Iran tightens grip on Strait of Hormuz waters under new IRGC rules

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Israel carried out strikes across southern Lebanon on Saturday, with its military saying it hit dozens of Hezbollah targets.

The attacks have become a regular occurrence, despite a fragile ceasefire in the Israel-Hezbollah war that has seen both sides accuse each other of violations.

In a statement, the Israeli military said it struck Hezbollah targets, adding that "approximately 70 military structures and approximately 50 Hezbollah infrastructure sites were dismantled across several areas" on Saturday.

Lebanon's state-run National News Agency (NNA) also reported a series of Israeli strikes across southern Lebanon.

The Israeli army had earlier issued two evacuation warnings for nine southern villages.

Hezbollah, meanwhile, claimed several attacks targeting Israeli troops, saying they were in response to ceasefire "violations".

Israel has kept up deadly strikes on Lebanon despite the April 17 ceasefire that sought to halt more than six weeks of war between it and Hezbollah.

The ceasefire text grants Israel the right to act against "planned, imminent or ongoing attacks".

Lebanese army chief Rodolphe Haykal on Saturday met with visiting US General Joseph Clearfield, the head of a five-member committee in charge of monitoring a 2024 ceasefire meant to put an end to the last war between Israel and Hezbollah.

They discussed "the security situation in Lebanon, regional developments, and ways to maximise the effectiveness of the (committee) and enhance its operations", according to a Lebanese army statement.

Iran said Saturday that it was up to the United States whether to pursue a negotiated settlement or to return to open war, but that Tehran was ready for either outcome.

"Now the ball is in the United States' court to choose the path of diplomacy or the continuation of a confrontational approach," deputy foreign minister Kazem Gharibabadi told diplomats in Tehran, according to state broadcaster IRIB.

"Iran, with the aim of securing its national interests and security, is prepared for both paths," he said.

Iran has started cutting oil production as the US naval blockade tightens pressure on its most important source of revenue, sharply reducing exports and pushing storage facilities toward capacity near Kharg Island. Tehran is increasingly relying on floating storage, aging tankers and ship-to-ship transfers to keep crude moving, while exploring limited overland exports to neighbouring countries.

US officials estimate the squeeze could cost Iran about $170 million a day. Despite mounting stress, analysts say Iran’s sanctions-hardened oil network remains constrained but operational, buying Tehran time as the standoff with Washington drags on.

The Indian government on Saturday moved to reassure citizens that fuel supplies remain stable despite the ongoing West Asia crisis, which has continued to roil global energy markets. The Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas said in a release that 100% supply is being maintained to domestic LPG, PNG, and CNG (Transport) consumers, and urged the public to avoid panic buying of petrol, diesel, and LPG. Officials also cautioned people to rely only on official sources and disregard rumours circulating about shortages.

On the supply side, the ministry said all refineries are operating at high capacity with adequate crude inventories and sufficient stocks of petrol and diesel. To ease pressure on LPG demand, authorities have introduced rationalisation measures — including extending LPG booking intervals and making alternative fuels such as kerosene and coal more readily available. The ministry added that no dry-outs have been reported at any LPG distributorship across the country.

US Central Command posted on X that USS New Orleans (LPD 18) is currently patrolling the Arabian Sea in support of the ongoing naval blockade of Iranian ports. The image, shared by @CENTCOM, shows the San Antonio-class amphibious transport dock underway in open water. According to the post, 48 vessels have been redirected over the past 20 days to ensure compliance with the blockade.

Iran on Saturday executed two men convicted of spying for Israel's intelligence agency Mossad, the Mizan news agency of the Iranian judiciary reported.

The individuals, identified as Yaqoub Karimpour and Naser Bekrzadeh, were hanged following judicial proceedings and the upholding of their death sentences by the Supreme Court of Iran, the report said.

It added that Karimpour had knowingly continued his "effective" cooperation with Mossad during the 40-day war involving Iran, the United States, and Israel, sending the country's sensitive information to a Mossad officer through the Telegram messaging platform, Xinhua news agency reported.

