Trump expects Iran’s response on peace deal offer 'as soon as tonight'
President Donald Trump told reporters Friday evening that he expects a response from Iran to his peace deal framework "as soon as tonight."
"I'm getting a letter supposedly tonight. So we'll see how that goes," Trump told reporters May 8 on the White House lawn. Asked if the Islamic republic is intentionally "slow rolling" their response, the president said, "I don’t know, we’ll find out soon enough."
U.S. officials have been awaiting a response from Tehran for days. In the meantime, tensions remain high off the Iranian coast after the two sides exchanged fire May 7. Military officials said no U.S. assets were hit and that American troops struck Iranian military targets near the Strait of Hormuz.
Key elements in the talks are for Iran to agree not to develop nuclear weapons and to allow commercial traffic through the strait and reopen the strait to commercial traffic. Iran has demanded reparations for damage suffered under U.S. and Israeli strikes.
Contributing: Reuters
Chinese Embassy calls for calm after sailors put at risk by recent attack
Michael Loria
Chinese Embassy spokesperson Liu Pengyu called for "the safeguarding of the safety of civilian vessels and their crews" after Chinese sailors were aboard a vessel that came under attack on May 7. No sailors were hurt.
"China expresses deep concern that a large number of vessels and crew members have become stranded in the Strait due to the ongoing conflict. We believe that the prompt restoration of unimpeded passage through the Strait, as well as the safeguarding of the safety of civilian vessels and their crews, serves the common interests of both regional states and the international community," Liu said in a statement to USA TODAY. "China calls upon all parties to take concrete measures to prevent the situation in the Strait from deteriorating further."
It wasn’t immediately clear who struck the vessel. China is a major buyer of Iranian oil.
US will provide report on Iranian school strike 'as soon as we have it', Trump says
Michael Loria
President Trump on Friday evening told reporters that the United States will provide its report on the strike that killed scores of Iranian schoolchildren at the outset of the war "as soon as we have it."
"That's under study right now and we'll give you a report as soon as we have it," Trump said to reporters on the White House lawn.
The strike on the school in Minab, Iran, happened at the outset of the war that began Feb. 28. At least 168 people were killed, including 110 children.
Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth has said the incident is under investigation. Pentagon officials, citing the ongoing investigation, declined to answer questions about how much longer the report is expected to take.
The president’s comments come after Reuters and The New York Times, citing unnamed U.S. military sources, reported military investigators found the United States was likely responsible.
Trump says he expects Iranian response as soon as 'tonight'
Michael Loria
President Donald Trump told reporters on the White House lawn Friday evening that he expects Iran’s response to his peace framework as soon as "tonight."
"I'm getting a letter supposedly tonight. So we'll see how that goes," Trump said. Asked if the Islamic republic is intentionally "slow rolling" their response, the president said, "I don’t know, we’ll find out soon enough."
The administration has been waiting for the Iranian response for days.
Iran internet blackout reaches 70th day
Michael Loria
Friday marked the 70th day of an internet blackout being imposed by the regime in Iran on the country’s citizens, according to NetBlocks, an internet access watchdog.
Iran’s blackout was imposed at the outset of U.S.-Israeli war. The shutdown has had a massive impact on the finances of Iranians whose businesses rely on internet access and has also effectively cut the people off from the outside world.
"The main reason behind this is controlling the population," Maryam Saeedi, of Carnegie Mellon University’s Tepper School of Business, told USA TODAY. "What they are worrying about is people, opposition groups in Iran can coordinate an uprising at the same time."
Ongoing internet shutdowns in Iran amid the war follow similar blackouts during protests at the end of December. The blackout then limited the ability of Iranians to communicate the atrocities they were suffering at the hands of the regime. It’s estimated that tens of thousands of people were killed by the country’s government.
Israel-Lebanon talks scheduled amid reports of continued attacks
Michael Loria
U.S. State Department officials announced top Israeli and Lebanese officials will meet next week to discuss "a framework for lasting peace."
