Closing summary
We’re wrapping up this live coverage now but a full report is here and below is a recap of the latest in the Middle East crisis. Thanks for reading.
The US and Iran exchanged fire on the strait of Hormuz in the most serious test yet of their month-long ceasefire.
Iran accused the US of violating the truce by targeting two ships in the waterway and attacking civilian areas, while the US insisted it struck Iranian targets in retaliation for “unprovoked” attacks on three US warships transiting the strait on Thursday.
The renewed hostilities cast doubt on the fragile ceasefire that had largely held for the previous month, but Donald Trump insisted it remained intact, describing the US strikes as a “love tap”.
The president also said the US would knock out Iran “a lot harder and a lot more violently” if it didn’t quickly agree to a peace deal, and that negotiations with Tehran were continuing.
Iranian state media also reported loud noises and what it called defensive fire in western Tehran, while in southern Iran explosions were heard near Bandar Abbas.
The United Arab Emirates said its air defences were dealing with missile and drone attacks from Iran on Friday.
The US and Iran offered conflicting messages over the state of negotiations to end the war, with Trump signalling the talks were “very good” and a deal “very possible” while Iranian officials sought to dampen expectations. Tehran says it is reviewing a US proposal.
Stocks sank and oil prices leapt on Friday as the renewed US-Iran clashes in the Hormuz strait jolted hopes for a deal to end the war and reopen the waterway.
Iran established a new government agency to approve transit and collect tolls from shipping in the waterway, shipping data firm Lloyd’s List Intelligence said on Thursday. The move has raised concerns about eroding the freedom of navigation on which global trade depends.
About 1,500 ships and their crews are trapped in the Gulf due to the Iranian blockade in the Hormuz strait, the UN’s International Maritime Organisation said.
Lebanon and Israel will hold a new round of talks on 14 and 15 May – Thursday and Friday of next week – in Washington on seeking a peace deal, despite a new Israeli strike against Hezbollah, a US official said.
US secretary of state Marco Rubio held talks with Pope Leo at the Vatican. The US state department said the pair discussed “efforts to achieve a durable peace in the Middle East”, which are at the heart of the disagreement between Trump and the pontiff.
The Israeli military said it would investigate after a soldier was photographed appearing to place a cigarette in the mouth of a statue of the Virgin Mary in southern Lebanon, in an image widely shared on social media.
Updated
An oil tanker that passed through the strait of Hormuz arrived in South Korea on Friday – the first such vessel to reach the Asian nation by that route since Iran declared the critical waterway closed.
The arrival of the Malta-flagged Odessa, carrying 1m barrels of crude oil, will likely ease Seoul’s concerns over energy security as the war in the Middle East drags on.
The hulking vessel was spotted around 10am (0100 GMT) near a mooring facility off the coast of Seosan, AFP reports.
Its arrival is expected to help stabilise supply, securing crude equivalent to nearly half of South Korea’s daily oil consumption, industry sources said.
Its cargo will undergo refining before being supplied to the market as petroleum products, including gasoline and diesel, the sources said.
The Odessa passed through the Hormuz strait on 17 April, a source said, during a brief reprieve in the blockade.
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If you have struggled to stay on top of a week of policy reversals and strikes amid an ostensible ceasefire, this handy explainer breaks down what has been a dizzying week in the Iran war.
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Oil prices jump and stocks fall after renewed US-Iran clashes
Stocks sank and oil prices leapt on Friday as the renewed US-Iran clashes in the strait of Hormuz jolted hopes for a deal to end the war and reopen the waterway.
Markets across the world have enjoyed a strong run this week on growing optimism that the 10-week conflict – which has sent oil prices soaring – will be concluded soon.
However, the upbeat mood was tempered after news of the US-Iran exchange of fire on Thursday, threatening the month-old ceasefire.
Oil prices, which fell about 10% over the past three days, rose more than 1% on Friday, Agence France-Presse reports.
And equity markets retreated at the end of a week that saw a strong rally across Asia, helped by a surge in tech firms linked to artificial intelligence.
Seoul was off more than 1% after hitting multiple records this week, while Tokyo, Hong Kong, Sydney, Shanghai, Singapore, Wellington, Taipei, Manila and Jakarta were also down.
The losses followed a retreat on Wall Street, where the S+P 500 and Nasdaq came down from all-time highs.
Chris Weston at Pepperstone said:
Traders have had to rethink the assumptions on the trajectory of the conflict and the normalisation of vessel flows through Hormuz that had been made over the last couple of sessions.”
UAE reports Iranian attacks incoming
The United Arab Emirates says its air defences are currently dealing with missile and drone attacks from Iran.
The country’s defence ministry also said on X that “the sounds heard in various parts of the country are the result of the UAE air defense systems intercepting ballistic missiles, cruise missiles and drones”.
Iran has targeted the Gulf nation with thousands of drones and hundreds of missiles since the war began in late February, with most intercepted.
