“US Israel Iran War”

Iran has questioned the seriousness of American peace efforts after naval clashes in the Gulf.

Tehran is keeping Washington waiting for a response to its latest negotiating position, which had been expected on Friday evening.

On Saturday, Abbas Araghchi, the Iranian foreign minister, called into question the reliability of the US leadership, in a phone call with his Turkish counterpart.

According to the Iranian ISNA news agency, he said: “The recent escalation of tensions by American forces in the Persian Gulf and their numerous actions in violating the ceasefire have added to suspicions about the motivation and seriousness of the American side in the path of diplomacy.”

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And here’s the answer: Does it matter?

As of this morning, the White House continues to insist that the ceasefire with Iran remains in place and that negotiations will continue. At the same time, missile launches and drone attacks keep coming from Iran, including the skirmish yesterday in which the US Navy struck ports in the Strait of Hormuz and sank several fast-attack boats harassing shipping. 

WASHINGTON — The US military launched a new series of airstrikes Friday, targeting a group of empty tankers in the Strait of Hormuz that were trying to barrel through the blockade of Iranian ports, according to US Central Command.

A US Navy F/A-18 Super Hornet struck two empty Iranian tankers that were attempting to break past the American blockade on Tehran’s ports, disabling them both “after firing precision munitions into their smokestacks,” CENTCOM said in a post to X.

Clashes are intensifying in the Strait of Hormuz.

U.S. Central Command has released footage it says shows the moment two Iranian vessels were targeted, amid escalating maritime tensions in the region.

According to the American statement, U.S. forces are currently preventing… pic.twitter.com/BBbXsqp1j0

— China pulse 🇨🇳 (@Eng_china5) May 8, 2026

Well, well, well. For all the head-scratching that it initially occasioned, President Trump’s hasty abandonment of “Project Freedom” – his grandly titled plan to open the Strait of Hormuz – turns out not to be so mysterious after all. Trump’s reversal, NBC News revealed late yesterday, came at the behest of America’s Gulf allies, foremost among them Riyadh which told Washington that it would suspend the US military’s right to use its airspace. Now Trump, who has described his current exchanges with Iran as “very good,” is breathing optimism about a one-page peace memorandum that he claims will be completed by the end of the week. Iran, by contrast, merely says that Trump’s proposal is “under review.”

There is a lot more anti-Trump hostility in the UK press since the president’s remarks on GB’s viability as a partner.

The US and Iran were on Wednesday close to agreeing a deal that would end the war between the two countries and reopen the Strait of Hormuz.

The White House was awaiting the regime’s response to a one-page proposal that would also require Tehran to suspend its nuclear enrichment, while the US would agree to release billions in frozen Iranian assets.

On Wednesday, administration sources said the two sides were the “closest” they had been to an agreement since the war started on Feb 28.

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President Donald Trump pledged Wednesday morning to open the Strait of Hormuz to all nations, including Iran, if the country agrees to the current proposed peace deal with the United States.

The president said that if Iran refuses the deal, the U.S. will start bombing the regime again.

As a kid, I remember the old saying, “Never let your mouth write a check your butt can’t cash.” Many a nose has been bloodied over a bounced check of this sort. That doesn’t stop the vast majority of people from continuing to write checks that, at a minimum, could bring their account balance unsettlingly close to the negative. One such person, I hate to say, is President Donald Trump on Iran.

President Trump announced a pause on “Project Freedom” on Tuesday evening based on a request from Pakistan and other countries but added that the U.S. Navy blockade of ships in the Strait of Hormuz will remain in place.

“Based on the request of Pakistan and other Countries, the tremendous Military Success that we have had during the Campaign against the Country of Iran and, additionally, the fact that Great Progress has been made toward a Complete and Final Agreement with Representatives of Iran, we have mutually agreed that, while the Blockade will remain in full force and effect, Project Freedom (The Movement of Ships through the Strait of Hormuz) will be paused for a short period of time to see whether or not the Agreement can be finalized and signed,” the president wrote in a post on Truth Social.

To many of us, it is a mystery why Trump is not pounding the crap out of Iran after its numerous violations of the ever-so-shaky “cease-fire,” in which the US is mostly ceasing, and Iran appears to be happy to fire.

