Sporadic clashes erupt between Iranian and US forces in Hormuz strait
This live is no longer being updated. For more on the developments in the Middle East, click here . 08/05/2026 - 22:41 This liveblog is now closing. Thank you for being with us today. 08/05/2026 - 22:24 US revises UN resolution on Iran but China, Russia still expected to veto Washington has revised its proposed UN 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. An updated draft shared with Security Council members on Thursday afternoon and seen by Reuters removed a clause invoking Chapter VII of the UN Charter, which allows the council to impose measures ranging from sanctions to military action. However, tough language against Iran remained, as well as a clause that in the event of non-compliance the council would “meet again to consider effective measures ... including sanctions measures, in order to ensure the freedom of navigation in the area.” Diplomats said the original version of the current resolution was submitted to council members for review this week but ran into strong Chinese and Russian objections. 08/05/2026 - 22:19 Death toll in Israeli strikes in Lebanon jumps to 10 At least 10 people have been killed in Israeli strikes in Lebanon today, the Lebanese health ministry reports. An earlier death toll said five people had been killed. 08/05/2026 - 22:14 US won’t say whether Iran oil spill caused by airstrikes The Pentagon declined to comment on whether there had been recent strikes on Kharg Island, Iran’s main crude export terminal. Based on the imagery taken earlier this week, a spill occurred before the most recent round of US strikes in the region. Kharg Island is on the other end of the Gulf from the Strait of Hormuz, hundreds of kilometres away. Satellite images taken Friday show an apparent oil spill covering about 71 square kilometers off Kharg Island, Iran’s main crude export terminal, said Ami Daniel, CEO of maritime intelligence firm Windward AI. Although the spill’s origin is unknown, cleanup efforts will probably not be launched in waters where the US and Iran have been trading fire, Daniel said. 08/05/2026 - 22:04 08/05/2026 - 21:46 Oil jumps after renewed US-Iran fighting, then pares gains Brent crude futures jumped as much as 3 percent after the US and Iran traded air strikes, but pared gains as traders hoped for a longer pause in the fighting that has shut shipping in the Strait of Hormuz. Brent crude futures settled at $101.29 a barrel, up $1.23 or 1.23 percent, after rising as much as 3% during the session. US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) futures finished at $95.42 a barrel, up 61 cents, or 0.64 percent. 08/05/2026 - 21:15 Hezbollah claims new attack targeting military base in Israel Hezbollah said it had launched a swarm of drones at an airbase in northern Israel, after having claimed another attack targeting an Israeli base earlier in the day. The Iran-backed group said the launches were in response to an Israeli attack on Beirut’s southern suburbs on Wednesday, as well as ongoing strikes in Lebanon’s south. 08/05/2026 - 21:05 ‘Colonialism and exploitation have no place in future world,’ Iran’s president says Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian said that Tehran’s policy is to expand friendly relations based on mutual respect and shared interests. “The policy of colonialism and exploitation will have no place in the future world. Just as tolerance is deeply rooted in the culture of our people, the struggle against oppression shines in the history of this land,” he wrote in a post on X. 08/05/2026 - 19:55 Rubio urges Europeans to share the Iran burden US Secretary of State Marco Rubio concluded a two-day visit to Rome on Friday, where he sought to ease tensions with Pope Leo and urged Europeans to help secure the Strait of Hormuz. The task was not easy, given President Donald Trump's recent sharp criticism of both the Catholic leader and Italy's far-right Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, a close ally of the US leader. "The world has to start asking itself, what is it willing to do if Iran tries to normalise a control of an international waterway? I think that's unacceptable," he told reporters after meeting Meloni. The appeal was aimed at Italy as well as other European countries, which Trump criticised for not helping the United States to protect the Strait. 08/05/2026 - 19:29 US will ‘facilitate’ talks between Israel and Lebanon next week The United States will facilitate two days of “intensive talks” – already scheduled for May 14 and 15 – between Israel and Lebanon, the State Department said. 08/05/2026 - 19:17 08/05/2026 - 18:59 Adviser to Iran’s supreme leader compares control of Hormuz to ‘atomic bomb’ An adviser to Iran’s supreme leader compared control over the Strait of Hormuz to having an “atomic bomb”, and vowed not to relinquish it. “The Strait of Hormuz represents an opportunity as precious as an atomic bomb,” Mohammad Mokhber 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. 08/05/2026 - 18:44 Situation in Gulf currently calm, Tasnim reports citing Iranian military source Iran’s Tasnim agency cites an Iranian military source as saying that the situation in the Gulf is currently calm, “but if Americans try to enter again and cause trouble for Iranian vessels, there is a chance of clashes”. 08/05/2026 - 17:51 US naval blockade measure to be met with military response from now on, Iran says A senior Iranian MP on Friday said that from now on, US naval blockade measures will be met with military response from Iran, Fars News reported. 08/05/2026 - 17:22 Iran still examining US proposal, foreign ministry spokesman says 08/05/2026 - 17:09 US VP Vance is meeting with PM of Qatar to discuss talks with Iran, Axios reports US Vice President JD Vance is in a meeting with the prime minister of Qatar to discuss the negotiations with Iran, Axios reports. The meeting is taking place in Washington. 08/05/2026 - 16:27 Hezbollah says launched missiles at military base in north Israel Hezbollah 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. Israel struck Beirut’s southern suburbs on Wednesday, killing a Hezbollah commander in the first attack on the area in a month. 08/05/2026 - 16:20 US forces strike two empty Iranian oil tankers, Central Command confirms The US military has struck two empty Iranian-flagged oil tankers that it said were seeking to violate the ongoing US blockade, the US Central Command said in a post on X, confirming an earlier news report. It added that a third Iranian-flagged vessel had been disabled on Wednesday. “All three vessels are no longer transiting to Iran,” it said. 08/05/2026 - 16:18 08/05/2026 - 16:16 Sporadic clashes erupt between Iranian forces and US vessels in Strait of Hormuz, Iran’s Fars reports Sporadic clashes erupted about an hour ago between Iranian armed forces and US vessels in the Strait of Hormuz, Iran’s Fars reports. Yesterday's key developments: • Around 1,500 ships are trapped in the Gulf due to the conflict in Iran , said the secretary general of the UN 's International Maritime Organization. • At least 12 people, including two children and a paramedic, have been killed in a series of Israeli airstrikes , the Lebanese health ministry reported. • Israel and Lebanon are set to hold talks in Washington next week. (FRANCE 24 with AFP, AP and Reuters)