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Trump shelved ‘Project Freedom’ after Saudi pushback
A refusal by Saudi Arabia to allow the US to use its bases and airspace to provide a military escort for oil tankers passing through the strait of Hormuz lay behind Donald Trump’s decision to shelve the plan days after it had been launched.
Riyadh told the White House it would not allow its Prince Sultan airbase to be used to mount the operation billed as Project Freedom, which the US presented as the successor to the bombing campaign called Operation Epic Fury.
Saudi Arabia refused to drop its objections despite a personal call between the crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman, and Trump, NBC reported.
The confrontation – not denied by Riyadh – underlines Saudi Arabia’s desire for a permanent end to the damaging US-Israel war on Iran on almost any terms, in contrast to its more assertive Gulf neighbour, the United Arab Emirates.
In a sign of the Emirates’ frustration with Riyadh’s caution, the UAE has already quit the Saudi-dominated oil producers’ club, Opec, and is now considering leaving the Arab League as well.
The UAE as a signatory to the Abraham accords has long been closer to Israel, but the tensions within the Gulf have widened as the war has dragged on, causing untold damage to their economies and international image.
The full report is here:
Updated
Before today’s exchange of fire in the strait of Hormuz, Iran established a new government agency to approve transit and collect tolls from shipping in the waterway, shipping data firm Lloyd’s List Intelligence said on Thursday.
The move has raised concerns about eroding the freedom of navigation on which global trade depends.
The agency – called the Persian Gulf Strait Authority – is “positioning itself as the only valid authority to grant permission to ships transiting the strait”, Lloyd’s reported in an online briefing cited by the Associated Press.
Lloyd’s said the authority had emailed it an application form for ships seeking passage.
The new Iranian agency formalises an existing – albeit murky – vetting lane that takes vessels through the strait’s northern waters near the Iranian coastline, the AP report says. Iran controls which ships are allowed to pass and, for at least some vessels, imposes a tax on their cargo.
Maritime law experts say Iran’s demands to vet or tax vessels violate international law. The UN convention on the law of the sea calls for countries to permit peaceful passage through their territorial waters.
The US and its Gulf allies are pushing for the UN security council to support a resolution that condemns Iran’s chokehold on the Hormuz strait and threatens sanctions. A prior resolution calling for reopening the strait was vetoed by Iran allies Russia and China.
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Donald Trump also said an agreement with Tehran on ending the war “might not happen, but it could happen any day”.
“I believe they want the deal more than I do,” he told reporters in Washington DC.
Trump said “we’re negotiating with the Iranians” and reiterated the ceasefire was still in effect.
Yeah, it is. They trifled with us today. We blew them away. They trifled. I call that a trifle.
Asked about whether Iran had official responded to what a news report said was a US one-page memorandum of understanding to end the war, Trump said:
Well, it’s more than a one-page offer. It’s an offer that basically said they will not have nuclear weapons. They’re going to hand us the nuclear dust and many other things that we want.
Trump has used nuclear dust to refer to Iran’s stockpile of enriched uranium and to what might remain after the US-Israeli bombings of Iran’s nuclear installations last year.
But as Reuters is reporting, before today’s the exchange of fire in the strait of Hormuz, the US had floated a proposal that would formally end the conflict but did not address key US demands that Iran suspend its nuclear work and reopen the waterway.
Tehran says it has not yet reached a conclusion on the emerging plan.
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Donald Trump has told reporters the US is still negotiating with Iran, reports are saying, after the fresh exchange of fire between the two countries in the strait of Hormuz.
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Iran’s armed forces also exchanged fire with the US on Qeshm Island in the strait of Hormuz, according to Iranian state media.
It is the largest Iranian island in the Gulf and home to about 150,000 people. It houses a water desalination plant as well, the AP says.
Iranian state media also reported loud noises and what it called defensive fire in western Tehran.
In southern Iran, explosions were heard near Bandar Abbas, the semiofficial Iranian news agencies Fars and Tasnim said, without identifing the source of the blasts.
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Trump says truce with Iran still 'in effect'
Donald Trump has said the ceasefire with Iran is still in place despite today’s exchanges of fire in the strait of Hormuz.
“The ceasefire is going – it’s in effect,” the president told US ABC News.
In relation to the US strikes on Iranian forces, he said: “It’s just a love tap.”
As reported earlier, the US military’s Central Command said it carried out “defensive strikes” on Iranian assets after “unprovoked Iranian attacks” on three US destroyers in the strait.
Iran’s top joint military command accused the US of violating the ceasefire by targeting two ships in the waterway and attacking civilian areas.
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Trump threatens to hit Iran 'a lot more violently' if deal not reached quickly
Donald Trump is saying “great damage” was done to the Iranian forces that attacked the US destroyers in the strait of Hormuz.
He also said in a post on his Truth Social platform that the US would knock out Iran “a lot harder and a lot more violently” if it didn’t agree to a peace deal “FAST”.
The US president said the three US destroyers successfully transited out of the Hormuz strait under fire and without damage but there was “great damage” done to the Iranian attackers.
