Trump says Iran privately admits it has ‘no chance’ against US

Ali Akbar Velayati, a senior adviser to Iran’s supreme leader, warned sailors aboard the USS Tripoli that their deployment in the Persian Gulf would become a “nightmare.”

“You are extras to a movie show for Trump next Presidential election,” Velayati said on X.

“Now you are assigned to save the money boxes of our region but you will end up in an abattoir,” he said.

“Tripoli will not be repeated in the Persian Gulf but rather it will become a nightmare and will demolish your security,” he added.

Germany is sending a naval minesweeping vessel to the Mediterranean ahead of a possible future mission to help clear the Strait of Hormuz, Der Spiegel reported, citing the German defense ministry.

The minesweeper Fulda left the Kiel-Wik naval base on Monday, breaking off a previous deployment as part of a NATO mission, the report said.

German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius said repositioning the vessel would save time if the government decided to join an international effort to clear the waterway, though any deployment would depend on an end to hostilities between Iran and the US and Israel.

UAE’s Defense Ministry said the country’s air defense systems are dealing with missile and drone attacks coming from Iran.

"The UAE's air defenses are currently dealing with missile and drone attacks originating from Iran," the ministry said in a statement.

"The Ministry of Defense confirms that the sounds heard in scattered areas of the country are the result of the UAE's air defense systems intercepting ballistic missiles, cruise missiles, and drones," the statement added.

French President Emmanuel Macron will speak with his Iranian counterpart Masoud Pezeshkian later on Tuesday as he pushes for Tehran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, Reuters reported.

“I will be speaking with the Iranian president shortly,” Macron told reporters at a press conference in Yerevan.

He added that France has long advocated for “the restoration of freedom of navigation” in the waterway.

Tehran is negotiating with the United States in an atmosphere of deep distrust and suspicion, Iran’s foreign ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei said on Tuesday.

“We cannot forget the baseless aggressions by the United States against the Islamic Republic,” Baghaei said.

“Based on past experience, we decided not to waste time on issues that have already proven so complex that we were unable to reach agreement,” he added.