On this image obtained from Iran’s ISNA information company and brought on Might 2, 2026, the Gambia-flagged tanker vessel Bili is pictured anchored within the Strait of Hormuz off Bandar Abbas in southern Iran. (Photograph by Amirhossein KHORGOOEI / ISNA / AFP through Getty Photographs) /
Amirhossein Khorgooei | Afp | Getty Photographs
Iran has despatched its response to a U.S. proposal to start peace talks to finish the struggle, Iranian state media reported on Sunday, as two carriers had been allowed to move via the blockaded Strait of Hormuz.
The response, despatched to mediator Pakistan, centered on ending the struggle on all fronts, particularly Lebanon, and on the protection of transport via the strait, Iranian state TV stated, with out indicating how or when the very important waterway may reopen.
It adopted a U.S. proposal to finish combating earlier than beginning talks on extra contentious points, together with Iran’s nuclear program. There was no speedy U.S. touch upon the Iranian response.
Michael Waltz, U.S. Ambassador to the UN, stated the Trump administration had not but acquired Iran’s response, noting that a part of the issue in negotiating with Tehran stems from the nation’s management.
“We all know that Mojtaba [Khamenei], the brand new Ayatollah, the earlier Ayatollah’s son, has been severely injured. He is in hiding. He is extremely tough to come up with, but the IRGC continues to be deferential to some extent, so that’s making the negotiations go longer and slower, I feel, than anybody would really like,” he stated Sunday in an interview with ABC’s “This Week.”
“However on the identical time, these negotiations and that diplomacy is ongoing,” he stated. “So we’ll see what they arrive again with.”
After some 48 hours of relative calm following sporadic clashes final week, hostile drones had been detected over a number of Gulf nations on Sunday, underlining the risk nonetheless dealing with the area regardless of a month-old ceasefire.
Tanker crosses Strait of Hormuz
A Qatari pure fuel tanker crossed the strait on Sunday for the primary time for the reason that begin of the Iran struggle, heading for Pakistan, whereas Washington continued to attend for Tehran’s response to its newest proposals to start peace talks.
After some 48 hours of relative calm following sporadic clashes final week which have shaken a month-old ceasefire, Kuwait detected a number of hostile drones in its airspace early on Sunday, authorities stated.
However the QatarEnergy-operated service Al Kharaitiyat handed safely via the strait and was heading for Pakistan’s Port Qasim, based on information from the transport analytics agency Kpler, making it the primary Qatari vessel carrying liquefied pure fuel to cross the strait for the reason that U.S. and Israel began the struggle on Feb 28.
Sources stated earlier that the switch, which supplied a modicum of aid to Pakistan after a wave of energy blackouts brought on by a halt to very important fuel imports, had been permitted by Iran to construct confidence with Qatar and Pakistan, each mediators within the struggle.
As well as, a Panama-flagged bulk service sure for Brazil that had beforehand tried to transit the strait on Might 4, handed via, utilizing a route designated by Iran’s armed forces, Iran’s semi-official Tasnim information company reported on Sunday.
Trump is underneath stress to finish struggle forward of China go to
U.S. President Donald Trump delivers remarks throughout a Mom’s Day luncheon within the Rose Backyard of the White Home on Might 8, 2026 in Washington, DC.
Kevin Dietsch | Getty Photographs
However regardless of diplomatic efforts to interrupt the impasse between the 2 sides and the passage of the Qatari fuel tanker, the risk to transport lanes and the area’s economies remained excessive.
On Sunday, the United Arab Emirates stated it intercepted two drones coming from Iran, whereas Qatar condemned a drone assault that hit a cargo ship coming from Abu Dhabi in its waters. Kuwait stated its air defenses had handled hostile drones that entered its airspace.
Tehran has largely blocked non-Iranian transport via the slender strait, which, earlier than the struggle, carried one-fifth of the world’s oil provide and has emerged as a central stress level within the struggle.
Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al‑Thani, who mentioned Pakistan’s mediation efforts to finish the struggle with U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio in Miami on Saturday, advised Iran’s Overseas Minister Abbas Araqchi that utilizing the strait as a “stress software” would solely deepen the disaster.
He advised Araqchi in a telephone name that freedom of navigation shouldn’t be compromised, the Qatari international ministry stated on Sunday, with out specifying the precise date of the decision. Turkey’s international minister additionally spoke to Araqchi, an official within the Turkish international ministry stated.
Iranian lawmakers have stated they’re drafting a invoice to formalize Iran’s administration of the strait, with clauses together with forbidden passage to vessels of “hostile states.”
Latest days have seen the largest flare-ups in combating in and across the strait since a ceasefire started a month in the past: the UAE got here underneath renewed assault on Friday and sporadic clashes had been reported between Iranian forces and U.S. vessels within the strait.
Clashes have additionally continued in southern Lebanon between Israel and Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah, regardless of a U.S.-brokered ceasefire introduced on April 16.
Hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah reignited on March 2 when the Lebanese group opened hearth after Tehran got here underneath U.S.-Israeli assault. The most recent talks between Israel and Lebanon are on account of begin in Washington on Might 14.
U.S. berates allies for not serving to to reopen strait
Washington imposed a blockade on Iranian vessels final month, however Tehran has thus far taken its time earlier than responding to calls to finish a struggle that surveys present is unpopular with U.S. voters dealing with ever-higher gasoline costs.
A CIA evaluation indicated Iran wouldn’t endure extreme financial stress from a U.S. blockade for about one other 4 months, based on a U.S. official conversant in the matter.
A senior intelligence official characterised as false the “claims” in regards to the CIA evaluation, which was first reported by the Washington Put up.
The U.S. has additionally discovered little worldwide help within the battle, with NATO allies refusing calls to ship ships to open the strait with no full peace deal and an internationally mandated mission.
Britain, which has been working with France on a proposal to make sure protected transit via the strait as soon as the state of affairs stabilizes, stated on Saturday it was deploying a warship to the Center East in preparation for such a multinational mission.
— CNBC contributed to this report.