Seen in isolation, it seems obvious that Trump should be unleashing hellfire on Iran for any number of good reasons, ranging from the ever-perilous “looking weak” to the dangers of prolonging an economic crisis that is hurting Americans, our allies, and the political prospects of Republicans in the midterms.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said the U.S. mission to protect commercial ships in the Strait of Hormuz would be temporary and other nations would soon have to take responsibility, emphasizing Tuesday that the fragile ceasefire with Iran remained in place despite attacks on U.S. ships a day earlier.

Speaking at a briefing alongside Gen. Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Hegseth said the United States had established a powerful “red, white and blue dome” over the strait as a “direct gift” to other nations to allow commercial ships to pass through.

“This operation is separate and distinct from Operation Epic Fury,” he said, using the Trump administration’s name for the war with Iran.

"And I can't confirm or deny whether we have kamikaze dolphins, but I can confirm they don't." Pete Hegseth

"Kamikaze dolphins. It's like sharks with laser beams. Right." General Kaine

What a time to be alive! pic.twitter.com/YEyE0rNakS

— cbcwatcher (@cbcwatcher) May 5, 2026

President Donald Trump says the US has struck seven Iranian “fast boats” in the Strait of Hormuz, as Washington seeks to guide stranded ships out of the Gulf through the largely closed waterway.

The UAE and South Korea both reported strikes on ships in the vital channel on Monday. The UAE also said a fire broke out at the oil port of Fujairah after an Iranian attack.

Shipping company Maersk told the BBC that one of its US-flagged vessels had successfully exited the strait with US military protection – under what Trump has called “Project Freedom”.

BREAKING: US NAVY just CRUSHED Iran’s "Mosquito Fleet" and unlocked the STRAIT OF HORMUZ 🚢💥

America flexed its MUSCLE without a single boot on the ground… we saved the world's ENERGY and didn't even call our "allies" for help (You're WELCOME, Europe! 🇺🇸)

Project Freedom is… pic.twitter.com/8lzK4XGkMh

— Jesse Watters (@JesseBWatters) May 5, 2026

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — The U.S. military on Monday denied claims that Iran struck a Navy vessel as U.S. forces now offer to guide commercial ships through the Strait of Hormuz, where hundreds have been stuck since the Iran war began. Tehran over the past two months has attacked some vessels and blocked others that don’t receive its authorization.

The U.S. military’s Central Command also said two American-flagged merchant ships have “successfully transited through the Strait of Hormuz” and that that Navy guided-missile destroyers in the Persian Gulf are helping to restore commercial shipping traffic.

U.S. Navy guided-missile destroyers are currently operating in the Arabian Gulf after transiting the Strait of Hormuz in support of Project Freedom. American forces are actively assisting efforts to restore transit for commercial shipping. As a first step, 2 U.S.-flagged merchant… pic.twitter.com/SVDxDhK72I

— U.S. Central Command (@CENTCOM) May 4, 2026

President Trump said Sunday that the U.S. will assist in freeing ships in the Strait of Hormuz, a key waterway for the oil industry, which has been closed during the conflict with Iran.

“Countries from all over the World, almost all of which are not involved in the Middle Eastern dispute going on so visibly, and violently, for all to see, have asked the United States if we could help free up their Ships, which are locked up in the Strait of Hormuz, on something which they have absolutely nothing to do with — They are merely neutral and innocent bystanders!” the president said in a Truth Social post on Sunday evening.

When President Donald Trump triggered the current war against Iran more than 60 days ago, the assumption mostly promoted by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the junior partner in the enterprise, was that the whole thing would be wrapped up within weeks by Tehran implicitly admitting defeat, as it did in an earlier episode known as the 12-day War.

That was why the force deployed and the war plans provided for a short and sharp campaign with boots on the ground not considered even as a theoretical necessity.

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — At her studio in Iran’s capital, Amen Khademi prepared a fashion shoot for a jacket she designed with Persian-inspired motifs. But even as she applied lipstick to the model, she was distracted, worrying if her business would survive after four months without its main link to customers — the internet.

Iran’s 90 million people have been cut off from the internet for most of 2026, one of the world’s longest and strictest national shutdowns. That is devastating an online economy that had long defied government restrictions and international sanctions. From fashion to fitness, to advertising and retailers, many have seen their incomes evaporate.

They can’t blame this on Trump … yet.