Trump says US may need to hit Iran again
US president Donald Trump said on Tuesday that the United States may need to hit Iran again and he was only an hour away from deciding on a strike before he postponed the attack.
“I was an hour away from making the decision to go today,” Trump told reporters at the White House.
He also said Iran’s leaders are begging to make a deal.
Key events
US president Donald Trump has told reporters he is giving Iran until the weekend to make a deal to end the war.
He said he was within an hour of deciding to resume bombing the Middle Eastern country but that his negotiators had reported progress in talks.
Trump said:
I never tell anybody when. But they knew that we were very close. I would say we were. I was an hour away from making the decision to go today, and we would probably not be talking about a beautiful ballroom today. We’d be talking about that.
I had made the decision, so they called up. They had heard I made the decision. They said, sir, could you give us a couple of more days because we think they’re being reasonable.
He added:
Well, I mean, I’m saying 2 or 3 days, maybe Friday, Saturday, Sunday something. Maybe early next week, a limited period of time, because we can’t let them have a new nuclear weapon.
Trump says US may need to hit Iran again
US president Donald Trump said on Tuesday that the United States may need to hit Iran again and he was only an hour away from deciding on a strike before he postponed the attack.
“I was an hour away from making the decision to go today,” Trump told reporters at the White House.
He also said Iran’s leaders are begging to make a deal.
The United States has imposed new sanctions on Iran, a posting on the US Treasury department’s website showed on Tuesday.
The list published includes 12 new individuals, a host of companies and several shipping vessels.
In an update carried by the country’s National News Agency, the Lebanese health ministry said since 2 March Israeli attacks have killed at least 3,042 people and injured 9,301 others.
As a reminder, the renewed Israeli assault on Lebanon was launched as a response to Hezbollah firing missiles at Israel on 2 March after the US-Israeli bombing of Iran in late February.
British Airways (BA) has delayed resuming flights to Dubai, Doha and Tel Aviv by a month to 1 August as departures continue to be disrupted by the joint Israeli and US war on Iran.
“Due to the ongoing situation in the Middle East, we have made further changes to our flying schedule to provide greater clarity for our customers,” a spokesperson for British Airways told the Reuters news agency when approached for comment.
“We’re keeping the situation under constant review and are directly in touch with affected customers to offer them a range of options.”
BA said last month that it planned to reduce flights to the Middle East when services resume, while permanently dropping Jeddah – known as Saudi Arabia’s second city – as a destination. The carrier also plans to reduce services to Dubai, Doha, Riyadh and Tel Aviv to one daily flight.
As well as flight scheduling disruptions, there are rising fears that the oil crisis resulting from the blockade of Gulf tanker shipping in the strait of Hormuz could lead to fuel shortages this summer and higher ticket prices.
A mysterious attack on an Iranian oil refinery during the Iran war caused an oil spill that affected a nearby Persian Gulf island that’s a protected breeding ground for wildlife, videos and satellite photos show, AP reported.
The oil-soaked waves lapping onto Shidvar Island, an uninhabited island, represent yet another sign of the ecological damage wrought by the war. Oily rain has also fallen on the Iranian capital, Tehran, after airstrikes targeted oil facilities there . Iranian attacks on ships passing through the Persian Gulf, the strait of Hormuz and the Gulf of Oman also caused environmental damage.
Mobile phone footage shot 9 April by an Iranian named Ehsan Jalali shows thick black smoke rising after the strike on an oil refinery on Lavan, an island just off mainland Iran near Shidvar.
The footage corresponds with known features of both islands and only was posted by Jalali to Instagram in the last few days as Iran’s theocratic government has shut off access to the wider internet for weeks.
Iranian authorities held mass public weddings in Tehran for couples who signed up to a state-sponsored scheme declaring their readiness to sacrifice their lives in the war against the US and Israel.
The ceremonies conducted late on Monday involved hundreds of couples in several major squares in the capital, including more than 100 in the vast Imam Hossein square in central Tehran, according to reports in Iranian media.
They were broadcast on state TV in a bid to boost wartime morale, with US president Donald Trump repeatedly threatening new military action against Iran amid a shaky ceasefire which halted the fighting that began on 28 February.
World ‘sleepwalking into global food crisis’ because of closure of strait of Hormuz, UK foreign secretary warns
Andrew Sparrow
Over in the UK, Yvette Cooper, the foreign secretary, has said that the world is “sleepwalking into a global food crisis” because of the ongoing disruption to shipping going through the strait of Hormuz. Gulf states are major global providers of fertilisers and, in a speech to the Global Partnerships conference, Cooper highlighted World Food Programme figures saying that “almost 45 million more people could fall into acute food insecurity if the [Iran] conflict does not end by the middle of this year”.
She said:
The world is sleepwalking into a global food crisis. We cannot risk tens of millions of people going hungry because one country has hijacked an international shipping lane. Iran’s continued closure of the strait of Hormuz while the agriculture clock is ticking shows why we need urgent global pressure to get the Strait reopened, fertiliser and fuel moving and ease the costs of living pressures. That is why we will continue to lead calls for the immediate and unrestricted opening of the Strait and advance plans for the strait of Hormuz Multinational Mission to support any agreement.