According to Mizan, he was accused of involvement in sound explosions, carrying out harmful actions on the Mossad officer's orders, filming military sites and providing false reports and information to security institutions in western Iran during the war to deceive them, among other acts.

The report said he had received some money in return for conducting the missions for Mossad.

China will not comply with US sanctions against five firms targeted for purchasing Iranian oil, Beijing's commerce ministry said on Saturday. China is a key customer for Iranian oil, mainly through independent "teapot" refineries that rely on discounted crude from the Islamic republic. The United States, seeking to choke off revenue to Tehran, has ramped up sanctions on such refineries.

The commerce ministry's injunction, relating to sanctions announced separately since last year, states that the US measures "shall not be recognised, implemented, or complied with". The sanctions "improperly prohibit or restrict Chinese enterprises from conducting normal economic, trade and related activities with third countries... and violate international law and the basic norms governing international relations," the ministry said in a statement.

The General Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) has announced that air traffic in the UAE’s airspace has returned to normal operations, with temporary precautionary measures lifted.

The authority said the decision followed a comprehensive assessment of operational and security conditions, carried out in coordination with relevant entities. It stressed that real-time monitoring will continue to ensure the highest levels of aviation safety.

Israeli airstrikes on southern Lebanon killed at least seven people and wounded others on Saturday despite a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah, officials said.

Israel's military on Saturday issued a new warning for residents of nine southern villages to evacuate. Israel and Lebanon's militant Hezbollah group have kept up their attacks despite a ceasefire in place since April 17.

Lebanon's state-run National News Agency reported an airstrike on a car in the village of Kfar Dajal killed two people, while another hit a home in the village of Lwaizeh, killing three. Two others were killed in a strike on the village of Shoukin, it said.

Israel's military Arabic-language spokeswoman, Lt. Col. Ella Waweya, posted on X that the Israeli air force carried out about 50 airstrikes over the past 24 hours targeting Hezbollah infrastructure and members.

Hezbollah said that it attacked with a drone Israeli troops who gathered on Saturday inside a house in the coastal village of Bayed.

Abdul Majid Hakeem Ilahi, Representative of Iran's Supreme Leader in India, called for a stop to the West Asia war saying everyone in the region was suffering.

Ilahi, while speaking at a press conference, called on all nations to ask the US and Israel to stop the war and then everything would go back to normal.

"We need fairness and justice. Instead of asking Iran "why," we should ask those who created this war to please stop it because we are all suffering. If they ask the US and Israel to stop, everything will return to normal. Is it acceptable or reasonable that all countries are told they should not deal with one specific country? That they should not purchase from it, have business with it, or buy from it? Why are we living like this? It is better to be just and fair. We should analyse everything in its context and tell the initiators of the war to stop because we are all suffering," he said.

Ilahi said that Iran tried to avoid the war, but was ultimately forced into it.

"As you know, Iran did not want this war; Iran was forced into it. Several times Iran tried to avoid this conflict and offered a lot to the other side. I do not know what the condition of the people in those countries is, wanting to impose their will on others. Iran started negotiations in Oman, and all delegations announced that those talks were successful, with many achievements. Then the talks moved to Geneva. They were supposed to continue, but unfortunately, they suddenly attacked Iran," he said.

NATO on Saturday said it was "working" with the United States to understand Washington's decision to slash its troops in Germany by 5,000 following a spat between the leaders of the two nations.

The US move came after President Donald Trump renewed criticism of German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, who said Monday that Iran was "humiliating" Washington in negotiations to end the war in the Middle East.

"We are working with the US to understand the details of their decision on force posture in Germany," NATO spokeswoman Allison Hart said on X.

"This adjustment underscores the need for Europe to continue to invest more in defence and take on a greater share of the responsibility for our shared security - where we're already seeing progress since Allies agreed to invest 5% of GDP," the post said.

