Trump says US Navy attacked and seized Iranian-flagged cargo ship

The Israel Defense Forces issued an "urgent" warning for residents of southern Lebanon, south of the Zahrani River, calling on them to move north and saying airstrikes were ongoing with "significant force" in the area.

"Hezbollah's terrorist activities are forcing the Israel Defense Forces to act against it forcefully in that area, and it has no intention of harming you," Col. Avichay Adraee, the IDF’s Arab-language spokesperson, said on social media on Wednesday.

The IDF called on residents south of the Zahrani to move "immediately" north, saying that remaining in place "may endanger your lives and the lives of your families."

The IDF in recent weeks has issued similar warnings for much of southern Lebanon, where it's attacking the Hezbollah militia, an Iranian proxy.

President Donald Trump again leveled criticism at Pope Leo and the NATO alliance over the war with Iran in late-night posts on social media Tuesday.

In the first post, Trump said that the Catholic leader -- who has repeatedly called for peace in the conflict -- needed to be informed that Iran had killed tens of thousands of protesters, and that it was "absolutely unacceptable" for Iran to develop a nuclear weapon.

Trump followed up minutes later with another post directed at NATO allies, again claiming that the alliance "wasn't there for us, and they won't be there for us in the future" -- a sentiment the president has repeatedly conveyed in recent weeks.

-ABC News' Nicholas Kerr

The blockade of Iranian ports "has been fully implemented," the commander of U.S. Central Command Adm. Brad Cooper said in a social media post late Tuesday.

"In less than 36 hours since the blockade was implemented, U.S. forces have completely halted economic trade going into and out of Iran by sea," the post stated.

Cooper said an estimated 90% of Iran's economy is fueled by international trade by sea.

The U.S. military began the blockade of Iranian ports on Monday after President Donald Trump announced the move over the weekend, following the failure of peace negotiations between the U.S. and Iran.

President Donald Trump said that he viewed the war with Iran as "very close to over" in an interview with Fox News’ Maria Bartiromo on Tuesday afternoon.

"I think it's close to over. Yeah. I mean, I view it as very close to over," Trump told Fox News's Maria Bartiromo when asked whether or not the war was over.

The president also claimed that it would take Iran two decades to rebuild if the U.S. pulled out right now.

"If I pulled up stakes right now, it would take them 20 years to rebuild that country. And we're not finished, but we'll see what happens. I think they want to make a deal very badly," Trump said.

-ABC News' Nicholas Kerr