Strait of Hormuz shut until Tehran's conditions met, Ghalibaf says
The Strait of Hormuz remains a flashpoint with peace talks stalled.
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.
Key Headlines
- Strait of Hormuz won't open until Iranian conditions met, Ghalibaf says
- State Department advises Americans to 'seriously reconsider' travel in Middle East, citing Houthi hostilities in Saudi Arabia
- Iran’s security chief calls for end to Saudi-Yemen war, says future nuclear policy depends on US conduct
- Saudi Arabia confirms Houthis tried to attack Riyadh with a ballistic missile
1 killed by Houthi drone shrapnel in Saudi Arabia, officials say
Saudi Arabia's Civil Defense Directorate announced on Thursday that shrapnel from a downed Houthi drone killed at least one person and injured two others in the Taif Governorate, in the southwestern Mecca Province.
The shrapnel also caused "material damage to several buildings and vehicles," the directorate said in a statement posted to X.
-ABC News' Othon Leyva
Trump administration blocks Palestinian delegation from UNGA
The State Department announced on Wednesday that it had extended sanctions denying visas to Palestinian Authority officials and members of the Palestinian Liberation Organization, saying that officials "have, once again, failed to live up to their commitments" required by U.S. law.
"It is in our national interest to impose consequences and hold the PLO and PA accountable for glorifying terrorism," the State Department said in a press release.
The move effectively bars a high-level Palestinian delegation -- including Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas -- from traveling to New York for the upcoming United Nations General Assembly high-level week.
The measure does contain a carveout for personnel assigned to the PLO observer mission at the UN.
-ABC News' Shannon K. Kingston
Photos show extensive damage to US Middle East bases
U.S. bases in the Middle East have suffered severe damage as a result of Iranian attacks, images and videos obtained by ABC News show, as the Pentagon surveys the costs of a war the U.S. began more than six months ago.
The images, which were recently obtained by ABC News but capture moments in time across the conflict, show damage to buildings and an aircraft at three U.S. bases in Kuwait and a Saudi base that houses U.S. assets, some of which were evacuated amid the danger.
A senior U.S. service member told ABC News that the damage to the facilities would take "decades" to repair.
-ABC News' Rachel Scott and Chris Boccia
'Hopefully we're toward the end of the war' with Iran: Trump
President Donald Trump told reporters Wednesday that he hopes that the U.S. is "toward the end of the war" with Iran.
"Well, hopefully we're toward the end of the war," Trump said on the tarmac in North Carolina when asked by a reporter how he would describe what phase the war is in. "They want to make a deal. We'll see how that works out."
When asked whether there are intermediaries in the negotiations with Iranians, Trump said, "We deal directly."
-ABC News' Michelle Stoddart and Devin Garbitt