Michelle Martin

He continued to insist his administration is in talks to end the war, something Iran has denied.

Trump said Tuesday that whoever was representing Iran had offered some sort of prize related to the Strait of Hormuz, but he didn't say what it was or who offered it.

But another front in this war has been one of the most deadly, in Lebanon.

That's where Israel has been bombing homes, highways, bridges, and fuel stations in response to a rocket fire by Iranian-backed Hezbollah militants.

It's reignited a long-running cross-border conflict, and the violence may be about to intensify.

Israeli officials are warning of a ground invasion.

The Department of Homeland Security, which includes TSA, has been shut down for more than a month.

There have been talks on and off between the White House and Congress to reach a funding deal, but is there actual progress being made?

And I'm Michelle Martin.

Today's episode of Up First was edited by Jerry Holmes, Andrew Sussman, Kelsey Snell, Mohamed El-Bardisi, and Alice Wolfley.

It was produced by Ziad Bach and Nia Dumas.

Our director is Christopher Thomas.

We get engineering support from Nisha Hainas.

Our technical director is Carly Strange.

And our supervising producer is Michael Lipkin.

We hope you'll join us again tomorrow.

So, Michelle, there were real concerns that this war was going to escalate even further after Trump issued that 48-hour deadline to Iran.

He said the U.S.

would obliterate Iranian power plants if Iran did not allow those oil tankers and ships from Gulf Arab producers to pass through the Strait of Hormuz.

But we just heard Iran doubling down on its reasons for closing the strait after that.