The U.K. and France will on Tuesday (May 12) host a multinational meeting of Defence Ministers on military plans to restore trade flows through the Strait of Hormuz, the British government said. The announcement came as London and Paris despatched warships to West Asia even as Iran warned against it.

-AFP

The U.S. government on Monday (May 11, 2026) announced sanctions against three people and nine companies, ‌including four based in Hong Kong and four in the United Arab Emirates, for aiding Iran’s shipment of oil to China. The ninth ⁠company is based in Oman.

The U.S. Treasury move follows sanctions announced on Friday (May 8, 2026) on individuals and companies aiding Iranian purchases of weapons and components used to make drones and ballistic missiles.

Pakistan, which is playing mediator to end the U.S.-Iran war, allowed Iranian military aircraft to park on its airfields to shield them from American airstrikes, CBS News reported here, quoting U.S. officials.

The report also claimed that Iran had parked its civilian aircraft in neighbouring Afghanistan to protect it from U.S. airstrikes.

President Donald Trump warned the ceasefire in the West Asia war was on “life support” Monday (May 11) after rejecting the latest counteroffer from Iran, which said its military stood ready to respond to any act of aggression.

The president’s angry reaction to Iran’s position – delivered in response to a U.S. proposal – sent oil prices soaring and dashed hopes that a deal could be quickly negotiated to reopen the Strait of Hormuz to commercial shipping.

After slamming the reply as “TOTALLY UNACCEPTABLE,” Mr. Trump insisted the United States would see a “complete victory” over Iran, adding that the truce, which has largely halted fighting in the Gulf for over a month, was on its last legs.

- AFP

The United Arab Emirates carried out attacks on Iran early last month, sources told the Wall Street Journal, revealing previously unknown participation in the war by the Gulf country.

In an article on Monday (May 11), the American newspaper said the UAE’s attacks targeted a refinery located on Iran’s Lavan Island and took place “around the time” U.S. President Donald Trump was “announcing a cease-fire in the war” after a five-week air strike campaign.

The U.S. has quietly welcomed the Emirati strikes and any other Gulf states that want to join the fight, the paper reported, citing one unnamed source.

- AFP

U.S. President Donald Trump on Monday (May 11, 2026) said the ceasefire with Iran was at its “weakest” and on “massive life support”, a day after he rejected Tehran’s proposal to end the months-long war as “totally unacceptable”.

“It is at its weakest… After reading that piece of garbage they sent us... It’s on life support, massive life support,” Mr. Trump told reporters at the Oval Office in response to a question on the ceasefire with Iran in the wake of the rejection of the peace proposal.

Israeli forces established a makeshift base using an old airstrip in Iraq’s desert during the war against Iran, two security officials said on Sunday, confirming a report by The Wall Street Journal.

Early in the war, which was ignited by joint U.S.-Israeli attacks on Iran on February 28, the troops were detected in the Najaf desert in the country’s southwest and clashed with Iraqi forces, killing one soldier and wounding two others.

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