Closing summary
We’re wrapping up this live coverage now but here is a report on the latest developments regarding US and Iran negotiations over a ceasefire. Below is a recap of the latest in the Middle East crisis. Thanks for reading.
The US President, Donald Trump, says he expects a response from Iran soon to US proposals for an interim deal to end the conflict in the Middle East. “I’m getting a letter supposedly tonight,” he told reporters at the White House on Friday night. Asked if Iran was intentionally slow-rolling the negotiation process, he replied: “We’ll find out soon enough.”
During a visit to Rome, the US secretary of state, Marco Rubio said: “We’re expecting a response from [Iran] today at some point … I hope it’s a serious offer, I really do … The hope it’s something that can put us into a serious process of negotiation.”
Rubio also met with the Italian prime minister, Giorgia Miloni, in Rome on Friday at a moment of unusual strain between Trump and Italy, driven largely by the war against Iran. Rubio also met with Pope Leo for a meeting he described as “cordial and important”.
US Treasury secretary Scott Bessent says the department is prepared to take financial actions against those providing weapons to Iran’s military. His comments came after the US Treasury announced sanctions against 10 individuals and companies, including many based in China and Hong Kong.
Qatar’s prime minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani has called for renewed diplomacy on an agreement with Iran as he met with US vice-president JD Vance in Washington.
The US will hold two days of “intensive talks” between Israel and Lebanon on 14-15 May, to establish long-term border security, and reach a lasting peace agreement to prevent further conflict, the US state department has said.
Lebanese authorities reported that five people were killed by Israeli strikes, including on the town of Toura in the southern Tyre district, and wounded at least eight others.
In a post on X, the Iranian foreign ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghaei warned against “adventurism and roguish behaviour” after reported US military attacks on Iranian vessels in the strait of Hormuz.
The US Central Command (Centcom) claims it has struck two “unladen” Iranian-flagged oil tankers it said were attempting to violate the US blockade by entering an Iranian port on the Gulf of Oman.
As the US and Iran continue to negotiate a fragile ceasefire, and fighting continues in the strait of Hormuz, life goes on in Tehran.
The US secretary of state, Marco Rubio, met the Italian prime minister, Giorgia Meloni, in Rome on Friday at a moment of unusual strain between Trump and Italy, driven largely by the war with Iran.
Meanwhile, in Lebanon, more than half of that country’s population now depends on humanitarian aid, according to the European Union, as Israel continues its attacks on the country despite a ceasefire in the two-month-long war with militant group Hezbollah.
Following our earlier post on comments made by Donald Trump about negotiations with Iran for a Middle East ceasefire, the US president has told reporters at a White House briefing on Friday evening that he expects a response from Iran soon.
“I’m getting a letter supposedly tonight,” he said. Asked whether Iran was intentionally slow-rolling the negotiation process, he replied: “We’ll find out soon enough.”
The US secretary of state, Marco Rubio, also said Washington was expecting a response from Iran on Friday to its proposals for an interim deal to end the conflict in the Middle East.
In recent days there have been the biggest flare-ups in fighting in and around the contested strait of Hormuz since the informal truce began. The rise in violence followed Donald Trump’s announcement – then rapid pause – of a new naval mission aimed at opening the strategic waterway.
You can read our wrap about the negotiations here.
Satellite images appear to show an oil slick spreading off the coast of Iran’s Kharg Island, a key oil export terminal for the Islamic republic.
It was not immediately clear what caused the apparent spill, which is near the small Gulf island’s west coast.
Orbital EOS, which monitors oil spills, told the New York Times the spill appeared to cover more than 52 sq km (20 sq miles) as of Thursday.
The Conflict and Environment Observatory, a non-governmental organization, said on X that the “original source remains unclear, meanwhile it’s drifting south and seems unlikely to be addressed appropriately”.
Kharg Island is at the heart of Iran’s oil export industry.
Trump said Friday that he expects a response from Iran soon as negotiations continue on a potential proposal to end the US-Israel war.
Trump told pool reporters that he expects to hear from Iran “tonight” on a potential deal that could end the fighting.
