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17:00
CENTCOM Says 78 Ships Forced To Change Course During Iran Naval Blockade
The US Central Command (CENTCOM) announced that 78 commercial ships have been forced to change course as part of the Iranian naval blockade.
Posting a video of a US military helicopter flying over the waters near the Strait of Hormuz on X on May 16, CENTCOM also announced that four vessels have been “disabled ensure compliance.”
The command had previously said 15 ships carrying humanitarian aid had been allowed to pass, and in some cases, US forces had forced the ships to change course by radio contact and firing warning shots.
The United States began a naval blockade of Iranian ports after direct talks with Iran failed, while Iran has blocked the Strait of Hormuz since the beginning of US-Israeli strikes on Iran on February 28.
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16:51
Pakistani Interior Minister Travels To Tehran To ‘Resume’ Iran-US Talks
Iranian media reported on May 16 that Pakistani Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi had discussed the “resumption of negotiations” between Iran and the United States with his Iranian counterpart during a visit to Tehran.
Naqvi, who traveled to Iran for a two-day visit, met with Eskandar Momeni, according to media outlets close to the Iranian government, and “detailed discussions were held about Iran-Pakistan relations and the prospects for resuming peace talks.”
Pakistan has acted as a mediator since the cease-fire between Iran and the United States took effect in early April. A round of talks between senior officials from Washington and Tehran was held in Islamabad but did not yield any results.
In recent weeks, Pakistan has been tasked with conveying US and Iranian proposals for an end to the war. US President Donald Trump has called the proposals put forward by Iran unacceptable.
This comes while Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi claimed on May 15 that Tehran has received messages from the United States indicating that the Trump administration is ready to continue negotiations aimed at ending the Middle East war.
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14:33
Trump-Xi Summit Reveals China’s Careful Balancing Act On Iran
WASHINGTON — The Trump-Xi summit offered fresh clues about how Beijing is positioning itself on Iran amid growing tensions over sanctions, regional security, and the future of energy flows through the Strait of Hormuz.
While US President Donald Trump said both sides agreed Iran should never obtain a nuclear weapon and supported reopening the Strait of Hormuz, analysts noted that China avoided making concrete public commitments on sanctions enforcement, reducing Iranian oil purchases, or pressuring Tehran directly.
Instead, experts say, Beijing appears focused on protecting its strategic and economic interests while avoiding deeper entanglement in the conflict.
To read the full news analysis, clickhere.
US President Donald Trump (right) shakes hands with Chinese leader Xi Jinping at a welcome ceremony in Beijing on May 14.
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13:10
Iran’s Book Industry Confronts War’s Compounding Toll As Virtual Fair Opens
A woman browses at the Tehran International Book Fair at Imam Khomeini Mosque in Tehran in May 2024. This year, only the virtual expo is taking place.
Iran’s already beleaguered publishing sector isenteringits seventh virtual Tehran Book Fair this week in conditions that would have been difficult to imagine even a year ago.
Physical damage to bookshops from US-Israeli strikes, a state-imposed Internet blackout approaching 80 days, a paper crisis deepened by wartime sanctions, and an economy grinding under the weight of conflict.
The virtual expo is normally held concurrently with the Tehran International Book Fair, which would have held its 37th edition this week — but the physical fair has been ruled out this year, with organizerscitingthe war and its fallout as the reason the event will be held exclusively online.
The fair, which runs May 16-22 under the slogan “Read for Iran,” is itself a measure of how much has changed.
To read the full report, clickhere.
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13:08
Iran Seizes Assets Of Dozens Of People On Charges Of ‘Collaborating’ With Israel
Iran’s judiciary announced the seizure of assets of 51 people in Yazd Province on charges of “espionage and collaboration with hostile countries and hostile groups.”
The judiciary said on May 16 that the assets of these individuals had been seized “for the benefit of the people and to finance the reconstruction of war-damaged areas.”
According to the statement, 20 of these people live inside the country and 31 live outside Iran.
The assets of these individuals, “including bank cash, movable and immovable property, company shares, and even attorney’s fees” have been seized, it said.
The names of these individuals or evidence supporting the accusations were not provided.
Previously, numerous reports had been published about the seizure of the assets of journalists, political and civil activists, artists, athletes, and well-known figures on charges such as “treason” and “betrayal of the homeland,” “dependence” on Israel, and “collaboration with hostile countries.”