They were completely destroyed along with numerous small boats, which are being used to take the place of their fully decapitated Navy. These boats went to the bottom of the Sea, quickly and efficiently. Missiles were shot at our Destroyers, and were easily knocked down. Likewise, drones came, and were incinerated while in the air. They dropped ever so beautifully down to the Ocean, very much like a butterfly dropping to its grave!
Trump also said Iran was being “led by LUNATICS” and repeated his regular theme that Tehran would use a nuclear weapon if it had chance, but said “they’ll never have that opportunity”.
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Donald Trump has reportedly told US ABC News the ceasefire with Iran is still going and “in effect” despite today’s new strikes.
The US military’s Central Command has named the navy destroyers it says were attacked by Iran in the strait of Hormuz as the USS Truxtun, USS Rafael Peralta and USS Mason.
As mentioned earlier, it said Iranian forces launched multiple missiles, drones and small boats as the vessels transited the waterway but that none were hit.
It added in the statement posted on social media:
CENTCOM does not seek escalation but remains positioned and ready to protect American forces.”
Updated
US Central Command says it conducted 'defensive strikes' against 'unprovoked Iranian attacks' in strait of Hormuz
And now we have some confirmation of fresh strikes from US Central Command.
US forces intercepted “unprovoked Iranian attacks” and responded with “self-defense strikes” as US Navy guided-missile destroyers transited the strait of Hormuz, Centcom said.
“Iranian forces launched multiple missiles, drones and small boats” as three US destroyers transited the waterway, Centcom said. “No US assets were struck.”
Centcom added that it “eliminated inbound threats and targeted Iranian military facilities responsible for attacking U.S. forces including missile and drone launch sites; command and control locations; and intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance nodes.”
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Iran says it is attacking US military vessels after US 'violated' ceasefire with fresh strikes
Iran has accused the United States of violating the ceasefire by targeting two ships at the strait of Hormuz and attacking civilian areas, the country’s top joint military command said early on Friday (local time in Tehran is almost 1am).
The US targeted “an Iranian oil tanker travelling from Iran’s coastal waters near Jask toward the strait of Hormuz, as well as another vessel entering the strait of Hormuz near the Emirati port of Fujairah,” a spokesperson for Iran’s Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters said in a statement carried by state media.
“At the same time, with the cooperation of some regional countries, they carried out air attacks on civilian areas along the coasts of Bandar Khamir, Sirik, and Qeshm Island.”
Iran’s armed forces responded by attacking US military vessels, “reportedly inflicting significant damage on them,” the spokesperson said.
There’s been no word yet from the US military.
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Iran targets three US destroyers near strait of Hormuz, Iranian media reports
Three US Navy destroyers near the strait of Hormuz have been targeted by the Iranian navy, Iran’s Tasnim news agency reports.
It comes after an earlier report from Iran’s state broadcaster that “enemy units” operating in the area of the strait came under Iranian missile fire, following an attack by the US military on an Iranian oil tanker, forcing the units to retreat.
It follows a US jet disabling an Iranian oil tanker on Wednesday after it attempted to evade the US blockade.
I’ll bring you more on this as well as any comment from Washington as we get it.
Updated
Air defences activated in Tehran and more explosions heard in southern Iran
Iran’s Mehr news agency reports that air defences have been activated in western Tehran “countering hostile targets”.
Mehr also said another explosion had been heard in Bandar Abbas, along with an explosion heard in Minab, to the east of Bandar Abbas. Both areas lie north of the strait of Hormuz.
Iran's state broadcaster says 'enemy units' came under missile fire after US attack on Iranian oil tanker
Iran’s state broadcaster, citing an unnamed military official, has said that “enemy units” operating in the area of the strait of Hormuz came under Iranian missile fire, following an attack by the US military on an Iranian oil tanker, forcing the units to retreat.
And the IRGC-affiliated Fars news agency said Iran’s armed forces had exchanged fire with enemy forces attacking Bahman pier on Qeshm Island, which is in the strait of Hormuz.
Updated
Further to that, Iranian state media outlets have reported more details about those explosions.
The Mizan news agency has said the explosions heard on the island of Qeshm were caused by air defences intercepting several small drones.
The Mehr news agency also reported that air defences shot down two “hostile” drones over Bandar Abbas and Qeshm.
Tasnim news agency also reported, citing sources, that two drones were brought down by air defences in Bandar Abbas.
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Explosions heard near Iranian city and island
Iran’s Fars news agency said that several sounds resembling explosions were heard near the city of Bandar Abbas, adding the origin and the location of these sounds was unknown.
Meanwhile, the Mehr news agency said sounds of explosions could be heard on the island of Qeshm.
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The US has urged countries to support its United Nations resolution demanding Iran halt attacks and mining of the Strait of Hormuz, but diplomats said China and Russia are likely to veto it.
A Chinese veto would be awkward ahead of president Donald Trump’s trip to China next week, where the Iran war is like to be high on the agenda.
