Iran's intelligence ministry arrests foreign agents, state media reports

TEHRAN: Iran's intelligence ministry ​has arrested a ‌foreign national it said was conducting ​espionage on ​behalf of the ⁠United States and ​Israel and ​acting as a proxy for two Gulf ​countries, state ​media cited the ministry ‌as ⁠saying on Tuesday, according to Reuters.

The ministry also said it had ​arrested ​30 ⁠spies, internal mercenaries, and ​operational agents ​of ⁠Israel and the US over ⁠the ​past few ​days.

Pentagon chief says US intensifying strikes on Iran

US attacks on Iran will hit a new intensity Tuesday and the war will continue as long as President Donald Trump decides, Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth said.

"Today will be yet again, our most intense day of strikes inside Iran—the most fighters, the most bombers," Hegseth told a news conference at the Pentagon more than 10 days into the US-Israeli war against the Islamic republic.

As for a timeline for the war, Trump "gets to control the throttle. He's the one deciding," Hegseth said. "It's not for me to posit whether it's the beginning, the middle or the end," the defense secretary said.

Trump had said the previous day that the war could end "very soon," but remained vague. Among the goals is destruction of Iran's navy, which has been targeted with "artillery, fighters, bombers and sea-launched missiles," General Dan Caine, the top US military officer, said alongside Hegseth on Tuesday.

Iran has vowed to block all oil exports via the Gulf while the war lasts, while Trump has threatened "death, fire, and fury" if Tehran interferes with crude exports.
Caine said US forces continue "to hunt and strike mine-laying vessels and mine storage facilities"—weapons Iran could use to block maritime traffic.

Hegseth meanwhile accused Iran of "moving rocket launchers into civilian neighborhoods, near schools, near hospitals to try to prevent our ability to strike," saying, "that's how they operate."

He did not directly address a strike early in the conflict that hit an elementary school in the southern city of Minab, which Iran said killed more than 150 people, but said that "no nation takes more precautions to ensure there's never targeting of civilians than the United States of America."

Trump has said the incident is being investigated, while suggesting Monday that Iran may have fired a Tomahawk missile at the school itself.

Iran does not possess Tomahawks—a US weapon used extensively by US forces, including in the current conflict.

Tehran has responded to the war by launching waves of missiles and drones at countries in the region that host US forces, but Hegseth said Tuesday that the volume of fire is lessening. "The last 24 hours have seen Iran fire the lowest number of missiles they've been capable of firing yet," he said.

Iran fighting back but not strong as the US thought, top US general says

Iran is fighting back ​but is not tougher than the US military expected before the war, the top US general told reporters, as the Pentagon promised its most intense day of strikes in the 10-day-old conflict.

The Pentagon says the number of Iranian strikes has fallen sharply from the start of the war, as the Pentagon bombs Iran's weapons inventories and targets Iran's more limited number of missile launchers.

Asked if Iran was a stronger adversary ​than he expected when the US military drew up its war plans, General Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told ​reporters the fight was not harder than expected.

"I think they're fighting, and I respect that, but I don't think they are more formidable than what we ‌thought," ⁠Caine told the Pentagon briefing.

Oil plunges, stocks steady as Trump says Iran war over 'very soon'

Oil prices sank and equities steadied Tuesday following a wild day of swings that came after US President Donald Trump signalled that the US-Israel war on Iran could end sooner than thought.

International oil benchmark, Brent North Sea crude, plunged nearly seven percent to $92 a barrel a day after nearing $120.

"This downward swing in oil helped US stocks stage an impressive comeback on Monday to trade in positive territory—a trend which continued in Asia and is now being repeated in Europe," noted AJ Bell investment director Russ Mould.

The Paris and London stock markets gained around 1.5 per cent, after European gas prices sank 15 per cent, helping ease concerns over a renewed surge for global inflation. Frankfurt gained over two per cent.

Asian stock markets rallied, with Seoul up more than five per cent and Tokyo ending with a gain of 2.9 per cent.

There were advances in Hong Kong, Shanghai, Sydney, Singapore, Bangkok, Mumbai, Taipei, Manila and Jakarta.

Wall Street was unable to continue the rally when trading opened Tuesday, with the Dow and S&P 500 opening flat while the Nasdaq edged higher.

"This is still a fluid market, and if the headlines deteriorate, or the war escalates, then we could see prices reverse once again," said Kathleen Brooks, research director at trading group XTB.

As the crisis in the crude-rich Middle East entered its second week, Trump said the campaign was far ahead of his initial timeline of around a month. "It's going to be ended soon, and if it starts up again they'll be hit even harder," he told a news conference in Florida on Monday.

Iran responded by vowing to block Gulf oil exports and asserting that they, not the US, would "determine the end of the war."

Still, Trump's remarks helped reverse the previous day's spike in oil prices, which had surged since Iranian attacks on shipping closed the strategic Strait of Hormuz in response to the US-Israeli strikes that killed its supreme leader.

The surge also followed strikes on an oil depot in Iran and after attacks on oil infrastructure in Saudi Arabia and Bahrain.

The US president also said he would temporarily waive some oil-related sanctions, after acknowledging talks with Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin.

Investors' attention focused on the Strait of Hormuz, through which nearly 20 per cent of the world's crude oil usually transits from the Gulf to world markets.

About 10 vessels in or near the strait have come under attack since Iran all but blocked the strait in retaliation for the US-Israeli strikes, according to shipping experts.

"While things have calmed down, ultimately, the biggest factor for markets will be whether energy supplies from the region resume normally," said Forex.com analyst Fawad Razaqzada.

"Until traders see confirmation that shipping through the Strait of Hormuz has stabilised and production is returning, oil prices are unlikely to retreat dramatically from current levels," he added.

President Emmanuel Macron has said France and its allies are working on a "purely defensive" mission to reopen the strait, aiming to escort ships "after the end of the hottest phase of the conflict."

Iran says oil blockade will continue until attacks end

Iran's Revolutionary Guards said on Tuesday they would not let any oil be shipped from the Middle East if US and Israeli attacks continue, prompting President Donald Trump to say the US would hit Iran much harder if it blocked exports.

The rhetoric did little to quell a fall in crude prices and a rally in global shares that followed Trump expressing confidence in a swift end to hostilities, even after Iran showed defiance by naming Mojtaba Khamenei as its new supreme leader.

Trump said on Monday the US had inflicted serious damage on Iran's military. He also predicted the conflict would end before the initial four-week time frame he had set out, although he had not defined what victory would look like.

Israel says its war aim is to overthrow Iran's system of clerical rule.

"Our aspiration is to bring the Iranian people to cast off the yoke of tyranny," Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a statement issued by his office on Tuesday.

"In the end, that depends on them. But there is no doubt that through the actions taken so far we are breaking their bones—and our hand is still extended," he said. "If we succeed together with the Iranian people, we will bring about a permanent end—if such things exist in the life of nations."

US officials have mainly said Washington aims to destroy Iran's missile capabilities and nuclear programme, but Trump has said the war can end only with a compliant Iranian government.

At least 1,332 Iranian civilians have been killed and thousands wounded, according to Iran's UN ambassador, since the US and Israel began air and missile strikes across Iran at the end of February.

Trump said US attacks could increase sharply if Iran sought to block tanker traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, which handles one-fifth of the world's oil supply. “We will hit them so hard that it will not be possible for them or anybody else helping them to ever recover that section of the world," Trump told a press conference on Monday.