Middle East crisis live: Donald Trump says Iran ‘know what not to do’ to avoid violating ceasefire with US

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ (IRCG) navy has issued a renewed threat to ships transiting through the strait of Hormuz not to deviate from routes Iran has previously approved.

In remarks reported by the Fars news agency, the IRCG said:

All vessels intending to transit the strait are warned that the only safe route for passage through the Strait of Hormuz is the corridor previously announced by Iran. Any deviation from this route is unsafe and will be met with firm action by the IRGC Navy.

It comes as both Tehran and Washington claim to be in control of the strait after the Unites States launched so-called “Project Freedom”, an effort to support ships to move freely through the critical waterway, and the two sides exchanged fire on Monday.

US defense secretary Pete Hegseth insisted this morning that “Project Freedom” was a “separate and distinct” effort from the ongoing military operation in the region.

In the Oval Office earlier, Donald Trump also downplayed soaring oil prices as a “small price to pay” for eliminating Iran’s nuclear ambitions, adding that he thought the prices would actually have been higher.

I also thought oil would go up to $200, $250, maybe $300, and I know it will be short term.

I look today, it’s like at 102 [$] and that’s a very small price to pay for getting rid of a nuclear weapon from people that are really mentally deranged.

The price of oil would “neutralize” when the war ends, he added.

The average price of a gallon of gas is now $4.48, according to AAA, up by roughly 50% since the US and Israel launched this war at the end of February.

• US president Donald Trump urged Iran Tuesday to “do the smart thing” and make a deal, saying even as a Middle East ceasefire teetered that he did not want to kill more Iranians. “They should do the smart thing, because we don’t want to go in and kill people. Really don’t,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office when asked about Iran. “I don’t want to, it’s too tough.”

• Washington said Iran had not breached a fragile ceasefire in the Middle East conflict on Tuesday, following an exchange of fire between the two sides the previous day as US forces attempted to force open the strait of Hormuz. The US military said it had destroyed six Iranian small boats, as well as cruise missiles and drones, after president Donald Trump sent the navy to escort stranded tankers through the strait in a campaign he called “Project Freedom”.

• Iran does not have “kamikaze dolphins”, US defence secretary Pete Hegseth said, but he would not “confirm or deny” whether America does. He was asked about reports of the marine mammals being deployed as weapons by Tehran amid the ongoing Gulf crisis.

• The United Arab Emirates’ defence ministry said that its air defences were dealing with missile and drone attacks coming from Iran, a second day of attacks after a four-week period of relative calm since the United States announced a ceasefire. The UAE had earlier said it came under attack from Iran on Monday as the US moved to reopen the strait of Hormuz.

• Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he discussed Iran’s airstrikes against Bahrain, and the strait of Hormuz, during a meeting with Bahrain’s king, Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa, earlier. “Our country is facing similar terrorist strikes almost every day, and our people have relevant experience in full-scale defence,” Zelenskyy wrote in a post on X. “Ukraine is ready to share this security expertise with Bahrain and help strengthen the protection of life.”

• An Israeli court extended the detention of two Gaza flotilla humanitarian activists until 10 May, the rights group Adalah said. Adalah said it would appeal, according to the Reuters news agency.

• Iran’s foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, is travelling to Beijing today for talks with his Chinese counterpart “on bilateral relations and regional and international developments”, his ministry said on its Telegram account. While Beijing condemned the initial US and Israeli strikes on Iran which started the war in late February, China has largely adopted a posture of neutrality ever since and has urged for a diplomatic resolution to the conflict.

• US secretary of state Marco Rubio’s meeting with Pope Leo on Thursday will include a “frank conversation” about the Trump administration’s policies, the US ambassador to the Holy See, Brian Burch, has said. “Nations have disagreements, and I think one of the ways that you work through those is … through fraternity and authentic dialogue,” Burch said.

• Pakistan’s prime minister, Shehbaz Sharif, has condemned the attacks on the US-allied UAE after the Gulf nation was struck by a barrage of missiles and drones yesterday. The UAE came under repeated attacks from Iran for the first time since a ceasefire took hold in early April. One sparked a fire at a key oil facility in Fujairah and injured three Indian nationals, authorities said.

• The Israeli military has issued more forced displacement orders for people in southern Lebanon – this time for those in the towns of Jabsheet and Sarafand. In a statement on social media, the military’s Arabic-language spokesperson Avichay Adraee said these residents should evacuate their homes “immediately and move away from the villages and towns for a distance of at least 1000 metres to open areas”.

• India’s ministry of external affairs said the attack on Fujairah in the UAE – which injured three Indian nationals – was “unacceptable” and called for an immediate end to the “targeting of civilian infrastructure and innocent civilians”. Officials in Fujairah ‌said yesterday 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.

Donald Trump has launched a new operation, dubbed “Project Freedom”, to try to open the strait of Hormuz. Could it spark a re-escalation of the war with Iran and bring an end to the ceasefire?

In today’s edition of The Latest podcast, Lucy Hough speaks to the Guardian’s senior international correspondent Julian Borger.

The US defence secretary outlined Donald Trump’s ‘Project Freedom’ during a press briefing at the Pentagon on Tuesday.

Pete Hegseth said the US has established a “powerful red, white and blue dome” across the strait of Hormuz as a “gift to the rest of the world”.