The announcement of upcoming talks comes amid reports of continued Israeli attacks on Lebanon. According to the country’s National News Agency, Israeli strikes killed five people and wounded three in the town of Toura, just south of the Litani River.
Lebanon’s Health Ministry also reported an Israeli attack killed a paramedic on Thursday. Earlier this week the United Nations blasted Israel over its strikes killing healthcare workers, saying the World Health Organization has recorded 151 such attacks resulting in 103 deaths and 230 injuries.
The continued attacks come after the two sides announced a ceasefire on April 16.
Talks between the two sides are expected to take place May 14 and 15, State Department spokesperson Tommy Pigott said. "Discussions will build a framework for lasting peace and security arrangements, the full restoration of Lebanese sovereignty throughout its territory, the delineation of borders, and creating concrete pathways for humanitarian relief and reconstruction in Lebanon," Pigott said.
US military disables two Iranian tankers
Michael Loria
U.S. military officials said they launched strikes on Friday on two Iranian oil tankers attempting to enter an Iranian port, disabling the vessels.
The strikes are part of the ongoing U.S. blockade of Iranian ports. American forces disabled another vessel on Wednesday.
According to Iran, the fighting Thursday between the United States and the Islamic republic began after U.S. forces attempted to seize an Iranian tanker.
White House and Pentagon officials have not responded to questions about Iran’s assertion.
Qatar slams Iranian attack on UAE
Michael Loria
Qatar’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Friday slammed Iran’s attack on the United Arab Emirates.
The Emirates were also targeted by Iran amid the hostile incident near the Strait of Hormuz on Thursday. According to the Qataris, two Iranian ballistic missiles and three drone attacks led to the injury of three people in the Gulf nation.
"Qatar strongly condemns the Iranian attacks on the sisterly United Arab Emirates," the foreign ministry said in a statement. "Qatar considers the attacks a blatant violation of the UAE's sovereignty and a serious threat to the security and stability of the region."
The statement indicating the Emirates came under fire from the Iranians adds to the total hostilities seen Thursday over the course of the most violent encounter between the United States and Iran since the launch of the ceasefire.
Rubio: NATO must be examined after US denied use of European bases against Iran
Bart Jansen
Secretary of State Marco Rubio said he didn’t discuss with Italy’s Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni whether the United States would withdraw troops from Italy or the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.
“We didn’t discuss any specifics like that,” Rubio told reporters in Italy. “That’s a decision for the president to make.”
Rubio said he’d been a strong supporter of NATO as a senator from Florida because the organization allowed the U.S. military to have bases in Europe to project power overseas. But Rubio said if use of the bases is going to be denied, as Spain did for the Iran war, then the United States would have to reconsider its support for NATO.
“In some ways the denial of those bases actually impeded the mission – not severely but it had a cost and even created some unnecessary dangers,” Rubio said. If the United States can no longer use bases when it needs to, he said, “that’s a problem and has to be examined.”
Iran control of commercial shipping in Strait of Hormuz 'unacceptable': Rubio
Bart Jansen
Secretary of State Marco Rubio said reports that Iran is trying to create an agency to oversee commercial traffic through the Strait of Hormuz after the war would be “unacceptable.”
U.S. demands in the peace talks include Iran agreeing to never develop a nuclear weapon and to not interfere with commercial shipping in the strait. Iran, meanwhile, has mined the strait and sought to charge vessels tolls for passing through the waterway where 20% of the world’s oil and natural gas flows.
“The normalizing of their controlling of an international waterway is both illegal and just something that’s unacceptable,” Rubio told reporters in Italy, where he visited Pope Leo XIV. “I think that’s unacceptable.”
Rubio expects Iran response in peace negotiations
Bart Jansen
Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Iran is expected to respond May 8 in peace negotiations but that the leadership “highly fractured.”
