Iran confirms death of top security official Ali Larijani in attack

Iran's Supreme National Security Council confirmed that its secretary Ali Larijani has been killed in an attack, Iran's Tasnim news agency reported early Wednesday.

In a statement, the council said Larijani died early Tuesday alongside his son Morteza Larijani, deputy for security affairs at the council's secretariat Alireza Bayat, and several others, Tasnim reported.

On Tuesday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that Israel had killed Larijani in ongoing strikes on Iran.

U.S. National Counterterrorism Center Director Joe Kent resigns over Iran war

Joe Kent, director of the U.S. National Counterterrorism Center, announced on social media Tuesday that he has decided to resign from his position, noting that he "cannot in good conscience support the ongoing war in Iran."

"Iran posed no imminent threat to our nation, and it is clear that we started this war due to pressure from Israel and its powerful American lobby," Kent wrote in a post on X.

In his letter to President Donald Trump, Kent said that early in this administration, high-ranking Israeli officials and influential members of the American media "deployed a misinformation campaign that wholly undermined your America First platform and sowed pro-war sentiments to encourage a war with Iran."

Kent said that he cannot support sending the next generation off to "fight and die in a war that serves no benefit to the American people nor justifies the cost of American lives."

Macron says France not to take part in operations in Strait of Hormuz

French President Emmanuel Macron said on Tuesday that France will never take part in operations to reopen the Strait of Hormuz "in the current context."

"We are not a party to the conflict, and therefore France will never take part in operations to open or free the Strait of Hormuz in the current context," Macron said during a Defense and National Security Council meeting on Iran and the Middle East.

"However, we are convinced that once the situation is calmer -- that is, once the bulk of the bombardment has ceased -- we are ready, together with other nations, to take responsibility for an escort system," Macron added.

U.S. President Donald Trump said Sunday that he had "demanded" several countries heavily reliant on Middle East oil to join a coalition to escort vessels through the Strait of Hormuz, a key waterway through which about 20 percent of the world's oil passes.

Trump says most U.S. allies "don't want to get involved" in military operation against Iran

U.S. President Donald Trump said Tuesday the United States has been informed by most of its NATO allies that they "don't want to get involved" in the military operation against Iran, adding that the United States does not need help from NATO allies or other countries.

"We no longer 'need,' or desire, the NATO Countries' assistance -- WE NEVER DID! Likewise, Japan, Australia, or South Korea," Trump wrote on Truth Social.

"I think NATO is making a very foolish mistake," Trump said. "And I've long said that, you know, I wonder whether or not NATO would ever be there for us. So this was a great test, because we don't need them, but they should have been there."

Trump says U.S. "not ready" to end conflict with Iran

U.S. President Donald Trump said Tuesday that Washington is "not ready" to end the conflict with Iran, which is now entering its third week.

"We're not ready to leave yet, but we'll be leaving in the near future," Trump told reporters at the White House.

Asked whether the White House has a "day-after" plan for the conflict with Iran, Trump gave no details, repeating his claim that Iran has "been decimated from every standpoint" since the United States and Israel began large-scale attacks on Iran on Feb. 28.

It would take Iran a decade to rebuild, he said.

Trump told reporters that if he sends U.S. ground troops into Iran, he was not afraid it could turn into another Vietnam for the United States.

Pakistan airstrike hits hospital in Kabul, killing 400: Afghan official

Pakistan's air force carried out an airstrike late Monday night targeting a drug addiction treatment hospital in the Afghan capital of Kabul, killing at least 400 people and injuring around 250 others, an Afghan official said Tuesday.

Hamdullah Fitrat, deputy spokesman of the Afghan government, said in a statement posted on the social media platform X that the airstrike, launched at around 9:00 p.m. local time on Monday, struck the Omid Addiction Treatment Hospital in Kabul.

The hospital, a 2,000-bed facility dedicated to the treatment of drug addiction patients, was largely destroyed in the attack, Fitrat said, warning that the number of casualties could further rise.

Hungary criticizes EU response to Druzhba pipeline disruption

Hungary's Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Peter Szijjarto on Tuesday criticized the European Commission's (EC) response to the disruption of oil supplies via the Druzhba pipeline, urging immediate resumption of deliveries.

Szijjarto said Hungary and Slovakia have been facing what he described as an "oil blockade" from Ukraine for nearly 50 days, and rejected suggestions that the issue was merely technical.

He argued that the situation was the result of a coordinated political action involving Kyiv and Brussels, and called on Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and EC President Ursula von der Leyen to "stop the theater" and restore the pipeline's operation without delay.■