A previous resolution backed by the US that appeared to open a path to legitimizing U.S. military action against Iran failed last month after Russia and China exercised their vetoes in the 15-member U.N. Security Council.
Washington’s U.N. envoy Mike Waltz told reporters that any countries that “seek to throw it out, are setting a very, very dangerous precedent.”
“We have to ask ourselves, if a country chooses to oppose such a simple proposition, do they really want peace?”
The US and Iran are close to a temporary agreement to halt the war in the Middle East, officials in Pakistan claimed on Thursday, as diplomatic activity gathered fresh momentum after a near breakdown of the current ceasefire earlier this week, writes Jason Burke and Saeed Shah.
Officials on Islamabad said a very basic “interim” deal could be reached as early as this weekend and that Tehran was reviewing a US proposal.
However, Trump and Pakistan have consistently suggested a breakthrough was imminent, and weeks of previous efforts to negotiate a permanent end to hostilities have made little real progress.
Recent days have seen wild swings from hope to despair as the US and Iran test each other’s resilience and will, seeking leverage in any talks through belligerent rhetoric, defiance and sporadic violence.
Saudi Arabia and Kuwait lift curbs on US military access to their bases and airspace - WSJ report
Saudi Arabia and Kuwait have lifted restrictions on the US military’s use of their bases and airspace that were imposed after the launch of a US operation to reopen the strait of Hormuz, the Wall Street Journal (paywall) reports, citing US and Saudi officials.
Per the WSJ’s report, the move paves the way for so-called “Project Freedom” to resume in the coming days. Pentagon officials told the paper it could happen as early as this week.
Earlier this week the Trump administration abruptly paused its operation for the US military to “guide” commercial ships through the critical waterway after only 36 hours.
NBC News reported on Thursday that Donald Trump’s U-turn came after Saudi Arabia – whose crown prince Mohammed bin Salman reportedly talked directly with the US president – refused to allow US forces to use its airspace and bases for the operation.
A Saudi source denied that report, telling AFP that the United States still has regular access to Saudi bases and airspace.
But the WSJ hears the same, as well as that US access to Saudi bases and airspace was restored after a second call between Trump and MBS.
Per its report:
The mission set off the biggest dispute in Saudi-American military relations in recent years, triggering a spate of high-level phone calls between Trump and the kingdom’s crown prince and raising the risk of a breakdown of a long-held security deal between Washington and Riyadh.
Saudi Arabia and Kuwait blocked the US military’s use of their bases and airspace after senior American officials played down Iranian attacks on the Persian Gulf in reaction to the operation in the strait, Saudi officials said. The Saudis and other Gulf states were also concerned that the US wouldn’t protect them amid the escalation in fighting, they said.
Trump had suspended the effort, called Project Freedom, on Tuesday evening, after a phone call with the kingdom’s crown prince Mohammed bin Salman in which the de facto Saudi leader conveyed his concerns and advised the president of the decision about base and airspace restrictions, the Saudi officials said. The president tried to get the Gulf leader to back down, they said. Trump said on social media that he had agreed to pause the initiative at the request of Pakistan and other countries.
Access to basing and overflight by US forces in Saudi Arabia was reinstated after another phone call between the two leaders, according to US and Saudi officials.
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The Trump administration imposed sanctions on Iraq’s deputy oil minister, Ali Maarij Al-Bahadly, the US treasury department said on Thursday, accusing him of abusing “his position to facilitate the diversion of oil to be sold for the benefit of the Iranian regime and its proxy militias in Iraq”.
It also imposed sanctions on three senior leaders of Iran-aligned militias. “Treasury will not stand idly by as Iran’s military exploits Iraqi oil to fund terrorism against the United States and our partners,” treasury secretary Scott Bessent said in a statement.
Outrage as oil giants profit billions from war on Iran - podcast
Shell has made $6.9bn in profits since the US and Israel launched the war on Iran at the end of February, cashing in on soaring energy prices. The enormous profits have reignited calls for higher taxes on fossil fuel companies to fund support for those hardest hit by rising costs.
In today’s edition of The Latest podcast, Lucy Hough speaks to the Guardian’s energy correspondent, Jillian Ambrose.
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The day so far
The US and Iran have offered conflicting messages over the state of negotiations to end the war, with Donald Trump signalling the talks were “very good” and a deal “very possible”. Iranian officials, however, have sought to dampen expectations, with state media reporting that Tehran is, at most, reviewing the US’s peace proposal and considering its response via Pakistani mediators.
Lebanon and Israel will hold a new round of talks on 14-15 May in Washington on seeking a peace deal, despite a new Israeli strike against Hezbollah, a US official said Thursday. “There will be talks between Lebanon and Israel Thursday and Friday next week in Washington,” a state department official said on condition of anonymity.
Next week’s talks will be the third between Israel and Lebanon, which had not spoken directly for decades and have no diplomatic relations. “There will be talks between Lebanon and Israel Thursday and Friday next week in Washington,” a US state department official said on condition of anonymity.
