 hours.

Also, Iran's President Masoud Pezeshkian has released a letter addressed to the American public in which he urges them to "look beyond political rhetoric" and reconsider their view of his country, according to Iranian state media.

Saying that the relationship between Iran and the United States is misunderstood, he emphasizes in the letter that Iran has "never, in its modern history, chosen the path of aggression, expansion, colonialism, or domination and never initiated any war".

On the diplomatic side, United States Vice President JD Vance communicated with intermediaries from Pakistan about the Iran conflict as recently as Tuesday, a person briefed on the matter told Reuters, a sign of his expanding role in efforts to broker an end to the conflict.

At President Donald Trump's direction, Vance signalled privately that Trump was open to a ceasefire as long as certain US demands were met, the source told Reuters on Wednesday.

Vance also delivered what the source described as a "stern message" that Trump was impatient, warning there would be growing pressure on Iranian infrastructure unless Tehran agreed to a deal.

Pakistan has been acting as an intermediary between the US and Iran, the source said.

Vance has taken a greater role in trying to ?negotiate an end to the war, now in its fifth week.

Widely viewed as a potential successor to Trump in the 2028 presidential election, Vance has taken a cautious approach on the conflict, reflecting his long-held scepticism of prolonged US military involvement overseas.

The source said the team that Trump has said are involved in negotiations - Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner - remain involved.

Meanwhile, President Donald Trump spoke by phone with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman on the US-Israeli war against Iran and efforts for a possible ceasefire, Axios reported.

Citing two sources with knowledge of the call, Axios said Trump briefed the crown prince on "talks over a possible ceasefire".

The White House has not responded to Anadolu's inquiry on the reported call.

"Iran's new regime president, much less radicalised and far more intelligent than his predecessors, has just asked the United States of America for a ceasefire," Trump wrote on his social media platform Truth Social.

Washington would consider the request only when the strait was "open, free and clear", he said, warning it would continue striking Iran "into oblivion or, as they say, back to the stone ages" in the meantime.

According to Iran's IRIB news agency, Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said no ceasefire proposal was made.

He also said that a five-point plan allegedly proposed by Iran was "media speculation", adding that the war would continue until "the aggressor is punished and full compensation is paid to Iran".

Araghchi told Al Jazeera the same, saying that Iran was seeking an end to the war and guarantees that such aggressions would not be repeated.

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei rejected Trump's claim, saying that Tehran asking for a ceasefire did not reflect reality.

Axios, citing three US officials, reported that discussions were underway about a ceasefire in exchange for the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz.

Officials said Trump was actively discussing the possibility with figures inside and outside his administration, but cautioned that it remained unclear whether a deal could be reached. Sources did not specify whether the discussions were taking place directly with Iran or through mediators such as Pakistan.

Trump separately told Reuters today, hours before he was scheduled to make a primetime address to the nation, that the US would be "out of Iran pretty quickly" and could return for "spot hits" if needed.

Trump also said he would express his disgust with NATO for what he considered the alliance's lack of support for US objectives in Iran. He said he was "absolutely" considering an attempt to withdraw the US from NATO.

Meanwhile, the United Arab Emirates is preparing to support US-led efforts to reopen the Strait of Hormuz by force, according to a Wall Street Journal report.

Citing Arab officials, the outlet reported that the UAE is lobbying for a UN Security Council resolution that would authorise military action and is urging the US and military powers in Europe and Asia to form a coalition to secure the strategic waterway.

The Gulf state is also reviewing potential military roles, including mine-clearing operations, as it weighs becoming a direct participant in the conflict for the first time, the report said.

In a statement cited by the Wall Street Journal, the UAE Foreign Ministry said there is "broad global consensus that freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz must be preserved," pointing to international condemnation of disruptions in the waterway.

 

US-Israeli strikes

According to Al Jazeera, US-Israeli strikes have hit steel complexes in central and southwest Iran, damaging production units, Iranian media is reporting.

"Initial assessments indicate massive attacks, with significant damage and destruction to production units" at the complex of the Mobarakeh Steel Company, one of Iran's biggest, in the central province of Isfahan, Fars news agency reported, quoting a statement by the company.

According to Al Jazeera, Fars said one of the company's subsidiaries, Sefid Dasht Steel, in the southwestern Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari province, had also "sustained damage and losses".

The complex in Isfahan was attacked on Friday along with Khuzestan Steel factories in southwestern Iran.

Steel is an essential material for industrial and military production, including of missiles, drones and ships.

Speaking with the UK's The Telegraph on Tuesday, President Trump has threatened to leave NATO.

"Oh yes, I would say [it's] beyond reconsideration," he said. "I was never swayed by NATO. I always knew they were a paper tiger, and Putin knows that too, by the way."

According to Al Jazeera, Trump has recently called NATO "cowards" for refusing to send troops to the Strait of Hormuz.

He repeated those complaints to The Telegraph, claiming support "should be automatic" and appearing to draw a comparison between the war on Iran and Russia's war on Ukraine.

"We've been there automatically, including Ukraine. Ukraine wasn't our problem," he said. "It was a test, and we were there for them, and we would always have been there for them. They weren't there for us."

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Tuesday that Washington could see the "finish line" in the US-Israeli war on Iran, which is now in its fifth week, and the US will have to reexamine ties with NATO after the conflict.

"We can see the finish line. It's not today, it's not tomorrow, but it is coming," Rubio told Fox News "Hannity" show.

Iran's supreme leader has praised the Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah in a purported message to the group's leader on Wednesday.

Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, in the message to Hezbollah's Sheikh Naim Qassem posted on Khamenei's Telegram channel, emphasized that Iran would continue to support the militant group "for the resistance against" Israel and the US.

Khamenei also purportedly expressed appreciation for the "emotion, love and loyalty" shown by Hezbollah fighters.

More than three weeks after his appointment as Iran's supreme leader, Khamenei has still not been seen or heard in public.

A source with knowledge of the situation told CNN earlier this month that Khamenei was injured in the attack that killed his father and Iran's top military commanders. The source said had suffered a fractured foot, a bruised left eye and minor lacerations to his face.

Israel killed a senior Hezbollah commander in Beirut, the military said on Wednesday.

Israeli naval troops "conducted a strike in Beirut" and "eliminated" Hajj Yusuf Ismail Hashem, the commander of Hezbollah's Southern Front unit, according to the Israel Defense Forces (IDF).

The Southern Front unit is "responsible for carrying out terrorist activities targeting Israeli civilians" and for "combat operations against IDF soldiers" in southern Lebanon, the Israeli military claimed.

Israeli forces kill Hezbollah commander in southern Lebanon, military says.

A Bangladeshi national was killed in Fujairah, UAE, after a piece of shrapnel fell from an intercepted drone, the Emirate's media office said.

Kuwait International Airport's fuel depots were targeted by an Iranian drone attack, causing a "massive blaze," the country's Public Authority for Civil Aviation said Wednesday, according to state news agency KUNA. The attack caused "significant damage" to the fuel tanks but no injuries were reported, KUNA reported.

Meanwhile, Bahrain's Interior Ministry said it was working to extinguish a fire at a company facility after an Iranian drone attack.

A tanker was reportedly hit by an "unknown projectile" 17 nautical miles north of Doha, Qatar, the UK maritime authority said Wednesday. The crew was safely evacuated.

(With input from News Desk)