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President Donald Trump said Tuesday that NATO and most other allies have rejected his calls to help secure the Strait of Hormuz.
Trump’s comments come after Joe Kent, director of the U.S. National Counterterrorism Center, announced his resignation, stating that he “cannot in good conscience” back the Trump administration’s war in Iran.
According to the Associated Press, the Israeli military said Tuesday it had launched new attacks across Tehran and Beirut, with the strikes on the Lebanese capital targeting Hezbollah militants.
Israel’s defense minister also told the AP Tuesday that the military killed top Iranian security official Ali Larijani in an overnight strike. The military also announced it had killed Gen. Gholam Reza Soleimani, the head of the Revolutionary Guard’s all-volunteer Basij force.
RELATED: Trump calls for help to reopen Strait of Hormuz as war in Iran continues
Firefighters extinguish a fire that swept through the site of an Israeli airstrike targeting Beirut’s southern suburbs, in the al-Kafaat neighborhood, on March 17, 2026. (Photo by AFP via Getty Images)
Iranian strikes on commercial ships in and around the strait have slowed shipping to a trickle, dramatically increasing oil prices and pressuring Washington, D.C. to do something to ease the pain for consumers and the global economy.
On Monday, President Donald Trump said “numerous countries” have told him “they’re on the way” to help police the Strait of Hormuz. Trump also suggested some countries’ reluctance showed a lack of reciprocity in defense agreements with the United States.
RELATED: Who is Joe Kent? Trump counterterrorism admin, veteran resigns over Iran war
The AP reported that the war has killed at least 1,300 people in Iran, at least 850 in Lebanon and 12 in Israel, according to officials in those countries. The U.S. military says 13 U.S. service members have been killed and about 200 wounded.
Israel has carried out some 7,600 strikes on Iran, knocking out 85% of its air defenses and 70% of Iran’s missile launchers, Israeli military spokesman Lt. Col. Nadav Shoshani said.
Here’s a look at the latest for Tuesday:
Son of Iran’s president decries killing of top officials
10:12 p.m. ET: Yousef Pezeshkian, the son of Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, wrote on the messaging app Telegram that Israel’s constant killing of top officials couldn’t be allowed to go on.
“We should not have allowed the enemy to be able to carry out another successful assassination,” he wrote.
“If we cannot stop the Zionists’ assassination machine, we will suffer a defeat.”
Defense department gives update on Operation Epic Fury
8:02 p.m. ET:
Iran confirms the death of Ali Larijani, secretary of the Supreme National Security Council
4 p.m. ET: According to a statement released by Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, Larijani was killed along with his son Morteza Larijani and the head of his office, Alireza Bayat, as well as several guards.
Israel said Tuesday it had struck and killed Larijani and Gen. Gholam Reza Soleimani, the head of the Revolutionary Guard’s all-volunteer Basij force.
Ali Larijani killed in Israeli strike, Iran confirms
Two of Iran’s top officials, Ali Larijani and Gholamreza Soleimani, have both been killed, according to Israel. LiveNOW’s Andy Mac spoke about Larijani’s death and the ongoing Iran war with Daniel Roth, from United Against Nuclear Iran.
Larijani was considered one of the most powerful figures in the country since Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was killed in an airstrike on the first day of the war.
A former parliamentary speaker and senior policy adviser, he had advised the late Khamenei on strategy in nuclear talks with the Trump administration. He was sanctioned by the U.S. Treasury in January for his role “coordinating” Iran’s violent suppression of nationwide protests.
Trump delays his trip to China by weeks as Iran war continues
12:25 p.m. ET: The Associated Press reported that President Donald Trump’s visit to China was planned for months but began to unravel as he pressured Beijing and other world powers to use military might to protect the Strait of Hormuz.
Trump told reporters Tuesday while meeting with Irish Prime Minister Micheál Martin in the Oval Office that he would be going to China in five or six weeks’ time instead of at the end of the month. He said he would be “resetting” his visit with Chinese President Xi Jinping, without elaborating.
Trump’s visit to China is seen as a chance to build on a trade truce between the two countries, but it has become tangled in his move to find a resolution to the Iran war.
White House refutes counterterrorism official’s reasons for resignation
11:55 a.m. ET: In a lengthy statement on X, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Joe Kent’s letter contained “many false claims” and aggressively disputed his argument that Iran did not pose an imminent threat.