“We should know something today. We’re expecting a response from them,” Rubio told reporters in Italy after visiting Pope Leo XIV. “The hope is it’s something that can put us in a serious process of negotiation.”
Rubio added that the leadership remains divided after top officials were killed in the U.S.-Israeli war that began Feb. 28.
“Their system is still highly fractured and a bit dysfunctional as well,” Rubio said. “I hope it’s a serious offer. I really do.”
US blockade halts 70 Iranian tankers that could carry $13B in oil: Central Command
Bart Jansen
U.S. Central Command, which oversees the Iran war, said the blockade of Iranian ports has prevented more than 70 tankers from entering or leaving.
The commercial ships have the capacity to transport 166 million barrels of oil worth an estimated $13 billion, the command said.
The blockade is intended to starve Iran of resources and force Tehran to reach a settlement ending its development of a nuclear weapon.
Latest US skirmish 'reckless' and Iran will 'never bow to pressure': Araghchi
Bart Jansen
Iran’s Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi accused the U.S. military of “reckless” adventure despite the peace talks, but said Tehran would “never bow to pressure.”
Araghchi questioned whether the latest military exchange was meant to pressure Iran into a peace deal or the result of someone persuading the president of the United States (POTUS) to extend the conflict.
“Every time a diplomatic solution is on the table, the U.S. opts for a reckless military adventure,” Araghchi said on social media May 8. “Is it a crude pressure tactic? Or the result of a spoiler once again duping POTUS into another quagmire? Whatever the causes, outcome is the same: Iranians never bow to pressure.”
Trump describes attack on 3 US destroyers
Bart Jansen
Trump said fighting erupted May 7 – despite the ceasefire – because three U.S. destroyers traveled through the Strait of Hormuz under fire.
Trump said the guided-missile destroyers − the Truxtun, the Rafael Peralta and the Mason − emerged unscathed but sank “numerous small boats” and knocked missiles and drones out of the sky. Central Command, the arm of the military overseeing operations in the Middle East, said U.S. forces also struck military targets at the Iranian ports of Qeshm and Bandar Abbas near the strait.
“There was no damage done to the three Destroyers, but great damage done to the Iranian attackers,” Trump said on social media.
Trump said Iran should agree to a peace deal in the U.S-Israeli war that began Feb. 28 or “we’ll knock them out a lot harder, and a lot more violently in the future.”
Iran accuses US of violating ceasefire
Michael Loria
Iranian officials are reportedly accusing the United States of violating the ceasefire following state media reports of attacks on an Iranian oil tanker and ports.
U.S. forces targeted "an Iranian oil tanker traveling from Iran's coastal waters near Jask toward the Strait of Hormuz, as well as another vessel entering the Strait of Hormuz near the Emirati port of Fujairah," a spokesperson for Iran's armed forces said in a statement carried by state media, according to Reuters. "At the same time, with the cooperation of some regional countries, they carried out air attacks on civilian areas along the coasts of Bandar Khamir, Sirik, and Qeshm Island."
White House and Pentagon officials have not responded to questions about Iran's claim that the Navy was attempting to seize an Iranian oil tanker.
US launches 'self-defense strikes' on Iran, Pentagon says
Michael Loria
The Pentagon said it launched "self-defense strikes" on Iranian targets after "unprovoked" attacks from the Islamic Republic.
"U.S. forces intercepted unprovoked Iranian attacks and responded with self-defense strikes as U.S. Navy guided-missile destroyers transited the Strait of Hormuz to the Gulf of Oman," U.S. Central Command, the arm of the military overseeing operations in the Middle East, said in a statement.
No U.S. assets were hit, the U.S. Central Command statement said, adding that Iran launched missile, drones and small boat attacks on USS Truxtun, USS Rafael Peralta and USS Mason.
"CENTCOM does not seek escalation but remains positioned and ready to protect American forces," the statement said.