New Delhi: The crisis in West Asia triggered by the US and Israel’s war on Iran entered day 62 on Thursday (April 30). Earlier, US defense secretary Pete Hegseth faced nearly six hours of questioning Wednesday from House lawmakers for the first time since president Donald Trump’s administration launched the war against Iran, which Democrats have contested as a costly conflict of choice waged without congressional approval, reported Associated Press.Trump, meanwhile, told Axios that he’s rejecting Iran’s proposal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz in exchange for a lift of the US blockade — a plan that would postpone discussions of Iran’s nuclear programme.Democrats questioned Hegseth about the rising costs of the Iran war, the huge drawdown of critical U.S. munitions and the bombing of an elementary school that killed children. Some lawmakers also questioned how prepared the military was to shoot down swarms of Iranian drones, some of which penetrated US defenses and killed or injured American troops.Follow live updates here. Note that the blog may take a few moments to upload.