The U.S.-Israeli war with Iran loomed over U.S. President Donald Trump's visit to China, as signs emerged that the conflict is causing a shift in alliances across the Middle East.
Israel and Lebanon had a "productive and positive" first day of talks in Washington on Thursday and will continue on Friday, a senior U.S. State Department official said.
Brad Cooper said U.S. strikes had severely weakened Iran’s military and defence industry, claiming Tehran now has only a limited ability to attack neighbouring countries. He told a Senate committee that Iran’s defence sector had been set back by 90% and that its missile, drone, and naval capabilities had been significantly degraded.
However, reports citing U.S. intelligence suggest Iran still retains substantial missile, drone, and small boat capabilities, allowing it to continue threatening regional shipping routes, including the strategically important Strait of Hormuz.
The conflict has increased pressure on Donald Trump, with a Reuters/Ipsos poll showing many Americans believe the president has not clearly explained the reasons for the war with Iran.
While Trump has said the campaign aimed to destroy Iran’s nuclear programme and weaken its regional influence, ceasefire talks have stalled, and tensions remain high following recent exchanges of fire between the two sides.
The International Monetary Fund said it welcomed “constructive dialogue” between the United States and China, adding that “anything that is going to help reduce trade tensions and reduce uncertainty” between the world’s two largest economies was “good for the global economy as well.”
The Council of Representatives of Iraq on Thursday (14 May) approved the appointment of Basim Mohammed as Iraq’s new oil minister, according to the state-run Iraqi News Agency.
Lawmakers also approved Fuad Hussein as foreign minister.
Thousands of Israeli nationalists marched through occupied East Jerusalem’s Old City during the annual ''Jerusalem Day'' procession, chanting racist slogans including ''Death to Arabs'' and ''May your villages burn.''
The march commemorates Israel’s 1967 capture and annexation of East Jerusalem - a move not recognised under international law.
The event has repeatedly sparked tensions and violence in recent years, with far-right participants accused of harassing Palestinians, attacking journalists, and provoking unrest in the city’s sensitive religious and political heart.
U.S. Central Command said in a post on X that naval forces have “redirected” 70 commercial vessels and “disabled” four others since the start of the blockade in the Strait of Hormuz.
The statement came after Iran’s Revolutionary Guard said it had allowed dozens of commercial ships, including Chinese-owned vessels, to pass through the strategic waterway in the past 24 hours.
Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz criticised Lamine Yamal after the Barcelona star waved a Palestinian flag during the club’s Spanish league title celebrations, accusing him of “inciting hate” against Israel in a post on X.
Israel plans to sue The New York Times and journalist Nicholas Kristof for defamation over an article alleging widespread sexual violence against Palestinian detainees by Israeli soldiers, prison guards and settlers, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said.
Netanyahu accused the newspaper of spreading “a blood libel about rape” and said Israel would fight the claims “in the court of public opinion and in the court of law”.
The New York Times defended the report, saying the testimonies published by Kristof were “extensively fact-checked” and corroborated where possible by witnesses, lawyers and family members.
Iran’s ability to threaten neighbouring countries and U.S. interests in the region has been “significantly degraded”, senior U.S. Admiral Brad Cooper told a Senate committee on Thursday.
“Iran has a significantly degraded threat, and they no longer threaten regional partners, or the United States, in ways that they were able to do before, across every domain,” Cooper said. “They’ve been significantly degraded.”
Iraq has approached the International Monetary Fund for possible financial assistance after the Iran war severely disrupted its economy, a source close to the IMF said.
Talks began during last month’s IMF-World Bank meetings in Washington and are continuing over the size and structure of any potential loan.
Iraq has been strongly affected by the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, which has sharply reduced oil exports that provide almost all state revenue.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi accused the United Arab Emirates of being an “active partner” in the U.S.-Israeli war against Iran, alleging Abu Dhabi was directly involved in attacks on his country.
“The UAE is an active partner in this aggression, and there is no doubt about it,” Araghchi said in a Telegram post during a BRICS summit in India.
He also referenced reports of what Israel described as a “secret” wartime meeting between Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and UAE President Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan - a meeting the UAE has denied took place.
“I must say that the UAE was directly involved in the act of aggression against my country. When this aggression began, they even refused to condemn it,” Araghchi said.
“It also became clear that they participated in these attacks and may have even acted directly against us,” he added.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said about 30 vessels crossed the Strait of Hormuz with Tehran’s permission since Wednesday evening, according to Iranian state media.
