US President Donald Trump said the United States could end its military attacks on Iran within two to three weeks, and ​Tehran did not have to make a deal as a prerequisite for the conflict to wind down.

The remarks underscored the shifting and at times contradictory statements from Washington about how the ‌war, now in its fifth week, might end.

“We’ll be leaving very soon,” Trump told reporters at the White House on Tuesday, saying the exit could take place “within two weeks, maybe two weeks, maybe three.”

Asked if successful diplomacy with Iran was a prerequisite for the US to conclude what it has dubbed “Operation Epic Fury”, Trump said it was not.

“Iran doesn’t have to make a deal, no,” he said. “No, they don’t have to make a deal with me.”

The White House later said Trump would address the nation “to provide an important update on Iran” ​at 9pm EDT on Wednesday (0100 GMT on Thursday).

Washington previously threatened to intensify military operations if Tehran did not accept a 15-point US ceasefire framework that had among its core demands that Iran commit not ​to pursue nuclear weapons, halt all uranium enrichment and fully reopen the Strait of Hormuz.

Earlier on Tuesday, US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth said Trump was willing to make ⁠a deal with Iran to end the war that has killed thousands, spread across the region, disrupted energy supplies and threatened to send the global economy into a tailspin.

The United Arab Emirates is preparing to help the US and ​allies open the Strait of Hormuz by force, the Wall Street Journal reported late on Tuesday, in an effort to end the effective closure of the shipping lane through which about a fifth of the world’s daily oil and liquefied ​natural gas supply usually passes.

The UAE is seeking a UN Security Council resolution for the action and suggested the US occupy strategic islands, according to the report.

While the United States has said talks with Iran were ongoing, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said on Tuesday that he has been receiving direct messages from US special envoy Steve Witkoff but they do not constitute “negotiations”, Qatar’s Al Jazeera TV cited him as saying.

The messages include threats or exchanged views delivered through “friends,” he added.

Iran’s Revolutionary Guards on Tuesday hit back with a ​new threat against US companies in the region starting on Wednesday.

It listed 18 businesses, including Microsoft, Google, Apple, Intel, IBM, Tesla and Boeing, that would be targeted from 8pm Tehran time.

When asked if he was concerned ​about threats to the companies, Trump said no.

War continues to rage

The war has also revived conflict between Israel and the Iran-backed Lebanese group Hezbollah.

At least seven people were killed and 24 wounded in two Israeli strikes in the Beirut area, the Lebanese health ministry said on Wednesday, in attacks that hit vehicles in Beirut’s southern outskirts and in an area just south of the capital.

Israel’s military said on Wednesday it carried out two separate strikes targeting a senior Hezbollah commander and another senior member of ​the Iran-aligned group in the Beirut area. It did not ​identify them or say whether they had been ⁠killed.

There was no immediate comment from Hezbollah on the strikes.

With the conflict in the Middle East showing no sign of easing, Pakistan is seeking to mediate in the war.

The foreign ministers of China and Pakistan on Tuesday called for an immediate ceasefire, urging peace talks to be held as soon as possible after they met in Beijing.

Iran has remained defiant ​despite heavy US and Israeli attacks for the past month, as neighbours have been pulled into the conflict.

Syrian state television reported that explosions heard in Damascus were ​the result of Israeli air defences ⁠intercepting Iranian missiles.

A weather station’s radar and building in the Iranian port of Bushehr were put out of service on Tuesday after being hit twice in US-Israeli attacks, a regional official told state media.

The Mobarakeh steel plant in the central city of Isfahan was attacked for the second time in a week, according to the semi-official Tasnim news agency, and parts of the Sefiddasht Steel Complex in the city of Borujen were targeted, according to the Fars news agency.

Reuters could not immediately verify ⁠the battlefield reports.

Higher ​oil and fuel prices have started to weigh on US household finances and are a political headache for Trump and his Republican Party before ​the November midterm elections.

The US national average retail price of gasoline crossed $4 a gallon for the first time in over three years on Monday, data from price-tracking service GasBuddy showed.

Two-thirds of Americans believe the US should work to end its involvement in the Iran war quickly, even if ​that means not achieving the goals set out by the Trump administration, a Reuters/Ipsos poll found.

• Communication with plane lost at about 6pm local time.
• Search team has found the site of the catastrophe.
• Six crew members, 23 passengers on board were killed.

A Russian An-26 military transport plane crashed into a cliff in Crimea, killing 29 people on board, due to a possible technical malfunction, Russia’s defence ministry said early on Wednesday, according to news agencies.

