The White House said the US military was prepared to thwart any attacks by Iran, responding to threats by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps against US companies in the region.
"The United States military is and was prepared to curtail any attacks by Iran, as evidenced by the 90% drop in ballistic missile and drone attacks by the terrorist regime," said a White House official, who did not wish to be named.
The IRGC said earlier on Tuesday that they would target US companies in the region as of April 1 in retaliation for attacks on Iran, state media reported.
The 18 companies listed in the IRGC's threat included Microsoft, Google, Apple, Intel, IBM, Tesla and Boeing.
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"These companies should expect the destruction of their respective units in exchange for each terror act in Iran, starting from 8PM Tehran time on Wednesday, April 1st," the IRGC statement said.
The US State Department said it was monitoring threats to Americans in Saudi Arabia and warned all US citizens in the country to shelter in place.
"We are tracking reports of threats against locations where American citizens gather," the US Embassy in Saudi Arabia said in a travel advisory.
"We advise US citizens that hotels and other gathering points including US businesses and US educational institutions may be potential targets."
The embassy asked Americans to remain inside and stay away from windows until further notice.
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said his country had the "necessary will" to end the ongoing war with Israel and the United States, but was seeking guarantees that the conflict would not be repeated.
"We possess the necessary will to end this conflict, provided that essential conditions are met - especially the guarantees required to prevent repetition of the aggression," Mr Pezeshkian said in a phone conversation with the president of the European Council, according to a statement from his office, reiterating a key demand of Tehran's.
Earlier, US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has said the next few days in the war against Iran would be decisive and warned Tehran that the conflict would intensify if it did not make a deal.
Mr Hegseth issued his warning hours after Iran set ablaze a fully loaded oil tanker off Dubai, its latest attack on merchant vessels in the Gulf or in the Strait of Hormuz since the United States and Israel attacked Iran on 28 February.
US President Donald Trump yesterday threatened to obliterate Iran's energy plants if it does not agree to a peace deal and open the strait, a vital waterway for global oil shipments that has effectively been blocked by Iran.
Mr Trump has criticised countries that have not helped in the war, including France and Britain, saying they should find "some delayed courage" to take the strait and get their own oil. Sources told Reuters France had not allowed its airspace to be used to transport US weapons for use in the war.
Mr Hegseth, who said he visited US troops in the Middle Easton on Saturday, said Mr Trump was willing to make a deal and talks were ongoing and gaining strength, but that the US was prepared to continue the war if Iran did not comply.
"We have more and more options, and they have less ... in only one month we set the terms, the upcoming days will be decisive," Mr Hegseth said in Washington. "Iran knows that, and there's almost nothing they can militarily do about it."
Taoiseach calls for an end to the Middle East conflict
Taoiseach Micheál Martin, speaking in the Polish capital Warsaw, has called for the war to the Middle East to end, saying there has been "too much death and destruction, and injuries".
"Our position is the war needs to end and it needs to be brought to a very quick conclusion".
"The economic implications of the war are very severe on people and on livelihoods," he said, adding that the crisis would have an impact on global hunger due to surging fertilizer costs.
"Any disruption to food production has calamitous implications for starvation and hunger in the furthest behind regions in the world".
"Dialogue needs to start in earnest and this war needs to end," he said.
Pope Leo urges Trump to find 'off-ramp' to end Iran war
Pope Leo urged Mr Trump to look for an "off-ramp" to end the Iran war, in an unusual direct appeal from the pontiff to the president to end the expanding regional conflict.
"I'm told that President Trump has recently stated that he would like to end the war," said Pope Leo, the first pope from the United States.
"Hopefully he's looking for an off-ramp," he said outside his residence in Castel Gandolfo, near Rome.
"Hopefully he's looking for a way to decrease the amount of violence."
He added: "There have been so many deaths, including innocent children.
"Let's continually appeal for peace.
"There are too many people who promote fighting, violence (and) war."
Oil prices head for record monthly gain
The month-old conflict has spread across the region, killing thousands, disrupting energy supplies and threatening to send the global economy into a tailspin.
Crude oil prices briefly spiked again after the attack on the tanker, which can carry around 2 million barrels of oil worth more than $200 million at current prices.
Authorities in Dubai said the fire on the Kuwait-flagged Al-Salmi had been brought under control following a drone attack, with no oil leak and no injuries to the crew. Kuwait Petroleum Corp, the ship's owner, said the vessel's hull was damaged, and photos of the Al-Salmi confirmed this.
LSEG Data showed the vessel was heading to Qingdao in China, and was carrying 1.2 million barrels of Saudi crude oil and 800,000 barrels of Kuwaiti crude, according to monitoring service TankerTrackers.com.
The Al-Salmi may not have been the intended target. Iran's Revolutionary Guards said they had targeted a container ship in the Gulf over its ties with Israel. But they appeared to be referring to the Singapore-flagged Haiphong Express, which was anchored next to the Al-Salmi, according to shipping data.
US General Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told reporters in Washington that the US was continuing to degrade and destroy Iran's capabilities.
He said the US military was continuing to strike key manufacturing and research sites and had taken out over 150 Iranian naval vessels. Mr Hegseth said US strikes were causing widespread desertions in Iran.
Thousands of soldiers from the US Army's elite 82nd Airborne Division have started arriving in the Middle East, two US officials told Reuters yesterday, reinforcements that could expand Mr Trump's options to include a ground assault in Iran.
With attacks showing no sign of easing, Pakistan is seeking to mediate in the war. Its foreign minister, Ishaq Dar, is due to discuss the conflict during a visit to China after hosting talks with Turkey, Egypt and Saudi Arabia.
Iran has remained defiant despite heavy US and Israeli attacks for the past month. It has received US peace proposals via intermediaries, but its foreign ministry spokesperson said yesterday they were "unrealistic, illogical and excessive".
The failure to secure a peace deal has prompted the European Union's energy chief to warn member states to prepare for a"prolonged disruption" to energy markets. Higher oil and fuel prices have also started to weigh on US household finances and are a political headache for Mr Trump and his Republican Party before November midterm elections.
The US national average retail price of gasoline crossed $4 agallon for the first time in over three years yesterday, data from price-tracking service Gas Buddy showed. Tight global supplies have pushed benchmark Brent crude up to above $114 per barrel, putting them on course for a record monthly gain.
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