IRGC will target US ships in Indian Ocean if fighting resumes, official says

The Indian Ocean sits beyond the southern entrance to the Strait of Hormuz.

President Donald Trump announced "major combat operations" against Iran on Feb. 28, with massive joint U.S.-Israeli strikes targeting military, government and infrastructure sites.

Delegations from the U.S. and Iran entered negotiations in June aimed at a war-ending deal based on a memorandum of understanding signed by both countries.

Those talks broke down as the U.S. and Iran continued to exchange strikes, with the strategic Strait of Hormuz as the primary flashpoint. Trump then said in August that the U.S. would launch a "crushing economic operation" to force Tehran into submission.


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Trump tells UNGA: Either Iran reaches a deal or 'I annihilate' them

Addressing world leaders at the United Nations General Assembly on Tuesday, President Donald Trump repeated his threat to "annihilate" Iran if it didn't reach a deal to end the war, though he added that he doesn’t believe there will be an agreement before the midterm elections.

"But I have a big decision to make. Will a deal be made with Iran that lets them rebuild and create a far greater country than it ever was before, maybe one of the greatest in the Middle East or even the world? Or do I annihilate the Islamic Republic and do it quickly, never giving them a chance to kill and destroy people and countries again?" Trump said.

The president's message comes as a core Iranian delegation traveled to New York for the gathering of world leaders.

Read more here.

-ABC News' Fritz Farrow


Rubio says Trump is 'open' to meeting with Iranian president

In an interview with NBC's "Today" on Tuesday morning, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that President Donald Trump is "open" to meeting with his Iranian counterpart, Masoud Pezeshkian, at this week's United Nations General Assembly meeting in New York.

Trump, Rubio said, "has said he's open to meeting with anybody. This is a president that will meet with anybody, for the most part, because he believes that engaging with people is important if you're going to solve problems."

"I don't think anything is scheduled at this point, but we're certainly open to something like that," Rubio added.

Asked about rising prices associated with the ongoing war, Rubio replied, "Anyone who is concerned about prices itself is not wrong, and obviously if the war is being blamed for that, then of course you're going to hear it." He added, "We recognize that. We don't want prices to be high."

Rubio asserted that if Iran obtained a nuclear weapon, the price of a gallon of gas would be "double."

"Because then no one would touch them. There's nothing you could do about Iran and they would use that nuclear weapon to control the Straits of Hormuz forever. They would be able to choke off the world's energy supply any time they wanted," he said.

Rubio said roughly 60% to 70% of the oil flows through the Strait of Hormuz had been restored, but pointed to Houthi attacks on Saudi oil infrastructure as a reason prices remain high.

-ABC News' Shannon K. Kingston


Trump again denies US is low on munitions

President Donald Trump on Tuesday morning said in a post to social media that the U.S. has plentiful munitions, again dismissing reports that American forces have expended significant amounts of key weapons including anti-ballistic missile interceptors.

"The cowards and traitors would love to say the United States is low on munitions. It's not true. We have more munitions than we could ever possibly think of using, and are building them up now at levels we have never seen before," the president wrote.

Last week, a report from the Department of Defense Office of the Inspector General said the U.S. had experienced a shortfall in munitions due to Operation Epic Fury.

"The Office of the Under Secretary for Acquisition and Sustainment (OUSW[A&S]) said that the munitions expenditure in OEF has resulted in strategic inventory shortfalls and revealed industrial base bottlenecks for munitions resupply," the report read, adding that the Pentagon was "working to streamline procurement processes and production lead times."

-ABC News' Nicholas Kerr


Saudi Arabia issues safety alert for Najran

The Saudi General Directorate of Civil Defense on Tuesday issued a safety alert for the region of Najran, in the southwest of the kingdom close to the border with Yemen, where Saudi-backed government forces are fighting the Iran-backed Houthi rebels.

The safety alert was lifted shortly after it was announced, with the directorate saying in a post to X that the danger "has passed."