![\"US](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/IRAN-CRISIS-USA-PROTEST-19_1779069598382_1779069623616_3b205ad4-1684-4828-bf82-1e0c06acf6bf.JPG\" "\\"US")
<\/p>\nUpdated on: May 18, 2026 7:58:58 AM IST<\/p>\n
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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.<\/p>\n
…Read More<\/p>\n
The latest US response to the Islamic Republic\u2019s proposed negotiating framework offered no meaningful concessions, Iran\u2019s Mehr news agency reported earlier. <\/p>\n
Drone attacks in UAE <\/p>\n
Regional tensions escalated further after a drone strike in the UAE\u2019s Al Dhafra region sparked a fire in an electrical generator at the Barakah nuclear power plant. This is the Arab world\u2019s only operational nuclear facility. Authorities said there was no radiological leak and reactors continued operating normally. <\/p>\n
Isreal-Lebanon updates <\/p>\n
The security situation is also deteriorating on Israel\u2019s 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. <\/p>\n
A tense Strait of Hormuz <\/p>\n
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. <\/p>\n
Israeli war on Gaza <\/p>\n
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. <\/p>\n
Follow all the updates here:<\/p>\n
May 18, 2026 7:58:58 AM IST<\/p>\n
US Iran war LIVE: When Netanyahu said Tehran would collapse at the \u2018first attack\u2019<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
Speaking on CBS\u2019 Face the Nation, Gates said Netanyahu claimed the Iranian government was fragile and would \u201ccrumble at the first attack.\u201d The view was strongly rejected by Gates. He told him he was \u201cdead wrong\u201d and underestimated \u201cthe resilience of the Iranians.\u201d<\/p>\n
Gates suggested Netanyahu\u2019s assessment was shaped by earlier Israeli strikes on regional targets. This included Iraq\u2019s Osirak reactor in 1981 and Syria\u2019s suspected nuclear facility in 2007, which faced limited retaliation. He argued these experiences may have led to an \u201cunrealistic position\u201d about how Iran would respond.<\/p>\n
May 18, 2026 7:56:07 AM IST<\/p>\n
US Iran news LIVE: About the Barakah nuclear plant, struck by drones<\/p>\n
US Iran news LIVE: The Barakah is the United Arab Emirates\u2019 first and only nuclear power station and the first nuclear plant in the Arab world.<\/p>\n
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\u2019s electricity and is considered a major part of the country\u2019s plan to reach net-zero emissions by 2050.<\/p>\n
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 \u201csafe and peaceful\u201d civilian nuclear energy programme.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
May 18, 2026 7:44:49 AM IST<\/p>\n
US Iran news LIVE: Yemen\u2019s Houthis restate support for Palestine amid Israeli onslaught<\/p>\n
US Iran news LIVE: Yemen\u2019s Houthis have repeated their support for Palestinian armed groups in Gaza following the reported Israeli killing of a senior Hamas commander.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
Al-Madani said the Houthis would continue joint efforts with Hamas and allied factions \u201cuntil victory is achieved.\u201d<\/p>\n
May 18, 2026 7:42:07 AM IST<\/p>\n
US Iran war LIVE: French left leader slams \u2018European complicity\u2019 in US-Israeli war on Iran<\/p>\n
US Iran war LIVE: Jean-Luc Melenchon, the leading figure of France\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n
In a post on X, he said: \u201cLa France Insoumise\u201d sees \u201cTrump and Netanyahu\u2019s crude threats to destroy Iran\u201d as being possible only due to \u201cEuropean complicity,\u201d and described global peace as reduced to the interests of \u201cTrump and Netanyahu\u2019s colonialism.\u201d<\/p>\n
He also asked French voters to reject \u201cFrance\u2019s alignment with these criminals\u201d and to \u201cbreak the leash\u201d in the 2027 presidential election.<\/p>\n
May 18, 2026 7:28:46 AM IST<\/p>\n
US Iran war LIVE: Tehran official shares \u2018The Apprentice\u2019 clip in apparent jab at Trump<\/p>\n
US Iran war LIVE: Esmaeil Baghaei shared a clip from the 2024 biopic The Apprentice in an apparent swipe at Donald Trump.<\/p>\n
The scene features Roy Cohn, Trump\u2019s mentor in the film, outlining \u201crules for winning\u201d, including \u201cclaim victory and never admit defeat\u201d and being \u201cwilling to do anything to anyone\u201d.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
May 18, 2026 7:13:43 AM IST<\/p>\n
US Iran war LIVE: Trump \u2018seriously considering\u2019 more military action against Tehran, says expert<\/p>\n
US Iran war LIVE: US President Donald Trump is \u201cseriously considering taking additional military action\u201d against Iran, Trita Parsi, executive vice president of the Quincy Institute, told Al Jazeera.<\/p>\n
Parsi said the situation shows the US administration recognises \u201cthat not only was the previous war a failure, but also that the blockade \u2026 which was supposed to break the Iranians and avoid this scenario \u2013 was also a failure\u201d.<\/p>\n
He warned that both sides increasingly believe \u201cthat one more round of fighting will give them the benefits, the advantage in future negotiations\u201d.<\/p>\n
On the Iranian side, he added, \u201cthose who had made that argument earlier on believe that they were proven right, given how this war has been conducted.\u201d<\/p>\n
May 18, 2026 6:43:24 AM IST<\/p>\n
US Iran war LIVE: Activists sailing to Gaza report military ship near aid flotilla<\/p>\n
US Iran war LIVE: A Spanish activist aboard one of the vessels heading to Gaza to challenge Israel\u2019s blockade said the flotilla had encountered a possible military threat at sea.<\/p>\n
Pablo Quesada Martin wrote on X that \u201cwhat appeared to be a military vessel\u201d 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\u2019s naval blockade.<\/p>\n
Israel has previously intercepted and detained activists attempting similar missions. Last month, Israeli forces stopped 22 vessels near the Greek island of Crete.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Updated on: May 18, 2026 7:58:58 AM IST US Iran news LIVE: Iranian Americans and supporters of the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":118609,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[4],"tags":[34,2119,37,93,69,3294,5440,40674],"class_list":["post-118608","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tehran","tag-iran","tag-iran-attack","tag-israel","tag-lebanon","tag-tehran","tag-us-iran-war-live-updates","tag-us-military-action","tag-us-war-on-iran"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@iran\/116593227315883581","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/118608","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=118608"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/118608\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/118609"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=118608"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=118608"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=118608"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}