More details could be forth coming as Trump wraps up his remarks to pool reporters.
Updated
US Treasury secretary Scott Bessent said that the department is prepared to take financial actions against those providing weapons to Iran’s military, in a statement shared by Reuters.
Bessent’s latest comments came after the US Treasury announced sanctions against 10 individuals and companies, including many based in China and Hong Kong.
“Under President Trump’s decisive leadership, we will continue to act to Keep America Safe and target foreign individuals and companies providing Iran’s military with weapons for use against U.S. forces,” said Bessent.
Updated
Mohammad Mokhber, an adviser to Iran’s supreme leader, said on Friday that having control over the strait of Hormuz is an asset “on the scale of an atomic bomb”.
“Indeed, having in one’s hands a position that allows you to influence the global economy with a single decision is a major opportunity,” he said.
The US Treasury has announced sanctions against 10 individuals and companies, including several in China and Hong Kong, for aiding efforts by Iran’s military to secure weapons and raw materials used to build Tehran’s Shahed drones.
The Treasury move, first reported by Reuters, comes days before Donald Trump plans to travel to China for a meeting with president Xi Jinping and as efforts to end the war in Iran have stalled.
These sanctions are part of a broader pressure campaign by the US against Iran’s ability to finance, manufacture, and transport military supplies.
Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov told his United Arab Emirates counterpart on Friday that US-Iran talks needed to be supported to prevent a resumption of hostilities in the Middle East.
“The Russian side emphasized the need to focus on supporting the ongoing negotiations between Iran and the USA,” a foreign ministry statement said of Lavrov’s telephone conversation with UAE foreign minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan.
The statement said Russia did not want “to jeopardize the prospects for stabilization by resuming hostilities.”
Qatar prime minister calls for Iran talks in meeting with Vance
Qatar’s prime minister called for renewed diplomacy on an agreement with Iran as he met with US vice-president JD Vance in Washington earlier.
Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani met with Vance and discussed Pakistani-led efforts to broker a permanent peace amid a shaky ceasefire.
The Qatari prime minister “stressed the need for all parties to engage with the ongoing mediation efforts, to pave the way for addressing the root causes of the crisis through peaceful means and dialogue, leading to a comprehensive agreement that achieves lasting peace in the region,” the Qatari foreign ministry said on X.
US to mediate two days of talks between Israel and Lebanon next week
The United States will facilitate two days of “intensive talks” between Israel and Lebanon on 14-15 May, the US state department has said.
The talks will be aimed at establishing long-term border security, and reaching a “comprehensive”, lasting peace agreement to prevent further conflict, the state department said.
They will also seek to address Hezbollah’s ability to “entrench and enrich themselves”, which has allowed the group to “undermine the authority of the Lebanese state, and endanger Israel’s northern border”.
As we reported earlier, US secretary of state Marco Rubio met the Italian prime minister Giorgia Miloni in Rome on Friday at a moment of unusual strain between Trump and Italy, driven largely by the war against Iran.
Rubio also met with Pope Leo for a meeting he described as “cordial and important” and said he had explained the US position on Iran, in a fence-mending visit to Rome after sharp disagreements over the US-Israel war on Iran and Trump’s criticisms of the pontiff.
Here’s the clip.
Israeli strikes kill five people in Lebanon, as Hezbollah fires rockets at northern Israel and Israeli military base
Lebanese authorities reported five people including a rescuer killed in fresh Israeli strikes.
The Lebanese health ministry said in a statement that an Israeli raid on the town of Toura in the southern Tyre district killed four people, including two women, and wounded eight others in a preliminary toll.
Lebanon’s civil defence said earlier that one of its members was killed in an Israeli attack on the south.
Meanwhile, Hezbollah has said it launched missiles at a military base in Israel earlier on Friday in response to Israeli attacks that killed a top commander.
In a statement, the Iran-backed militant group said the missiles targeted a base south of the Israeli city of Nahariya “in response to the Israeli enemy’s violation of the ceasefire, the targeting of Beirut’s southern suburbs and the attacks that affected villages and civilians in southern Lebanon”.
