US struck tankers 'trying to break Iran blockade', Iran response to Trump proposal expected Friday

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US President Donald Trump said Friday that he was expecting Iran's response to Washington's latest proposal on a deal to ending the Middle East war by "tonight."

"I'm getting a letter supposedly tonight, so we'll see how that goes," Trump told reporters outside the White House.

Satellite images appeared to show an oil slick spreading off the coast of Iran's Kharg Island, a key oil export terminal for the Islamic republic.

It was not immediately clear what had caused the apparent spill, which was located off the small Gulf island's west coast.

Orbital EOS, which monitors oil spills, told The New York Times that the spill appeared to cover more than 20 square miles (52 square kilometers) as of Thursday.

The Conflict and Environment Observatory, a non-governmental organization, said on X that the "original source remains unclear, meanwhile it's drifting south and seems unlikely to be addressed appropriately."

The U.S. Treasury on Friday announced sanctions against 10 individuals and companies, including several in China and Hong Kong, for aiding efforts by Iran's military to secure weapons and raw materials used to build Tehran's Shahed drones.

The Treasury move, first reported by Reuters, comes days before U.S. President Donald Trump plans to travel to China for a meeting with President Xi Jinping and as efforts to end the war in Iran have stalled.

Global stock markets diverged and oil prices rose Friday as fresh US-Iran clashes in the Strait of Hormuz jolted hopes for a deal to end the Middle East war and reopen the crucial waterway.

While European bourses retreated, the S&P 500 and Nasdaq indices both pushed to fresh records on solid US jobs numbers. The Dow ended flat.

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Washington has revised its proposed U.N. resolution demanding Iran halt attacks and mining in the Strait of Hormuz but the changes are unlikely to avert Chinese and Russian vetoes, diplomats said on Friday.

A Chinese veto would be awkward ahead of U.S. President Donald Trump's trip to China next week, where the Iran war is likely to be high on the agenda.

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Israeli strikes on Friday killed 10 people in four locations in southern Lebanon, the health ministry said, raising an earlier toll.

The dead include two children and three women, it said. #

Despite a truce in the war between Israel and Hezbollah, fighting has not stopped in south Lebanon, where an Israeli strike also killed a civil defence rescuer earlier in the day.

TKO Group revealed Friday in an earnings call with investors that Saudi Arabia will continue its financial partnership with UFC and WWE owners.

"Our partners in Saudi Arabia have confirmed that (a financial divestment) will not be the case with TKO," president and COO Mark Shapiro of TKO holdings said to Sports Business Journal. "Their commitment to our properties in 2026 and beyond is unwavering."

Questions about Saudi Arabia's commitment to sports-related entities arose amid the news that the country's Public Investment Fund had elected to stop funding its LIV Golf league following the 2026 season.

Saudi Arabia is scheduled to move forward with multiple UFC and WWE events in the region.

According to Yahoo Sports, TKO has six events scheduled to take place in Saudi Arabia between UFC, Zuffa Boxing and WWE.

WWE events have taken place in Saudi Arabia since 2018, with that partnership set to continue at least through 2027.

Thursday’s UK local election results have seen Keir Starmer’s Labour Party suffer major setbacks just two years after securing a landslide general election victory, amid the rise of the right-wing Reform UK Party as well as gains by the Greens and Liberal Democrats. 

One of the key issues shaping debate during the campaign was British foreign policy towards Israel, particularly in the wake of the genocidal war in Gaza and the US-Israeli war on Iran, with observers expecting these issue to influence voting patterns. 

So far, however, results indicate that the main beneficiary has been Reform UK, which has gained more than 300 council seats across England and is now being tipped to emerge as a major opposition force in Scotland and Wales alongside the Scottish National Party (SNP) and Plaid Cymru. 

Amid what analysts describe as one of the most significant shifts in British politics in the past century, The New Arab examines how influential the pro-Palestine vote was in shaping the outcomes of several key city council elections. 

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US Vice President JD Vance is holding talks at the White House with Qatar’s prime minister on the ongoing negotiations with Iran, according to media reports, in the latest sign of intensified backchannel diplomacy over the Iran conflict.

