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US President Donald Trump will provide an update on Iran in an address to the nation at 9 pm on Wednesday (6:30 am IST Thursday), White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt said on X."TUNE IN: Tomorrow night at 9PM ET, President Trump will give an Address to the Nation to provide an important update on Iran," Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt wrote Tuesday evening on X.This comes after Trump said the United States could end its military attacks on Iran within two to three weeks and Tehran did not have to make a deal as a prerequisite for the conflict to wind down.The remarks underscored the shifting and at times contradictory statements from Washington about how the war, now in its fifth week, might end."We'll be leaving very soon," Trump told reporters at the White House on Tuesday, saying the exit could take place "within two weeks, maybe two weeks, maybe three."Asked if successful diplomacy with Iran was a prerequisite for the U.S. to conclude what it has dubbed " Operation Epic Fury ", Trump said it was not."Iran doesn't have to make a deal, no," he said. "No, they don't have to make a deal with me." The White House later said Trump would address the nation "to provide an important update on Iran" at 9 p.m. EDT on Wednesday (0100 GMT on Thursday).Washington previously threatened to intensify military operations if Tehran did not accept a 15-point U.S. ceasefire framework that had among its core demands that Iran commit not to pursue nuclear weapons, halt all uranium enrichment and fully reopen the Strait of Hormuz. Earlier on Tuesday, U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said Trump was willing to make a deal with Iran to end the war that has killed thousands, spread across the region, disrupted energy supplies and threatened to send the global economy into a tailspin.Talks were ongoing and gaining strength, Hegseth said, but the U.S. 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," Hegseth said in Washington.Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said he has been receiving direct messages from U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff but they do not constitute "negotiations", Qatar's Al Jazeera TV cited him as saying.The messages include threats or exchanged views delivered through "friends," he added.Iran's Revolutionary Guards on Tuesday hit back with a new threat against U.S. companies in the region starting on Wednesday.It listed 18 businesses including Microsoft, Google , Apple, Intel, IBM, Tesla and Boeing that would be targeted from 8 p.m. Tehran time (1630 GMT).When asked if he was concerned about threats to the companies, Trump said no. "They don't have much left to threaten," he said of Iran.Trump earlier on Tuesday also criticised countries that have not helped the U.S. war effort, such as Britain.In a social media post, he said that in response to the global fuel shortage, these countries should buy energy from the U.S. or find "some delayed courage, go to the strait and just TAKE IT".