President Donald Trump delivers a prime-time address Wednesday to Americans on the Iran war in the face of plunging approval ratings, economic jitters and spiralling diplomatic fallout.
The remarks at 9:00 pm (0100 GMT) will be Trump's first formal national speech on Iran from the White House since launching the war a month ago.
Trump is expected to try and reassure the nation that US goals are being met and that he has a plan for completing the war, which has roiled the US economy and helped drive the 79-year-old Republican's polls into deeply negative territory.
Earlier Wednesday, Trump claimed a major breakthrough, saying Iran's president was seeking a ceasefire. This was swiftly denied by Iran's foreign ministry, which also accused Washington of making "maximalist and irrational" demands.
Trump has said he can see the war winding down within three weeks, repeatedly insisting that main objectives have been all but met.
Yet he has also threatened escalation, and there has been especially mixed messaging from Trump on whether he will insist on Iran fully reopening the Hormuz Strait to oil and other commodity shipping.
As recently as Tuesday, Trump suggested this was not a key goal. However, on Wednesday he said he would consider a ceasefire only when Hormuz is "free and clear."
"Until then, we are blasting Iran into oblivion or, as they say, back to the Stone Ages!!!" he wrote on his Truth Social platform.
Recent polling shows Trump's overall approval rating slipping below 40 percent, with disapproval climbing above the mid-50s as voters sour on both the war and its economic fallout, while support for the Iran campaign itself is underwater.
The economic picture has compounded the problem. Gasoline prices have surged above $4 a gallon (over $1 a liter) for the first time in years, while consumer confidence has weakened, dragging down Trump's already fragile standing on the economy.