Air raid sirens had sounded earlier in several cities in northern Israel, according to the Israeli military, which said it “intercepted one launch, and the additional launches fell in open areas”, adding that no injuries were reported.
Israel has kept up its attacks on Lebanon despite a truce agreed last month, and its strike on the capital’s southern suburbs on Wednesday – its first there in nearly a month – killed a senior Hezbollah commander.
Updated
So, Donald Trump didn’t end up mentioning his war on Iran at the White House event earlier, but if you’re interested in what he did say, my colleague Shrai Popat covered it here:
Updated
The Qatari prime minister, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim al-Thani, has arrived in Washington for meetings with US officials.
The US vice president, JD Vance, is meeting the Qatari prime minister this morning to discuss the negotiations with Iran, according to US outlet Axios. The Qataris are acting as a vital back channel between the US and Iran, an American official told Axios.
Updated
The US president, Donald Trump, is expected to deliver remarks outside of the White House shortly. Stick with us as we will be providing any relevant Iran news.
Iran warns against 'adventurism and roguish behaviour' after US strikes oil tankers
In a post on X, the Iranian foreign ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghaei warned against “adventurism and roguish behaviour” following reported US military attacks on Iranian vessels in the strait of Hormuz.
He said: “scheming and naive euphemisms such as ‘a light slap’ can do nothing to erase the profound disgrace born of narcissism, greed, reckless miscalculation, and lawless irresponsibility.”
“The consequences of this whimsical adventurism and roguish behaviour have now become clear to the entire world. Disjointed, delusional tweets no longer hold any sway over reality—though, as ever, “the deeper they sink into folly, the more inventive they become in justifying it.”
His comments came as the the US military also said it fired on two Iranian-flagged oil tankers earlier today apparently trying to bypass the ongoing US blockade of Iranian ports (see post at 15.59 for more details). Despite these attacks, the US expects a response today from Tehran on a proposal to end the US-Israeli war on Iran.
Italy, alongside Spain, is the European country that has seen some of the largest pro-Palestinian demonstrations and protests against Israel’s wars in Gaza and Lebanon.
Last year, more than 2 million people took part in protests across 84 cities, with a general strike declared against the killing of civilians in Gaza. According to a recent YouTrend poll, nearly 60% of Italians disapprove of Israel’s actions in the Middle East.
The backlash between the two countries comes at a time of increasing unease among the Italian public about the broader implications of the conflict, particularly fears of economic fallout. Meloni, because of her closeness to Trump, is increasingly seen by some as complicit in this sense of looming instability.
US secretary of state Marco Rubio met with Italian prime minister, Giorgia Meloni, on Friday as both sides seek to ease tensions after Donald Trump accused Italy of “lacking courage” for refusing to join attacks on Iran and threatened to withdraw US troops from the country.
The meeting, although cordial, does not appear to have eased the tensions between the two countries, which seem to have remained firmly entrenched in their respective positions.
Questioned why allies including Italy were not backing Washington’s efforts to confront Iran and re-open the Strait of Hormuz Rubio told reporters: ‘‘I don’t understand why anybody would not be supportive,” adding that countries needed “something more than just strongly worded statements” if they opposed Iran’s actions.’’
‘‘It was a frank dialogue between allies who defend their respective national interests while fully understanding how precious the unity of the West remains,’’ Meloni said at the end of the talks with the US secretary of state.
The Italian PM, whose political alliance and personal rapport with Trump had long been openly embraced – with the Italian leader saying earlier this year that she hoped he would one day receive the Nobel peace prize – has openly criticised the US president over the war with Iran, describing the US-Israeli strikes as “outside international law”.
Moreover, in Italy - a country long seen as a symbol of Catholicism – Trump’s attacks on Pope Leo, whom he accused of supporting nuclear weapons and described as “weak on crime” and “terrible on foreign policy”, have enraged Italian public opinion and forced Giorgia Meloni’s far-right government to distance itself from Washington.
