Iran accuses US of ceasefire breach after ships, Hormuz struck

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President Donald Trump on Thursday told reporters that the United States is negotiating with Iran, following a fresh exchange of fire between the two countries.

President Donald Trump said on Thursday US forces dealt "great damage" to Iranian targets after three American naval destroyers came under fire, but was nonetheless still open to a deal with Tehran.

"There was no damage done to the three Destroyers, but great damage done to the Iranian attackers," he said on his Truth Social platform, colorfully describing drones falling "like a butterfly dropping to its grave!"

"We'll knock them out a lot harder, and a lot more violently, in the future, if they don't get their Deal signed, FAST!" he added.

US President Donald Trump told ABC News on Thursday that the ceasefire with Iran remained in place despite new strikes, according to an ABC reporter on X.

Iran's central military command accused the United States of violating the ceasefire in the Middle East war with attacks on vessels in the Strait of Hormuz, saying they attacked US forces in retaliation.

The US "targeted an Iranian oil tanker moving from the coastal waters of Iran in the Jask region towards the Strait of Hormuz, as well as another ship entering the Strait of Hormuz opposite the port of Fujairah, UAE", the Khatam al-Anbiya said in a statement quoted by state TV, accusing the US of also carrying out strikes elsewhere in the south "in cooperation with some countries in the region".

Iranian forces "immediately and in retaliation attacked American military vessels", it added.

The United States struck Iranian military targets on Thursday after Tehran's forces attacked three American destroyers that were transiting the Strait of Hormuz, the US military said.

"Iranian forces launched multiple missiles, drones and small boats" at the three warships, but none were hit, the US military's Central Command said in a post on X.

US forces "eliminated inbound threats and targeted Iranian military facilities responsible" for the attack, it added.

The US military on Thursday carried out strikes on Iran’s Qeshm port and Bandar Abbas, a Fox News reporter said in a post on X, citing a senior US official.

The official said the strikes do not mean a restarting of the war or an end to the ceasefire announced on 7 April, according to the post.

The strikes took place as the US awaited Iran's response to a US proposal that would halt fighting between the two countries but leave the most contentious issues, such as Iran's nuclear program, unresolved for now.

Lebanon's health ministry reported at least 12 people killed, including two children and a paramedic, in a series of Israeli airstrikes carried out on Thursday in spite of a ceasefire.

In separate statements, the ministry reported 11 people killed, two of them children, in strikes on three different villages in Nabatieh district. Another strike in Marajayoun district killed one paramedic from a Hezbollah-affilitated rescue service and wounded another, the ministry said.

Iranian state TV reported explosions on an island in the Strait of Hormuz on Thursday, saying they occurred during an "exchange of fire".

"The explosions at the Bahman pier on Qeshm Island occurred during an exchange of fire between Iranian armed forces and the enemy," the broadcaster IRIB reported.

Other Iranian news outlets also reported the blasts, while the Israeli military told AFP it was "not aware of such" a strike.

The United States and its Gulf allies pressed the United Nations on Thursday to demand Iran end its blockage of shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, as a resolution on the issue faced a veto threat.

Diplomatic sources said veto-holding Russia, a key ally of Iran, had warned on Wednesday it was prepared to block the UN Security Council resolution.

"We believe in some basic fundamental principles, namely the freedom of navigation for the entire world's economies. That's what's at stake here, nothing less than a cornerstone of worldwide stability and commerce," US ambassador Mike Waltz said, surrounded by his counterparts from Bahrein, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar and Kuwait.

The United States and Bahrein recently presented the Security Council with a draft resolution calling on Iran to free up the Strait of Hormuz, refrain from charging tolls, specify where it has placed mines, and allow the creation of a humanitarian corridor for shipments of fertilizer, amid fears of global food shortages.

Iran's Fars news agency said on Thursday that several sounds resembling explosions were heard near Bandar Abbas city, adding the origin and the location of these sounds was unknown.

Saudi Arabia and Kuwait have lifted restrictions on the US military’s use of their bases and airspace that were imposed after the launch of a US operation to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, the Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday, citing US and Saudi officials.

Reuters could not immediately verify the report.

The United States on Thursday urged Iran to free jailed Nobel Peace Prize winner Narges Mohammadi after her supporters warned she was at risk of dying in custody.

Mohammadi, 54, a human rights activist who has spent much of the past two decades behind bars, is believed to have had two heart attacks in recent weeks, according to her supporters.