"We remain confident in our ability to provide for our deterrence and defence as this shift towards a stronger Europe in a stronger NATO continues."

President Donald Trump said on Saturday the US Navy was acting "like pirates" as he described an operation seizing a ship amid the tit-for-tat American blockade of Iranian ports.

"We... land on top of it and we took over the ship. We took over the cargo, took over the oil. It's a very profitable business," Trump said at a rally in Florida.

"We're like pirates," he added to cheers from the crowd. "We're sort of like pirates. But we're not playing games."

Trump's comparison of US naval activity to piracy comes as legal experts raise alarms about Iran's blockade of the vital Strait of Hormuz and its plans to charge a fee for ships passing through it.

Germany's defence minister on Saturday said the withdrawal of American troops from Germany had been expected and that Europe needed to do more to ensure its own security.

"That US troops are withdrawing from Europe and also from Germany was to be expected," Boris Pistorius said in a statement sent to AFP by his ministry. "We Europeans must take greater responsibility for our security," he added.

The Pentagon on Friday announced the withdrawal of about 5,000 troops from Germany within the next year, the latest rift in transatlantic ties over the Mideast war.

Trump has renewed criticism of German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, who said Monday that Iran was "humiliating" Washington at the negotiating table. Trump said Merz "thinks it's OK for Iran to have a Nuclear Weapon. He doesn't know what he's talking about!"

On Wednesday, the American leader said Washington was "studying and reviewing the possible reduction" of US troops in Germany, and that he would decide in a "short period of time".

Iran hanged two men on Saturday convicted of spying for Israel, the judiciary said, the latest in a string of executions in recent weeks.

"Yaghoub Karimpour and Nasser Bekrzadeh were hanged for the crime of intelligence cooperation and espionage in favour of the Zionist regime," the judiciary's Mizan Online website said.

It was not immediately clear when the two men were arrested.

Mizan said Karimpour was convicted of the capital offence of "moharebeh," or waging war against God, over "filming and photographing security and military locations and sending them to a Mossad officer during the imposed war," referring to Iran's 12-day war with Israel in June 2025.

It added that Bekrzadeh cooperated with Israel's spy agency, Mossad, by sending information on "religious and provincial figures, as well as important centres such as the Natanz area," home to a key nuclear site.

Mizan did not specify whether Bekrzadeh's activities took place during wartime.

The UAE led a diplomatic effort at a key United Nations forum in Geneva that resulted in the unanimous adoption of a resolution condemning attacks on civilian telecommunications and information technology infrastructure, including submarine cables in the Gulf.

The measure was passed during the council session of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), held from 28 April to 8 May 2026, marking the first time the body has formally denounced such attacks on digital infrastructure.

An Iranian military official said Saturday that a renewed conflict with the United States was "likely", as peace talks remain stalled and President Donald Trump criticised Iran's latest proposal in negotiations.

"A renewed conflict between Iran and the United States is likely, and evidence has shown that the United States is not committed to any promises or agreements," Mohammad Jafar Asadi of the military's central command centre, Khatam Al Anbiya, was quoted as saying by Iran's Fars news agency.

Iran and its allies have damaged at least 16 US military sites across eight Middle Eastern countries during the US-Israeli war with Iran starting on February 28, rendering some of those positions virtually unusable, a CNN investigation has found.

The damaged facilities constitute the majority of US military sites in the region, according to the CNN report, citing a congressional aide familiar with the damage assessments.

"There has been a spectrum of assessments," a source said. "From a pretty dramatic side, of the whole facility is destroyed and needs to be shut down, to leaders who say these things are worth repairing due to the strategic benefit they give the US."

Satellite images showed that Tehran's main targets included US advanced radar systems, communications systems and aircraft deployed in the Middle East, many of them expensive and difficult to replace, said the report, which drew on dozens of satellite images and interviews with sources in the United States and Gulf Arab nations.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov held a phone conversation with Iranian Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi, exchanging views on freedom of navigation and issues surrounding Iran's nuclear program, the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs said.

