Trump says military could end its Iran offensive in 2 to 3 weeks

US President Donald Trump announced plans to end the Iran offensive in weeks, shifting Strait of Hormuz responsibility to Gulf states. Meanwhile, drone and missile attacks in UAE, Israel, and Lebanon escalate civilian casualties amid rising fuel prices

Dubai: US President Donald Trump said the military could end its Iran offensive in two to three weeks and will shift responsibility for the Strait of Hormuz to countries that rely on it for oil and shipping as the White House announced a prime-time presidential address Wednesday evening on the war.

Trump expressed frustration on Tuesday with allies who have been unwilling to do more to support the US war effort, telling them to “go get your own oil.” Trump recently has vacillated between insisting there is progress in diplomatic talks with Iran and threatening to widen the war.

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He said the US “will not have anything to do with” what happens next in the vital waterway that has been closed by the Islamic Republic. Instead, he told reporters, the responsibility for keeping the strait open will rest with countries that rely on it. Gulf states rely on the waterway for both exports and imports, including food, and 20 per cent of the world’s oil supply flows through it.

US gas prices jumped past an average of USD 4 a gallon for the first time since 2022 on Tuesday, as the Iran war continues to push fuel prices higher worldwide. Analysts say those high fuel costs will trickle into groceries as businesses’ transportation and packaging costs pile up.

A drone attack has killed a citizen of Bangladesh in Fujairah, one of the UAE’s seven emirates, authorities said.

He was killed Wednesday when Emirati air defence systems intercepted a drone, and shrapnel landed in a farm, the Fujairah media office said.

The fatality has brought the death toll in the UAE to nine civilians and two soldiers. A Moroccan contractor with the UAE army was also killed in Bahrain.

Earlier Saudi Arabia said it had destroyed two Iranian drones.

Emergency personnel said an 11-year-old girl was severely wounded in central Israel in the latest missile attack from Iran.

Two more people suffered moderate injuries including a 13-year-old boy and a 36-year-old woman, according to Israel’s Magen David Adom rescue services.

Iran’s foreign minister has acknowledged receiving direct messages from US Mideast envoy Steve Witkoff.

The comments by Abbas Araghchi came in an interview with pan-Arab broadcaster Al Jazeera aired late Tuesday. He insisted that the messages didn’t constitute negotiations.

US President Donald Trump has repeatedly described Iran and America having talks over the war, while Pakistan has been a key intermediary along with Egypt and Turkiye during the conflict.

“I receive messages from Witkoff directly, as before, and this does not mean that we are in negotiations,” he said.

He added: “We do not have any faith that negotiations with the US will yield any results. The trust level is at zero.” Asked about a possible ground offensive by the US, Araghchi said “we are waiting for them.” “We know very well how to defend ourselves,” Araghchi reportedly told the Qatar-based broadcaster. “In a ground war, we can do it even better. We are completely ready to confront any sort of ground attack. We hope they do not make such a mistake.”

Lebanon’s Health Ministry said in a preliminary count early Wednesday, 21 people were also wounded in the strike in Jnah.

The strike came without warning, and Israel did not declare the target. When it does, it often says it is targeting operatives from the Hezbollah militant group.

Emergency workers rushed to the scene to search for victims.

Israel’s military warned the public Wednesday a missile was incoming from Yemen, yet another attack from the country’s Houthi rebels who have just entered the war on Iran’s side.

Air raid sirens went off in southern Israel, from Beersheba to the Mediterranean coast.

The warning, just around dawn, broke a long lull, more than 19 hours since the last time Israel’s military warned of an incoming missile launch from Iran, and more than six hours from the last alarms in the northern part of Israel, which in past days received near-constant fire from Hezbollah in Lebanon.