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US Fires on Iran Tankers as Talks Hang in Balance

US and Iran flags are seen in this illustration taken June 18, 2025. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo
US and Iran flags are seen in this illustration taken June 18, 2025. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo
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US Fires on Iran Tankers as Talks Hang in Balance

US and Iran flags are seen in this illustration taken June 18, 2025. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo
US and Iran flags are seen in this illustration taken June 18, 2025. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo

A US warplane disabled two Iranian tankers to enforce a port blockade on Friday, after Washington's top diplomat said he was awaiting Tehran's response to the latest proposed deal to end the Gulf conflict.

US Central Command said an F/A-18 Super Hornet had used precision munitions on the two ships to prevent them from continuing to Iran, as Iranian media reported "sporadic clashes" with US vessels in the Strait of Hormuz, AFP reported.

The latest incidents came after an overnight exchange of fire that triggered fears of a breakdown in the Gulf ceasefire, and after US Secretary of State Marco Rubio told reporters in Rome that Washington hoped to receive Tehran's answer to the US proposal later on Friday.

Rubio said Iran must not control the Strait of Hormuz, where the flare-ups took place, but added: "We're expecting a response from them today at some point... I hope it's a serious offer, I really do."

Washington has sent Iran, via Pakistani mediators, a proposal to extend the truce in the Gulf to allow talks on a final settlement of the conflict launched 10 weeks ago with US-Israeli strikes on Tehran.

Iran's foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei said Friday that the proposal was still "under review, and once a final decision is reached, it will certainly be announced", according to the ISNA news agency.

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World

Iran Says Redirects US-sanctioned Oil Tanker to Its Shores

FILE PHOTO: An aerial view of the Iranian shores and the island of Qeshm in the strait of Hormuz, December 10, 2023. REUTERS/Stringer/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: An aerial view of the Iranian shores and the island of Qeshm in the strait of Hormuz, December 10, 2023. REUTERS/Stringer/File Photo
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Iran Says Redirects US-sanctioned Oil Tanker to Its Shores

FILE PHOTO: An aerial view of the Iranian shores and the island of Qeshm in the strait of Hormuz, December 10, 2023. REUTERS/Stringer/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: An aerial view of the Iranian shores and the island of Qeshm in the strait of Hormuz, December 10, 2023. REUTERS/Stringer/File Photo

Iran said on Friday it redirected a US-sanctioned oil tanker carrying Iranian oil back to its shores, though it was unclear from its statement why it would have returned it, reported AFP.

"The Islamic Republic of Iran's navy, through a specially planned operation in the Sea of Oman, seized the offending tanker Ocean Koi," the army said in a statement carried by state television, adding that the oil belonged to Iran.

It said the ship was redirected to Iran's southern shores after it sought "to damage and disrupt Iran's oil exports," without elaborating.

World

Meloni Meets Rubio as Iran War Strains Italy-US Ties

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio leaves the San Damaso courtyard after meeting Pope Leo XIV at the Vatican, May 7, 2026. REUTERS/Yara Nardi
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio leaves the San Damaso courtyard after meeting Pope Leo XIV at the Vatican, May 7, 2026. REUTERS/Yara Nardi
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Meloni Meets Rubio as Iran War Strains Italy-US Ties

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio leaves the San Damaso courtyard after meeting Pope Leo XIV at the Vatican, May 7, 2026. REUTERS/Yara Nardi
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio leaves the San Damaso courtyard after meeting Pope Leo XIV at the Vatican, May 7, 2026. REUTERS/Yara Nardi

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni met US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Friday at a moment of unusual strain between her government and President Donald Trump's administration, driven largely by the war with Iran.

Rubio is in Italy for a two-day trip aimed at easing ties with Pope Leo after unprecedented attacks on the pontiff by Trump, while also addressing Washington's frustration over Italy's refusal to support the US-Israeli war on Iran.

Meloni had been one of Trump's firmest supporters in Europe, cultivating close ties with him and presenting herself as a natural ‌bridge between Washington ‌and other EU states that had no natural political ‌affinity ⁠with the Republican ⁠US leader.