“I find President Trump’s remarks about the Holy Father unacceptable,” Meloni said in a statement. “She is the one who is unacceptable,” Trump snapped, “because she doesn’t care if Iran has a nuclear weapon.”
US fires on Iranian-flagged oil tankers it claims were trying to violate US blockade
The US Central Command (Centcom) claims it has struck two “unladen” Iranian-flagged oil tankers it said were attempting to violate the US blockade by entering an Iranian port on the Gulf of Oman.
“U.S. forces disabled M/T Sea Star III and M/T Sevda, May 8, prior to both vessels entering an Iranian port on the Gulf of Oman in violation of the ongoing U.S. blockade,” it said in a statement on social media.
Centcom claimed it had “disabled both tankers after firing precision munitions into their smokestacks”. The statement added that US forces had also disabled a third Iranian-flagged vessel on Wednesday. “All three vessels are no longer transiting to Iran.”
On Thursday Iran accused the US of violating the ceasefire by targeting two ships at the strait of Hormuz and attacking civilian areas. The US insisted it struck in retaliation.
Updated
The internet blackout in Iran has entered its 70th day, according to internet monitoring group NetBlocks, as the regime continues one of the longest-running national internet shutdowns ever recorded. NetBlocks said in a social media post:
Today marks the 70th day of Iran’s internet blackout, with the incident now surpassing 1656 hours. Digital connectivity is vital in times of crisis, and limiting service harms those most in need - people with disabilities, students, small businesses and the general public.
Senior government officials are awarded “white” SIM cards granting them access to the global internet while the vast majority of the population remains completely cut off.
Under pressure to alleviate the economic harm the shutdown is causing, the government has been allowing less-restricted internet access to a small number of professions, businesses and regime-friendly journalists.
There was an earlier internet shutdown in January during nationwide protests, which helped obscure extreme violence against Iran’s population.
Lebanon’s national news agency is reporting that Israeli warplanes launched a series of raids targeting southern Lebanese towns and villages this afternoon. At least five people were killed in the attacks, according to the report.
The Israeli military, which is continuing to issue forced evacuation orders in southern Lebanon, said earlier that Hezbollah had launched rockets and mortar bombs toward its forces in southern Lebanon. No casualties were immediately reported.
The renewed Israeli war on Lebanon started when Hezbollah launched missiles at Israel on 2 March after the US-Israeli bombing of Iran in late February.
In its latest update, the Lebanese health ministry said since 2 March Israeli attacks have killed at least 2,727 people in Lebanon, including many women and children.
Israel has also established a “yellow line” in southern Lebanon where Israeli troops are active, comprising at least 55 villages. They have continued to demolish homes there -and the establishment of what is framed as a security zone has stoked fears of a long-term occupation.
Updated
The US Central Command claimed its forces were blocking 70 tankers from entering or leaving Iranian ports.
“These commercial ships have the capacity to transport over 166 million barrels of Iranian oil worth an estimated $13 billion-plus,” it said in a post on X.
The US navy has blockaded Iran’s ports since 13 April, choking off crucial revenues for the country that relies almost entirely on the strait of Hormuz to export its oil.
Here are some of the latest images on the newswires from across the Middle East:
Summary of developments so far
US secretary of state Marco Rubio said Washington was expecting a response from Iran today to its proposal to end the war. “We’ll see what the response entails,” he said. “The hope is it’s something that can put us into a serious process of negotiation.”
Washington and Tehran are negotiating a US proposal for both sides to reach an agreement to reopen the strait of Hormuz and cease hostilities for 30 days as they work on a more lasting deal, according to the New York Times, citing sources.
The Iranian foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, has accused the US of undermining diplomatic efforts to end the war, saying Washington was instead opting for “reckless military adventure”. In his first comments after the US and Iran traded attacks over the strait of Hormuz, he said: “Iranians never bow to pressure and diplomacy is always the victim.”
The US said it carried out strikes on Iranian military targets after an attack on three American destroyers in the strait of Hormuz yesterday, while Tehran accused Washington of striking first. The exchange of fire threatens to unravel a fragile ceasefire in effect since 8 April.