This crisis is affecting developed and developing countries, the private and public sectors alike. It shows why we need a new approach to global partnerships, to drive international development to prevent crises in the first place.
Qatar’s foreign ministry spokesperson Majed al-Ansari has been speaking at a press conference. Here are some of the main takeaways from what he said:
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US-Iran negotiations, mediated by Pakistan, require more time to reach a deal.
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No country has the right to “hinder” access to the strait of Hormuz.
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Doha is in (regular) contact with Washington and Tehran.
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“Iran has chosen to attack Qatar, and this is a threat to the relations between both countries,” Al Jazeera quoted the spokesperson as having said.
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“We want to protect the people of the region from being basically the main losers of any escalation in the region,” al-Ansari added.
Iran army warns it will ‘open new fronts’ against US if attacks resume
Iran’s army has warned it would “open new fronts” against the US if it resumes attacks on the country amid reports that Donald Trump is weighing up restarting military operations in Iran amid an impasse in negotiations.
“If the enemy is foolish enough to fall into the Zionist trap again and launches new aggression against our beloved Iran, we will open new fronts against it, with new equipment and new methods,” army spokesperson Mohammad Akraminia said, according to Iran’s ISNA news agency.
As we mentioned in the opening post, Trump is expected to meet national security advisers later today to discuss options for resuming military action.
Israeli far-right minister Smotrich says ICC requested warrant for his arrest
Bezalel Smotrich, Israel’s far-right finance minister, has revealed he was informed that the international criminal court (ICC) in The Hague requested an arrest warrant against him.
“Issuing arrest warrants against the prime minister, the defense minister and the finance minister is a declaration of war – and in the face of a declaration of war, we will respond in kind,” Smotrich said, according to comments carried in Israeli newspaper Hareetz.
He threatened to harm the Palestinian Authority, which exercises partial authority over parts of the West Bank, reportedly accusing it of standing behind the international legal move.
Hareetz quoted Smotrich as having said: “The hands are the hands of The Hague, but the voice is the voice of the Palestinian Authority. This organization launched a war and it will get a war. I am not a submissive Jew.”
Smotrich, speaking at a press conference, did not specify who had informed him of the warrant on Monday evening, and the process of seeking warrants is confidential. He also did not reveal the ICC’s reasons.
In 2024 the ICC issued arrest warrants for the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, the country’s former defence minister Yoav Gallant and the (now deceased) Hamas military leader Mohammed Deif for alleged war crimes relating to the war on Gaza. The international court of justice is assessing allegations of genocide against Israel for its military assault on Gaza. Israel denies the charge of genoocide.
Israel orders forced evacuation orders for more towns in southern Lebanon
The Israeli military has warned residents of 12 towns and villages in southern Lebanon to immediately evacuate ahead of expected attacks.
The affected towns and villages are: Toura, al-Nabatieh al-Tahta, Houbbous, al-Bazouriyeh, Tayr Debba, Kafr Huna, Ain Qana, Labaya, Jibshit, al-Shahabiya, Burj al-Shamali, Houmein al-Fouqa, according to a social media post by the IDF’s Arabic-language spokesperson, Avichay Adraee, who claimed the attacks are being launched due to Hezbollah, the Iranian backed Lebanese militant group, violating the US-mediated ceasefire agreement Israel signed with the Lebanese state in mid April.
“Anyone present near Hezbollah elements, their facilities, and combat means endangers their life!” Adraee wrote. The Israeli military claims they are only targeting Hezbollah infrastructure but it has also killed many civilians in their airstrikes.
Gaza’s health ministry said in its latest update that two people were killed and three others injured in Israeli attacks across the territory over the past day despite the supposed ceasefire between Israel and Hamas.
One other person – who was already injured from an Israeli attack – was pronounced dead over the same period, the ministry added.
The health ministry says 880 people have been killed in Israeli attacks since the ceasefire in October 2025.
It says that 72,772 people, many of whom were women and children, have been killed in Israeli attacks across Gaza since October 2023, when Isreal launched its assault on the territory following the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on 7 October 2023, in which about 1,200 people were killed.
Caitlin Cassidy
Eleven Australians attempting to deliver aid to Gaza as part of a global flotilla have been detained by Israeli forces in international waters off the coast of Cyprus, with the government “urgently seeking” confirmation of their welfare.
On Monday local time, the Global Sumud Flotilla alleged the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) encircled 38 ships that were part of a fleet of 54 boats which left Turkey last week for the embattled strip, which remains under naval blockade by Israel.
The ships, carrying 319 activists from dozens of nations, were about 250 nautical miles from the coast of Gaza when they were surrounded, organisers said. Footage showed the Israeli military approaching in speedboats and boarding the vessels in broad daylight.
The Israeli foreign ministry posted to X that activists from what it called the “provocation flotilla” had been transferred to Israeli vessels, alleging “no aid” had been found on their boats, a claim disputed by the flotilla.
