The United States is "not looking for a fight" over the Strait of Hormuz and its ceasefire with Iran still holds, but any attack on commercial shipping will be met with a "devastating" response, the Pentagon chief said Tuesday. The warning from Pete Hegseth came on the second
By John Irish PARIS, May 5 (Reuters) - U.N. Security Council members will begin talks on Tuesday on a U.S.- and Bahrain‑backed draft resolution that could lead to sanctions against Iran, and potentially authorise force, if Tehran fails to halt attacks and threats to commercial
WASHINGTON, May 5 (Reuters) - U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said on Tuesday that a U.S. operation to protect commercial ships from Iran in the Strait of Hormuz is temporary, Washington is not looking for a fight and the ceasefire with Iran is still in effect. "The
RAMALLAH, May 5 (Reuters) - The millionaire businessman son of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas is expected to run for a steering role in his 90-year-old father's political party, sources say, as a succession fight looms for control of the embattled Palestinian Authority.
CAIRO/GAZA, May 5 (Reuters) - Israeli strikes killed at least two Palestinians and wounded several others in the Gaza Strip on Tuesday, health officials said. Medics said a Palestinian was killed and two others were wounded by an Israeli airstrike near the Sheikh Radwan
By Steven Scheer and Elena Rodriguez JERUSALEM/MADRID, May 5 (Reuters) - An Israeli court has extended by another six days the detention of two activists arrested aboard a Gaza-bound flotilla that was intercepted by Israeli forces in international waters near Greece. Saif Abu
"We expected there would be some churn at the beginning," Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said of the US Navy-led operation to open the Strait of Hormuz to commercial shipping.
ANKARA, May 5 (Reuters) - Turkey and Saudi Arabia plan to sign an agreement to scrap visa requirements for their citizens during talks between their foreign ministers in Ankara on Wednesday, a Turkish diplomatic source said on Tuesday. Relations between Ankara and Riyadh were
By Joshua McElwee VATICAN CITY, May 5 (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio expects a "frank" meeting with Pope Leo during a visit to the Vatican this week, the U.S. ambassador said on Tuesday, after President Donald Trump took a fresh pot-shot at the pope for
ANKARA, May 5 (Reuters) - Turkish nationalist party leader Devlet Bahceli said on Tuesday the jailed head of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) should be given an official role to help advance a peace process aimed at ending a decades-long conflict. Bahceli, a close
An Israeli court has extended the detention of two foreign activists from a Gaza-bound flotilla until Sunday, a rights group representing them said, as authorities continue to question the pair. Spanish national Saif Abu Keshek and Brazilian national Thiago Avila appeared
An Israeli court on Tuesday extended the detention of two foreign activists taken from a Gaza-bound flotilla by six days, a lawyer representing them said. Spanish national Saif Abu Keshek and Brazilian Thiago Avila appeared before a court in the southern city of Ashkelon for
Iran's powerful chief negotiator warned the United States against any further escalation in the Strait of Hormuz, after a spate of attacks risked reigniting the Middle East war. The US military said its Apache and Seahawk helicopters hit six Iranian boats threatening commercial
2,000 vessels carrying about 20,000 sailors are effectively trapped in the Persian Gulf, with no clear idea of when they'll return home. Trump presents his 'Project Freedom' as a major breakthrough, but Iran has made it clear that its response won't necessarily be one the
By Haseeb Alwazeer GAZA, May 5 (Reuters) - As Israeli restrictions continue to curb the entry of goods into Gaza, local carpenters are turning to scrap wood and shipping pallets to make much-needed basic beds and tables in a strip battered by two years of war between Hamas and
A meeting between Lebanese and Israeli ambassadors is set for this week in Washington, D.C., as IDF ground and aerial operations in southern Lebanon continue; On Monday, Israeli strikes killed 17 and wounded 35, according to the Lebanese Health Ministry
DUBAI/WASHINGTON, May 5 (Reuters) - The fragile truce in the Middle East was in jeopardy on Tuesday after the U.S. and Iran launched new attacks as they wrestled for control of the Strait of Hormuz. The U.S. military said on Monday it destroyed six Iranian small boats, as well
By Fabian Hamacher and Ann Wang TAOYUAN, Taiwan, May 5 (Reuters) - President Lai Ching-te arrived home on Tuesday from Eswatini saying Taiwan would not give in to pressure, having taken a circuitous route over the southern part of the Indian Ocean to skirt airspace controlled
A former senior U.S. intelligence analyst said recent U.S. strikes have not prioritized nuclear-related targets; unchanged estimates may stem from a lack of major nuclear targets that can be readily and safely destroyed, according to some analysts
Despite his threats to destroy Iran's national infrastructure, Trump does not appear eager to return to a full scale war. Having said that, nothing has fundamentally changed for the U.S. President, who makes the ultimate decisions
On a sunny afternoon, Shina Shabso was busy making traditional cheese pastries for a wedding on Israel's border with Lebanon, the celebration in the Circassian village of Rehaniya a much-needed break from weeks of war. Known as "halyuj", the fried semi-circular pastries are a
May 4 (Reuters) - The International Atomic Energy Agency said on Monday meteorological monitoring equipment at the Russian-held Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in southeastern Ukraine had been damaged by a drone. The Zaporizhzhia plant, Europe's largest with six reactors, was
May 4 (Reuters) - British Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Monday condemned the Iranian drone and missile strikes targeting the United Arab Emirates. Starmer called on Iran to engage in diplomacy to prevent further escalation in the Middle East, the prime minister's office said.