Despite the tit-for-tat attacks, Donald Trump insisted the truce remains intact. “The ceasefire is going. It’s in effect,” the US president said yesterday, describing the strikes as “just a love tap”.
The UAE defence ministry said its air defence systems intercepted missiles and drone attacks from Iran. So far today, it downed two ballistic missiles and three drones, the ministry reported.
Iranian state media blamed the UAE for reported strikes in southern Iran yesterday. The semi-official Tasnim news agency, citing sources, reported that there were signs of UAE involvement in attacks on Qeshm, an Iranian island in the strait of Hormuz.
In Lebanon, where another nominal ceasefire continues to be challenged, Israel has launched attacks across the south as fighting intensified with the Iran-backed group Hezbollah. The Lebanese health ministry and national news agency have reported at least five people were killed today in Israeli strikes, including a rescue worker with the civil defence.
Direct talks between Israel and Lebanon were scheduled to resume next week in Washington, the Associated Press reported, citing a US official who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss plans for the closed-door meetings. The official said talks will be held 14 and 15 May.
Rubio says Iran asserts it has the right to control an “international waterway”, referring to the strait of Hormuz, which Iran effectively closed in response to the US and Israeli attacks on Tehran in late February.
The US, hit hard by rising gas prices and fertiliser costs, has been pressuring Iran to reopen the strait, enforcing a naval blockade of Iranian ports.
Rubio was asked if he has had conversations with the Italian prime minister, Giorgia Meloni, or Italian foreign minister, Antonio Tajani, about helping the US unblock the strait by providing “escorts” to help commercial ships be guided safely through.
So far, Italy and other European countries have been resistant, not wanting to get dragged into the US war, even though their economies have also suffered as energy prices have surged. Rubio refused to be drawn on specific conversations he has had. But said:
Everybody says Iran is a threat. Everybody says that Iran can’t have a nuclear weapon. Okay. But you have to do something about it. The president is trying to do something about it. I don’t understand why anybody would not be supportive of that.
But here is a more fundamental problem. Iran now claims that they have a right to control an international waterway. They claim that they have a right to control it. What is the world going to do about that? Is the world going to accept that Iran now controls an international waterway.
Because if the world is prepared to accept that, then be ready because there are like ten other countries that are going to start doing the same thing in international waterways near their countries. That is an unacceptable thing they are trying to normalise.
Updated
Asked by a reporter if the US has communicated any “red lines” to Iran in their proposal, Marco Rubio replied: “Well the red line is clear, if they threaten Americans they are going to get blown up. How much clearer can you be than that?”
“We are not going to let our ships get sunk by the Iranians with their drones that they are firing,” the secretary of state said.
“They don’t have a Navy anymore but they bring out these little Boston whaler fishing boats and they try to swarm you. We are going to blow those boats up if they are coming towards our boats. I don’t know if that is a red line but I hope they know it is by now.”
The US is now framing any attacks it launches as purely defensive ones that do not constitute a resumption of major combat operations against Iran.
As my colleague notes in this story, the Trump administration is facing increasing pressure over how it frames the US-Israeli war on Iran to Congress because of the war powers resolution, a law that typically requires presidents to seek formal approval from Congress for war activities 60 days after beginning military action.
On the eve of the 60 day war powers deadline expiring last week, a senior official of the Trump administration said the US had “terminated” hostilities with Iran since the shaky 8 April ceasefire.
Rubio says US should get Iran response on Friday
Marco Rubio also told reporters in Rome that the US should get a response on Friday from Iran to its proposal to end the war.
“We’ll see what the response entails. The hope is it’s something that can put us into a serious process of negotiation,” Rubio said.
Axios has been reporting that the US believes it could be getting closer to reaching a 14-point memorandum of understanding with Iran, which could set the basis for more detailed nuclear negotiations at a later date.
US and Iran exchanged fire late on Thursday in the most serious test yet of their month-long ceasefire, raising questions about the likelihood of a lasting agreement being secured.
