Live updates: Rubio visiting Gulf allies hit hardest by Iran as negotiators race to finalize deal
The US Senate approved a resolution on Tuesday directing the president to remove military forces from the conflict with Iran, a significant rebuke to Donald Trump and a strong message that the war lacks support in Congress.
The measure passed the House earlier this month. But because it is what’s known as a concurrent resolution, it does not require the president’s signature and, by definition, does not carry the force of law.
Trump called the Senate’s vote to limit his Iran war powers “poorly timed and meaningless” and blasted the members of his party who voted in favor of the resolution.
Here’s what to know:
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Diplomatic moves: US Secretary of State Marco Rubio is visiting the Gulf region to “make sure that their views are taken into account” as the US moves forward on negotiations with Iran, he said upon arriving in the United Arab Emirates yesterday. He continues to try to delink Israel-Lebanon talks from the US-Iran negotiations, even as Tehran has repeatedly insist the issues are entwined.
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Israel-Lebanon talks: Israel and Lebanon are holding a fifth round of talks in Washington, DC to try and end the end the deadly fighting between Israeli and Iran-backed Hezbollah forces. Israeli Ambassador to the US said Israel and Lebanon are “heading toward a train wreck,” at the start of the talks yesterday, saying “Iran’s role is to leave Lebanon.” Lebanon President Joseph Aoun, said that Beirut will “accept nothing less than the end of the Israeli occupation” in the country’s south.
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Iran’s missile win: President Masoud Pezeshkian said Iran’s missiles are not part of its agreement with the US and never will be. Trump previously made limiting Iran’s missile program a central rationale for US military operations, but his stance shifted during diplomatic negotiations.
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Evacuating the Gulf: The UN’s maritime agency is launching an evacuation plan for over 11,000 seafarers stranded in the region. Clearing the backlog of vessels and stranded personnel will be carried out in coordination with Iran, Oman, other coastal states, the United States and the maritime industry.
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Nuclear inspections: Trump again insisted Iran agreed to more UN nuclear inspections, rebuffing Iran’s claim that no visit has been scheduled for International Atomic Energy Agency inspectors. The IAEA inspected an active Iranian nuclear facility in early June but it’s been roughly a year since the agency has had access to any of the nuclear facilities damaged in the last US-Israeli war with Iran.
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Ceasefire violations: Hezbollah has accused Israel of a “blatant violation” of the US-Iran 14-point ceasefire plan after Lebanon’s Health Ministry said Israeli attacks killed two people on Tuesday.
CNN’s Morgan Rimmer, Mary Kay Mallonee, Dana Karni, Oren Liebermann, Mohammed Tawfeeq, Eyad Kourdi, Charbel Mallo, Catherine Nicholls, Sarah Tamimi, Tal Shalev and Charlotte Reck contributed reporting.