By Gram Slattery, Jonathan Landay and Erin Banco WASHINGTON, May 4 (Reuters) - U.S. intelligence assessments indicate that the time Iran would need to build a nuclear weapon has not changed since last summer, when analysts estimated that a U.S.-Israeli attack had pushed back
WASHINGTON, May 4 (Reuters) - President Donald Trump said on Monday he looks forward to seeing China’s Xi Jinping later this month, saying he will remind his rival that the United States is leading in artificial intelligence as the two sides navigate tensions over trade and
By Phil Stewart and Idrees Ali WASHINGTON, May 4 (Reuters) - The U.S. military said on Monday it destroyed six Iranian small boats and intercepted Iranian cruise missiles and drones fired by Tehran as it sought to thwart a new U.S. naval effort to open shipping through the
The United Arab Emirates on Monday ordered all schools to return to remote learning for the rest of the week, the education ministry said, following a spate of attacks it said were launched by Iran. “The Ministry of Education announces a decision to shift to a remote learning
The UAE said Tehran fired at least 15 missiles at the country, with three intercepted over UAE territorial waters. CNN reported that the interceptions were conducted with an Israeli air defense system, deployed secretly at the beginning of the war with Iran alongside IDF soldiers
By Simon Lewis May 4 (Reuters) - The United States and Gulf Arab nations are drafting a U.N. Security Council resolution designed to condemn Iran for blocking the Strait of Hormuz in response to a U.S.-Israeli bombing campaign, U.S. Ambassador to the U.N.Mike Waltz said on
The latest developments in the Middle East war: - Iran 'not even started' - Iran's chief negotiator in talks with the United States, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, warned that his country had "not even started" and that US actions in the Strait of Hormuz had put shipping at risk. -
Israeli strikes in Lebanon have damaged a growing number of cultural and religious sites, as sites in Israel have also sustained damage from Hezbollah and Iranian attacks.
May 4 (Reuters) - President Donald Trump said on Monday that South Korea should join U.S. efforts to protect ship movements near Iran, and added that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth would hold a news conference on Tuesday with the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Dan Caine.
French President Emmanuel Macron slammed President Donald Trump for launching a unilateral operation to reopen the Strait of Hormuz instead of pursuing a coordinated effort with Iran.
The purchase of C-390 Millennium aircraft for the Emirati air force comes as the UAE seeks to build up its military capabilities amid the war with Iran and boost ties with BRICS member states.
Two people were injured when a residential building was targeted in Oman’s Bukha along the coastline of the Strait of Hormuz, state media reported on Monday. “A security source reported that a residential building for employees of a company in the Tibat area of Bukha was
Kuwait's top diplomat visited Turkey as the Gulf rift deepens following the UAE’s exit from OPEC and its affiliated alliances, forcing Ankara to balance ties between Saudi Arabia and Abu Dhabi.
The top US military general for the Middle East said Monday that Iran had tried to open at US Navy ships and commercial vessels this morning before his forces returned fire. Six small Iranian boats were destroyed by United States Central Command (CENTCOM) forces, Adm. Brad
Oil prices jumped on Monday after a drone strike sparked a fire at an Emirati energy installation, threatening a fragile US-Iran ceasefire, while US warships entered the crucial Strait of Hormuz. Seoul and Taipei hit record highs as Asian traders joined the rally in tech
Oil prices jumped on Monday after a drone strike sparked a fire at an Emirati energy installation following US warships crossing the crucial Strait of Hormuz. Seoul and Taipei hit record highs Monday as Asian traders joined the rally in tech shares, but US equity indices
European officials have been working on ways to convince US President Donald Trump to keep the United States in NATO despite severe tensions over the Iran war. But his abrupt move to cut US forces in Germany is the latest sign that such efforts have their limits and are far
May 4 (Reuters) - Authorities in the United Arab Emirates' Fujairah said on Monday that a fire broke out at the Fujairah Oil Industry Zone following what they described as a drone attack originating from Iran. Civil defence teams were deployed immediately to contain the blaze,
Earlier on Monday, the IDF issued evacuation notices for several villages in the Tyre area shortly before it carried out attacks, killing four people, including in one village which was not listed in earlier evacuation warnings
The US military sank six Iranian fast boats near the strait on Monday, raising questions as to the durability of the ceasefire.
INSS and its leaders – among them former heads of the Mossad and Military Intelligence – have become a prime Iranian target. A Haaretz investigation based on more than 100,000 emails and messages reveals a six-year campaign linking cyber, influence, and assassination attempts
Hezbollah urged Lebanese authorities on Monday to declare the US ambassador “persona non grata” after the envoy suggested those who had offended a senior Christian religious leader should leave the country.The controversy erupted on Saturday after a video published by Lebanese
By Andrew Gray and Lili Bayer BRUSSELS, May 4 (Reuters) - European officials have been working on ways to convince Donald Trump to keep the United States in NATO despite severe tensions over the Iran war. But his abrupt move to cut U.S. forces in Germany is the latest sign that
The United States on Monday launched a new initiative to restart commercial shipping through the Strait of Hormuz as the UAE braced for new fallout amid new missile and drone attacks.
The United States launched an initiative to restart commercial shipping through the Strait of Hormuz on Monday as the UAE braced for fallout amid new missile and drone attacks.
WASHINGTON, May 4 (Reuters) - U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on Monday urged China to step up its diplomatic efforts to persuade Iran to open the Strait of Hormuz to international shipping, adding that the subject will be discussed when President Donald Trump meets with
Seoul said on Monday that an “explosion and fire” had struck a South Korean ship in the Strait of Hormuz, the crucial Middle Eastern waterway effectively blocked following US-Israeli attacks on Iran.The foreign ministry said that, at around 8:40 pm in Seoul (1140 GMT), “an
