Compiled from news service reports
Top House Democrats requesting that Congress immediately come back into session for a vote to end the war in Iran on Wednesday as President Donald Trump’s ultimatum calling for Iran to open the Strait of Hormuz loomed.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., Democratic Whip Katherine Clark, D-Mass., Democratic Caucus Chair Pete Aguilar, D-Calif., Democratic Caucus Vice Chair Ted Lieu, D-Calif., Assistant Democratic Leader Joe Neguse, D-Colo., and Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee Chair Suzan DelBene, D-Wash., criticized Trump in a joint statement.
“[Trump’s] statement threatening to eradicate an entire civilization shocks the conscience and requires a decisive congressional response,” the statement reads, adding that the president is plunging the United States into World War III.
House Democrats accused their Republican counterparts of enabling and excusing Trump’s actions.
Gas prices have skyrocketed, billions in taxpayer dollars have been wasted, over a dozen U.S. troops have been killed, and hundreds more injured, the Democrat lawmakers said, adding, “It’s time for House Republicans to put patriotic duty over party loyalty and join Democrats in stopping this madness.”
Pope Leo XIV criticized Trump’s threat to attack Iran’s civilian infrastructure and power plants if it did not open the Strait of Hormuz by Tuesday, 8 p.m. ET.
“Today as we all know there was this threat against all the people of Iran. This is truly unacceptable,” he told reporters.
Russia and China vetoed a U.N. resolution calling for the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz.
Pakistan Calls for 2-Week Cease-Fire
Pakistan has called for a two-week pause in the war with Iran.
“Diplomatic efforts for peaceful settlement of the ongoing war in the Middle East are progressing steadily, strongly and powerfully with the potential to lead to substantive results in near future,” wrote Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on X.
Pakistan called for Iran to open the Strait of Hormuz for two weeks “as a goodwill gesture.”
Pakistan’s military said on Tuesday that it supports ongoing efforts to end the war in the Middle East, but emphasized the importance of maintaining restraint and dialogue.
The military also warned that recent Iranian strikes on Saudi Arabia could derail attempts at diplomacy.
The comments came from a meeting of top commanders led by Army Chief Field Marshal Asim Munir, according to a statement from the Pakistani military.
“The [Pakistan] military strongly condemned the strikes on Saudi Arabia’s petrochemical and industrial facilities,” the statement said, calling it an “unnecessary escalation.”
Those strikes could undermine “sincere efforts to resolve the conflict through peaceful means,” the statement said.
“Despite grave provocations,” Saudi Arabia’s restraint has allowed mediation and diplomacy to move forward, but subsequent attacks risk destroying the “conducive environment” required to negotiate, the meeting of commanders noted.
U.S. Embassy in Bahrain Issues ‘Shelter in Place’ Warning
The U.S. Embassy in Bahrain issued a “shelter in place” warning to all government employees in the area.
“To the extent possible, remain in a secure structure, and stay away from windows,” the embassy said in a statement on Tuesday. “We recommend all Americans in Bahrain do the same until further notice.”
The statement provided details explaining the warning, saying: “Iran and its aligned terrorist militias may intend to target American universities in Bahrain. Iran has specifically threatened American universities across the Middle East.”
Explosions Heard on Iran’s Kharg Island
Several explosions were heard on Kharg Island, Iran’s largest and most important oil refining and storage facility, on Tuesday.
Iran’s Mehr news agency said the United States and Israel had carried out several attacks on the island and that a number of explosions had been heard.
On March 13, U.S. President Donald Trump said military targets on the island had been “obliterated,” but he had previously promised not to damage the oil and gas infrastructure because if there was regime change in Tehran, it would take years for the new government to rebuild.
Trump has said Tuesday would be “Power Plant Day, and Bridge Day” if the Iranian regime did not agree to a deal and reopen the Strait of Hormuz.
In response to a question about the reported strike on Kharg Island, Vice President JD Vance told reporters in Budapest that it is “my understanding … that we were to strike some military targets on Kharg Island. I believe we’ve done so.”
Iranian Minister Calls for Human Chains Around Power Plants
An Iranian minister called for citizens, including students, to make human chains around power plants in response to Trump’s threaten against Iranian infrastructure.
“Power plants that are our national assets and capital, regardless of any taste or political viewpoint, belong to the future of Iran and to the Iranian youth,” Alireza Rahimi, identified by Iranian state television as the secretary of the Supreme Council of Youth and Adolescents, said on Tuesday.
Iranian Gen. Hossein Yekta, previously identified as leading plainclothes units of the all-volunteer Basij force, urged parents on Tuesday to send their children to man checkpoints, which are also repeatedly targeted in airstrikes.