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Syria's interior ministry announced the arrest of a general from ousted president Bashar al-Assad's era, accusing him of involvement in a 2013 chemical attack on a suburb of the capital, Damascus.

On Friday, the ministry said it arrested "Khardal Ahmed Dayoub, a former brigadier general in the forces of the ousted regime and former head of the Air Force Intelligence branch in Daraa, for his direct involvement in systematic violations against civilians".

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Hezbollah launched missiles at a military base in Israel on Friday in response to Israeli attacks that killed a top commander, while Lebanese authorities reported five people including a rescuer killed in fresh Israeli strikes.

In a statement, the group said the missiles targeted a base south of the Israeli city of Nahariya "in response to the Israeli enemy's violation of the ceasefire, the targeting of Beirut's southern suburbs and the attacks that affected villages and civilians in southern Lebanon".

Air raid sirens had sounded earlier in several cities in northern Israel, according to the Israeli military.

The military said it "intercepted one launch, and the additional launches fell in open areas", adding that no injuries were reported.

An adviser to Iran's supreme leader compared control over the Strait of Hormuz to having an "atomic bomb" on Friday, and vowed not to relinquish it.

Adviser Mohammad Mokhber said Iran had long "neglected" its privileged position along the strait.

"The Strait of Hormuz represents an opportunity as precious as an atomic bomb," he said in a video published by the Mehr news agency.

"Indeed, having in one's hands a position that allows you to influence the global economy with a single decision is a major opportunity."

Pledging not to "forfeit the gains of this war", he went on to say Iran would "change the (legal) regime of this strait", through international law if possible, and unilaterally if not.

Mokhber did not specifically mention charging vessels to use the waterway, but the shipping journal Lloyd's List reported on Friday that Iran had created an authority to approve transit through the strait and to collect tolls.

The situation in the Gulf is currently calm, the Tasnim news agency said  citing an Iranian military source, but warned that clashes could occur if US forces attempt to re-enter the Gulf and "cause trouble" for Iranian vessels.

Israeli warplanes launched two strikes on the mountainous outskirts of the town of Nabi Chit in eastern Lebanon's Baalbek district on Friday, the state-run National News Agency reported.

The town has been repeatedly targeted by Israeli strikes and saw two Israeli commando operations in March.

Iranian media reported fresh "sporadic clashes" with US naval forces in the Strait of Hormuz on Friday, following a flare-up the night before, despite the ceasefire in the Gulf.

"For the last hour, sporadic clashes have taken place between the Iranian armed forces and American vessels in the Strait of Hormuz," the Fars news agency said.

U.S. Vice President JD Vance is in a meeting with the prime minister of Qatar to discuss the negotiations with Iran, Axios reported on Friday.

Hezbollah on Friday said it launched missiles at a military base in northern Israel in retaliation for Israeli attacks on southern Lebanon and Beirut's southern suburbs despite a truce.

In a statement, the group said it targeted a base south of the Israeli city of Nahariya. The Israeli military had said earlier that sirens sounded in several northern cities.

The US will not negotiate with Hezbollah and is instead focused on strengthening the Lebanese government to have full sovereignty over its country, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Friday.

Iran accuses US of 'blatant violation' of truce after overnight clashes

Lebanese President Joseph Aoun on Friday met with veteran diplomat Simon Karam, the head of the delegation headed to Washington for planned talks with Israel next week.

Foreign Minister Youssef Raggi said in a statement Friday that Lebanon's goals from the negotiations were "consolidating the ceasefire, securing Israel's withdrawal from occupied Lebanese territory, and restoring the state's full sovereignty over its national territory".

In a statement from the presidency, Aoun said he and Karam discussed "preparations for the meeting scheduled for next Thursday in Washington between the Lebanese, American and Israeli delegations".

Aoun provided Karam with "directives outlining Lebanon's firm positions regarding the negotiations", the statement added.

