Iran war: Tuesday to be 'most intense day' of US strikes

Australia has granted humanitarian visas to two more additional of the Iranian women's football squad.

One is a player and the other a support staff member, Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke said on Wednesday.

Both sought asylum in Australia before their teammates were transported to the airport late on Tuesday Australia time to fly back to Iran, Burke said. 

The two have been reunited with five other Iranian players who were granted humanitarian visas a day earlier, Burke told reporters in Australia's capital, Canberra. 

The team's return to Iran had seen hundreds protest the team's hotel and at the airport, seeking to prevent the women from leaving Australia.

The protesters said they feared for the team's safety in Iran after they didn't sing the national anthem ahead of their Women's Asia Cup match against South Korea last week.

Australia's humanitarian visa is for those who need protecting conflict, persecution and human rights abuses. The permanent visa allows holders to work and study in Australia.

The US ⁠military's Central Command has said it "eliminated" ⁠multiple Iranian naval vessels on Tuesday. 

This included 16 Iranian mine-laying vessels ‌near the ‌Strait of Hormuz, it said in a post on X.

Shortly beforehand, US President Donald Trump posted that the military had destroyed "10 inactive mine laying boats and/or ships."

The posts come after several US media reported that Iran had started, or was planning to start, laying mines in the Staits of Hormuz. 

"The mining is not extensive yet, with a few dozen having been laid in recent days," CNN said on Tuesday, citing unnamed sources.

US broadcaster CBS said that US officials told it that "Iran may be getting ready to deploy naval mines" using "smaller crafts that can carry two or three mines each to lay them in the strait."

Nearly a fifth of global oil production passed through the Strait of Hormuz before the start of the US-Israel war with Iran. 

Iran has threatened to attack any ship passing through the strait.

US President Donald Trump threatened Iran with military consequences "at a level never seen before" if it fails to remove any mines it may have placed in the Strait of Hormuz.

Trump added that the US had no reports of Iran placing any mines in the stretch of water that carries about one-fifth of all crude oil.

Several US news outlets reported that Iran was deploying naval mines in the waterway in an effort to disrupt the key shipping lane.

Shipping along the narrow strait has all but halted since the start of the US-Israeli war on Iran more than a week ago, preventing exports of around one-fifth of the world's oil supply and sending global oil prices surging to highs not seen since 2022.

Nearly 150 US troops have been wounded in the war with Iran, the Pentagon said. The announcement is the first insight into the broader toll sustained by US forces as Iran has carried out retaliation throughout the region.

"The vast majority of these injuries have been minor, and 108 service members have already returned to duty," Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said in an emailed statement.

Eight service members were considered "severely injured," Parnell added.

US special envoy Steve Witkoff said that Russia had assured President Donald Trump that they will not share intelligence information with Iran.

"We can take them at their word," Witkoff told broadcaster CNBC, adding: "Let's hope that they're not sharing."

The remarks come in the wake of a CNN report from last week, alledging that Russia was supplying Iran with information about US forces and possible targets in the Middle East.

It was also reported by the Washington Post, citing people familiar with US intelligence, alledging that the Kremlin has provided Tehran with location and movement data on American troops, ships and aircraft.

But Witkoff said that in a telephone conversation with Trump, the Russians had pledged to not pass on any information.

EU lawmaker Hannah Neumann warns of unclear US-Israeli goals, deep divisions within Europe, and growing global risks — from energy shocks to threats against EU citizens — while stressing support for Iranians seeking democratic change and stronger international law.

Iran's Intelligence Ministry on Tuesday announced the arrests of 30 people accused of spying, including one foreign national. 

The ministry was quoted by the judiciary's Mizan Online news portal as saying that the foreigner "was spying on behalf of two Persian Gulf countries in the name of the American-Zionist enemy." 

It said the person was arrested in northeastern Iran, but said nothing about their identity or nationality. 

The individual was accused of "transmitting to the enemy information about the location and movements of police and army forces" and military installations, the ministry said. 

It was not clear when they were arrested. 

The ministry also said it had arrested 30 Iranian people it described as spies, internal agents and operations agents of Israel and the US over the past few days. 

G7 energy ministers on Tuesday stopped short of deciding to release their countries' oil reserves during a conference call amid price pressures. 

Instead, they asked the International Energy Agency (IEA) to meet to assess the situation. 

"Everyone is willing to take measures to stabilize the market, including the United States," French Economy Minister Roland Lescure told journalists after the meeting. "We have ​asked the ‌IEA to elaborate scenarios for a potential oil stock release, we need to be ready to act at any moment." 

However, oil prices were quite rapidly falling on Tuesday from peaks reached early on Monday as the markets reopened for business, in part following indications from US President Trump that a deescalation could be in sight. 

EU Energy Commissioner Dan Jorgensen also pointed to the upcoming IEA meeting, saying the organization would provide "an in-depth analysis of the pros and cons of releasing stocks now." 

Europe is particularly vulnerable to price fluctuations, as a high volume importer of oil that in recent years tried to move away from Russian imports, filling the gap in no small part with oil from the Middle East. 

IEA executive director Fatih Birol said in Paris that the meeting would take place later in the day.

German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul landed in Israel for a surprise visit on Tuesday, following his trip to Cyprus late on Monday. 

Wadephul met with his counterpart Gideon Sarr in Jerusalem and visited the city of Beit Shemesh to the west of Jerusalem, to see the damage caused by an Iranian missile on March 1. 

