Iran rejects Trump claim that it asked for a ceasefire (PHOTOS, VIDEOS)

The US president is set to deliver a speech on the Middle East war later tonight

Welcome to RT’s live coverage of the US-Israeli war on Iran and the wider turmoil across the Middle East, which continues to be affected by missile and drone strikes from both sides. 

As the war on Iran enters day 33, missiles struck an oil tanker off the coast of Qatar, as well as Kuwait’s airport on Wednesday, while US and Israeli airstrikes relentlessly pounded Tehran. Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump has claimed that Iran’s president wanted a ceasefire, which Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has refuted. “No ceasefire proposal has been made by Iran. The five-point plan allegedly proposed by Iran is media speculation,” Araghchi said, as cited by IRIB. The war will continue until the aggressor is punished and full compensation is paid to Iran, he added. 

Trump is set to deliver a speech on the Iran war later tonight, his first prime-time address since the conflict began, as plunging approval ratings and rising economic anxiety deepen political pressure at home. The White House has given no details on the speech, but it comes hours after Trump claimed Iran had sought a pause in hostilities, even as he set conditions that underscored the uncertainty surrounding the war’s trajectory. Trump is set to speak at 9 PM (0100 GMT on Thursday), more than a month after the US and Israel launched the war, a delay that contrasts with the early addresses presidents typically deliver at the outset of major conflicts. 

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Recent polling shows Trump’s approval rating slipping below 40%, with disapproval climbing above the mid-50s as voters sour on both the war and its economic fallout. 

Support for the Iran campaign itself is deeply underwater, with the majority opposing the offensive and independents turning sharply against it. 

Here are the latest developments:  

• Trump has suggested that the US is considering leaving NATO over what he cast as its lackluster military support for the Iran war. 

• Iran and the US are engaged in “exchanges of messages” but are not holding any talks, Aragchi has said. 

• At least 1,318 people have been killed and 3,935 injured in the Israeli invasion and attacks on Lebanon since March 2, according to Lebanon’s Health Ministry. 

• Russia’s ban on gasoline exports has come into force, following a government decision approved last week aimed at “stabilizing” domestic fuel prices amid volatility in global oil markets due to the Middle East crisis. 

• More than 115,000 civilian units have been damaged or destroyed in recent attacks on Iran, the Red Crescent has said. The sites reportedly include residential, medical, educational, and relief centers, with a significant share located in Tehran province. 

Follow our live coverage below for continuous updates. You can also read our previous updates here.