A Lebanese official who requested anonymity told AFP that Karam "will head to Washington soon" to lead the Lebanese delegation. The Lebanese ambassador to the US, the deputy chief of mission and a military representative will also be part of the delegation, the official added.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Friday slammed Iranian efforts to control the Strait of Hormuz, following a report that Tehran has created an authority to approve transit through the vital waterway.

"Iran now claims that they own, that they have a right to control, an international waterway... That's an unacceptable thing that they're trying to normalise," Rubio told reporters during a visit to Rome.

An Iranian official said on Friday that US attacks overnight in and near the Strait of Hormuz struck an Iranian cargo vessel, wounding 10 sailors and leaving five others missing.

"During the Americans' aggressive actions last night in the waters of the Strait of Hormuz and the Makran Sea (Gulf of Oman), a cargo vessel near the waters of Minab was struck and caught fire," said Mohammad Radmehr an official in the southern Hormozgan province, according to Mehr news agency.

"Ten injured sailors have been transferred to hospital, and local groups and search teams are trying to learn the fate of the other (five) sailors," he added.

It was not immediately clear whether the cargo vessel was directly targeted.

Air raid sirens sounded in several cities in northern Israel on Friday after shelling from Lebanon, the Israeli military said, amid a fragile truce with Lebanese militant group Hezbollah.

After the sirens were activated, "a number of launches were detected toward Israeli territory," an Israeli military statement said.

"The Israeli Air Force intercepted one launch, and the additional launches fell in open areas. No injuries were reported," the statement added, without providing further details.

An Israeli strike on Friday killed four people including two women in the southern Lebanon town of Toura, the health ministry said, as state media and AFP correspondents reported Israel was conducting widespread strikes.

Despite a truce in the war between Israel and Hezbollah, fighting has not stopped in south Lebanon, where an Israeli strike killed a civil defence rescuer earlier in the day.

The United Arab Emirates on Friday said an Iranian missile and drone attack on the country resulted in three moderate injuries.

"The UAE air defence systems engaged 2 ballistic missiles and 3 UAVs launched from Iran, resulting in 3 moderate injuries," the defence ministry said on X.

The UAE has reported multiple missile and drone attacks from Iran this week, the first since a ceasefire came into effect last month.

Iran had previously denied launching recent attacks on the UAE.

Iran has created an authority to approve transit through the Strait of Hormuz and to collect tolls from vessels, a shipping journal said Friday, even as Washington pushed for a deal to reopen the strategic waterway that Tehran has closed.

"The Persian Gulf Strait Authority has already introduced a new framework requiring ships to obtain transit authorisation and pay tolls before sailing," said Lloyd's List, the industry journal which provides news and intelligence on shipping and maritime trade.

It added that "ships are required to submit detailed records of ownership, insurance, crew details and intended transit route", citing a form sent by the authority.

Lebanon remains committed to a ceasefire and a halt to all military operations as a basis for launching negotiations with Israel aimed at ending instability in the south, paving the way for the redeployment of the army up to the international border, the release of Lebanese detainees in Israel, and the return of displaced residents to their towns and villages, Lebanese President Joseph Aoun said Friday.

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.

"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 the "Islamic republic".

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

Iran has seized the oil tanker Ocean Koi over an alleged attempt to disrupt Iran's oil exports, Iranian state media said on Friday.

German industry is struggling to recover as the Middle East war heightens uncertainty and raises costs, data suggested Friday, hitting Europe's top economy amid a prolonged slump.

Industrial production fell 0.7 percent in March versus February, federal statistics office Destatis said, while Germany's monthly trade surplus of 14.3 billion euros ($16.8 billion) was its lowest since May 2023, with imports rising much faster than exports.

Taken together the data suggested that Germany's economy was growing more slowly than the previously reported rate of 0.3 percent in the first quarter, ING bank analyst Carsten Brzeski said.

"Downward revision of first quarter growth has become more likely," he said, adding the data suggested that Germany's economy had "worsened with the start of the war in the Middle East".