A Saudi source on Thursday rejected a US media report saying president Donald Trump announced a pause in an American military operation to guide stranded ships through the strait of Hormuz following an intervention by Riyadh. According to a report from US network NBC News, Trump’s u-turn came after Saudi Arabia – whose crown prince Mohammed bin Salman reportedly talked directly to Trump – refused to allow US forces to use its airspace and bases for the Hormuz operation.
Around 1,500 ships and their crews are trapped in the Gulf due to the Iranian blockade in the strait of Hormuz, the secretary general of the UN’s International Maritime Organization said in Panama on Thursday. The war in the Middle East provoked reprisals from Tehran across the region and a shipping blockade in Hormuz, a crucial global trade route.
The Iranian foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, has spoken with his Pakistani counterpart, Ishaq Dar, on the phone today, according to a statement posted on the former’s Telegram channel. As reported earlier, Iran said it was reviewing the US proposal to end the war and would convey its position to Pakistani mediators, while Islamabad has expressed hope that a deal could be reached soon.
The United Arab Emirates will form a committee to document Iran’s attacks during the Middle East war to support legal action, state media said Thursday, after earlier calling for reparations. Major landmarks including Dubai’s luxury Palm development, as well as airports and energy facilities, were among the sites hit in Iran’s retaliatory attacks on the Gulf.
Liquefied natural gas (LNG) carriers have transited the strait of Hormuz five times over the past two weeks, maritime tracking firm Kpler said on Thursday. That was up from just one between 1 March and 21 April, after the Middle East war largely halted traffic through the strategic waterway.
Iran is carrying out near-daily executions of prisoners in secrecy and, in some cases, refusing to hand the bodies of the dead to their families, according to rights groups and sources close to the relatives of the dead. Many families only learn of executions after they have been carried out, with some facing harassment and pressure not to speak publicly on the personal impact of the state killings, the sources said.
US secretary of state Marco Rubio has held talks with Pope Leo at the Vatican. The US state department said in a statement quoted by AP that the pair discussed “efforts to achieve a durable peace in the Middle East,” which obviously are at the heart of the disagreement between Donald Trump and the pope.
The governor of Tehran, Mohammad Sadegh Motamedian, has announced that all ministries, government organisations and executive agencies in the Iranian capital will resume full operations from Saturday, according to the semi-official Mehr news agency. Government bodies “will operate with 100% staff attendance” from 9 May, Motamedian was quoted as saying, adding that activities in schools and universities will be announced by the education ministry.
The Israeli military said it would investigate after a soldier was photographed placing a cigarette in the mouth of a statue of the Virgin Mary in southern Lebanon. An image appearing to show an Israeli soldier with his arm around the statue and holding a cigarette up to the mouth of the figure was widely shared on social media yesterday.
The Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, has issued a video statement in response to the reported killing of a Hezbollah commander in Beirut. The Israeli military said this morning that it had killed the commander of Hezbollah’s elite Radwan force in a strike in the Dahiyeh neighbourhood of southern Beirut yesterday, in the first attack on the Lebanese capital in nearly a month.
Liquefied natural gas (LNG) carriers have transited the strait of Hormuz five times over the past two weeks, maritime tracking firm Kpler said on Thursday.
That was up from just one between 1 March and 21 April, after the Middle East war largely halted traffic through the strategic waterway.
Normally in peacetime, 20% of global seaborne LNG passes through the strait of Hormuz.
“LNG operators have remained highly cautious about transiting the strait given the high value of the vessels and the relatively limited size of the global LNG fleet,” Laura Page, Kpler analyst told AFP.
The five crossings recorded since 22 April have involved four LNG tankers linked to the United Arab Emirates (UAE). All kept their transponders off as they navigated the strait.
Next week’s talks will be the third between Israel and Lebanon, which had not spoken directly for decades and have no diplomatic relations.
“There will be talks between Lebanon and Israel Thursday and Friday next week in Washington,” a US state department official said on condition of anonymity.
Israeli strikes in Lebanon have killed more than 2,700 people since 2 March, including dozens since a ceasefire was declared, according to Lebanese authorities.
Around 1,500 ships and their crews are trapped in the Gulf due to the Iranian blockade in the strait of Hormuz, the secretary general of the UN’s International Maritime Organization said in Panama on Thursday.
The war in the Middle East provoked reprisals from Tehran across the region and a shipping blockade in Hormuz, a crucial global trade route.
“Right now, we have approximately 20,000 crewmen and around 1,500 ships trapped,” Arsenio Dominquez told the Maritime Convention of the Americas.
Israel and Lebanon to hold talks in Washington next week, US says
Lebanon and Israel will hold a new round of talks on 14-15 May in Washington on seeking a peace deal, despite a new Israeli strike against Hezbollah, a US official said Thursday.
“There will be talks between Lebanon and Israel Thursday and Friday next week in Washington,” a state department official said on condition of anonymity.
