Updated on: May 18, 2026 7:58:58 AM IST
US Iran news LIVE: Iranian Americans and supporters of the National Council of Resistance of Iran take part in a march passing in front of the US Department of Labor building with a banner with the image of US President Donald Trump, in Washington. The Donald Trump-led US and Israel’s war on Iran began on February 28.
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The latest US response to the Islamic Republic’s proposed negotiating framework offered no meaningful concessions, Iran’s Mehr news agency reported earlier.
Drone attacks in UAE
Regional tensions escalated further after a drone strike in the UAE’s Al Dhafra region sparked a fire in an electrical generator at the Barakah nuclear power plant. This is the Arab world’s only operational nuclear facility. Authorities said there was no radiological leak and reactors continued operating normally.
Isreal-Lebanon updates
The security situation is also deteriorating on Israel’s northern front. Israel said it hit 100 targets in southern Lebanon over the past two days, despite negotiators agreeing to a 45-day extension of the supposed ceasefire with the Iran-backed Hezbollah group. The truce is rapidly losing ground as both.
A tense Strait of Hormuz
Iran announced it will soon put forward a new plan to regulate maritime traffic and impose shipping tolls in the Strait of Hormuz. Any disruption there could send palpitations through international energy markets already rattled by the war.
Israeli war on Gaza
The humanitarian toll in Gaza continues to climb. Six people were killed and 19 wounded by continued Israeli strikes over the last two days, the Palestinian health ministry said. Rescue workers also recovered four bodies from beneath the rubble.
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May 18, 2026 7:58:58 AM IST
US Iran war LIVE: When Netanyahu said Tehran would collapse at the ‘first attack’
US Iran war LIVE: Former US defence secretary and ex-CIA director Robert Gates has recalled a 2009 meeting in which Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that Iran would quickly collapse if attacked militarily.
Speaking on CBS’ Face the Nation, Gates said Netanyahu claimed the Iranian government was fragile and would “crumble at the first attack.” The view was strongly rejected by Gates. He told him he was “dead wrong” and underestimated “the resilience of the Iranians.”
Gates suggested Netanyahu’s assessment was shaped by earlier Israeli strikes on regional targets. This included Iraq’s Osirak reactor in 1981 and Syria’s suspected nuclear facility in 2007, which faced limited retaliation. He argued these experiences may have led to an “unrealistic position” about how Iran would respond.
May 18, 2026 7:56:07 AM IST
US Iran news LIVE: About the Barakah nuclear plant, struck by drones
US Iran news LIVE: The Barakah is the United Arab Emirates’ first and only nuclear power station and the first nuclear plant in the Arab world.
It was built in partnership with South Korea at a cost of around $20bn and began full commercial operation in 2021. The plant supplies roughly 25% of the UAE’s electricity and is considered a major part of the country’s plan to reach net-zero emissions by 2050.
The UAE operates it under an agreement with the United States, which allows it to import nuclear fuel rather than develop domestic uranium enrichment or reprocessing capabilities. It is often cited as a model for a “safe and peaceful” civilian nuclear energy programme.
The plant was targeted in a drone attack that caused a fire at an electric generator, though UAE authorities said there was no radioactive leak and no risk to the public.
May 18, 2026 7:44:49 AM IST
US Iran news LIVE: Yemen’s Houthis restate support for Palestine amid Israeli onslaught
US Iran news LIVE: Yemen’s Houthis have repeated their support for Palestinian armed groups in Gaza following the reported Israeli killing of a senior Hamas commander.
In a condolence message on Telegram, Houthi military figure Yusuf Hassan al-Madani described the death of commander Izz al-Din al-Haddad as a major loss for the Palestinian movement and the wider region.
Al-Madani said the Houthis would continue joint efforts with Hamas and allied factions “until victory is achieved.”
May 18, 2026 7:42:07 AM IST
US Iran war LIVE: French left leader slams ‘European complicity’ in US-Israeli war on Iran
US Iran war LIVE: Jean-Luc Melenchon, the leading figure of France’s left-wing La France Insoumise party, has accused Europe of enabling the US-Israeli strikes on Iran. The attacks, he says, have now boiled over to a wider regional conflict.
In a post on X, he said: “La France Insoumise” sees “Trump and Netanyahu’s crude threats to destroy Iran” as being possible only due to “European complicity,” and described global peace as reduced to the interests of “Trump and Netanyahu’s colonialism.”
He also asked French voters to reject “France’s alignment with these criminals” and to “break the leash” in the 2027 presidential election.
May 18, 2026 7:28:46 AM IST
US Iran war LIVE: Tehran official shares ‘The Apprentice’ clip in apparent jab at Trump
US Iran war LIVE: Esmaeil Baghaei shared a clip from the 2024 biopic The Apprentice in an apparent swipe at Donald Trump.
The scene features Roy Cohn, Trump’s mentor in the film, outlining “rules for winning”, including “claim victory and never admit defeat” and being “willing to do anything to anyone”.
The post comes as Iranian officials and affiliated accounts continue to mock Trump over the widely criticised US attacks on Iran. Baghaei has previously referenced figures such as Aime Cesaire and Farid al-Din Attar in commentary on US policy.
May 18, 2026 7:13:43 AM IST
US Iran war LIVE: Trump ‘seriously considering’ more military action against Tehran, says expert
US Iran war LIVE: US President Donald Trump is “seriously considering taking additional military action” against Iran, Trita Parsi, executive vice president of the Quincy Institute, told Al Jazeera.
Parsi said the situation shows the US administration recognises “that not only was the previous war a failure, but also that the blockade … which was supposed to break the Iranians and avoid this scenario – was also a failure”.
He warned that both sides increasingly believe “that one more round of fighting will give them the benefits, the advantage in future negotiations”.
On the Iranian side, he added, “those who had made that argument earlier on believe that they were proven right, given how this war has been conducted.”
May 18, 2026 6:43:24 AM IST
US Iran war LIVE: Activists sailing to Gaza report military ship near aid flotilla
US Iran war LIVE: A Spanish activist aboard one of the vessels heading to Gaza to challenge Israel’s blockade said the flotilla had encountered a possible military threat at sea.
Pablo Quesada Martin wrote on X that “what appeared to be a military vessel” had been spotted near the convoy, prompting security protocols to be activated. The flotilla is part of an activist effort to deliver humanitarian aid to Gaza despite Israel’s naval blockade.
Israel has previously intercepted and detained activists attempting similar missions. Last month, Israeli forces stopped 22 vessels near the Greek island of Crete.