Live Updates: Trump says he sees no reason to escalate war with Iran, touts his long-term goals in the conflict - CBS News

What to know about the Iran war today:

- President Trump said Monday the U.S. was keeping the Iran war at "status quo" but warned that American forces were "locked and loaded."

- In a 60 Minutes interview that aired Sunday, Mr. Trump said he does not currently see "any reason" to escalate the war. However, he defended starting the conflict as "historically" a good decision, despite its economic impact.

- Secretary of State Marco Rubio curbed expectations late Sunday, saying talks are not "at the verge of a breakthrough" because Iran's demands are "unacceptable."

Explosions heard over Saudi capital as authorities say Houthi missile intercepted

Multiple explosions were heard over Saudi Arabia's capital Riyadh early Tuesday, as the Saudi-led coalition fighting Yemen's Iran-backed Houthis said it shot down a missile targeting the city, which has suffered weeks of disruptive attacks.

Journalists working for the French news agency AFP heard several blasts as residents received a cell phone alert urging them to shelter from an "aerial threat." The Saudi-led coalition said it intercepted a ballistic missile.

"Air defenses intercepted and destroyed a ballistic missile launched by the terrorist Houthi militia towards Riyadh," the coalition posted on X.

Saudi Arabia, the world's biggest oil exporter, has faced near-daily Houthi strikes since early October, including attacks that killed 20 people and closed Riyadh's airport for two weeks.

https://www.cbsnews.com/live-updates/iran-war-us-trump-deal-negotiations/#post-update-9a648bac

Iran claims 2 more ships hit by explosions in Strait of Hormuz, including one under U.S. escort

Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps claimed Tuesday that two more oil tankers attempting to transit the Strait of Hormuz were "halted by powerful explosions and left burning."

The IRGC said in a statement that one of the vessels struck a naval mine, while the other was under the protection of U.S. fighter jets when it "suffered an incident and was brought to a halt at its location amid a massive fire."

Both Iran and the U.S. have been attacking ships in and around the Strait of Hormuz for weeks, accusing the vessels of breaching their respective restrictions on access to the waterway.

The IRGC said the tankers affected Tuesday had been traveling through what Tehran considers unauthorized shipping lanes close to Oman's coast in the southern part of the vital waterway, which the U.S. insists are safe and open.

Iran has warned repeatedly that the southern route is "unsafe" and that all vessels working with the U.S. "will meet the same fate."

https://www.cbsnews.com/live-updates/iran-war-us-trump-deal-negotiations/#post-update-6fd7cbee

Brent crude oil drops briefly below $90 a barrel as downward trend continues

The price of oil continued its more than week-long downward trend Tuesday, as markets appeared optimistic that a return to a full-scale U.S. war with Iran was not imminent.

The price of Brent crude, the international standard, hovered around $90 per barrel Tuesday morning after briefly dropping below the price point for the first time since the end of August.

U.S. benchmark crude oil was down 2.2% to $84.94 per barrel.

The fall in global oil prices has come as President Trump makes repeated comments signalling hope for a diplomatic resolution to the war with Iran.

He has not ruled out the possibility of more U.S. strikes, but told CBS' 60 Minutes in an interview aired Sunday that he did not see "any reason" to escalate the war at present.

Mr. Trump then said on Monday, after meeting the prime minister of Qatar, who has been a key mediator between the two sides, that the war "militarily, is effectively over," and that he believed there was "positive momentum" toward a deal to end the eight-month conflict.

He called a resumption of U.S. strikes "highly unlikely," but said the U.S. remained "locked and loaded" should circumstances on the ground change.

https://www.cbsnews.com/live-updates/iran-war-us-trump-deal-negotiations/#post-update-acef235d

Trump: "I hope we're going to be able to make a deal with them"

President Trump expressed hope that the U.S. and Iran can make a deal.

"Look, Iran, I hope we're going to be able to make a deal with them," Mr. Trump said during an impromptu news conference. "But nothing's going to happen. And if we have to, we'll take very serious. We are so loaded."

https://www.cbsnews.com/live-updates/iran-war-us-trump-deal-negotiations/#post-update-ef391c2c