"We call on the Iranian regime to release her now and give her the care she needs. The world is watching," Riley Barnes, the US assistant secretary of state in charge of human rights, wrote on social media.

The United States and Israel attacked Iran on February 28. Mohammadi has criticized war against her country, saying during last year's Israeli bombing campaign that the violence hurt ordinary people and only entrenched the clerical state.

She was arrested again in December after denouncing the Islamic republic at a funeral for a lawyer.

The United States under President Donald Trump has not spoken out often on human rights, seeing the issue as a cudgel against adversaries but largely holding off on criticizing countries aligned with the Republican administration.

Around 1,500 ships and their crews are trapped in the Gulf due to the Iranian blockade in the strait of Hormuz, the secretary general of the UN's International Maritime Organization (IMO) said in Panama on Thursday.

The war in the Middle East, unleashed February 28 by Israel and the United States against Iran, provoked reprisals from Tehran across the region and a shipping blockade in Hormuz, a crucial global trade route.

"Right now, we have approximately 20,000 crewmen and around 1,500 ships trapped," Arsenio Dominguez told the Maritime Convention of the Americas.

Dominguez said that maritime shipping moves over 80 percent of total consumed products in the world.

The stranded crew members "are innocent people who are doing their jobs every day for the benefit of other countries," but "are trapped by geopolitical situations outside their control," Dominguez told the gathering of industry executives and IMO representatives.

Before the conflict's outbreak, a fifth of the world's total petroleum and gas passed through the Strait of Hormuz. The closure has led to a significant global surge in the price of hydrocarbons.

On Monday, US President Donald Trump announced a naval operation to escort the trapped ships and force the opening of the strait, but called off the push shortly after.

Washington is now waiting for an Iranian response to proposals for ending the war and reopening the Hormuz strait.

Liquefied natural gas (LNG) carriers have transited the Strait of Hormuz five times over the past two weeks, maritime tracking firm Kpler said Thursday.

That was up from just one between March 1 and April 21, after the Middle East war largely halted traffic through the strategic waterway.

Normally in peacetime, 20 percent of global seaborne LNG passes through the Strait of Hormuz.

"LNG operators have remained highly cautious about transiting the strait given the high value of the vessels and the relatively limited size of the global LNG fleet," Laura Page, Kpler analyst told AFP.

The five crossings recorded since April 22 have involved four LNG tankers linked to the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

All kept their transponders off as they navigated the strait.

Two of them -- the Mubaraz on April 23 and the Mraweh on April 27 -- were carrying cargo.

The Mubaraz switched its signal off on March 28 after loading an LNG cargo on March 2 at Das Island in the UAE.

The ship switched its signal back on when it was off southern India on April 27, tracking data from Global Fishing Watch and Bloomberg shows.

The Mraweh switched off its transponder on April 19 east of the strait near Khor Fakkan in the UAE, switching it back on Wednesday near the Strait of Malacca while sailing towards Japan.

The vessel's shipping history since 2020 shows it exclusively transports LNG cargoes from Das Island, generally to China, India or Japan, according to Kpler.

This time, Kpler believes it entered the Gulf through Hormuz on April 22, loaded its cargo on April 24 and exited the Gulf on April 27 -- all without transmitting its position.

According to Kpler, two other empty LNG carriers -- the Al Hamra on April 25 and the Marigold on May 4 -- entered the Gulf through the strait with their signals off.

Both vessels have not turned their transponders back on and are still in the Gulf, according Kpler.

Democratic lawmakers have called on the United States to break its silence on Israel's suspected nuclear weapons program, shattering a decades-long bipartisan reticence in Washington on the sensitive issue.

Israel is widely believed to have developed nuclear weapons in the 1960s but keeps a deliberately ambiguous policy by neither confirming nor denying its arsenal, which is is not subject to any international monitoring.

Some 30 Democratic lawmakers led by Representative Joaquin Castro said that the United States needed clear answers after President Donald Trump joined Israel in a war against Iran, launched in part over charges that Tehran has been seeking to build a weapon through its nominally civilian nuclear program.

"We cannot develop coherent nonproliferation policy for the Middle East, including with respect to Iran's civil nuclear program and Saudi Arabia's civil nuclear ambitions, while maintaining a policy of official silence about the nuclear weapons capabilities of one party central to the ongoing conflict in which the United States is a direct participant," they wrote in the letter made public late Wednesday.