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11:45
Iran Says It’s Consulting With Oman On How To Manage Strait Of Hormuz
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi attends a press conference at the Iranian Embassy in New Delhi on May 15.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said Tehran is consulting with Oman to establish a suitable mechanism for managing the Strait of Hormuz.
Speaking to reporters in India on May 15, Araqchi said that since Iran and Oman are located on opposite sides of the Strait of Hormuz, they should decide on the management of the vital waterway.
“Iran and Oman are two coastal countries on both sides of the Strait of Hormuz, and this strait is located in the territorial waters of the two countries and there are no international waters between them. Therefore, the management of this route should be done by Iran and Oman,” he said.
Oman has not yet responded to the comments.
The United States opposes Iran having control of the strait and opposes Tehran’s desire to collect tolls in exchange for allowing ships to pass through, and has said Oman also agrees with this stance.
The Strait of Hormuz in southern Iran is the transit point for about 20 percent of the world’s oil and gas, and in addition, the bulk of the fertilizer used in agricultural production is transported around the world through this point.
Following the joint US-Israeli strikes on Iranian territory on February 28, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps immediately announced that the Strait of Hormuz was closed.
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10:46
Luke Coffey On How Tehran Has Adapted Kremlin Negotiation Tactics
WASHINGTON –As Washington weighs its next steps with Tehran, some analysts see familiar patterns emerging — not from the Middle East, but from the Kremlin’s playbook.
Luke Coffey
In an interview with RFE/RL,Luke Coffey,a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute focusing on national security and transatlantic relations, said Iran appears to be borrowing directly from Russia’s negotiation strategy: Prolong talks, seek concessions incrementally, and avoid making meaningful commitments while maintaining the appearance of diplomacy.
“The Iranians know what they can get away with. They know how to drag the discussions out, make it look like Trump is achieving something, when in reality, he’ll achieve nothing,” says Coffey. “And they have learned this from the Russians.”
To read the full interview, clickhere.
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09:46
Senior Member Of Iran Proxy Group Close to Soleimani Arrested, Transferred To US
The FBI announced that a senior member of the Iraqi Kataib Hezbollah group, one of Iran’s main proxy groups, named Mohammad Baqir Saad Dawood al-Saadi has been arrested and transferred to the United States for trial.
The New York State Attorney General’s Office posted a photo on X on May 15 of the Kataib member alongside Qasem Soleimani, the former commander of the Quds Force who was killed in a US strike during President Donald Trump’s first term. Reports say he identified himself as Mohammad Baqir Soleimani.
The United States considers Kataib Hezbollah a terrorist group. Before the Iran war, the group had declared it would fight on behalf of the Islamic republic if war were to break out.
Al-Saadi faces six terrorism-related charges for his activities as a member of Kataib Hezbollah and the Quds Force, the international branch of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps.
He is said to have been arrested in Turkey after traveling outside Iraq.
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09:34
Trump Says Iran Has Been Close To A Deal ‘4 Or 5 Times’
US President Donald Trump said that Iran has come close to reaching a full agreement with the United States “four or five times” but repeatedly reversed course at the last minute.
“Every time they agree, the next day it’s like we didn’t even talk,” Trump told Fox News on May 15. “And this has happened four or five times. There’s something wrong with them. Honestly, they’re crazy.”
He added: “And because they’re crazy, they can’t have a nuclear weapon.”
Trump also claimed Iran had previously agreed to hand over its enriched uranium stockpile during negotiations with the United States.
“No nukes,” Trump said. “They were going to give us the nuclear dust. Whatever we wanted.”
In another appearance, Trump said: “Iran told me very strongly…they intend to give us the nuclear dust, as I call it,” referring to enriched uranium allegedly buried at bombed nuclear sites.
He also said Iranian officials had told the United States: “You will have to take it out. We don’t have the capability of doing it.”
Trump made similar comments to reporters before departing for China, saying Iran had at one point agreed to surrender enriched nuclear material as part of a broader settlement.
Iranian officials, including Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi, have denied accepting US conditions.
“The issue of enrichment is complicated, and in order to reach a conclusion with the American side, we proposed that this discussion be postponed,” Araqchi said on May 15.
Trump also told Fox News in the interview that Chinese President Xi Jinping agreed with him that the war should end.
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02:43
We are now closing the live blog for the day. We’ll be back at 7:30 a.m. Central European time to cover the latest events across the Middle East.
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