Israeli Military Warns Iranians Not to Take Trains
The Israel Defense Forces have warned Iranian citizens to avoid traveling by train throughout the country.
“Dear Citizens, for the sake of your security, we kindly request that from this moment until 21:00 Iran time, you refrain from using and traveling by train,” the IDF warned on its Farsi language account on X on Tuesday.
“Your presence on trains and near railway lines endangers your life.”
Israel’s air force struck bridges and railways in Iran on Tuesday in what it said was an effort to prevent the regime from using them for military and terror purposes.
The IDF struck eight bridge segments, which it said were used by Iran to transport weapons and military equipment across Iran, including around Tehran, Karaj, Tabriz, Kashan and Qom.
The IDF said it took steps to mitigate harm to civilians during the attack.
“This is no longer the same Iran, nor is it the same Israel. We are changing the balance of power from one end to the other,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a video released by his office.
More than 1,500 Killed in Lebanon Since War Began
Israel has been fighting Hezbollah in Lebanon since the terrorist group fired rockets at Israel on March 2 following the U.S.-Israel strikes against Iran beginning on Feb. 28.
Lebanon’s health ministry said in a statement on Tuesday that 1,530 people have been killed between March 2 and Tuesday, including 102 women, 130 children and 57 people in the health sector.
Another 4,812 have been wounded during the war, it said.
It’s not clear how many of the casualties include members of Hezbollah.
Eleven Israeli soldiers have also died amid the fighting.
The Israeli military said on March 10 that rockets fired from Lebanon toward central Israel lightly injured several civilians, but that most of the rockets were intercepted.
Iran, Militias May Target Universities in Middle East, US State Department Warns
The U.S. State Department warned that Iran and its aligned terrorist militias may target universities in the Middle East.
The U.S. Embassy in Cairo advised Americans to “closely monitor the news for regional developments related to military operations in Iran” and “exercise caution” as the conflict intensifies.
“Iran and its aligned terrorist militias may intend to target universities in the Middle East,” the Department of State Consular Affairs said in the warning.
“Extremists and Iranian-aligned actors have expressed interest in planning and carrying out attacks in the region. Iran has specifically threatened American universities across the Middle East.”
Other potential targets include religious and tourist sites, transportation centers, and foreign and U.S.-affiliated organizations, the department said.
Iranian UN Ambassador: Trump Remarks ‘Deeply Irresponsible’ and ‘Profoundly Alarming’
Iranian U.N. Ambassador Amir Saeid Iravani said that Trump’s remarks posted on social media on Tuesday are “deeply irresponsible” and “profoundly alarming.”
Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social that “a whole civilization will die tonight” if Iran persists in its refusal to open the Strait of Hormuz to oil traffic.
Addressing the U.N. Security Council, Iravani described the comment as “rhetoric … unfitting of any political leader.”
Iravani further stated that the comments “constitute incitement to war crimes and potentially genocide.”
Separately, a spokesperson for the international body said that U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres was “very troubled” by Trump’s statement.
“There is no military objective that justifies the wholesale destruction of a society’s infrastructure or the deliberate infliction of suffering on civilian populations,” the spokesperson, Stéphane Dujarric, said at a press briefing.
WHO Warns About Long-Term Impact of Strikes Near Iranian Nuclear Plant
The World Health Organization warned about the long-term health impact of strikes near the Russian-built Bushehr power plant in Iran.
“Such actions could lead to a severe radiological accident, with serious and long-term health consequences for people now and for generations to come, while also harming the environment across Iran, the region and beyond,” WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus posted on X.
He reiterated his call for “all parties to rapidly choose a peaceful path out of this escalating conflict to protect public health and prevent a human and environmental catastrophe.”
Iran-backed Iraqi Militia Announces Release of American Journalist
The Iran-backed Iraqi militia Kataib Hezbollah said in a statement on Tuesday that it would release Shelly Kittleson, an American journalist who was kidnapped from a street corner in Baghdad last week.
The decision came “in appreciation of the patriotic stances of the outgoing prime minister” Mohammed Shia al-Sudani, the group said, without offering additional details.
While both the U.S. and Iraqi officials had blamed Kataib Hezbollah for kidnapping Kittleson, the group had not previously claimed responsibility.
Working as a freelance journalist, Kittleson, 49, had lived abroad for years before she was kidnapped. She had used Rome as a home base while reporting throughout the Middle East, including in Iraq and Syria.
Kittleson entered Iraq not long before her abduction. U.S. officials said they had warned her of threats against her life, but she decided to stay.
Troy Myers, Jackson Richman, Jacob Burg, Savannah Hulsey Pointer, Chris Summers, Victoria Friedman, Joseph Lord and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