Updated
Hezbollah started firing at Israel shortly after the US and Israel launched its war on Iran by killing the country’s former supreme leader. Israel responded with airstrikes and launched a ground invasion of southern Lebanon.
Despite a US brokered ceasefire agreement, Israel and Hezbollah have continued with their attacks, accusing each other of violations.
Israel has been accused of violating the ceasefire agreement many times, with strikes killing civilians and homes continuing to be demolished despite the military saying it is only targeting Hezbollah sites.
Under the agreement’s terms, Israel was effectively given permission to continue its assault on Lebanon as it retained a “right to take all necessary measures in self-defence, at any time, against planned, imminent, or ongoing attacks”.
The US secretary of state, Marco Rubio, has been speaking to the press after meeting with the Italian prime minister Giorgia Meloni. He said the reasons why Lebanon “faces violence” is because of the Iranian-backed Lebanese militant group Hezbollah.
He said the US wants to empower and “equip” the Lebanese government to confront the “threat” of Hezbollah. He said Italy is among the countries that can play a role in helping “equip” the government and cutting off the financing that supports Hezbollah.
Rubio said Hezbollah is still capable of” “inflicting damage” even though it has been “weakened”. “We are not going to negotiate with Iran over Hezbollah.” “I think our role is with the Lebanese government,” he said.
“Lebanon should be governed by the Lebanese government. It should not have a terrorist group operating within its national territory that poses a threat both to its own people – including the Shia population – and to the government and to Israel and to its other neighbours.”
Updated
Israeli and US strikes against Iran’s nuclear sites have set back Tehran’s ability to develop a nuclear weapon, potentially extending the timeline to build one by nine months to two years, according to the Institute for Science and International Security.
In a report published this week, the Washington-based thinktank said it identified at least six nuclear sites that were attacked since the war began on 28 February, including uranium enrichment facilities.
It said before US-Israeli strikes on Iran’s key nuclear sites in June 2025, Tehran could have built a non-missile deliverable nuclear weapon with almost 100% certainty in less than six months.
Describing the situation now, it said:
It [Iran] will face a much more difficult struggle towards success if it tries in the coming months, and the probability of succeeding, whether it be in nine months, one year, or two years, is now much less technically certain, and significantly less than 100 percent.
Today is the Palestine Marathon, which has returned after a two-year hiatus due to war.
Hundreds of runners set off from the occupied West Bank city of Bethlehem, the starting point of the race, with a parallel 5km run taking place in the Gaza Strip.
Here are some images from both of those events:
Iran's foreign minister: 'Iranians never bow to pressure'
The Iranian foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, has issued a statement on social media accusing the US of “reckless military adventure” amid diplomatic efforts to end the war.
It is the first comments by the minister after the US and Iran traded attacks over the strait of Hormuz, with both sides blaming each other for breaking the month-old truce.
In his statement, Araghchi said:
Every time a diplomatic solution is on the able, the US opts for a reckless military adventure. Is it a crude pressure tactic? Or the result of a spoiler once again duping [Donald Trump] into another quagmire?
Whatever the causes, the outcome is the same: Iranians never bow to pressure and diplomacy is always the victim.
Also, the CIA is wrong. Our missile inventory and launcher capacity are not at 75% compared to Feb 28 The correct figure is 120%.
As for our readiness to defence our people: 1,000%
He was referring to a report by the Washington Post, citing US intelligence, that Iran retains about 75% of its prewar inventories of mobile launchers and about 70% of its stockpiles of missiles.
Updated
The ship monitor Tanker Trackers has posted the following on X about the Ocean Koi oil tanker:
Her new name is actually JIN LI (9255933), and has been so since 2025-11-30. Examining our data, we can see that she’s transported various Iranian hydrocarbons on at least 16 occasions since 2021; and with full knowledge of Iran because half of her loadings were conducted directly at port in Iran while the other half were conducted via Ship-to-Ship transfer further out.
JIN LI’s ownership is based in Shanghai, China. The vessel was slapped with sanctions by US OFAC on 2026-02-25.
