Efforts to resolve the conflict have hit an impasse, which the United States is trying to unlock with a naval blockade of Iran's oil exports.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth faced nearly six hours of questioning Wednesday from House lawmakers for the first time since President Donald Trump’s administration launched the war against Iran, which Democrats have contested as a costly conflict of choice waged without congressional approval.

President Donald Trump is making bold claims about escalating tensions with Iran

Hopes of a swift resolution to the conflict have receded since Trump last weekend scrapped a visit by his special envoy Steve Witkoff and son-in-law Jared Kushner to Pakistan.

Talks between Iran and the United States on ending the war seemed stalled Wednesday, despite U.S. President Donald Trump earlier claiming Iran had informed his administration that it was in a “State of Collapse.

Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian has described the US naval siege of Iranian ports as an “extension of military operations” that is “intolerable”, while US President Donald Trump said Washington “might need” to restart the war,

In a statement, Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei said the only place Americans belonged in the Persian Gulf is “at the bottom of its waters.”

President Trump said he would not drop his blockade of Iran’s ports designed to pressure Iran to make a nuclear deal. Plus, Democrats grilled Pentagon leaders over the war. NBC News’ Ryan Nobles reports.