Trump repeated his insistence that Iran wants to make a deal.
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.
The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) Centre reported that a tanker was "struck by an unknown projectile" in the Strait of Hormuz in the early hours of Friday morning.
The impact caused a fire onboard the vessel, which was later extinguished, the UKMTO said. All crew members were reported safe, the alert added.
The State Department is pushing back on a UN-commissioned report that found there is "reasonable grounds to believe" the U.S. committed war crimes in Iran, including during a strike on a primary school in Minab.
"The Trump Administration formally withdrew from the UN Human Rights Council following the Council’s consistent failures to uphold its own 'values' as it pushes anti-American rhetoric and antisemitism, all while it appeases repressive regimes, thus making a mockery of the very 'rights' it claims to protect,” a State Department official said. "As such, we do not give credibility" to the findings of the report.
The official continued: “The protection of civilians is of the utmost importance to the U.S. We refer to the Department of War with respect to specific questions on U.S. operations.”
In regards to Minab, the report—which relies on open source reporting—concluded the attack on the school “went beyond mere negligence.”
“Rather, the U.S. directed the strikes at the building of the school while being aware of a substantial risk of striking a civilian object and acting recklessly as regards the possibility that this would happen,” the report stated.
The report also notes that investigators sent a request for information to the U.S. government, as well as requests for meetings, but that their requests went unanswered.
The fact-finding mission also concluded that Iranian authorities committed crimes against humanity, saying the number of casualties caused by the regime’s crackdown earlier this year could not be verified, but that it was likely “significantly higher” than figures reported by Iran’s government (3,038 killed, 25,000 injured.)
-ABC News' Shannon Kingston
President Donald Trump told Axios in an interview published Thursday that he has a "big decision" coming up on whether to "go in and annihilate" the Iranian regime.
"I have a big decision coming up. Do I want to go in and annihilate them [the Iranian regime] or do I not? It's a big decision. Anything could happen with me," Trump said, according to Axios.
According to Axios, during the interview "Trump declined to say whether he'll decide on the path forward before or after the midterms."
-ABC News' Michelle Stoddart
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