"We ask that you hold Israel to the same standard of transparency that the United States expects from any other country that may be pursuing or retaining nuclear weapons capability."

The lawmakers asked Secretary of State Marco Rubio to reply by May 18 to explain Israel's nuclear capabilities as well as its nuclear doctrine, including whether Israel could use the ultra-destructive weapons in Iran.

They also asked for an assessment of risk for US citizens of any future Iranian strike on Israel's secretive Dimona nuclear research center. Iranian missiles injured dozens nearby in March, stunning residents of the tightly guarded desert town.

Lebanon and Israel will hold a new round of peace talks on May 14-15 in Washington, a US official said Thursday, despite a new Israeli strike in the heart of Beirut.

The attack late Wednesday killed a senior commander of Hezbollah, with Israel saying it will keep targeting the Iranian-backed group despite a ceasefire in place in Lebanon.

Next week's talks will be the third between Israel and Lebanon, which had not spoken directly for decades and have no diplomatic relations.

"There will be talks between Lebanon and Israel Thursday and Friday next week in Washington," a State Department official said on condition of anonymity.

Israeli strikes in Lebanon have killed more than 2,700 people since March 2, including dozens since a ceasefire was declared, according to Lebanese authorities.

At the last talks on April 23, the two sides met in the White House with President Donald Trump, who announced a three-week extension of the ceasefire.

He also said that he expected a historic meeting within the ceasefire period between Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Lebanese President Joseph Aoun.

But Aoun said Monday that the timing was not yet right for a meeting, saying that first the two countries must reach a security agreement.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio, at a news conference on Tuesday, said that "there's no problem between the Lebanese government and the Israeli government" and that Hezbollah was the issue.

The United Arab Emirates will form a committee to document Iran's attacks during the Middle East war to support legal action, state media said Thursday, after earlier calling for reparations.

Major landmarks including Dubai's luxury Palm development, as well as airports and energy facilities, were among the sites hit in Iran's retaliatory attacks on the Gulf.

The UAE bore the brunt of the attacks, having been targeted by more than 2,800 drones and missiles from the neighbouring country.

A new national committee has been tasked with "documenting and monitoring all incidents of attacks and military actions associated with the Iranian aggression", the official WAM news agency said.

"The outcomes of the committee's work will contribute to supporting the UAE's legal efforts at both the national and international levels by preparing a comprehensive documentation file," it added.

Last month, the UAE insisted that Iran should pay for the damage it has caused.

The attacks "necessitate a firm position, including ensuring that Iran is held accountable and fully liable for damages and reparations", a foreign ministry statement said.

The Middle East war has rocked the wealthy UAE, cutting off most oil exports and undercutting the safe-haven image that helped it become the region's financial hub.

News agency AFP reported, citing a Saudi source, on Thursday that Riyadh rejected a US media report saying President Donald Trump announced a pause in an American military operation to guide stranded ships through the Strait of Hormuz following an intervention by Riyadh.

According to a report from US network NBC News, Trump's U-turn came after Saudi Arabia -- whose Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman reportedly talked directly to Trump -- refused to allow US forces to use its airspace and bases for the Hormuz operation.

"This isn't true," a source close to the Saudi government told AFP. The United States still has regular access to Saudi bases and airspace, the source added.

Global oil prices fell more than five percent Thursday on optimism over talks aimed at ending the Middle East war.

International benchmark, Brent North Sea crude, shed 5.1 percent to $96.06 a barrel.

The main US contract, West Texas Intermediate, lost 5.5 percent to $89.87.

The EU is set to tell airlines the impact from the Iran war on tourism is not severe enough to warrant emergency measures like waiving their obligations to compensate passengers for flight cancellations, draft EU guidelines seen by news agency Reuters showed.

European airlines have largely ridden out the crisis so far, with hedges cushioning costs even as jet fuel prices have risen nearly 84% since the US-Israeli war with Iran began on February 28. Carriers have warned, however, that supply shortages could emerge within weeks.

"The current situation does not point to the need for dedicated measures for the tourism sector, unlike during the COVID-19 crisis," the draft EU guidelines for industry and passengers said.

"At this stage, available data indicate that overall impacts on tourism remain limited, with demand remaining broadly resilient," it added.

High fuel prices do not count as an extraordinary circumstance that would allow airlines to avoid compensating passengers for cancelled flights, the guidelines said. Local fuel shortages could justify this, it added.