But that alignment has come under increasing strain in recent months, as the Iran war has forced her to balance loyalty to the United States against Italian public animosity to the war and the growing economic cost of the conflict.

Before heading to the prime minister's office, Rubio met Italy's Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani, who said the talks had been positive.

"I am convinced ⁠that Europe needs America, Italy needs America, but the United ‌States also needs Europe and Italy," Tajani ‌told reporters.

Meloni and Rubio were expected to discuss the situation in the Gulf, as ‌well as Russia's war on Ukraine, US tariffs on European goods and ‌the outlook for Cuba, which Washington is seeking to isolate both diplomatically and economically.

TRUMP'S ATTACKS ON POPE

The Italians will also be keen for a readout on Rubio's meetings at the Vatican. Trump's recent attacks on Pope Leo crossed a sensitive ‌line in overwhelmingly Catholic Italy and prompted Meloni to call them "unacceptable."

Her criticism in turn drew a sharp rebuke ⁠from Trump, who said ⁠she lacked courage and had let Washington down. He subsequently threatened to withdraw US troops from Italy.

Meloni said on Monday she would not support such a move, but acknowledged that the decision "doesn't depend on me".

Italy last month refused to allow US aircraft to use the Sigonella air base in Sicily for combat operations linked to the Iran conflict. Italian officials have said Washington had not sought prior authorization from Rome for the use of the site.

Defense Minister Guido Crosetto, a close Meloni ally, later warned that the Iran war was putting US global leadership at risk and said he feared the "madness" of nuclear escalation.

Pollsters say Meloni's ties to Trump could prove a potential liability with voters ahead of national elections due next year.

World

Trump Says Ceasefire Still Holds after Fighting Between the US and Iran Flares

US President Donald Trump looks on as he speaks to reporters near the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool as it undergoes renovations, in Washington, D.C., US, May 7, 2026. REUTERS/Kylie Cooper
US President Donald Trump looks on as he speaks to reporters near the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool as it undergoes renovations, in Washington, D.C., US, May 7, 2026. REUTERS/Kylie Cooper
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Trump Says Ceasefire Still Holds after Fighting Between the US and Iran Flares

US President Donald Trump looks on as he speaks to reporters near the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool as it undergoes renovations, in Washington, D.C., US, May 7, 2026. REUTERS/Kylie Cooper
US President Donald Trump looks on as he speaks to reporters near the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool as it undergoes renovations, in Washington, D.C., US, May 7, 2026. REUTERS/Kylie Cooper

US and Iranian forces clashed in the Gulf, but President Donald Trump said a ceasefire was still holding despite the flare-up, which dented hopes for a swift diplomatic resolution to the crisis.

The escalation came as Washington awaited Tehran's response to a US proposal to end the war, which began on February 28 when the US and Israel launched airstrikes on Iran.

Trump said on Thursday three US Navy destroyers were attacked as they moved through the Strait of Hormuz, a conduit for around a fifth of the world's oil and liquefied natural gas flows that Iran has all but closed since the conflict began.

"Three World Class American Destroyers just transited, very successfully, out of the Strait of Hormuz, under fire. There was no damage done to the three Destroyers, but great damage done to the Iranian attackers," Trump wrote on Truth Social.

He later told reporters the ceasefire remained in effect and played down the exchange.

"They trifled with us today. We blew them away," Trump said in Washington.

Iran, however, accused the United ⁠States of breaching ⁠the ceasefire, an agreement that has been punctuated by intermittent clashes since it was announced on April 7.

Iran's top joint military command said US forces had targeted an Iranian oil tanker and another ship, and carried out air attacks on civilian areas on Qeshm Island in the Strait of Hormuz and nearby coastal areas. It said Iranian forces responded by attacking US military vessels east of the strait and south of the port of Chabahar.

A spokesperson for Iran's Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters said the Iranian strikes inflicted "significant damage," but US Central Command said none of its assets were hit.

Iranian state media later signaled a de-escalation, with Press TV reporting that, after several hours of exchanges, "the situation on Iranian islands and coastal cities by the Strait of Hormuz is back to normal now."