Iran live updates: Khamenei says Iran will 'guard' nuclear, missile technologies

President Donald Trump on Tuesday issued an apparent rebuke of German Chancellor Friedrich Merz's criticism of American strategy in Iran, saying that the German leader doesn't "know what he's talking about."

Merz, Trump claimed, "thinks it's OK for Iran to have a Nuclear Weapon" -- something Merz did not say in his Monday criticism of the U.S.-Israel campaign.

"If Iran had a Nuclear Weapon, the whole World would be held hostage. I am doing something with Iran, right now, that other Nations, or Presidents, should have done long ago," Trump said.

"No wonder Germany is doing so poorly, both Economically, and otherwise," Trump added in the post.

Merz said at an event on Monday that the U.S. had "no strategy" in Iran and was "being humiliated by the Iranian state leadership."

-ABC News' Michelle Stoddart

The Israel Defense Forces said in a post to X on Wednesday that its strikes against alleged Hezbollah targets in southern Lebanon continued through Tuesday.

Israeli operations were ongoing "north of the forward defense line," the IDF said, referring to a line inside southern Lebanon to which Israeli forces are advancing, which is intended as the forward boundary of a planned "buffer zone" along the Israeli-Lebanese border.

The IDF also said there were "several incidents" of drone attacks on Israeli forces operating in southern Lebanon on Tuesday, in which one soldier was "lightly wounded."

The Trump administration is taking additional action against nearly three dozen entities and individuals accused of operating Iran’s shadow banking networks.

The administration says these entities and individuals allow the Iranian regime to evade sanctions and pocket “tens of billions of dollars.”

"By dismantling these financial channels, we advance the Administration’s policy in the conflict with Iran and underscore our commitment to imposing maximum pressure on Iran,” State Department spokesperson Tommy Pigott said in a statement.

-ABC News’ Shannon Kingston

Israel will continue to destroy terrorist infrastructure in southern Lebanon "just like in Gaza,” Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said on Tuesday.

"Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and I have instructed the IDF to destroy every terror infrastructure in the security zone up to the yellow line, below and above ground, just like in Gaza,” Katz said.

"The IDF has now destroyed an underground terror infrastructure in Qantara, Lebanon, in a huge explosion, inside the new security zone," Katz said.

A ceasefire has in place since April 16 but strikes against Hezbollah in Lebanon have continued. Hezbollah has also continued to target Israeli troop positions in southern Lebanon.

-ABC News’ Dorit Long