The detained Australians are academics, doctors, students, activists and film-makers who have urged the federal government to protect them.
They include Anny Mokotow, Dr Bianca Pullman-Webb, Neve O’Connor, Violet Coco, Gemma O’Toole, Sam Woripa Watson, Zack Schofield, Helen O’Sullivan, Juliet Lamont, Isla Lamont and Surya McEwan. You can read the full story here:
G7 finance ministers are looking at ways to contain the economic fallout resulting from the war in Iran, which has sent global energy prices soaring and slowed down growth.
Finance ministers and central bank governors from G7 countries met in Paris for a second day of talks to discuss responses to the fallout amid continued volatility on global bond markets. Along with rising energy prices, policymakers are also expected to discuss sanctions policy and how to limit the economic impact the effective closure of the strait of Hormuz is having on poorer, import-reliant countries.
“We agree on the fact that the IMF and the World Bank have to step up their game for those countries (most vulnerable to the impact of the Middle East conflict) and make sure we help them,” French finance minister Roland Lescure told reporters.
The head of the International Monetary Fund, Kristalina Georgieva, warned last month that the US-Israeli war on Iran will permanently scar the global economy even if a durable peace deal can somehow be reached. You can keep up with the latest business news in our live blog here:
Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency (NNA) is reporting that Israeli artillery shelling has resumed in southern Lebanon’s Marjayoun district. We will bring you updates as we get them.
Death toll from Israeli attacks on Lebanon passes 3,000, health officials say
As we have been reporting, Tehran wants Washington to pressure Israel into stopping its war on Lebanon as part of a deal to end the US-Israeli war on Iran.
But the US has so far seemed reluctant to exert any real pressure on Israel to stop its continued attacks on southern Lebanon despite a recently extended ceasefire and with Lebanon and Israel set to resume diplomatic talks at the beginning of June.
Both Israel and Hezbollah, the Iranian-backed Lebanese militant group and political party, have continued with their attacks since the 17 April ceasefire agreement came into effect, accusing each other of violations.
More than one million people have already been displaced by the renewed Israeli war on Lebanon which started when Hezbollah launched missiles at Israel on 2 March after the US-Israeli bombing of Iran in late February.
Israeli strikes have now killed more than 3,000 people in Lebanon since 2 March, the health ministry said on Monday. “The total cumulative toll of the aggression from 2 March to 18 May is now as follows: 3,020 martyrs and 9,273 wounded,” the ministry said, with 211 people aged 18 and under and 116 healthcare workers among the dead.
Twenty IDF soldiers and one defence ministry civilian contractor have been killed in southern Lebanon during the fighting, according to officials, with at least four civilians also reported to have been killed.
Iran’s recent proposal to the US called for the lifting of sanctions on Tehran, the release of frozen Iranian funds and an end to the marine blockade on the country, Iran’s deputy foreign minister Kazem Gharibabadi was quoted by the IRNA news agency as saying this morning.
The Iranian proposal also includes ending the war on all fronts – including Israel’s assault on Lebanon – the withdrawal of US forces from areas close to Iran and war damage compensation costs, Gharibabadi added.
The US reportedly saw the updated peace proposal Iran sent on Sunday as insufficient, leading to expectations that the US would resume its attacks.
According to the US outlet Axios, Donald Trump is due to meet with his top national security team in the Situation Room later today to discuss possible military options.
But speaking at a White House event yesterday, Trump said there had been a “very positive development” and claimed a deal was near that would leave Iran without nuclear weapons, which Tehran denies pursuing.
Trump claims Iran attack ‘on hold’ due to request from Gulf countries
We are restarting our live coverage of the US-Israeli war on Iran and the other conflicts in the Middle East. Donald Trump says he has called off a planned attack on Iran on Tuesday at the request of Gulf states so peace talks could continue.
In a post on Truth Social on Monday, the US president said he had been asked to do so by the leaders of Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
Trump said he had been told a deal would be made that is “very acceptable” to the US, adding there would be “no nuclear weapons for Iran”.
He said, however, that he had informed his military leaders “to be prepared to go forward with a full, large scale assault of Iran, on a moment’s notice, in the event that an acceptable Deal is not reached”.
The announcement came as Iran’s foreign military spokesperson, Esmail Baghaei, claimed Pakistan has shared Tehran’s latest proposal with the US.
Trump has repeatedly threatened to launch new strikes on Iran, only to retreat at the last minute. The war on Iran is deeply unpopular with the American public and is hitting consumers hard with increased oil and fertiliser costs resulting from the reduced flow of vessels through the critical strait of Hormuz. ‘
Negotiations on Iran’s nuclear programme and the strait of Hormuz have reached a deadlock and the US’s blockade of Iranian ports is failing to force Tehran into making painful concessions even though Iran is suffering an escalating economic crisis.
Trump did not say what targets the US had planned to strike on Tuesday, but officials said the military could have targeted Iran’s ballistic missile sites, according to the New York Times.
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