He added that the US blockade remains “iron-clad”.

Trump said the Iranian economy “has been crushed” and said that he wants it to fail.

He said:

I hope it fails. Is that you know why? Because I want to win.

The US president added:

I also thought oil would go up to 200, 250, maybe 300, and I know it would be short term, but I thought it would go.

I look today it’s like at 102 and that’s a very small price to pay for getting rid of a nuclear weapon from people that are really mentally deranged.

Trump also sought to minimize the war with Iran, calling it “a little skirmish.”

“We’re in a little skirmish military. I call it a skirmish, because Iran has no chance. They never did. They know it,” Trump said during an Oval Office event on physical fitness among American kids.

On Monday he called it a “mini-war” and last month he described US military operations against Iran as “a little excursion.”

He added that Iran “wants to make a deal”. Trump said:

As you know, the blockade has been amazing. It’s like a piece of steel. Nobody’s going to challenge the blockade. And I think it’s working out very well. We’re going to say, I can say this; Iran wants to make a deal.

What I don’t like about Iran is they’ll talk to me with such great respect and then they’ll go on television. They’ll say, we did not speak to the president.

US president Donald Trump on Tuesday dismissed Iran’s military capability and when asked what could constitute a violation of a fragile ceasefire, said: “They know what not to do.“

Speaking to reporters in the Oval Office, he said:

And, you know, they fired them a little boats with shooters, you know, the peashooter… You know why? Because they don’t have any boats anymore. The Navy is comprised of. They call them little boats, right?

Asked whether he would consider arming the Iranian opposition to help them seize power in the country, the said:

I don’t want to say that, but yeah, I mean, people say, why aren’t they protesting?

In case you missed it earlier, Iran does not have “kamikaze dolphins”, US defence secretary Pete Hegseth said, but he would not “confirm or deny” whether America does.

He was asked about reports of the marine mammals being deployed as weapons by Tehran amid the ongoing Gulf crisis.

Hegseth was speaking at a Pentagon briefing where he outlined steps taken by the US to reopen the strategic strait of Hormuz and free hundreds of stranded cargo vessels.

Responding to a question from the media, Hegseth said: “I can’t confirm or deny whether we have kamikaze dolphins, but I can confirm they don’t.”

General Dan Caine, chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, said: “I haven’t heard about kamikaze dolphins – it’s like sharks with laser beams right?”

Here are some recent images from the ongoing conflict between Israel and Lebanon:

The United Arab Emirates’ defence ministry said that its air defences were dealing with missile and drone attacks coming from Iran, a second day of attacks after a four-week period of relative calm since the United States announced a ceasefire.

The UAE had earlier said it came under attack from Iran on Monday as the US moved to reopen the strait of Hormuz.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he discussed Iran’s airstrikes against Bahrain, and the strait of Hormuz, during a meeting with Bahrain’s king, Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa, earlier.

“Our country is facing similar terrorist strikes almost every day, and our people have relevant experience in full-scale defence,” Zelenskyy wrote in a post on X. “Ukraine is ready to share this security expertise with Bahrain and help strengthen the protection of life.”

“I proposed signing a drone deal and scaling up cooperation with Bahrain, and we agreed that our teams will work out the details,” the Ukrainian leader, who is defending his country against the Russian full-scale invasion, added.

After more than four years of fighting, Ukraine has battle-tested drone interceptor expertise and has developed groundbreaking air defence technology.

Since the US and Israel launched its war on Iran on 28 February, Ukraine has been offering its drones and know-how to several Middle Eastern countries suffering from Iranian drone attacks.

Ukraine says it has now signed deals with Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Qatar. In return for its aid to Gulf countries, Ukraine is seeking more high-end air-defence missiles that they possess and that Kyiv needs to counter Russia’s attacks.

At the Downing Street lobby briefing in the UK, the PM’s spokesperson did not deny a report in the Financial Times saying that Rachel Reeves, the British chancellor, and Scott Bessent, her US opposite number, had a “fierce row” about the Iran war when they met in Washington last month.

In their FT story, Jim Pickard, Sam Fleming and Claire Jones say:

When the pair met later that day [after Reeves told a CNBC event she did not know why the Americans started the war] Bessent berated Reeves over the remarks, according to people familiar with the situation.

The Treasury secretary insisted the world was safer because of the US-Israeli war against Iran, even invoking the spectre of Tehran launching a nuclear attack on London. Reeves responded angrily by telling Bessent she did not work for him and disliked how he had spoken to her.

She also reiterated her argument about the Iran conflict lacking clear goals and not necessarily making the world safer.

The FT also said that Reeves and Bessent had spoken since the incident, and that on other issues they worked well together.

Asked about the story, the spokesperson said:

Although I wouldn’t get into private conversations, the chancellor and the US Treasury Secretary have a good relationship. They have had constructive conversations together since the chancellor’s visits to Washington. There is a readout from the US Department of the Treasury, which made clear the productive nature of their relationship.

Spain on Tuesday renewed a demand for the “immediate release” of a Spanish activist who participated in a Gaza-bound aid flotilla and is held in Israel after his detention was extended until Sunday.

Spain’s consul in Tel Aviv will continue to visit Saif Abu Keshek, “providing full protection and in permanent contact with his family”, foreign ministry sources said. “The government of Spain demands his immediate release and that all his rights be respected.”