3 more Republicans back Iran war powers resolution; new report details brutal regime crackdown

The Israel Defense Forces announced Wednesday that it killed Jihad Samih Mahmoud Ismail, a Hamas Nukhba commander who invaded Israel on Oct. 7, 2023. 

The IDF said Ismail “took part” in the abduction of “Captain Omer Neutra, Staff Sergeant Oz Daniel and Sergeant Nimrod Cohen,” the first two of whom are deceased.. 

“Recently and throughout the war, the terrorist was involved in ambushes and attacks against IDF troops intended to harm them,” the IDF also said. “He was eliminated in order to remove the threat he posed.” 

Two pumping stations linked to Saudi Arabia’s East-West oil pipeline were damaged in an attack last week, three oil and security sources told Reuters on Wednesday. 

Saudi Arabia said Friday that drones launched from Iraqi territory struck the East-West Pipeline, prompting the kingdom to shut down the pipeline as a precaution.  

President Donald Trump then said Saturday that he believes Iran is behind the attacks, which unfolded as Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels are clashing with Saudi Arabia. 

Fox News Digital's Brittany Miller contributed to this post. 

Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Wednesday that Tehran seeks “the restoration of calm to the region and friendly and peaceful relations with our neighbors," following a meeting in Beijing with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi.

“In this regard we have begun dialogue with the countries of the region,” Araghchi added, according to The Associated Press.

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi called on the U.S. and Iran to exercise restraint and reopen the Strait of Hormuz as soon as possible, and expressed China’s concern about the spread of the fighting to Yemen and the Red Sea, according to China’s Foreign Ministry.

The Associated Press contributed to this post.

Sweden’s Foreign Ministry said Wednesday that it has expelled an official at the Iranian embassy near Stockholm, according to Reuters. 

The ministry reportedly cited activity that was incompatible with the Vienna Convention on ‌Diplomatic ⁠Relations. 

"We know that Iran, over a long period of time, has conducted activities that threaten security in and against Sweden, targeting both individuals who oppose the Iranian regime and various Jewish and Israeli interests in our country," Justice Minister Gunnar Strommer told AFP. 

"We can confirm that Iran continues to engage in activities that pose security threats in and against Sweden. This includes, among other things, attempts to use proxies, such as criminal networks, to carry out attacks or acts of violence,"  added Jonathan Svensson, the spokesperson for the Swedish Security Service. 

The foreign ministries of Jordan and Kuwait issued statements Wednesday ripping Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthis for targeting Mecca, Saudi Arabia, with a drone attack. 

Jordan described the incident Tuesday as a “flagrant violation of the sovereignty of the sister Arab Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, a threat to its security and stability and the safety of its lands, a blatant breach of international law, and an unacceptable aggression that constitutes contempt for the status and sanctity of Mecca Al-Mukarramah [Mecca] and an assault on the feelings of Muslims.” 

Kuwait said it “commends the vigilance and efficiency of the Royal Saudi Air Defense Forces in confronting this attempt, and emphasizes that the security of the Kingdom is an inseparable part of the security of the State of Kuwait and the security of the States of the Gulf Cooperation Council for the Arab States.” 

A U.S.-contracted vessel was hit during an Iranian attack earlier this week, two sources told Fox News on Wednesday. 

The incident occurred "around the Strait of Hormuz," and involved four Iranian drones, and at least one missile, according to Fox News Chief Foreign Correspondent Trey Yingst.  

One of the projectiles struck the vessel and caused minor injuries, including smoke inhalation.  

The injured are now being treated in a Gulf country.

Some "U.S. personnel" were onboard, the sources said. 

Fox News’ Trey Yingst contributed to this post. 

Pakistani Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Mohammad Ishaq Dar said Wednesday that his country “condemns in the strongest possible terms the Houthi militia’s reprehensible drone attack targeting” Mecca, Saudi Arabia. 

Saudi air defenses had destroyed a Houthi drone that attempted to enter the airspace near Mecca on Tuesday, according to the Saudi-led coalition. 

“The Royal Saudi Air Defense Forces intercepted and destroyed a drone that attempted to enter the airspace of the Holy Capital,” coalition spokesman Turki al-Malki said in a statement posted on X. 

Dar said in his own statement that “such a provocative act violates the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, gravely offends the religious sentiments of the Muslims worldwide, and threatens regional peace and security.”  

Fox News Digital’s Emma Bussey contributed to this post. 

