Trump to meet with Cabinet today aimed at ending Iran war

President Donald Trump will meet with his Cabinet on Wednesday at a precarious moment for talks aimed at ending the war with Iran, It comes just days after insisting that his administration and Tehran had “largely negotiated” a settlement, but with the negotiations still in a state of flux.
As he prepares to huddle with his top aides, Mr. Trump is projecting confidence that he’s closing in on a deal that will reopen the Strait of Hormuz and provide him a credible argument that Iran’s nuclear capability has been diminished enough to declare victory, winding down a conflict that’s been politically unpopular for Republicans. But as things stand, Mr. Trump also risks finding closure to his war of choice comes with an unsatisfactory ending.
Meanwhile, Republican Senator Lindsey Graham termed “problematic” the role of Pakistan as a mediator in the United States’ war with Iran. Graham’s remarks came as Pakistan’s Defence Minister Khwaja Asif said he is not in favour of Islamabad joining the Abraham Accords, which deal with establishing diplomatic, economic and security ties between Israel and Arab nations. Earlier, Tehran has accused Washington of breaching the ceasefire and warned it was ready to retaliate after overnight U.S. strikes, while Israeli bombardment in Lebanon left dozens dead, threatening an increasingly fragile truce there.
Iranian state media reported overnight blasts in the southern port city of Bandar Abbas, near the Strait of Hormuz, and the country’s Revolutionary Guards said its forces had downed a U.S. drone entering its airspace and had fired at an F-35 fighter jet.