U.S. closes embassies in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait

President Donald Trump says combat will continue in Iran until its “objectives” are complete. Those objectives and the justification for the war have remained fluid more than 48 hours into the conflict. 

Trump and his proxies have not been aligned on their narrative, leading to confusion about how Trump and his advisors are defining the endgame for ending the escalating conflict. The stated justification since the attack began Saturday has whipsawed between preventing Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon, deposing the Iranian regime that brutally represses dissent, stopping an imminent attack from Iran on U.S. interests, and following Israel’s lead.

The muddied messaging underscores a broader question: Is Trump pursuing a single military objective or full-blown regime change? And the dynamic has incensed Democrats, who have largely come out against the war, and led a handful of Republicans to raise questions. 

“We have seen the goals for this operation change now, I believe, four or five times,” Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., the top Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee, told reporters Monday after meeting with Secretary of State Marco Rubio. “It was about the Iranian nuclear capacity, a few days later it was about taking out the ballistic missiles, it was then — in the president’s own words — about regime change … and now we hear it’s about sinking the Iranian fleet.” 

“I’m not sure which of those goals, if met, means that we’re at an endgame,” Warner said. 

Analysts say it’s possible the U.S. could be pursuing both regime change and a functional disarmament of Iran — a long-term goal of U.S. administrations over decades. They’re looking at what targets the U.S. and Israel are both striking to determine motives. There is also a possibility that the U.S. and Israel are pursuing both objectives separately.

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— Garrett Downs

Trump suggested that rising oil prices would not be enough for him to abandon the war with Iran.

“I have never had more compliments on something I did,” Trump said at the White House.

“So if we have a little high oil prices for a little while, but as soon as this ends those prices are gonna drop, I believe, lower than even before,” he said.

Oil prices have surged amid the military conflict in the Middle East, and as Iran said it would close the Strait of Hormuz, a vital transit route for crude oil that ferries an average of 14.5 million barrels each day.

The energy spike has boosted Treasury yields, as investors fear the price jump could exacerbate inflation and influence the Federal Reserve as it weighs further interest-rate cuts.

— Kevin Breuninger

Trump said that the U.S. would like to have the next leader of Iran be someone who will bring the country “back for the people,” but acknowledges that a person who fits that bill may now be dead because of the war.

“Most of the people we had in mind are dead,” Trump said at the White House. “We had some in mind from that group that is dead. And now we have another group. They may be dead, also based on reports.”

“So I guess you have a third wave coming in, pretty sure we’re not going to know anybody,” he said.

Asked by a reporter if the Iranian crown prince, Reza Pahlavi, who lives in exile in the U.S., is an option, Trump replied, “Some people like him. We haven’t been thinking too much about that.”

“It would seem to me that somebody from within might be more appropriate,” Trump said.

— Dan Mangan

European stocks finished sharply lower on Tuesday, as the intensifying conflict in the Middle East continued to weigh on global investor sentiment.

The pan-European Stoxx 600 ended Tuesday’s session 3.2% lower, extending Monday’s losses that saw the index close down 1.6%.

All major regional bourses traded in negative territory, with Germany’s DAX and Italy’s FTSE MIB notching the sharpest declines.

— Chloe Taylor, Hugh Leask and Holly Ellyatt