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said Wednesday that the U.S. and Iran should “take effective measures to reopen the Strait of Hormuz at an early date,” a report said. 

The Iranian regime and the Trump administration also should "rebuild the negotiation mechanism based on the consensus reached so far," Wang told Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi during a meeting in Beijing, according to Reuters. 

Wang reportedly added that China "does not want to see regional tensions to spill over further into Yemen and the Red Sea." 

The remarks come as Iran-backed Houthi rebels are targeting Saudi infrastructure. 

President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping are set to meet in Washington next week. 

A new report from Amnesty International warned Wednesday that “those responsible for crimes against humanity committed to brutally crush nationwide protests in 2022 continue to control Iran’s deadly state machinery of repression today.” 

“The report, Architects of Atrocities: State Machinery Orchestrating Crimes Against Humanity in Iran’s 2022 Woman Life Freedom Uprising –more than 1,000 pages long – details how Iranian authorities committed the crimes against humanity of murder, torture, enforced disappearance, imprisonment, rape and persecution on political, gender, ethnic and religious grounds in order to crush the uprising,” Amnesty International said in a statement. “It also documents deadly protest repression operations and command structures, identifying 87 officials who should be criminally investigated for crimes against humanity.” 

Protests erupted in Iran following the Sept. 16, 2022, death of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old Kurdish Iranian woman who was detained three days earlier by Iran’s morality police over what authorities described as "improper hijab." 

Her death sparked nationwide demonstrations that became known internationally as the "Woman, Life, Freedom" movement. The U.N. said reports that Amini had been beaten in custody warranted an independent investigation, while Iranian authorities maintained that she died of "natural causes." 

Amnesty International said Wednesday that it is “calling for an international criminal justice mechanism to be established urgently by the U.N. General Assembly to ensure Iranian authorities responsible for crimes against humanity are held to account and to deter further atrocities such as the large-scale protest massacres committed on January 8-9, 2026.” 

The organization said in 2022, agents from the Police Command of the Islamic Republic of Iran and the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps “repeatedly fired into crowds, using military-grade assault rifles, handguns and shotguns loaded with metal pellets.” 

“In addition to firing into crowds, they chased fleeing protesters and bystanders, closing in on unarmed victims who posed no threat to the security forces or others and fatally shooting them at close range,” it added. 

Fox News Digital’s Efrat Lachter contributed to this post. 

Vice President JD Vance said the Iran war will enter a “much different phase” in the coming months during an interview with the New York Post aboard Air Force Two on Monday.

“We can’t predict the future, but I think the president is right to say that this thing will enter a much different phase in a couple of months,” Vance told the outlet.

“He’s also the commander in chief, so he’s the person who determines … when conflicts start and when they stop,” he said of President Donald Trump.

“I certainly understand there’s some impatience from the American people, but fundamentally what’s happening right now is that the United States is not engaged in aggressive operations. We’re just not,” Vance said.

Vance said what is happening is that the Iranians are occasionally shooting at commercial shipping, “usually not successfully.”

“The first phase was destroy the nuclear program, destroy their conventional military, destroy their ability to project power in a way that they were able to even a couple of years ago,” Vance said.

“And then the second phase of this is ensure that they’re not able to rebuild and try to maintain as much global stability in the wake of that,” he said.

Yesterday's Fox News Digital live blog offers additional coverage of the conflict with Iran.

A handful of House Republicans rebuked President Donald Trump's operation in Iran on Tuesday, joining Democrats to pass a resolution aimed at reining in the commander-in-chief's war powers.

Rep. Seth Moulton, D-Mass., introduced the war powers resolution that was backed by 14 of his fellow House Democrats, including Reps. Jason Crow, D-Colo, and Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash. But it was Republicans who helped put the legislation over the edge.

Seven House Republicans joined all 213 voting Democrats to pass the measure in a 220 to 204 vote late on Tuesday night. Opponents of the bill were 203 House Republicans and Rep. Kevin Kiley, I-Calif., who caucuses with the GOP.

Republicans who voted to withdraw U.S. forces from Iran have long argued that it's on Congress to declare war, not the White House. The War Powers Resolution of 1973 generally allows a president to engage U.S. forces in hostilities for up to 60 days without congressional authorization, with an additional 30-day withdrawal period under certain circumstances. Supporters of the resolution argue that period has already expired.

The Trump administration has argued the president is acting within his constitutional authority as commander in chief and has defended the continued military operation against Iran, saying the resolution would improperly restrict the president's ability to protect U.S. forces and national security interests.