TASS news agency, quoting the ministry, said communication with the aircraft was lost at about 6pm local time (1500 GMT) on Tuesday on a planned flight over Crimea. The peninsula, covered in sweeping mountains leading down to the coast of the Black Sea, was annexed by Russia from Ukraine in 2014.

“The defence ministry reported that a search team found the site of the catastrophe,” TASS reported. “According to a report from the site, six crew members and 23 passengers on board were killed.”

The ministry report did not say how many people were on board, but it made no mention of any survivors on the An-26, a light tactical military transport that has for decades been a mainstay that can carry cargo and up to 40 passengers over short and medium distances.

“There was no impact on the aircraft,” TASS quoted the ministry as saying, implying that objects like missiles, drones and birds were not involved.

“The preliminary cause of the crash is a technical malfunction. A commission from the military is working at the site,” it said.

Russia’s defence ministry did not respond immediately to a request for comment outside normal business hours.

The An-26 has been in service since the late 1960s and has also been used by airlines to carry freight, but the model has been involved in a number of deadly crashes over the last decade.

A Ukrainian An-26 crashed during a technical flight in Ukraine’s southeastern Zaporizhzhia region in 2022, killing one person. Another aircraft crashed on a training flight in northeastern Ukraine in 2020, killing all but one of the 27 people on board.

Eight people, including five Russians, were killed when an An-26 crashed in South Sudan in 2020. Four of 10 people on board were killed when an An-26 crashed on landing in Ivory Coast in West Africa in 2017.

• France blocks airspace for military flights carrying supplies to Israel.
• Italy denies US aircraft landing permission at Sicily air base.
• Spain closes airspace to US planes involved in Iran strikes.

France and Italy have pushed back against some US-Israeli military operations, sources said on Tuesday, as US President Donald Trump criticised Nato allies in Europe as unhelpful in the month-long war in Iran, highlighting divisions.

The decisions came against a backdrop of tensions between Washington and key partners over the war. Earlier this month, Trump called longtime Nato allies “cowards” over their lack of support. On Tuesday, he slammed countries that did not help in the US-Israeli strikes.

France says no

Trump accused France of blocking aircraft carrying military supplies to Israel from flying over its territory, writing on Truth Social that France had been “VERY UNHELPFUL”.

The French presidency said it was surprised by the post and said its decision was consistent with France’s policy since the conflict began.

A Western diplomat and two sources familiar with the matter told Reuters earlier that the refusal, which happened at the weekend, was the first time France had done this since the start of the conflict on February 28.

The sources said Israel had wanted to use France’s airspace to transport US weapons to be used in the war against Iran.

Israel’s defence ministry accused France of actively obstructing the transfer of munitions to Israel, according to a statement.

It said the French ban was imposed despite prior coordination and assurances that the munitions were intended solely for use against Iran, adding that the effort was critical to European security.

The ministry said Israel would cut all defence procurement from France and would have no new engagement with the French military. French arms sales to Israel are relatively small, and it was unclear whether the move would affect French troops serving with UN peacekeepers in Lebanon.

Italy denies permission

Italy last week denied permission for US military aircraft to land at the Sigonella air base in Sicily before heading to the Middle East, sources said.

According to the Corriere della Sera daily, which first reported the news, “some US bombers” had been due to land at the base in eastern Sicily before flying on to the Middle East.

Italy’s Defence Minister Guido Crosetto later denied any rift with Washington or any change in policy. He posted a message on X to say that US airbases remained active, but that Washington needed special permission for uses outside existing agreements.

Spain is most vocal against war

Meanwhile, Spain defended its decision to fully close its airspace to US planes involved in attacks on Iran.

Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez has been among the most vocal critics of the US and Israeli strikes and Defence Minister Margarita Robles said Spain will only allow for the use of its bases for the collective defence of Nato allies.

Trump also singled out Britain as being unhelpful, just as Buckingham Palace confirmed King Charles and Queen Camilla will pay a state visit to the US in late April.

He wrote on Truth Social: “All of those countries that can’t get jet fuel because of the Strait of Hormuz, like the United Kingdom, which refused to get involved in the decapitation of Iran, I have a suggestion for you: Number 1, buy from the US, we have plenty, and Number 2, build up some delayed courage, go to the Strait, and just TAKE IT.”

The United States, France, Italy, Spain and Britain are all Nato members, as is Germany, which hosts Ramstein, the largest US base in Europe.

Germany said early in the war there were no restrictions on the US using the base, though the issue has been debated after President Frank-Walter Steinmeier said he believed the war was illegal.