US Vice President J.D. Vance said the administration is taking care of the financial situation of the American people and defended President Donald Trump, who has been criticized for saying it is not a priority as he seeks to reach a peace deal with Iran.
"I don't think the president said that. I think his words were misinterpreted," Vance told reporters at a press conference today, CNN reports.
Trump, leaving the White House on Tuesday, was asked how much the financial situation of Americans motivates him to reach a deal with Iran.
"Not at all. The only thing that matters when I talk about Iran is that they cannot have nuclear weapons. I'm not thinking about the financial situation of Americans," he replied.
Vance said on Wednesday: "I agree with the president that Iran should not have nuclear weapons. We are obviously engaged in a very intense and serious diplomatic process to ensure that does not happen."
"But, of course, the president, I and the entire team are concerned about the financial situation of the American people," Vance added.
A senior adviser to the president of the United Arab Emirates condemned “confrontations and conflicts” in relations between Iran and its Arab neighbors and reiterated his call for a negotiated political solution to the US-Israeli war against Iran.
Anwar Gargash made the announcement in a post on the X network, shortly after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office revealed that he had been secretly staying in the UAE during the war.
"We did not seek this war and we sincerely worked to avoid it. Arab-Iranian relations in the Gulf cannot be built on confrontations and conflicts in a region whose peoples are bound by deep geographical and historical ties," Gargash wrote on X.
He added that defending the UAE is a “sacred duty” and that the Gulf state will “protect its sovereignty.” However, he stressed that the Emirates’ priority remains achieving political solutions.
"While the world follows the important visit of the US President to China and the possible regional consequences of this event, the United Arab Emirates continues to affirm the importance of a political solution through negotiations, which it adheres to in all its contacts," Gargaš stated.
Shortly before his announcement, Israel publicly acknowledged Netanyahu's visit to the UAE for the first time.
The United Nations peacekeeping force in Lebanon said multiple Hezbollah drones had hit its bases in recent days, and called on both the Iranian ally and Israel to avoid operating near their positions.
The United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) said three drones detonated within a few meters of the organization's headquarters in Naqoura, southern Lebanon, on Monday. A day later, it said, one drone believed to belong to Hezbollah exploded inside the headquarters, while another fell nearby. UNIFIL said no one was injured in the drone attacks, but some buildings were damaged.
On Sunday, according to UNIFIL, an unarmed drone, likely Iranian-made, landed at the same location.
Last Tuesday, an armed fiber-optic drone believed to belong to Hezbollah crashed onto the roof of a United Nations building near Hinia but did not explode, UNIFIL said. It was the first time the UN had mentioned fiber-optic drones, which Hezbollah has used with great efficiency to evade Israeli jamming and target Israeli soldiers.
"UNIFIL continues to remind all actors to avoid operating in the vicinity of United Nations positions and personnel and to avoid any actions that could put peacekeepers at risk," the organization said.
UNIFIL has been operating along the Israel-Lebanon border for nearly five decades, but its mandate is set to expire at the end of next year after the United States voted to end its operations.
Israeli drones hit three vehicles on a main highway south of Beirut today, killing eight people, the Lebanese Ministry of Health said.
They stated that among them was a woman and her two children.
The Israeli military said it had attacked Hezbollah infrastructure in several areas in southern Lebanon, hours after residents of six villages were ordered to evacuate.
Lebanon and Israel are set to hold another round of direct talks in Washington tomorrow. The administration of United States President (US) Donald Trump is trying to mediate between the two countries, which have been at war since Israel's founding in 1948.
The Ministry of Health confirmed in a statement that three attacks had occurred, but did not say how many people were in the vehicles.
Lebanese Health Minister Rakan Nassereddine said yesterday that 380 people have been killed and 1.122 wounded since the start of the ceasefire.
This brings the total number of casualties since the beginning of the war to 2.882, with 8.786 wounded.
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In two separate Israeli attacks, two cars were hit today in the Jijeh area south of the Lebanese capital Beirut, the Lebanese state news agency NNA said, as reported by Reuters.
There was no immediate information about casualties, and the Israeli military did not immediately comment.
A year ago, US President Donald Trump predicted that high trade tariffs would force America's main economic rival to bow down.
He travels to China this week with that ambition weakened by court rulings, narrowing his goals to a handful of deals on soybeans, beef and Boeing planes, while seeking to enlist China's help in resolving his unpopular war with Iran, political analysts say.
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US President Donald Trump left for Beijing on Tuesday afternoon after weeks of unsuccessfully trying to persuade Chinese President Xi Jinping to pressure Iran to meet US conditions to end the war or at least reopen the Strait of Hormuz.
"Iran is largely under our control," Trump told reporters ahead of the trip. "Either we make a deal (with Iran) or they're going to be decimated. One way or another, we're winning," he said.
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