South Korea's Oceans Ministry said on Friday that government investigators had started examining the cause of an explosion and fire aboard a Korean-operated vessel amid uncertainty over whether it had been attacked in the Strait of Hormuz.

The ship's operator HMM said investigators dispatched from South Korea boarded the vessel at around 0600 GMT after it had been towed to a port in Dubai. The spokesperson said it was to early to estimate when the probe would conclude. HMM earlier confirmed the ship, HMM Namu, completed berthing in Dubai by 2300 GMT on Thursday.

The ship suffered an explosion and fire in the engine-room area on Monday while anchored near the United Arab Emirates, according to the company and Seoul officials. All 24 crew members, including six South Koreans, were unharmed.

Iran's embassy in South Korea denied responsibility, saying it "firmly rejects and categorically denies" allegations that Iranian armed forces were involved in damage to the vessel. Iran’s state-run Press TV later carried commentary suggesting a South Korean vessel had been targeted, but the Iranian embassy said the article was outside commentary and did not represent Tehran’s official position.

South Korea has said it is keeping all possibilities open, including whether the damage was caused by an external attack or an internal malfunction, while prioritising fact-finding before deciding any response.

More than half of Lebanon's population depends on humanitarian aid, a European Union official said on Friday, as Israel continues its attacks on the country despite a ceasefire in the war with militant group Hezbollah.

"At present, more than three million people, meaning more than half of the population here in Lebanon, depend on humanitarian aid to survive," EU crisis management chief Hadja Lahbib told reporters after meeting Lebanese President Joseph Aoun in Baabda.

She said that since the war resumed on March 2 the 27-member bloc has provided 100 million euros in aid and sent six planes carrying humanitarian aid, with a seventh expected on Saturday.

Lahbib, who said that the ceasefire has opened "a narrow window of hope", called for Hezbollah "to cease its attacks and be disarmed" and said that "Israel must put an end to its bombardments".

"For a ceasefire to lead to peace, courage is needed - political courage to address the root causes of this conflict."

China’s foreign ministry confirmed on Friday that an oil products tanker carrying Chinese crew was attacked in the Strait of Hormuz, and expressed deep concern about vessels affected by the ongoing conflict in the Middle East.

There are Chinese nationals aboard the vessel, but no reported crew casualties so far, foreign ministry spokesperson Lin Jian said during a regular news conference.

A Chinese-owned oil products tanker was attacked near the Strait of Hormuz on Monday, China's Caixin reported on Thursday.

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio is opening his second day of fence-mending meetings Friday with talks scheduled with Italian Premier Giorgia Meloni in a bid to ease tensions over the war with Iran.

President Donald Trump's tariffs, his complaints about Europe's unwillingness to help the U.S. with the war and his attacks against Pope Leo XIV have fuelled weeks of sharp disagreements over trade and defence cooperation between the two traditionally strong allies.

Rubio will also meet Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani.

The trip began Thursday with Rubio's meeting Leo as part his broader effort to defuse trans-Atlantic tensions. Meloni and Tajani are expected to use the meetings to try to preserve Italy’s strategic partnership with the U.S. while pushing back against Washington's pressure over the Iran conflict.

Iraq's oil ministry has denied US accusations against its deputy minister, who the United States hit with sanctions over alleged support to Iran as Washington escalates pressure on Baghdad to break with Iranian-linked groups.

The US State Department on Thursday announced sanctions on Ali Maarij al-Bahadli, saying he "abused his government position to divert Iraqi oil in support of the Iranian regime and its terrorist proxies."

It accused him of fraudulently mixing Iraqi and Iranian oil as part of a scheme to help Iran avoid sanctions.

An Israeli strike on south Lebanon killed a member of Lebanon's civil defence, the rescue organisation said Friday, a day after another strike killed a rescuer from the Islamic Health Committee.

In a statement, the civil defence said their rescuer was killed "as a result of an Israeli strike that targeted him" on the road between two southern towns, despite the truce in effect.

World Health Organization chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on Wednesday it had "verified 152 attacks on healthcare that resulted in 103 deaths and 241 injuries" in Lebanon since the war began on March 2.