Iran seizes tanker over alleged attempt to disrupt country's oil exports - state media
The Iranian military has seized a tanker over an alleged attempt to disrupt the country’s oil exports, the semi-official Tasnim news agency reported.
Identifying the oil tanker as “Ocean Koi”, the news agency reported that it contained a shipment of Iranian oil and “was attempting to exploit regional conditions to damage and disrupt oil exports and the interests of the Iranian nation”, without elaborating further.
The tanker was seized in the Gulf of Oman and taken to the southern coast of Iran, Tasnim reported.
Updated
The Pakistani foreign minister, Ishaq Dar, said he spoke with his Iranian and Singaporean counterparts about repatriating crew members on ships seized by the US.
He asked the Singaporean foreign minister Vivian Balakrishnan for help repatriating “11 Pakistani and 20 Iranian seafarers, aboard vessels seized by US authorities and currently near Singaporean waters”, Dar wrote in a post on X, without specifying which ships the crew were on.
He said he also spoke to Iran’s foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, and that they “remain in close coordination on the matter”.
“Pakistan also stands ready to facilitate the safe repatriation of Iranian nationals to Iran via Pakistan,” he added.
US special forces boarded a stateless oil tanker in the Indian Ocean last month, which the Pentagon claimed was carrying Iranian crude oil.
A senior Saudi diplomat has reaffirmed efforts “supporting de-escalation and negotiations” as the US and Iran traded fire overnight.
In a post on X, Saudi Arabia’s minister of diplomacy, Rayed Krimly, also cautioned for people to be wary about “media reports attributed to unnamed sources - some of whom claim to be Saudi - suggesting otherwise”.
This may be in reference to a report in the Wall Street Journal that cited unnamed officials saying Saudi Arabia and Kuwait lifted restrictions on the US’s access to their military bases and airspace. US and Saudi officials reportedly told the newspaper that the restrictions were imposed soon after Donald Trump announced his ‘“Project Freedom” military operation on Sunday to reopen the strait of Hormuz. It apparently led to the US president to hit pause on the operation on Tuesday, but he is now looking to restart Project Freedom to guide commercial ships with naval and air support.
You can read more on that story here:
Updated
More than three million people in Lebanon are surviving on humanitarian aid, according to the EU commissioner for equality, preparedness and crisis management, Hadja Lahbib.
That equates to more than half of the country’s population, Lahbib told reporters today after meeting the Lebanese president, Joseph Aoun, in Beirut.
She said the EU has provided €100m (£86m) in aid to Lebanon, but this barely scratches the surface in meeting growing humanitarian needs. Last month, the Lebanese minister for social affairs, Hanin Sayyed, said if war and displacement continues, the country will need $1bn (about €849.8m, £734.3m) “to just keep the humanitarian situation afloat”.
Rescue worker killed in Israeli strike in southern Lebanon, says country's civil defence
In Lebanon, the country’s civil defence agency said one of its rescue workers was killed in an Israeli strike this morning as he was travelling between two towns in the south.
It is a further sign of a disintegrating ceasefire that took effect on 17 April, with Israel and Hezbollah continuing to trade blows and the Israeli military forcing people out of their homes in dozens of towns and villages in southern Lebanon.
The Lebanese civil defence said their rescuer was killed “as a result of an Israeli strike that targeted him” on a road between Rachaya al-Foukhar and Kfar Shouba in Nabatieh district.
The Israeli military has not commented on the report.
Since the war began in Lebanon on 2 March, the World Health Organization (WHO) had “verified 152 attacks on healthcare that resulted in 103 deaths and 241 injuries”, WHO’s director-general, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, said on Wednesday.
Also this morning, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) has issued another warning ordering people in seven towns and villages in Nabatieh and southern Lebanese district of Tyre to flee their homes as the Israeli military prepares to launch further strikes. The IDF has issued such orders almost everyday since the ceasefire began.
It has been a week of dizzying, whiplash news in the Iran war.
Seven days ago, the US-Iran ceasefire was holding but negotiations seemed stalled, or inching forward at best. With the strait of Hormuz effectively choked off by Iran, and the US Navy blockading Iranian ports, there was talk of a one-page memorandum being passed between Washington and Tehran to break the stalemate.