Iran has started allowing some Chinese vessels to transit the Strait of Hormuz under a new coordination arrangement, according to Fars news agency.
Iran had tightened transit controls following U.S. and Israeli strikes in late February, disrupting one of the world’s busiest oil routes.
Ship tracking data showed a Chinese supertanker carrying two million barrels of Iraqi crude successfully crossed the Strait on Wednesday after being stranded in the Gulf for more than two months.
Iran has begun allowing some Chinese vessels to transit through the Strait of Hormuz following an understanding over Iranian management protocols for the waterway, the semi-official Fars news agency said.
Washington believes that Iran has stopped paying soldiers and replenishing weapons stocks from abroad, U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has said.
In remarks made in the Chinese capital Beijing, where he is accompanying U.S. President Donald Trump on as visit, Bessent also said that he believed Iran's oil storage was now full, indicating that Washington's blockade of Iranian ports was succeeding.
Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has told the representative for the United Arab Emirates (UAE) at the BRICS meeting in New Delhi that the Gulf monachy should reconsider its policy towards Iran, according to Aragchi's Telegram account.
The Iranian Foreign Minister also told the UAE that its alliance with Israel didn't protect it.
BRICS is made up of developing and emerging market economies, including Brazil, China, India, Iran and the UAE, among others.
The United Arab Emirates was directly involved in military operations against Iran, Tehran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has said, according to the government-affiliated Mehr News Agency.
It comes after the Wall Street Journal reported that the Gulf monarchy had carried out strikes on Iran in an article on Monday (11 May).
Several Israeli civilians were injured and evacuated to hospital after an explosive Hezbollah drone fell inside Israeli territory near the Israel-Lebanon border, the Israeli military said.
The Israeli military also issued evacuation warnings for residents in eight towns and villages in Lebanon’s Bekaa region and the south ahead of possible strikes.
U.S. President and Chinese leader agreed in a meeting that the Strait of Hormuz must be open for the free flow of energy, according to a White House readout of the summit on Thursday.
Trump and Xi also discussed building on progress in ending the flow of fentanyl precursor chemicals into the U.S., as well as increasing Chinese purchases of U.S. agricultural products, the statement said.
Taiwan was not mentioned in the White House summary of the meeting, which it described as "good".
India said that an Indian-flagged ship had been attacked off the coast of Oman on Wednesday and all crew on board were safe.
"The attack ... is unacceptable and we deplore the fact that commercial shipping and civilian mariners continue to be targeted," India's foreign ministry said in a statement on Thursday.
The statement did not say who had carried out the attack.
Iran called on BRICS member states to condemn what it says are violations of international law by the United States and Israel, Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said in a statement on his Telegram account.
He also called on the BRICS nations to prevent the politicisation of international institutions.
"The West's false sense of superiority and immunity must be shattered by all of us," he said.
BRICS nations include Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa, Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, and the United Arab Emirates, and Indonesia.
The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) said on Thursday it received a report of an incident 38 nautical miles (70 km) northeast of the United Arab Emirates port of Fujairah.
It said the vessel was boarded by unauthorised personnel while at anchor and is now heading toward Iranian territorial waters.
U.S. Secretary of State Rubio defended the war on Iran, claiming Tehran was developing a large missile arsenal as a precursor to a nuclear weapon, which Iran denies.
“They were going to have so many drones and missiles that no one could attack Iran, because the result would be catastrophic for the region- and once they had that immunity, then they would break out towards a weapon,” Rubio told Fox News.
Hezbollah said early Thursday that it carried out 17 attacks and confrontations on Israeli targets in southern Lebanon, describing the operations as a response to continued Israeli ceasefire violations.
The operations targeted Israeli troops, military vehicles, and positions, according to statements issued by the group.
The group said it launched a rocket barrage at Israeli forces moving from Bayyada toward Naqoura in southern Lebanon.
The possibility that an entity other than Iran was responsible for the attack against a South Korean cargo vessel near the Strait of Hormuz is low, a senior official in Seoul was quoted as saying by the Yonhap news agency.
South Korea is analysing intelligence shared by the U.S. on the 4 May attack against South Korean shipper Namu vessel.
"Once we go through the investigation and present the evidence, I trust that the Iranian side will respond in an appropriate way," the official said.
South Korea's foreign ministry could not immediately confirm the official's comments.
A Chinese supertanker carrying two million barrels of Iraqi crude passed through the Hormuz on Wednesday after being stranded in the Gulf for over two months due to the U.S.-Iran war, ship-tracking data showed.
