Middle East crisis live: Trump warns Iranian forces they will be ‘blown off the face of the Earth’ if they target US ships

Meanwhile IRIB, Iran’s state-run broadcaster, said that a senior Iranian military official has denied that US claim that several Iranian war boats had been sunk.

The official also said Iran had no plans to target the United Arab Emirates, after regional tensions escalated over reported attacks near Fujairah and in the strait of Hormuz.

The US military has destroyed six Iranian small boats and intercepted Iranian cruise missiles and drones fired at ships and commercial vessels in the strait of Hormuz by Tehran, US Admiral Brad Cooper, the head of Central Command, said on Monday.

Cooper said he “strongly advised” Iranian forces to remain clear of US military assets as it launches the operation.

The US blockade of Iran, which is preventing ships from going to Iran or departing Iranian territory, also remains in effect and was exceeding expectations, he added.

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.

“A security source reported that a residential building for employees of a company in the Tibat area of Bukha was targeted, resulting in moderate injuries to two expatriates, damage to four vehicles and broken glass in one of the nearby houses,” the Oman News Agency said.

• The UAE has strongly condemned an Iranian drone attack on an Adnoc oil tanker in the blockaded strait of Hormuz, as the US was due to start guiding ships through the waterway.

• US Central Command (Centcom) denied that one of its warships trying to pass through the strait of Hormuz had been struck by Iranian missiles.

• Centcom said no US Navy ships have been struck, adding that US forces are continuing to enforce the naval blockade on Iranian ports.

• The denial came after unverified claims in Iranian media that Iran had stopped a US warship from passing through the strait of Hormuz after two missiles were reported to have hit the vessel near Jask island after it ignored Iranian warnings.

• The Fars news agency said the ship was hit as it was sailing through the strait “in violation of traffic and shipping security”.

• The US has launched an operation to “guide” ships trapped in the Gulf by the war through a southern route of the strait of Hormuz, even as Tehran insists that any such transits will have to be coordinated with its armed forces.

• Two US-flagged merchant vessels have crossed through the strait of Hormuz as US Navy guided-missile destroyers operate in the gulf, US Central Command said on Monday.

• Seoul said on Monday that an “explosion and fire” had struck a South Korea-run ship in the strait of Hormuz, the crucial Middle Eastern waterway effectively blocked following US-Israeli attacks on Iran.

• The United Arab Emirates has intercepted three missiles fired from Iran over its territorial waters, with a fourth one crashing into the sea, the Gulf country’s defence ministry said in a post on X on Monday.

• Hezbollah said its forces clashed with Israeli soldiers on Monday in south Lebanon near the border where its troops are still operating, despite a ceasefire since 17 April.

• Hezbollah’s leader condemned Israel’s operations in Lebanon amid a fragile ceasefire, repeating the group’s rejection of direct negotiations between the Israeli and Lebanese governments.

• Iran earlier threatened any foreign military force attempting to enter the strait.

• Iran’s foreign ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghaei said officials were reviewing a US counter-proposal to end the US-Israeli war on Iran. He suggested that the US has to reduce its “excessive” demands if progress is going to be made in peace talks which have reached an impasse.

• The French president, Emmanuel Macron, said on Monday that the only way to reopen the strait was “a coordinated reopening by the United States and Iran”.

Iran’s Revolutionary Guards denies that any commercial ships had crossed the strait of Hormuz, after the US military earlier said two US-flagged merchant vessels had transited through the vital waterway.

“No commercial vessels or oil tankers have passed through the Strait of Hormuz in the past few hours, and the claims of American officials are baseless and completely false,” the guards said in a statement on Telegram.

The commander of Iran’s army Amir Hatami meanwhile said on X: “American destroyers, using the trick of turning off the radar, were approaching the Strait of Hormuz, but our response was fire.”

“Cruise missiles and combat drones took flight. The security of this region is Iran’s red line,” he added.

The UAE’s defence ministry and state news agency on Monday said a fresh Iranian barrage had targeted the country following multiple alerts from authorities warning people to take cover.

“Four cruise missiles launched from Iran were detected toward various areas across the country. Three were successfully engaged over the country’s territorial waters, while one fell in the sea,” the defence ministry said on social media.

State news agency WAM also cited the defence ministry as saying its forces were working to repel missile and drone attacks coming from Iran.

The United Arab Emirates has intercepted three missiles fired from Iran over its territorial waters, with a fourth one crashing into the sea, the Gulf country’s defence ministry said in a post on X on Monday.

It comes after 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, Fujairah Media office said in a statement.

Lebanese president Joseph Aoun said on Monday that a security deal and an end to Israeli attacks were needed before any meeting with Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, sought by Washington.

Aoun’s office said in a statement that the president “reiterated his view that the timing is not appropriate now for a meeting” with Netanyahu, and quoted Aoun as saying: “We must first reach a security agreement and stop the Israeli attacks on us before we raise the issue of a meeting between us.”

Hezbollah said its forces clashed with Israeli soldiers on Monday in south Lebanon near the border where its troops are still operating, despite a ceasefire since 17 April.

