Trump to Meet Security Team After Demanding Iran’s ‘Surrender’

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New satellite images suggest Israeli strikes damaged underground uranium-enrichment facilities at Natanz, Iran’s primary nuclear-fuel production site, the United Nations nuclear watchdog said in a post on X. The International Atomic Energy Agency has yet to detect damage at Iran’s other underground enrichment site in Fordow, according to the statement. 

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Republican Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, a longtime advocate of war against Iran, said he “100% supports” US participation in striking Fordow. 

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“I’m all in for destroying their nuclear program. You can’t do it without destroying Fordow,” he told reporters in Washington. “If it takes bombs, bunker-buster bombs, so be it. If we need to fly with Israel, so be it.” Graham added that “the window for diplomacy has passed, we’re in the land of force.” 

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Israel has sought to draw the US — which has provided defensive support against Iranian missile fire — deeper into the conflict. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told ABC News on Monday that the countries share a common enemy in Iran, and that it’s in America’s interest to support Israel.

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Trump has left open the possibility of further talks on Iran’s atomic activities after five earlier rounds, but continued to hammer the idea that Tehran is at fault for not having already agreed to a deal that would have prevented Israel’s attacks. He told reporters that he “may” send a high-level official, such as special envoy Steven Witkoff or Vance, to meet with Iran.

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Trump is “telling Iran you can put a stop to this,” Missouri Republican Senator Josh Hawley said after speaking with the president on Tuesday.

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Israel said it saw a drop-off in Iranian fire on Tuesday, with a military spokesperson saying “a few dozen” missiles had been launched since midnight compared with the hundreds seen over the weekend.

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Still, Israel’s Oil Refineries Ltd. shut down its refinery after the complex was damaged and three employees were killed, the company said Monday. The site has a peak production capacity of close to 200,000 barrels of oil per day, with 70% of products distributed in the Israeli market, according to the company’s website.

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Israeli petrol station chain Sonol, which has 245 gasoline stations in the country, warned Tuesday that the closure of the Haifa refinery will likely cause disruptions to fuel supply to its Israeli customers, according to the Globes newspaper.

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Long-standing tensions between Iran and Israel erupted into open fighting last week, when Israel launched surprise attacks on Iranian military and nuclear sites and killed senior commanders and atomic scientists. Since then, it has achieved air superiority over much of Iran, allowing it to bomb major cities and infrastructure at will.

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For Iran’s government, the showdown poses a strategic dilemma. It can’t risk appearing weak, yet its retaliatory options are shrinking. Proxy forces it supports across the region have been largely degraded by Israeli wars since Oct. 2023.

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More than 200 people have been killed in Iran by Israel’s strikes, according to the last official tally from the Iranian government. In Israel, the government has said 24 people have been killed — the same number reported the day prior — and over 600 injured.

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Oil prices have climbed in the past week as the conflict escalated, raising concerns about a wider hit to the global economy. Many analysts say Iran has the ability to shut down the Strait of Hormuz, a key energy trade route. Qatar on Tuesday asked liquefied natural gas vessels to wait outside the strait until they’re ready to load amid the escalating tensions.

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Two large tankers collided and caught fire near the strait early on Tuesday. The owner of one of them said the incident was “unrelated to the current regional conflict.” 

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—With assistance from Alisa Odenheimer, Jonathan Tirone, Dan Williams, Steven T. Dennis and Erik Wasson.

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(Updates with details throughout)

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