Efforts to end the war between the US and Iran appeared to lose momentum on Friday as both sides exchanged fire in the Gulf, while a CIA assessment suggested Tehran could endure a naval blockade for several more months.<\/p>\n
According to a US official familiar with the intelligence analysis, Iran would not face severe economic pressure from a US blockade of its ports for around four months, indicating Washington\u2019s leverage over Tehran may remain limited despite mounting military and economic pressure.<\/p>\n
The assessment, first reported by The Washington Post, came as tensions sharply escalated in and around the Strait of Hormuz, where some of the heaviest clashes since the April 7 ceasefire were reported this week.<\/p>\n
The United Arab Emirates also faced renewed attacks on Friday, with authorities saying air defences intercepted two ballistic missiles and three drones launched from Iran. Three people suffered moderate injuries, officials said.<\/p>\n
Washington is awaiting Tehran\u2019s response to a US proposal aimed at formally ending the conflict before negotiations begin on broader issues, including Iran\u2019s nuclear programme.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe should know something today,\u201d US Secretary of State Marco Rubio told reporters in Rome, according to Reuters. \u201cWe\u2019re expecting a response from them.\u201d<\/p>\n
However, Iran\u2019s foreign ministry said Tehran was still considering its response, with no formal reply announced by late Friday.<\/p>\n
CLASHES CONTINUE IN STRAIT OF HORMUZ<\/p>\n
Iranian and US forces were involved in sporadic clashes in the Strait of Hormuz on Friday, according to Iran\u2019s semi-official Fars news agency. Tasnim later quoted an Iranian military source as saying the situation had calmed, though further confrontations remained possible.<\/p>\n
The US military said it struck two Iran-linked vessels attempting to enter an Iranian port, with a fighter jet targeting the ships\u2019 smokestacks and forcing them to retreat.<\/p>\n
Iran has largely restricted non-Iranian shipping through the strategic waterway since the conflict began with joint US-Israeli airstrikes across Iran on February 28. Washington imposed a blockade on Iranian vessels last month.<\/p>\n
Brent crude futures climbed above $101 a barrel amid the renewed tensions, although prices remained more than 6 per cent lower for the week.<\/p>\n
US President Donald Trump said on Thursday that the ceasefire was still largely holding despite recent flare-ups in the strait, which previously handled about one-fifth of global oil supplies.<\/p>\n
IRAN ACCUSES US OF VIOLATING TRUCE<\/p>\n
Iran accused Washington of undermining the ceasefire through continued military operations.<\/p>\n
\u201cEvery time a diplomatic solution is on the table, the US opts for a reckless military adventure,\u201d Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said on Friday.<\/p>\n
Iran\u2019s Mehr news agency reported that one crew member was killed, 10 others wounded and four missing after what it described as a US Navy attack on an Iranian commercial vessel late Thursday.<\/p>\n
Rubio, after meeting Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, questioned why European allies were not more strongly supporting US efforts to reopen the Strait of Hormuz.<\/p>\n
\u201cAre you going to normalise a country claiming to control an international waterway?\u201d Rubio said. \u201cBecause if you normalise that, you\u2019ve set a precedent that\u2019s going to get repeated in a dozen other places.\u201d<\/p>\n
US EXPANDS SANCTIONS PRESSURE<\/p>\n
Alongside diplomatic efforts, the US also intensified sanctions targeting Iran\u2019s military-industrial network.<\/p>\n
The US Treasury announced sanctions on 10 individuals and companies, including entities in China and Hong Kong, accused of helping Iran obtain weapons components and raw materials used in the production of Shahed drones.<\/p>\n
Treasury officials said Washington remained prepared to take further economic action against Iran\u2019s military industrial base and any foreign companies facilitating Iranian trade, including airlines and financial institutions linked to China\u2019s independent \u201cteapot\u201d oil refineries.<\/p>\n
The sanctions announcement came days before Trump is expected to travel to China for talks with President Xi Jinping.<\/p>\n
– Ends<\/p>\n
Published By: <\/p>\n
Zafar Zaidi<\/p>\n
Published On: <\/p>\n
May 9, 2026 04:42 IST<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Efforts to end the war between the US and Iran appeared to lose momentum on Friday as both…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":104674,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[1872,36287,38,34,404,6475,210,101,69,34446,224],"class_list":{"0":"post-104673","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-tehran","8":"tag-brent-crude","9":"tag-cia-assessment","10":"tag-donald-trump","11":"tag-iran","12":"tag-iran-blockade","13":"tag-iran-sanctions","14":"tag-marco-rubio","15":"tag-strait-of-hormuz","16":"tag-tehran","17":"tag-uae-missile-attack","18":"tag-us-iran-war"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@iran\/116541519583890596","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/104673","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=104673"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/104673\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/104674"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=104673"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=104673"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=104673"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}