Hezbollah in a statement said that after Israeli troops attempted to advance near the town of Deir Seryan – which is inside the Israeli-declared “yellow line” where Lebanese residents have been told not to return – its fighters “opened fire on the enemy force and engaged in heavy clashes with them”.

Seoul said on Monday that an “explosion and fire” had struck a South Korea-run 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 8.40pm in Seoul, “an explosion and fire occurred on a vessel operated by a South Korean shipping company… anchored in waters near the United Arab Emirates inside the strait of Hormuz”.

There had been “no casualties to date” among the 24 crew members on board, who include six South Koreans and 18 foreign nationals, the ministry said in a statement.

“The cause of the explosion and fire, as well as the specific extent of the damage, are currently being investigated,” it said.

The vessel involved, the HMM Namu, is a cargo ship of almost 180 metres (590 feet) sailing under the flag of Panama, data from tracking site MarineTraffic showed.

The US secretary of state, Marco Rubio, will travel to Rome and the Vatican between 6 and 8 May, according to a department spokesperson.

The spokesperson said the trip was aimed at advancing “bilateral relations” and to “align on global challenges”.

“The secretary will meet with Italian government counterparts and Holy See leadership to discuss topics including Middle East developments and shared security interests.”

The US treasury secretary, Scott Bessent, has been speaking to Fox News as the US Central Command (Centcom) saidtwo US-flagged merchant vessels have “successfully transited” through the strait of Hormuz. Some key takeaways from the interview:

• Gas prices are affecting Americans but they are expected to come down quickly once the war ends, Bessent claimed.

• He urged China, one of Iran’s major trading partners, to join the US in supporting the reopening of the strait of Hormuz.

• The US president, Donald Trump, and his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, have discussed Iran in their phone calls together, Bessent said.

• He said the US has absolute control of the strait since its naval blockade of Iranian ports.

South Korea’s foreign ministry has confirmed to the Guardian that a vessel operated by South Korean shipping company HMM, the HMM Namu, suffered an explosion and fire inside the strait of Hormuz at 20:40 Korean time.

The Panama-flagged ship was carrying six South Korean and 18 foreign crew members. No casualties have been reported. The cause is under investigation.

The UAE diplomatic adviser Anwar Gargash has condemned the targeting of a tanker affiliated with the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (Adnoc) as it transited the strait of Hormuz (see this post for more details).

“The Iranian aggression continues unabated, with acts of maritime piracy targeting a national tanker affiliated with Asnoc as it transited the strait of Hormuz,” he wrote in a post on X.

“The UAE’s stance remains steadfast in rejecting aggression and upholding freedom of navigation in this vital international passage. These attacks underscore that the Iranian threat to the security and stability of the region persists and cannot be ignored.”

Iran has executed three men charged in connection with political protests this January, authorities said, the latest in a wave of hangings against the backdrop of the war against the US and Israel.

Iranian authorities have carried out executions on a near-daily basis in recent weeks, in what activists have denounced as a bid to instil fear in society at a time of international and domestic tension.

Mehdi Rassouli, Mohammad Reza Miri and Ebrahim Dolatabadi, all considered political prisoners by human rights organisations, were executed after being convicted over unrest in the eastern city of Mashhad in January, the judiciary’s Mizan news agency announced on Monday.

It was not specified when or where they were executed. But the US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency (Hrana) said Rassouli, 25, and Miri, 21, were hanged at dawn on Sunday at the Vakilabad prison in Mashhad.

The protests began in December, partly as a result of grievances over the Iranian economy but intensified into nationwide rallies against the Islamic regime, peaking as mass demonstrations on the nights of 8 and 9 January.

Rights groups say thousands were killed in a crackdown by security forces; while authorities have blamed “rioters” whom they claim were backed by the US and Israel.

Mizan said Rassouli and Miri had been responsible for the death of a member of the security forces and described Dolatabadi as one of the “instigators” of the unrest in Mashhad.

Two US-flagged merchant vessels have crossed through the strait of Hormuz as US Navy guided-missile destroyers operate in the gulf, US Central Command said on Monday.

“American forces are actively assisting efforts to restore transit for commercial shipping,” it said in a statement.

Hezbollah’s leader condemned Israel’s operations in Lebanon amid a fragile ceasefire, repeating the group’s rejection of direct negotiations between the Israeli and Lebanese governments.

Israel has kept up deadly strikes on Lebanon despite the 17 April ceasefire that sought to halt more than six weeks of war between its military and Hezbollah, with both sides accusing the other of violating the truce, AFP reported.

In Lebanon’s south near the Israeli border, the Israeli army has also demolished buildings and prevented residents of dozens of towns from returning.

“There is no ceasefire in Lebanon, but a continuous Israeli-American aggression,” Hezbollah leader Naim Qassem said in a written statement broadcast by the al-Manar TV channel, which is affiliated with the Iran-backed militant group.

“Lebanon is the victim of aggression, and it is Lebanon that needs guarantees for its security and sovereignty” from Israel, he added.