The Very Large Crude Carrier Yuan Hua Hu was seen heading to eastern China's Zhoushan port on Thursday and is expected to arrive on 1 June, the data showed.
A Panama-flagged crude oil tanker managed by Japanese refining group Eneos has passed through the Strait of Hormuz, ship-tracking data from LSEG showed on Thursday.
Before the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran, Japan relied on the Gulf for about 95% of its oil imports.
The Eneos-managed tanker is carrying 1.2 million barrels of Kuwait crude and 700,000 barrels of Emirati Das Blend oil loaded in late February, Kpler data showed.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi issued a sharp warning on Wednesday against what he described as efforts by regional actors to cooperate with Israel against Tehran, saying those involved “will be held to account.”
“Netanyahu has now publicly revealed what Iran's security services long ago conveyed to our leadership,” Araghchi wrote on X.
The United Arab Emirates' Foreign Ministry denied on Wednesday a statement by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office that he visited the country and held a secret meeting with its President.
The Israeli Prime Minister's Office said earlier he travelled to the UAE during the war with Iran and met Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed.
A statement by the Emirati Foreign Ministry said that Emirati relations with Israel "are public" and "not based on non-transparent or unofficial arrangements."
U.S. President Donald Trump praised China’s Xi Jinping as a “great leader” and “friend” as the two began high-stakes talks on the Iran war and trade tensions.
The meeting comes as Trump faces mounting pressure at home over U.S. involvement in the Middle East.
Xi told Trump, "Each country's success represents an opportunity for the other, and a stable China-U.S. relationship benefits the entire world. When we cooperate, both sides benefit; when we confront each other, both sides suffer."
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Iran’s Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) said on Wednesday that they had targeted the U.S. Fifth Fleet headquarters in Bahrain and a U.S. air base in the Persian Gulf with missiles and drones, in retaliation for Tuesday’s air raid on a telecommunications tower on an island in the Strait of Hormuz.
Trump reportedly lashed out at Netanyahu on Monday over Israel's escalation in Lebanon, describing the Israeli leader as "crazy" and warning that further military action would deepen Israel's international isolation, according to a report by Axios.
The United Nations (UN) added Israel and Russia to a blacklist of parties suspected of committing conflict-related sexual violence on Friday (29 May). The move prompted Israel to announce it would sever ties with UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.
The U.S. and Iran have reportedly agreed an outline deal to extend their fragile ceasefire for 60 days, although the agreement still requires President Donald Trump’s approval and previous breakthroughs have failed to hold.
Severe Tropical Storm Jangmi brought heavy rain, power cuts and transport disruption across Japan on Wednesday (3 June) as it tracked towards the greater Tokyo region.
Police officers were pelted with missiles during violent clashes at a protest near the Southampton, UK, home of convicted murderer Vickrum Digwa, as anger continued to grow over the handling of the fatal stabbing of 18-year-old Henry Nowak.
Competing narratives continue to shape perceptions of the war in Ukraine, with Russian leadership suggesting a possible end phase while Ukrainian officials warn of renewed large-scale attacks and ongoing escalation risks.
An Iranian drone and missile attack struck Kuwait International Airport early Wednesday, injuring several people, damaging Terminal 1 and forcing flight diversions, Kuwaiti authorities said.
Thousands of people have taken to the streets in Albania in recent days to protest against a luxury tourism project linked to Jared Kushner, the son-in-law of U.S. President Donald Trump, and his wife Ivanka Trump.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) said on Monday they targeted the source of an attack on a telecom facility on Sirik Island near the strategic Strait of Hormuz, Tasnim News Agency reported.
Iran really wanted to make a deal with the U.S. and that it would be a good one for Washington and its allies, President Donald Trump said on Monday.
Iran has strongly condemned U.S. threats to impose sanctions on and bomb Oman following reported talks between Muscat and Tehran on jointly overseeing the Strait of Hormuz, reiterating that the Islamic Republic’s actions in the strategic waterway are “lawful”.
The United States has warned Oman against supporting any effort to impose tolls in the Strait of Hormuz, saying Washington would penalise any parties involved in facilitating such a system.
The Islamic Revolution’s Guards Corps of Iran (IRGC) said it carried out a retaliatory attack on a U.S. airbase in the early hours of Thursday. The airbase was used to target a ground control station on the outskirts of Bandar Abbas Airport in Hormuzgan Province, which faces the Strait of Hormuz.
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