The two sides continued a thorough exchange of views on the prospects for a full cessation of hostilities, stabilising the military and political situation in the Middle East, the ministry said in a news release.

Russia reaffirmed its support for the ongoing mediation efforts and its readiness to fully support the political and diplomatic process to reach sustainable agreements aimed at establishing long-term peace in the region, reports Xinhua news agency.

The ministers also discussed the passage of Russian vessels and cargo through the Strait of Hormuz, the ministry added.

US President Donald Trump has warned that maritime congestion and military activity near key Gulf shipping routes could disrupt global oil flows, though he insisted that overall supply remains strong.

Speaking at a Forum Club event in Palm Beach, Trump described heavy traffic in a critical corridor, saying “hundreds and hundreds of ships” were operating in the area. He also said US naval operations had tightened control over the route, calling it “a blockade”.

According to Trump, the situation has left oil tankers unable to move freely. He claimed vessels loaded with crude were stuck at sea, creating a build-up near the strait, while suggesting that some shipments were being diverted to alternative destinations, including the United States.

Despite the disruption, Trump said oil availability was not in doubt and predicted prices would “drop like a rock” once normal movement resumed. He also linked US military activity to economic gains, claiming the operation had more than covered its own costs.

At the same time, he acknowledged uncertainty in conflict situations and said negotiations with Iran remained unclear. Trump reiterated that US pressure was aimed at limiting Iran’s energy exports and weakening its economy, while maintaining that increased domestic production would offset any global impact.

Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) has announced "new rules" governing waters near its southern coastline, saying it intends to strengthen control over key maritime routes in the Arabian Gulf and the Strait of Hormuz, as reported by Iranian state media Press TV.

In a statement released by the IRGC Navy command, the force said it would exert "control over nearly 2,000km of Iran's coastline" stretching across the Arabian Gulf and the strategically vital Strait of Hormuz.

The statement said the measures are aimed at turning the waters into "a source of pride and power for the dear people of Iran, and a source of security and prosperity for the region".

According to Press TV, the statement came a day after Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei issued the directive, asserting that foreigners with "ominous" plots targeting the Arabian Gulf had no place in the region "except at the bottom of its waters".

US President Donald Trump has sharply criticised opponents of his administration’s military campaign in Iran, describing claims that the United States is not winning the conflict as “treasonous”. Speaking at a rally in Florida, Trump pushed back against critics, particularly from the Democratic Party, who have questioned the effectiveness and direction of the war.

He argued that Iran’s military capabilities had been severely weakened, claiming the country no longer has a functioning navy, air force or strong defence systems. Trump also suggested that Iran’s leadership had been significantly disrupted during the conflict.

The president defended the military campaign as necessary to prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons, warning that failure to act could have posed a serious threat to Israel, the wider Middle East and even Europe. He credited US operations, including the use of advanced bombers, with halting Tehran’s nuclear ambitions.

At the same time, Trump indicated that he remains cautious about discussing operational details before objectives are fully achieved. He compared the current campaign to previous US military actions, which he described as highly successful.

Despite his strong rhetoric, Trump acknowledged that negotiations with Iran have not progressed as hoped. He said the United States is not satisfied with the current proposals on the table and stressed that Washington would not rush to end the conflict prematurely.

Trump made clear that while he prefers a lasting solution, the US is prepared to continue its approach until it secures what he described as the “right outcome”.

The US blockade in the Gulf of Oman and surrounding maritime routes has been claimed to have cost Iran nearly $4.8 billion in oil revenue, significantly tightening financial pressure on Tehran, according to a report by Axios citing Pentagon estimates.

The Department of War assessment suggests Iran has been denied close to $5 billion in oil earnings due to disruptions linked to US enforcement operations in the region, which officials say are targeting sanctioned maritime trade and energy exports.