No jet fuel shortages have been reported in the European Union. Europe relies on imports for about 75% of its jet fuel, mainly from the Middle East, more than for any other transport fuel.

The EU will also reiterate that under existing laws airlines can use Jet A grade fuel - which is mainly used in the US- in place of the Jet A-1 grade widely used in Europe, if it helps replace Middle Eastern supplies.

Jet A-1 fuel is preferred in Europe because it has a lower freezing point than Jet A, although both grades are certified for commercial use.

A European Commission spokesperson declined to comment on the document, which could still change before publication on Friday.

An Israeli settler suspected of kicking and wounding a French Catholic nun in Jerusalem will go on trial for assault motivated by hostility towards a religious group, Israel's justice ministry said Thursday.

The assault on the nun, a 48-year-old researcher at Jerusalem's French School of Biblical and Archaeological Research, occurred on Mount Zion, just outside the Old City.

The suspect, named Yona Simcha Schreiber, 36, is from a settlement in the occupied West Bank named Peduel.

He has been under arrest since April 29, and the prosecution has asked that he remain in detention until the trial, the ministry said in a statement.

The man faces a charge of assault resulting in injuries, motivated by hostility towards a religious group.

Surveillance footage from the scene showed an attacker rushing towards the nun, who was dressed in a white habit and black veil, and violently pushing her to the ground, her head hitting a stone block.

The man leaves, only to return and kick her before being stopped by a passer-by.

The French consulate in Jerusalem had condemned the attack, demanding that the man behind it be brought to trial.

At the time, the Faculty of Humanities at Jerusalem's Hebrew University in a statement expressed "profound shock and condemnation", and deplored the increasingly common nature of the attack.

"This is not an isolated incident, but part of a troubling pattern of rising hostility towards the Christian community and its symbols," the faculty said.

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio's meeting with Pope Leo at the Vatican on Thursday showed a "strong" relationship between the Holy See and the U.S., a State Department spokesman said.

Leo, the first US pope, met with Rubio amid an atmosphere of tension between Washington and the Vatican following President Donald Trump's repeated attacks on the Catholic leader over the Iran war.

Nightly explosions of drones and missiles terrified Indian sailor Tithi Chiranjeevi after his ship was stranded in Iran for more than a month by the Strait of Hormuz blockade caused by the Middle East conflict.

"Around 10 to 20 missiles struck every night. No one could sleep," he told news agency Reuters, describing conditions outside Iran's port of Khorramshahr on his return home last week, after an arduous 15-day journey through Iraq, Armenia, and Dubai.

The 28-year-old had spent the previous six months working on the Iranian ship Ilda, carrying construction material to Dubai.

The vessel was one of 2,000 trapped in the vicinity of the 104-mile (17-km) waterway that normally carries a fifth of the world's supplies of oil and liquefied natural gas (LNG).

Violence in the region has killed at least three Indian seafarers so far. Before the conflict began in February, about 138 ships passed through the Strait each day, the Joint Maritime Information Centre says.

As food ran out and communication links snapped, Chiranjeevi lost contact with his widowed mother at home in the southern port city of Visakhapatnam.

"They (our families) were very concerned," he said.

A colleague, Anant Singh Chauhan, also worried whether he would be reunited with his parents, living in the town of Dewaria in India's northern state of Uttar Pradesh.

"Sometimes, we used to feel we won't be able to make it back home," said Chauhan, who returned along with Chiranjeevi.

French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot has ruled out lifting sanctions on Iran while the Strait of Hormuz remains blocked by Iranian forces.

"We ourselves have imposed significant sanctions on Iran. But it is out of the question that any sanction whatsoever be lifted as long as the Strait of Hormuz remains blocked," Barrot told French broadcaster RTL.

"It cannot be blocked, subjected to tolls, or used as leverage or blackmail."

Barrot said France must ensure it is never again placed in a position where it pays the price for wars it did not choose to fight.

"That is why we must focus on … how Europe can rid itself of all these dependencies on hydrocarbons and oil – no longer being dependent on oil, no longer being dependent on digital technologies. In short, no longer being dependent on things that, in one way or another, draw us into conflicts, disasters, and crises in which we are not participants."

Israeli military spokesperson Avichay Adraee said the army has killed 220 Hezbollah fighters since the US-brokered “ceasefire” between Israel and Lebanon began in mid-April.

According to the statement, Israeli forces killed 85 Hezbollah members over the past week and struck more than 180 military sites linked to the group.