“As President Trump has clearly and explicitly stated, he had strong and compelling evidence that Iran was going to attack the United States first,” Leavitt said. “This evidence was compiled from many sources and factors. President Trump would never make the decision to deploy military assets against a foreign adversary in a vacuum.”
Leavitt also said the allegation that Trump acted against Iran under the influence from Israel is “both insulting and laughable.”
House Speaker Johnson urges US allies to help secure the Strait of Hormuz
11:35 a.m. ET: According to the Associated Press, House Speaker Mike Johnson insisted the military operation against Iran would be winding down quickly.
However, Johnson said at a press conference at the U.S. Capitol that securing the strait remains an issue.
“We ask our allies to step up and acknowledge that reality, and help us out,” Johnson said.
The AP reported that Johnson dismissed concerns being raised that Trump administration officials have failed to appear for public hearings in Congress to explain their war strategy, saying members of Congress have had adequate access to private classified briefings.
Trump says his pitch to NATO and allies to help secure the strait has been broadly rejected
11:30 a.m. ET: President Donald Trump bristled that the U.S. is not receivinv support “despite the fact that almost every Country strongly agreed with what we are doing, and that Iran cannot” be allowed to secure a nuclear weapon, the Associated Press reported.
“I am not surprised by their action, however, because I always considered NATO, where we spend Hundreds of Billions of Dollars per year protecting these same Countries, to be a one way street,” Trump added in a post on social media. “We will protect them, but they will do nothing for us, in particular, in a time of need.”
US House speaker says takes issue with Kent after the top counterterrorism official resigned
11:15 a.m. ET: Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson is taking issue with Joe Kent, who said Iran posed no imminent threat to the U.S.
“I got all the briefings. We all understood that there was clearly an imminent threat that Iran was very close to the enrichment of nuclear capability, and they were building missiles at a pace no one in the region could keep up with,” said Johnson, who was asked about Kent’s resignation at a press conference Tuesday morning.
The Associated Press reported that Johnson said he is convinced that if the president had waited “we would have mass casualties of Americans, service members and others, and our installation would have been dramatically damaged.”
Trump administration officials previously told congressional staff in private briefings that U.S. intelligence did not suggest Iran was preparing to launch a preemptive strike against the U.S.
Top counterterrorism official Kent resigns over Trump’s Iran war, says Iran posed no imminent threat
9:55 a.m. ET: Joe Kent, Director of the U.S. National Counterterrorism Center, has resigned from the Trump administration, according to the Associated Press.
Kent said he “cannot in good conscience” back Trump’s 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 posted on social media Tuesday.
Kent is a former political candidate with connections to right-wing extremists who was confirmed to his post last July on a 52-44 vote, the AP noted.
Pentagon IDs 6 Air Force members killed in refueling plane crash
Dig deeper:
The Defense Department has identified the six Air Force members who were killed when their refueling plane crashed while supporting military operations against Iran.
The KC-135 aircraft crashed Thursday in western Iraq during an incident involving two aircraft in “friendly airspace.” The other plane landed safely.
The airmen killed were Maj. John A. Klinner, 33, of Auburn, Ala.; Capt. Ariana G. Savino, 31, of Covington, Wash.; Tech. Sgt. Ashley B. Pruitt, 34, of Bardstown, Ky.; Capt. Seth R. Koval, 38, of Mooresville, Ind.; Capt. Curtis J. Angst, 30, of Wilmington, Ohio; and Tech. Sgt. Tyler H. Simmons, 28, of Columbus, Ohio.
Roughly 200 US troops wounded since the start of the Iran war, the U.S. military says
Big picture view:
Of those 200, more than 180 service members have returned to duty, Capt. Tim Hawkins, a spokesperson for U.S. Central Command, told The Associated Press, and 10 service members are considered seriously wounded.
The Associated Press reported that the previous update released last week by the Pentagon put the number of wounded personnel at around 140 and eight as “severely injured.”
CENTCOM has not said when or where those troops were wounded, or given details on the type of injuries.
Since the war in Iran began, 13 U.S. service members have been killed.
The Source: Information for this article was taken from The Associated Press and previous reporting by FOX Local. This story was reported from San Jose, California and Washington, D.C.