Highlighting the report, Sean Parnell, speaking in his capacity as Assistant to the Secretary of War for Public Affairs and Chief Pentagon Spokesman, quoted Acting Pentagon Press Secretary Joel Valdez, who said the US operation is intended to maintain sustained economic pressure on Tehran.

In a post on X, Parnell cited Valdez, who said, "The United States' blockade in the Strait of Hormuz is operating with full force and delivering the decisive impact we intended." Valdez added, "We are inflicting a devastating blow to the Iranian regime's ability to fund terrorism and regional destabilisation. Our Armed Forces in the region will continue to maintain this unrelenting pressure."

The United States said it had approved a $4 billion sale of Patriot missiles to Gulf ally Qatar, as well as the sale of precision weapons systems to Israel for nearly $1 billion.

Both sales were deemed to support US "foreign policy and national security" objectives, the State Department said in a series of notices to Congress, amid ongoing conflict in the Middle East.

Trump told top US lawmakers that hostilities in Iran had ended, after coming under pressure from Congress to seek authorization for the conflict as it headed into its third month.

"There has been no exchange of fire between United States Forces and Iran since April 7, 2026. The hostilities that began on February 28, 2026, have terminated," he wrote in letters to House Speaker Mike Johnson and Senate president pro tempore Chuck Grassley.

The USS Gerald R. Ford left the Middle East after taking part in operations against Iran, a US official said.

Two other aircraft carriers - the USS Abraham Lincoln and USS George H.W. Bush - are among 20 US ships still in the region.

The Pentagon said US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth ordered the withdrawal of about 5,000 troops from Germany within the next year.

The announcement came after President Donald Trump threatened this week to remove troops from NATO ally Germany amid a row with its chancellor, Friedrich Merz, over the US-Israeli war against Iran.

Lebanon's health ministry said 13 people were killed Friday in Israeli strikes on the country's south, including in a town where Israel's army had issued an evacuation order despite a ceasefire.

The strikes in Habboush - where the evacuation warning was issued - killed eight people and wounded 21.

Other strikes in Zrariyeh killed four people and wounded four more, the ministry said.

It also reported a strike in Ain Baal near the coastal city of Tyre killed one person and wounded seven others.

Fourteen soldiers were killed on Friday during operations to defuse unexploded ordnance in Iran's northwestern Zanjan province, local media reported.

"Today, during one of these missions, 14 of these dedicated forces were martyred and 2 were injured," Fars news agency reported, citing the Revolutionary Guards.

Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei urged his people to wage economic battle and "disappoint" its enemies, as the war with the United States and Israel and years of sanctions take a toll.

In a written statement, Khamenei went on to call for "prioritising the consumption of domestically manufactured goods", and said "the owners of damaged businesses should avoid, as much as possible, layoffs and separation of their workforce".

Trump said he was unhappy with Iran's new proposal for peace talks, which Iran's state news agency IRNA said was delivered via mediator Pakistan.

"At this moment, I'm not satisfied with what they're offering," he told reporters. "They're asking for things that I can't agree to."

Details of the proposal were not yet public.

The US Treasury Department slapped new sanctions on three Iranian foreign currency exchange firms to try to stem the flow of Tehran's "financial lifelines".

The UN refugee agency said the war had sent freight rates soaring for delivering aid to refugees in the Middle East and Africa.

Costs have shot up nearly 18 per cent as shipments have had to be rerouted because of the closure of the Strait of Hormuz and port congestion, UNHCR said, sparking delivery delays.

Iran's judiciary chief Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejei said Tehran was open to talks with the United States but would not accept what he called policy "imposition" under threats.

"The Islamic Republic has never shied away from negotiations... but we certainly do not accept imposition," Ejei said in a video carried by the judiciary's Mizan Online website.

Day 63: Trump says 'not satisfied' with new Iran proposal

Day 62: Iran's supreme leader says, 'US suffered disgraceful defeat'

Day 61: Iran's Ghalibaf mocks Trump's blockade

Day 60: Blockade: US Marines board ship near Hormuz

Day 59: Iran blames US for failure of talks