Lebanon’s Health Ministry says Israeli attacks have killed more than 2,700 people since 2 March, including dozens since the truce came into effect.

The Israeli military said Thursday it would investigate after a soldier was photographed placing a cigarette in the mouth of a statue of the Virgin Mary in southern Lebanon.

An image appearing to show an Israeli soldier with his arm around the revered Christian figure and holding a cigarette up to her mouth was widely shared on social media on Wednesday.

When asked for its response to the image, the Israeli military said it "views the incident with utmost severity and emphasises that the conduct of the soldier completely deviates from the values expected of its personnel."

"The incident will be investigated, and command measures will be taken against the soldier in accordance with the findings," it added.

It said that an initial review showed the image was taken several weeks ago.

It is not the first time the Israeli military has come under fire in recent weeks over soldiers' conduct surrounding Christian statues in southern Lebanon.

In late April, the military said two soldiers would receive 30 days of military detention and be removed from combat duty over the destruction of a statue of Jesus Christ in the south Lebanese village of Debl.

In that incident, a photo was shared online showing an Israeli soldier using a sledgehammer to strike the head of a statue of a crucified Jesus that had fallen off a cross.

The Israeli military said on Thursday it "respects freedom of religion and worship, as well as holy sites and religious symbols of all religions and communities".

It added that it had "no intention of harming civilian infrastructure, including religious buildings or religious symbols."

Israel pummelled southern Lebanon on Thursday, state media and AFP news agency said, a day after it targeted a Hezbollah commander in its first strike on Beirut's southern suburbs since a truce sought to end weeks of fighting.

The Israeli army said Thursday that the strike on the southern suburbs killed "the Commander of Hezbollah's 'Radwan Force' Unit", an elite unit within the Iran-backed armed group Hezbollah.

A ceasefire in the war between Hezbollah and Israel began on April 17, but combat has largely not stopped in southern Lebanon.

Wednesday's strike near the capital, however, came as a shock in Lebanon.

AFP news agency reported that the top floors of a residential building in the southern suburbs were totally destroyed, and rescuers searching through the rubble on Thursday morning.

Hezbollah has not retaliated for the attack.

Lebanese state media reported Israeli strikes across a number of southern towns and villages, and the Israeli army issued fresh evacuation warnings to three villages north of the Litani River, and outside the area occupied by Israeli troops following their ground invasion of the border area.

Some of the Israeli strikes, on the southern city of Nabatieh, targeted a shopping centre and residential buildings, state media and AFP reported.

In the nearby village of Toul, two rescuers from the Hezbollah-affiliated Islamic Health Committee were wounded in an Israeli strike as they were dispatched following a previous attack, spokesperson Mahmoud Karaki told AFP.

The team's ambulance was heavily damaged, he added.

Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian said he met recently with Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei, state media reported on Thursday, offering a first public account of him meeting Khamenei after the latter suffered severe wounds at the start of the US-Israeli war on Iran.

The meeting was marked by a "humble and deeply cordial" atmosphere, Pezeshkian was reported as saying. 

US President Donald Trump’s abrupt reversal on his “Project Freedom” plan to escort ships through the Strait of Hormuz reportedly came after Saudi Arabia suspended US access to Prince Sultan Air Base and Saudi airspace for the operation, according to NBC News, citing two US officials.

The report said Trump’s announcement of the plan on social media on Sunday frustrated the Saudi leadership, prompting the kingdom to inform Washington it would not support the operation.

Drop Site later reported that a US administration official confirmed Kuwait had also suspended US access to its military bases and airspace.

Gaza health officials said Israeli strikes killed six people across the Palestinian territory on Wednesday and wounded several others, including the son of Hamas's chief negotiator.

Despite an October ceasefire, Gaza remains gripped by daily violence as Israeli strikes continue, with both the military and Hamas accusing one another of violating the truce.

"Five people have been killed since this morning in strikes by the occupation on the Gaza Strip," the civil defence agency, which operates as a rescue service under Hamas, said.

Gaza City's Al-Ahli hospital reported receiving "three dead and a number of wounded following an Israeli drone strike on the Zeitoun neighbourhood, southeast of Gaza City".

A separate strike on the Al-Daraj neighbourhood of Gaza City killed one person and wounded 10 others, including the son of Hamas's chief negotiator Khalil al-Hayya, the hospital and a security source said.