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Riyadh 'did not block US operation in strait of Hormuz' – source
A Saudi source on Thursday rejected a US media report saying president Donald Trump announced a pause in an American military operation to guide stranded ships through the strait of Hormuz following an intervention by Riyadh.
According to a report from US network NBC News, Trump’s u-turn came after Saudi Arabia – whose crown prince Mohammed bin Salman reportedly talked directly to Trump – refused to allow US forces to use its airspace and bases for the Hormuz operation.
“This isn’t true,” a source close to the Saudi government told AFP. The United States still has regular access to Saudi bases and airspace, the source added.
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The United Arab Emirates will form a committee to document Iran’s attacks during the Middle East war to support legal action, state media said Thursday, after earlier calling for reparations.
Major landmarks including Dubai’s luxury Palm development, as well as airports and energy facilities, were among the sites hit in Iran’s retaliatory attacks on the Gulf.
The UAE bore the brunt of the attacks, having been targeted by more than 2,800 drones and missiles from the neighbouring country.
A new national committee has been tasked with “documenting and monitoring all incidents of attacks and military actions associated with the Iranian aggression”, the official WAM news agency said.
“The outcomes of the committee’s work will contribute to supporting the UAE’s legal efforts at both the national and international levels by preparing a comprehensive documentation file,” it added.
Iran foreign minister speaks with Pakistani counterpart in phone call
The Iranian foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, has spoken with his Pakistani counterpart, Ishaq Dar, on the phone today, according to a statement posted on the former’s Telegram channel.
As reported earlier, Iran said it was reviewing the US proposal to end the war and would convey its position to Pakistani mediators, while Islamabad has expressed hope that a deal could be reached soon.
The statement on Araghchi’s Telegram does not give much away on where the negotiations currently stand, but says:
In this consultation, the parties, while reviewing the latest developments and current trends in the region, emphasised the importance of continuing the path of dialogue and diplomacy, as well as expanding constructive cooperation among the countries of the region, in order to maintain stability and prevent the formation and escalation of tensions.
Iran conducting near-daily prisoner executions in secrecy, say rights groups
Iran is carrying out near-daily executions of prisoners in secrecy and, in some cases, refusing to hand the bodies of the dead to their families, according to rights groups and sources close to the relatives of the dead.
Many families only learn of executions after they have been carried out, with some facing harassment and pressure not to speak publicly on the personal impact of the state killings, the sources said.
In the latest reported surge, Iran has executed at least 24 people since March, with six executions carried out over two days, according to a Norway-based monitoring group, Iran Human Rights (IHRNGO).
The killings have raised fears for hundreds believed to be facing the death penalty over mass anti-government protests in January, as well as those held on espionage accusations during the war with the US and Israel.
In one message sent to the Guardian, a close family member of Saleh Mohammadi, a teenager and national wrestling champion executed in March, said the family had been facing “profound psychological trauma”.
“After our brother’s execution, individuals who support the government have repeatedly gathered in front of our home, chanting slogans and subjecting us to ongoing harassment and psychological pressure,” they said.
“These actions have multiplied our suffering and intensified our sense of insecurity,” they added. “I have nightmares every night.”
Read more here:
'Friendly and constructive' talks with Pope Leo on 'efforts to achieve ... peace in Middle East,' US says
Meanwhile, US secretary of state Marco Rubio has held talks with Pope Leo at the Vatican.
The US state department said in a statement quoted by AP that the pair discussed “efforts to achieve a durable peace in the Middle East,” which obviously are at the heart of the disagreement between Donald Trump and the pope.
The meeting showed “strong” relationship between the US and the Vatican, it added.
A US official further briefed reporters that the conversations were “friendly and constructive”, with AFP noting that Rubio – a devout Catholic who has sought to play down the rift – met both the pontiff and Vatican secretary of state (and de facto chief diplomat) Pietro Parolin.
For more on Rubio’s visit and other Europe related news, you can follow our Europe live blog here:
The governor of Tehran, Mohammad Sadegh Motamedian, has announced that all ministries, government organisations and executive agencies in the Iranian capital will resume full operations from Saturday, according to the semi-official Mehr news agency.
Government bodies “will operate with 100% staff attendance” from 9 May, Motamedian was quoted as saying, adding that activities in schools and universities will be announced by the education ministry.
The report indicates some semblance of normal life is returning to Tehran, even as Donald Trump and Israeli officials warn of a return to conflict if Iran fails to accept a deal to end the war.
As reported by the Guardian’s Stefanie Glinski, many Iranians fear the war could return at any moment, but it hasn’t stopped some from carrying on with their lives, judging by the busy coffee shops, traffic on the roads and picnics in the parks.
You can read Stefanie’s report here:
Updated
The European Union is set to tell airlines the impact from the Iran war on tourism is not yet severe enough to justify emergency measures for the sector, draft EU guidelines seen by Reuters showed.
“The current situation does not point to the need for dedicated measures for the tourism sector, unlike during the COVID-19 crisis,” said the draft EU guidelines, which the European Commission is due to publish on Friday.
