President Donald Trump on Wednesday declined to answer reporters' questions on whether the U.S. was planning to strike Iran or its nuclear facilities, and said the Iranians had reached out but he feels "it's very late to be talking."

Iran's supreme leader, Ali Khamenei, has warned that the United States would face “irreparable harm” if the U.S. military were to join Israel’s attacks on Iranian targets and rejected U.S. President Donald Trump’s call for Iran's “unconditional surrender.” The statement follows a post by Trump on Truth Social saying the United States knows exactly where Khamenei is hiding and that he'd be an easy target—but that he's safe for now.

The Federal Reserve is expected to keep interest rates unchanged on Wednesday as its policymakers assess signs of a cooling economy, the risk of higher inflation from U.S. import tariffs, and the escalating crisis in the Middle East. The current benchmark interest rate was set at the 4.25 percent to 4.5 percent range in December.