In this explainer, we take a look at the key moments of the past week:
Oil back over $100 a barrel as ceasefire comes under pressure
Oil is back over $100 a barrel as the US-Iran ceasefire came under strain, undermining hopes of an early reopening of the strait of Hormuz.
The jump in oil price came two days after hopes of a peace deal breakthrough pushed it down.
Brent, the price barometer for much of the world’s crude oil, is up 1% at $101 a barrel. That’s a fairly modest move, suggesting investors are still hoping that a deal will eventually be reached.
Markets have slipped back thanks to questions about whether the US-Iran ceasefire is holding, reports Jim Reid of Deutsche Bank:
Questions around the ceasefire have already had a market impact in Asia overnight, where all the major equity indices have lost ground. That includes the Nikkei (-0.69%), the KOSPI (-0.73%), Hang Seng (-1.17%), CSI 300 (-0.90%) and the Shanghai Comp (-0.43%).
Moreover, European equity futures are down, with those on the FTSE 100 (-0.70%) and the DAX (-0.87%) both lower, although US futures have picked up a bit after yesterday’s losses, with S&P 500 futures up +0.21%.
Follow our business live blog for more:
UAE says its air defence systems intercepted Iranian drone and missile attacks
The UAE defence ministry said its air defense systems were intercepting missiles and drone attacks from Iran this morning, further straining the tenuous ceasefire.
Iranian state media blamed the UAE for reported strikes in southern Iran yesterday. The semi-official Tasnim news agency, citing sources, reported that there were signs of UAE involvement in attacks on Qeshm, an Iranian island in the strait of Hormuz.
There were no immediate reports of damage in the UAE. The defence ministry advised people not to approach, photograph or touch “any debris or fragments that have fallen as a result of successful air interceptions”.
In a post on X, the ministry said: “The UAE’s air defenses are currently dealing with missile and drone attacks originating from Iran, and the Ministry of Defense confirms 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 frequently targeted the UAE and other Gulf nations that hose US military bases in retaliatory attacks since the beginning of the war in late February.
Fragile ceasefire remains intact despite US trading fire with Iran
Morning, and welcome to the Guardian’s Middle East live blog.
The US said it carried out strikes on Iranian military targets after an attack on three American destroyers in the strait of Hormuz, while Tehran accused Washington of striking first. The exchange of fire threatens to unravel a fragile ceasefire in effect since 8 April – but Donald Trump insisted the truce remains intact.
“The ceasefire is going. It’s in effect,” the US president told ABC News, describing the strikes as “just a love tap”.
He repeated this stance when asked during a visit to see renovations of the Lincoln Memorial reflecting pool whether the ceasefire was still on despite the attacks. “Yeah it is,” he said. “They trifled with us today. We blew them away. They trifled. I call that a trifle.”
Writing on his Truth Social platform, he said “there was no damage done” to the US warships “but great damage done to the Iranian attackers”.
He added: “We’ll knock them out a lot harder, and a lot more violently, in the future, if they don’t get their Deal signed, FAST!”
The deal he was referring to is the one-page proposal from the US that would have both sides reach an agreement to reopen the strait of Hormuz and end fighting for 30 days while they work on a longer term truce, the New York Times reported.
Iran, meanwhile, accused the US of violating the ceasefire by attacking an oil tanker and another ship on Thursday, saying its forces “immediately and in retaliation attacked American military vessels”.
Reacting to the attacks in the Gulf, Ebrahim Azizi, head of the Iranian parliament’s national security committee, wrote on X: “Making the same mistake again and again won’t get you a different answer; only a stronger one. Respect the new maritime regime of Iran.”
The tit-for-tat attacks came as explosions shook the Iranian capital Tehran and coastal city of Bandar Abbas, as well as Qeshm, an island in the strait of Hormuz, according to state media. The reported attacks were blamed on the US and “enemy units”, with the semi-official Tasnim news agency suggesting UAE involvement.
Updated