Israel’s state attorney’s office said an Israeli man suspected of violently pushing a nun to the ground in Jerusalem has been charged with assault motivated by religious hostility.
Yonah Shreiber, 36, was arrested a day after last Tuesday’s attack. CCTV footage shows the suspected attacker, wearing a Jewish kippah and ritual tassels, chase the nun from behind before pushing her to the ground. Then, while the nun was lying on the ground, he kicked her and began to attack a passerby who tried to intervene.
The attack was condemned by Christian clergy in Jerusalem and came amid a growing number of incidents of abuse, assault and intimidation against the Christian community by Jewish extremists in the walled Old City, home to sites holy to Christians, Muslims and Jews.
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The Israeli military said it would investigate after a soldier was photographed placing a cigarette in the mouth of a statue of the Virgin Mary in southern Lebanon.
An image appearing to show an Israeli soldier with his arm around the statue and holding a cigarette up to the mouth of the figure was widely shared on social media yesterday.
Last month, an image of an Israeli soldier appearing to hit a statue of Jesus with a sledgehammer in southern Lebanon prompted widespread condemnation after it was shared online. The Israeli soldier carrying out the vandalism and another filming it were removed from combat duty and sentenced to 30 days in jail, the Israel Defense Forces said.
Netanyahu: Hezbollah commander killed in IDF strike 'probably thought he had immunity in Beirut'
The Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, has issued a video statement in response to the reported killing of a Hezbollah commander in Beirut.
The Israeli military said this morning that it had killed the commander of Hezbollah’s elite Radwan force in a strike in the Dahiyeh neighbourhood of southern Beirut yesterday, in the first attack on the Lebanese capital in nearly a month.
Hezbollah has yet to comment on the report.
In his video statement, Netanyahu said:
Last night, we eliminated Hezbollah’s Radwan force commander in the heart of Beirut. This is the same senior terrorist who led the plan to conquer the north.
He thought he could continue directing attacks on our forces and our communities from his hidden terrorist headquarters in Beirut. He probably read in the press that he had immunity in Beirut.
So he read - and it will no longer happen. In the past month, we eliminated more than 200 Hezbollah terrorists who acted against Israeli citizens and IDF soldiers.
We are doing the same thing in Gaza - eliminating terrorist cells, including yesterday.
I say to our enemies in the clearest possible way: No terrorist has immunity. Anyone who threatens the state of Israel - their blood is on their heads.
Thank you to our heroic fighters, to our intelligence personnel, to our air force. You are the best in the world. I salute you, the people of Israel salute you.
Iran president held lengthy talks with supreme leader - report
The Iranian president, Masoud Pezeshkian, said he recently met with Iran’s supreme leader Mojtaba Khamenei, according to state media.
The Iranian judiciary’s Mizan news agency reported Pezeshkian held a meeting with Khamenei that lasted nearly two and a half hours, but it doesn’t mention in any great detail what they had discussed or when it took place. The report makes no mention of the US or its proposal to end the war.
Khamenei, who has the final say on all major decisions affecting Iran, including war, has not been seen in public since taking power after his father, Ali Khamenei, was killed in a US-Israeli strike on the first day of the conflict on 28 February. Apart from a few written statements broadcast on state media, there is little to no evidence showing how involved he is in day-to-day affairs.
Having largely vanished from public view, there has been intense speculation about his condition, with some reports suggesting he may be incapacitated. This has led to confusion over Iran’s chain of command, with rumours that the country’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) is in control.
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Fertiliser shortages to have dramatic effect on food prices, says Duke of Westminster’s firm
Fertiliser shortages caused by the Iran war have driven up costs for UK farmers by up to 70% and will have a “dramatic” impact on food prices globally next year, according to one of Britain’s most powerful property and farming companies.
Mark Preston, executive trustee of the 349-year-old Grosvenor Group, controlled by the Duke of Westminster, said fertiliser “was already quite expensive” before the 50% to 70% surge in prices since the start of the Iran war in late February.
The effective closure of the strait of Hormuz – which Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said on Wednesday could soon reopen – has throttled global supplies of fertiliser, crucial to growing food crops.
Preston said that, although UK crops were unlikely to be affected this year as most fertiliser had already been used, the knock-on effect could arrive next year.
“Farmers are not buying that fertiliser, they’re sitting on their hands and hoping things will improve, which they probably won’t,” he said.
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Here are the latest pictures from the Dahiyeh neighbourhood of southern Beirut, where rescue workers are searching through the rubble of a building destroyed in an Israeli airstrike yesterday. The Israeli military claims a Hezbollah commander was killed in the attack, the first in the Lebanese capital in nearly a month.
Pakistan hopeful US-Iran deal could be reached 'soon rather than later'
Pakistan, which has positioned itself as a key mediator in talks between the US and Iran, has continued to express optimism at a possible deal without offering any clues at to where the negotiations currently stand.
The Pakistani foreign ministry spokesperson, Tahir Andrabi, would not disclose details of the ongoing diplomatic efforts but said a deal could be reached soon.