Wadephul said that he was "confident" that the US and Israel were ready to seek a diplomatic solution to the fighting that started with airstrikes killing Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei on February 28. He said that if Iran were to seek such a solution, it would be achievable, but that word from Tehran suggested Iran was not interested at present. 

The Christian Democrat foreign minister also said that the humanitarian situation in Gaza must not be forgotten amid the war in Iran. 

"We ​must not lose ​sight ‌of the plight of the more than 2 million ‌people there. The humanitarian ‌situation ​remains dire. Furthermore, there is still insufficient access for humanitarian aid ​workers," he said in a press conference with Israel's Sarr. 

Wadephul was also critical of a recent case of deadly Israeli settler violence in the West Bank, after criticisms from Chancellor Friedrich Merz in Berlin of the West Bank land policy approved by Israel's government last month, which Merz likened to annexation plans. 

Iran's National Paralympic Committee (NPC) has lamented that its only athlete had to skip the Winter Paralympics in Italy because of the intensifying conflict in the Middle East. 

Cross-country skier Aboulfazl Khativi was set to be Iran's only athlete at the Milan Cortina Paralympics but didn't show up for the opening ceremony last Friday, with the Committee saying it was not possible to arrange safe travel to Italy. 

"The recent events have been very painful for many people, and it is especially heartbreaking for athletes who have dedicated years of hard work and preparation to represent their country," NPC chief executive Hamid Alisamimi said in a letter to the Associated Press. 

"Aboulfazl Khatibi Mianaei, like many others, has faced deep disappointment at being unable to participate in the Paralympics after such long and determined preparation. At the same time, he believes that sport should always remain a bridge between nations and a symbol of peace," he wrote. 

The Games officially opened on March 6, a few days after the US and Israeli strikes on Iran began.

The war has raised doubts about Iran's participation in other international sports events, and about the prospect of holding international sports events in the broader Middle East, especially the Gulf states, amid Iranian attacks.

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz has issued slightly more critical comments of the attacks on Iran by the US and Iran, after a week that included a trip to the US where he was broadly supportive. 

"The United States and Israel have been waging war against Iran for over a week. We share many of the goals, but with each day of the war, more questions arise," he said. 

"Above all what concerns us is that there is evidently no shared plan on how this war can quickly be brought to a convincing end," Merz told reporters, saying that Germany and Europe had no interest in a "war without end," or the dissolution of Iran's territorial integrity, statehood or economy.

Speaking alongside visiting Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babis in Berlin, Merz also repeated his demand that Iran cease its "indiscriminate" attacks on states in the region. 

The US will on Tuesday send the highest number of fighter jets and bombers to attack Iran since Washington unleashed its war on the Middle Eastern country 10 days ago, US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has told a Pentagon news conference.

"Today will be yet again our most intense day of strikes inside Iran," Hegseth said.

The defense secretary, a former Fox News TV host, told the news conference that the US strikes aimed to destroy Iran's missiles and defense industrial base, saying that the country stood alone and was losing badly.

Hegseth also accused Tehran of using schools and hospitals as missile launch sites, while saying that the number of missiles fired by Iran in the past 24 hours was the lowest since the war began.

A drone attack has caused a fire in an industrial area in the emirate of Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates authorities have said, in an area that houses oil and energy infrastructure. 

"Abu Dhabi authorities are responding to a fire that broke out a facility in the Ruwais Industrial Complex, caused by a drone attack. No injuries have been reported at this time," the Abu Dhabi media office wrote online.

Authorities did not say whether energy infrastructure had been hit and asked people to "avoid spreading rumors or unverified information." 

The Ruwais industrial area houses key facilities like the Ruwais Refinery that can process almost 1 million barrels of oil per day and the Borouge 3 petrochemical plant.

Iran's security chief has responded to a threat from US President Donald Trump to step up attacks on the Middle Eastern country if Tehran stopped the transport of oil through the Strait of Hormuz, saying that Iran was not afraid of him and warning him of possible personal danger.

"The sacrificial nation of Iran doesn’t fear your empty threats," Ali Larijani wrote on X.

"Even those bigger than you couldn’t eliminate Iran. Be careful not to get eliminated yourself."

Iran has been accused of plotting attempts to kill Trump in the past.

Shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, a crucial transport route for oil, gas and fertilizer, has been severely disrupted by the war, while Iranian forces have threatened to block "the export of a single liter of oil from the region" to allies of the United States and Israel. 

The Israeli military has followed words with action, striking near the Lebanese city of Tyre after warning residents to move away from targeted buildings marked on a map, Lebanon's state-run National News Agency (NNA) said.

"The Israeli enemy launched a strike on the threatened area" in Abbassiyeh, next to Tyre, which is situated in the south of the country, NNA said.

The Israeli military has also warned it would strike in the coastal city of Sidon, some 40 km (25 miles) north of Tyre

Lebanon was drawn into the ongoing Middle East war last week after the Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah that is based in the country attacked Israel in support of Tehran amid the US-Israeli offensive against it.

Lebanese authorities have said Israel's attacks since March 2 have killed at least 486 people and wounded more than 1,300, while internally displacing hundreds of thousands.

Israel's military has also said it has begun a new wave of strikes on the Iranian capital, Tehran.

"The IDF has begun a wave of strikes against Iranian terror regime targets in Tehran," the military said in a brief statement.