ISTANBUL

Here’s a rundown of all the news you need to start your Wednesday, including US President Donald Trump saying American forces have destroyed 10 Iranian mine-laying vessels in the Strait of Hormuz, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi rejecting US claims that Iran had been planning a preemptive attack on the US, and France saying it 'cannot approve' US-Israeli strikes on Iran.

TOP STORIES

• Trump says US destroyed 10 Iranian mine-laying vessels

US President Donald Trump said American forces had destroyed 10 Iranian mine-laying vessels in the Strait of Hormuz within minutes of his warning that Iran would face unprecedented military consequences if it did not remove mines from the waterway.

"We have hit, and completely destroyed, 10 inactive mine laying boats and/or ships, with more to follow," Trump wrote on his social media platform Truth Social.

The strikes came after CNN reported that Iran had begun laying mines in the strait, with US officials saying Tehran was using small vessels carrying two to three mines each. Trump, however, noted that the US has "no reports” of Tehran placing mines in the waterway.

Trump had said the US would deploy the same missile technology used against drug-trafficking vessels in the Caribbean to destroy any boat attempting to mine the strait.

• Iranian foreign minister rejects US claim Iran was planning to attack US

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi rejected US claims that Iran had been planning to preemptively attack the US or its forces.

“The claim that Iran was planning on attacking the U.S. or U.S. Forces, whether preventively or preemptively, is a sheer and utter lie,” he wrote on the US social media company X’s platform.

He added that the claim was intended to justify “Operation Epic Mistake,” which he said was “a misadventure engineered by Israel and paid for by ordinary Americans.”

Regional escalation has flared since Israel and the US launched a joint attack against Iran on Feb. 28, killing more than 1,200 people and injuring 10,000.

Tehran has retaliated with drone and missile strikes targeting Israel, Jordan, Iraq and Gulf countries that are home to US military assets.

• France 'cannot approve' US-Israeli strikes on Iran

France "cannot approve" strikes by US and Israeli forces on Iran as they are being carried out outside international law and without clearly defined objectives, Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot said.

Speaking on France 2, Barrot said the strikes lacked clear strategic goals and did not comply with international legal standards.

He stressed that France is not involved in the conflict.

“We do not approve of this war, and we are not participating in it,” he said.

He also called for rapid de-escalation in the Middle East, urging Iran to change its regional posture.

“We expect Iran to renounce being a destabilizing and dangerous power,” he said.

NEWS IN BRIEF

• A drone crashed near a house in the Iraqi capital Baghdad, according to security sources.
• The United Arab Emirates said its air defense systems intercepted a barrage of ballistic missiles launched from Iran, as regional tensions continue to rise.
• Russia said that its consulate general in the Iranian city of Isfahan was damaged in an attack over the weekend.
• In a phone call, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan told his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelenskyy that the Iran conflict should not hinder negotiations to end the war in Ukraine, Türkiye’s Communications Directorate said.
• Qatar said its armed forces intercepted a missile attack targeting the country.
• A total of 140 US service members have been wounded since the start of American and Israeli attacks on Iran, with eight severely injured, Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell told Anadolu.
• The White House denied a claim posted to a senior Trump administration official’s social media account that the US Navy escorted an oil tanker through the Strait of Hormuz.
• Iran ruled out the possibility of reaching a ceasefire with the US and Israel, saying it intends to continue responding to attacks against the country.
• Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan held a phone call with the head of Sudan’s Transitional Sovereignty Council Abdel Fattah al-Burhan.
• Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney denounced an early-morning shooting at the US Consulate in Toronto as a "reprehensible act of violence and attempt at intimidation."
• Four Iranian diplomats were killed in an Israeli airstrike in the Lebanese capital Beirut, Iran's ambassador to the UN said.
• The Trump administration asked Israel to refrain from additional strikes on Iranian energy facilities, particularly oil infrastructure, Axios reported, citing three sources familiar with the matter.
• UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is set to travel to Türkiye's capital Ankara as part of his annual "solidarity trip," marking the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, his spokesperson said.
• Nechirvan Barzani, the head of Iraq’s Kurdish Regional Government (KRG), congratulated Mojtaba Khamenei on his appointment as Iran’s new supreme leader, according to a KRG statement.
• Syria appointed an assistant defense minister for the eastern region, according to the Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA).
• German Chancellor Friedrich Merz cautioned that the United States and Israel appear to have no clear exit strategy for the Iran war.
• Two people were killed in an Israeli drone strike that targeted a vehicle in southern Lebanon, Lebanese media reported.

BUSINESS & ECONOMY

• Bahrain relocates passenger, cargo aircraft from airport to boost operational readiness

Bahrain has relocated several passenger and cargo aircraft from Bahrain International Airport to other airports as part of measures to enhance operational readiness amid regional tensions, authorities said.

The Civil Aviation Affairs at the Bahrain Ministry of Transportation and Telecommunications said several aircraft belonging to Gulf Air, along with a number of cargo planes, were repositioned as part of approved operational arrangements, according to the Bahrain News Agency.

• UK inflation could end year higher due to Iran war, watchdog says

UK inflation could end the year higher than previously expected at 3% due to the US-Israeli war in Iran, an official with the government’s economics watchdog said.

David Miles, a senior figure at the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR), said inflation could end the year a percentage point higher than expected before the war because of the energy price shock triggered by the crisis in the Middle East.