Trump meets Netanyahu as his threat to resume strikes looms over Iran

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met President Trump at the White House Tuesday for the first time since the U.S. and Israel launched their war with Iran . Israel has not taken part in the latest round of hostilities between the U.S.

and Iran, which flared earlier this month but has been paused amid diplomacy aimed at a deal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz. Mr. Trump expressed optimism Monday about that diplomacy, but he also warned that if the U.S.

and Iran can't make a deal, "we go back to doing what we were doing." The Iran-backed Houthi military group said it fired ballistic missiles at a Saudi-flagged ship in the Red Sea on Tuesday, saying the oil tanker ignored warnings and was forced to turn around. The reinstated U.S. blockade on Iranian ports has now stopped 18 ships from exiting or entering Iranian ports, according to U.S.

Central Command . Eighteen ships is an increase by one vessel from yesterday. The number of ships boarded (two) and disabled (two) remained the same.

Central Command said more than 20 U.S. warships are taking part in the blockade, which President Trump described as a "steel wall" last week. Transits in the Strait of Hormuz are down sharply after the ceasefire fell apart and Iran targeted several vessels earlier this month.

Only 29 verified crossings were recorded from July 24 to 26, according to data company Kpler. About 100 vessels would transit the strait on a daily basis before the war. https://www.cbsnews.com/live-updates/us-iran-war-trump-strait-of-hormuz-talks-oman/#post-update-89a60206 link copied The White House meeting between President Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was "extremely positive," according to a senior Israeli source who accompanied Netanyahu in the meeting.

"It was an extremely positive meeting," the source said. "The Prime Minister and President held an excellent and comprehensive discussion on the key issues of the day, first and foremost Iran. The leaders reaffirmed their ironclad commitment to ensuring that Iran never has nuclear weapons." The meeting held the potential to be tense, emphasized by Mr.

Trump's comments to Fox News just before the meeting. He pushed back on a reporter's question about Netanyahu wanting to discuss Pickaxe Mountain, a supposed Iranian nuclear facility, saying, "I don't need Bibi to tell me that." "Bibi's telling me that because he wants me to stay involved," Mr. Trump told Fox News.

"I said, 'Why didn't you just tell it to me, why did you have to announce it to the world?'" "I know ‌exactly what's ‌going on at ⁠Pickaxe. It's not a big problem," Mr. Trump added.

The meeting lasted for a little over an hour. https://www.cbsnews.com/live-updates/us-iran-war-trump-strait-of-hormuz-talks-oman/#post-update-cb1d0e7a link copied Iran has rejected a proposal by Oman to allow another country to de-mine the Strait of Hormuz, according to Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi. Gharibabadi did not say which country Oman proposed to de-mine the strait but said "Tehran blocked the plan," he told the semi-official Tasnim News Agency.

The top diplomat also noted Iran has not reached out to the United States for talks in the last 15 days, despite President Trump saying Iran wanted to talk. "We have not submitted any request to negotiate with America during the past 15 days," Gharibabadi said. "The Americans are the ones who asked us to hold a dialogue, and as they informed us through Oman, they will not carry out military actions against us." He also reiterated the Strait of Hormuz "will never return to its pre-war state," a common sticking point in any negotiations with the U.S.

"The Strait of Hormuz has become part of our national security and it provides defensive capabilities, and we will never give it up," Gharibabadi said. "We do not fear any action to enforce our sovereignty over the Strait of Hormuz, even if that means resuming the war." https://www.cbsnews.com/live-updates/us-iran-war-trump-strait-of-hormuz-talks-oman/#post-update-6473cbc2 link copied The Iran-backed Houthi paramilitary group fired on a Saudi-flagged tanker in the Red Sea on Tuesday, the group said. The Houthis fired "a number of ballistic missiles" at the oil tanker NCC Ghazal for "for violating the maritime navigation ban imposed on the Saudi enemy and ignoring the warning calls," according to spokesperson Yahya Saree.

The ship turned around and "retreated" from the fire, he said. "The armed forces affirm their continuation in implementing the maritime blockade decision against the Saudi enemy within the equation of siege by siege and comprehensive escalation by comprehensive escalation," Saree said, translated from Arabic. The Houthis had threatened to target Saudi tankers transiting the Bab el-Mandeb, the southern route out of the Red Sea, in solidarity with Iran.

Two Saudi tankers were targeted last week, one of which was struck and caused a fire. The group, however, has said the strait is open to non-Saudi ships. Few ships are now transiting the Bab el-Mandeb on a daily basis though — about 20 per day, compared to an average of about 50 a day prior to the threats.

The Houthis also targeted oil facilities on the western coast of Saudi Arabia on Sunday. https://www.cbsnews.com/live-updates/us-iran-war-trump-strait-of-hormuz-talks-oman/#post-update-281a95af link copied U.N. peacekeepers said Tuesday they had found around 4.4 tons of explosives this month in a southern Lebanon border village currently under Israeli occupation.

On July 2 during a "routine route check" near Hula, "peacekeepers found 385 containers abandoned inside a building, containing approximately 4,000 kilograms of explosive material, consisting mainly of ammonium nitrate compounds," the U.N. Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) said in a statement. UNIFIL specialists "later carried out on-site procedures to render the material inert, making it safe and removing the risk it posed." A source with knowledge of the matter told the AFP news agency on condition of anonymity that the containers had Hebrew writing on them and were "likely used for demolitions." Hula is within a band of territory stretching across southern Lebanon, and about six miles into the country from the Israeli border, which has been occupied by Israeli forces for weeks amid the country's fight against Iranian-backed Hezbollah.

Tens of thousands of residents have been ordered to evacuate towns and villages in the so called "security zone" and Israel has warned them not to return. Hezbollah drew Lebanon into the Middle East war on March 2 by firing rockets and drones at Israel in support of Iran, triggering major Israeli airstrikes and the ongoing ground invasion. While violence has declined since a framework deal was signed between Lebanon and Israel, Lebanon has reported ongoing Israeli demolitions of homes and other buildings in border villages and towns.

Lebanon's president on Monday called the demolitions a "direct violation of human rights and a clear breach of international laws." Lebanon's state-run National News Agency has reported Israeli detonations in Hula on four occasions this month. https://www.cbsnews.com/live-updates/us-iran-war-trump-strait-of-hormuz-talks-oman/#post-update-b4a24a42 link copied President Trump has concluded his meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu after about an hour, according to White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt. The meeting with Netanyahu came immediately after one with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

"President Trump has concluded his meetings in the Oval Office with President Zelenskyy and Prime Minister Netanyahu," Leavitt posted on X . "Both meetings were positive and productive!" Both meetings lasted about an hour — the meeting with Netanyahu lasted a little over an hour, while Zelenskyy's was a little under. Photos from Netanyahu's meeting showed attendants, in addition to Mr.

Trump, included Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and...