Japan's Nikkei index of shares surged more than four percent on Thursday on hopes of a deal between Iran and the United States and on the back of gains in tech stocks on Wall Street.

At 9:31 am, the Nikkei 225 was up 4.1 percent at 61,937.78 points. Investors were also closely watching the yen after speculation of intervention by the Japanese government to prop up the beleaguered currency.

French President Emmanuel Macron said he told Iranian counterpart Masoud Pezeshkian on Wednesday that attacks on Emirati civilian infrastructure and ships near the Strait of Hormuz were "unjustified".

"I expressed my deep concern about the ongoing escalation and condemned the unjustified strikes against Emirati civilian infrastructure and several ships," he said on X after the discussion.

The Iranian presidency said on its website that Macron and Pezeshkian had discussed the latest regional developments, the course of negotiations and the situation in the Strait of Hormuz in a telephone call.

"We are pleased that France's approach is based on resolving issues through dialogue," Pezeshkian told Macron, according to Iran's presidency.

But "any negotiation regarding the full reopening of the Strait of Hormuz requires the lifting of the naval blockade imposed by the United States", he added.

"Iran is ready to resolve all issues within the framework of international laws and regulations and has no demands beyond securing the legitimate rights of the Iranian nation," Pezeshkian said.

He also provided reasons for Iran's "distrust" of the United States.

"Excessive demands, threatening statements, and failure to adhere to necessary frameworks by the United States have further complicated the path of diplomacy," he said.

Iranian soccer chief Mehdi Taj said on Wednesday he will have a meeting with FIFA President Gianni Infantino in the next three or four days at which he would seek assurances that his country will be respected at the World Cup in the United States.

Canada, which is co-hosting the June 11 to July 19 World Cup with the US and Mexico, said it refused entry to Taj last week because of his links to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).

Taj said on Tuesday that Iran would not take part in the tournament if FIFA could not guarantee respect for the country's institutions in the US, where the team will be based and play all three of their group matches.

"We will tell (FIFA) what our expectations are. If they can address them, we will definitely participate," the FFIRI president told state broadcaster IRIB in Tehran on Wednesday.

"But if there is no guarantee that they will be addressed, then no one has the right to insult us or the pillars of our system.

"And if they continue on the path of disrespect, and even ask our players those kinds of questions, we may make a different decision."

Both the U.S. and Canada classify the IRGC as a "terrorist entity" and have made it clear they will not admit people with links to the elite military force.

Taj, who served as a high-ranking official with the IRGC before moving into soccer administration, received the backing of Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghaei for his stance on Wednesday.

"Look, our national football team is not 'travelling' to the United States, rather we are going there to take part in the FIFA World Cup," Baghaei told reporters in Tehran.

"Therefore, it is FIFA's responsibility to provide all the necessary facilities and conditions.

Iran denied any involvement by its armed forces in damage to a South Korean vessel in the Strait of Hormuz, its embassy in Seoul said on Thursday in a statement, adding that safe passage through the waterway requires strict adherence to Iranian regulations.

On Monday, a Panama-flagged ship operated by South Korea's HMM suffered an explosion and caught fire, with US President Donald Trump blaming the incident on an Iranian attack, while South Korea's Foreign Ministry said the cause of the fire would only be confirmed after the vessel was towed ​back to port and inspected. 

Danish global shipping giant Maersk said Thursday it was maintaining its 2026 forecasts despite the Middle East war and the uncertainty the conflict has generated.

"The conflict in the Middle East, which began on 28 February 2026, has introduced an additional layer of uncertainty," said Maersk in a statement as first quarter net profit dived.

The firm noted that "traffic at the Strait of Hormuz remains at a near-standstill" and that "the conflict has already weighed on sentiment," denting consumer confidence.

Global demand for container shipping nonetheless rose between three and five percent year-on-year in the first quarter.

Between January and March, Maersk's net profit came in at $100 million, 12 times lower than the same period last year when its return was boosted by demand for maritime transport.

Revenue totaled $12.97 billion, down 2.6 percent for a company widely considered a bellwether for global trade.

In the first quarter, freight rates were lower, although that was partially offset by a 9.3 percent rise in volumes, Maersk noted in its quarterly report.

"We've seen strong demand across most regions this quarter, supporting robust volume growth in our three business segments," said CEO Vincent Clerc.

"In (maritime transport segment) Ocean in particular, market volatility remains high and industry oversupply continues to put pressure on rates."