“What I can tell you and this is what I have stated before that we remain positive, we remain optimist, and we hope the settlement will be soon rather than later,” he told a news briefing today.
While the first round of US-Iran talks took place in the Pakistani capital Islamabad on 11 April, Andrabi hinted a future deal could be agreed elsewhere.
“If it takes place in Islamabad, it would be an honour and a privilege to host it,” he said.
In televised remarks today, Pakistan’s prime minister, Shehbaz Sharif, said Islamabad remained in “continuous contact with Iran and the United States, day and night, to stop the war and extend the ceasefire”.
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IDF claims to have killed commander of Hezbollah's Radwan force in Beirut strike
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said it has killed the commander of Hezbollah’s Radwan force, the most elite unit of the pro-Iran armed group, in a strike on Beirut’s southern suburbs.
In a statement, the IDF named the Radwan commander as Ahmed Ghalib Balut, saying he was killed in a strike in the Dahiyeh neighbourhood in southern Beirut.
Hezbollah has not immediately commented on the report.
Israel struck Beirut yesterday for the first time since a ceasefire took effect on 16 April. At least 11 other people were killed in strikes across the south and east, according to the Lebanese health ministry.
Trump says deal with Iran is 'very possible' while Iran downplays reports of peace talks
Morning and welcome to the Guardian’s continuing coverage of the crisis in the Middle East.
The US and Iran have offered conflicting messages over the state of negotiations to end the war, with Donald Trump signalling the talks were “very good” and a deal “very possible”.
Iranian officials, however, have sought to dampen expectations, with state media reporting that Tehran is, at most, reviewing the US’s peace proposal and considering its response via Pakistani mediators. Ebrahim Rezaei, the spokesperson of the Iranian parliament’s national security and foreign policy commission, said the proposal to end the war was merely an “American wish list” and “not a reality”.
Still, the US president struck a positive tone last night while speaking to journalists about a possible deal, with a few threats sprinkled in.
“We’ve had very good talks over the last 24 hours, and it’s very possible that we’ll make a deal,” he told reporters in the Oval Office.
“We’ll see whether or not they are agreeing. And if they don’t agree, they’ll end up agreeing shortly thereafter. That’s the way it is.”
In an interview with US broadcaster PBS, he said there was a “very good chance” of the war ending, adding: “If it doesn’t end, we have to go back to bombing the hell out of them.”
In other developments:
News of a possible deal followed Trump’s abrupt U-turn on a US military operation to guide ships out of the strait of Hormuz, dubbed “Project Freedom”. Trump said the decision to pause the mission on Tuesday – two days after it was launched – was to give peace a chance, but NBC reported that it was suspended after Saudi Arabia refused to allow the US military to use its bases and airspace to carry out the operation. US officials told the American broadcaster that Gulf allies were caught off guard by the sudden announcement of Project Freedom, and that it had angered the leadership in Saudi Arabia.
The Iranian president, Masoud Pezeshkian, told his French counterpart, Emmanuel Macron, that the US’s behaviour had “deviated the path of diplomacy towards threats, pressure and sanctions” and that Tehran could not trust Washington. In a statement carried by the Iranian state-run Press TV, Pezeshkian said Iran had entered into dialogue with the US twice and “on both occasions, military aggression against Iran took place concurrently with the negotiations. Such behaviour is effectively like ‘stabbing from behind’”.
Iran has denied any involvement in damage to a South Korean-operated vessel in the strait of Hormuz, which suffered an explosion and fire on Monday. Trump blamed the incident on an Iranian attack, while South Korea’s foreign ministry said the cause of the fire would only be confirmed after the vessel is inspected. The Iran embassy in Seoul issued a statement this morning rejecting the allegations, saying safe passage through the waterway requires strict adherence to Iranian regulations.
The damage and destruction inflicted on US military sites across the Middle East during the war is far larger than what has been publicly acknowledged by the Trump administration or previously reported, according to analysis by the Washington Post. Reviewing satellite imagery, the newspaper found Iranian airstrikes have damaged or destroyed at least 228 US structures or pieces of equipment, including hangars, barracks, fuel depots, aircraft and key radar, communications and air defence equipment. The US Central Command declined to comment on the report.
In Lebanon, where a ceasefire has demonstrably failed to stop the fighting between Israel and Hezbollah, three people were killed this morning in Israeli strikes on Nabatieh south of the country, according to the official Lebanese National News Agency. The Israeli military said one of its soldiers was seriously injured by an explosive-laden Hezbollah drone in southern Lebanon yesterday. It did not say where the attack took place.
In Gaza, where another ceasefire appears to be fraying, an Israeli airstrike has killed Azzam Khalil al-Hayya, the son of Hamas political bureau leader and chief negotiator Khalil al-Hayya, according to senior Hamas official Basim Naim. Azzam succumbed to his injuries this morning after being struck in an Israeli attack last night in Gaza City, Reuters reported. He is the fourth son of Hamas’s exiled Gaza chief to have been killed in Israeli attacks.
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