UAE reports drone and missile attack : NPR

Cargo ships, including bulk carriers and general cargo ships, are anchored offshore as a small motorboat passes in the foreground, in the Strait of Hormuz off the coast of Bandar Abbas, Iran, Monday, May 4, 2026.

Amirhosein Khorgooi/ISNA via AP

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Amirhosein Khorgooi/ISNA via AP

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Iran’s fragile war ceasefire was further tested Friday as the United Arab Emirates responded to missile and drone strikes, hours after the United States said it had foiled attacks on three navy ships in the Strait of Hormuz and retaliated against Iranian military installations.

There were no immediate reports of damage in the United Arab Emirates.

Iran and the United States have been trading blows as their negotiators seek a deal to end the fighting, but so far they have avoided a return to all-out fighting. It’s unclear how close the two sides are to an agreement on issues such as Iran’s nuclear program, which the United States and Israel promised to stop when they launched war on Feb. 28, or the Strait of Hormuz, a vital waterway that Iran has all but shut down in a bid to put pressure on the global economy.

Tehran said on Thursday it was reviewing the latest US proposals to end the war, presented to it via Pakistan, which is acting as mediator.

Trump downplayed the exchange of fire between Iran and the US Navy on Thursday. In a phone call with an ABC reporter, Trump called the retaliatory strikes against Iran “just a love pat.” He insisted that the ceasefire was being respected and that an agreement could be reached “any day now”, but reiterated his threats of bombing if Tehran did not accept a deal allowing the resumption of oil and natural gas shipments disrupted by the conflict.

“They have to understand: if the agreement is not signed, they are going to have a lot of pain,” he told reporters in Washington.

Iranian state media said Iranian forces exchanged fire with the “enemy” on the island of Qeshm in the Strait of Hormuz. It also reported loud noises and continuous defensive fire in western Tehran on Thursday evening.

The ceasefire between the United States and Iran has been largely respected since April 8. In-person talks between the two countries, hosted by Pakistan last month, failed to reach an agreement to end the war.

The US military says it is not seeking escalation

The UAE Ministry of Defense has advised residents not to approach, photograph or touch “any debris or fragments that have fallen following successful aerial interceptions.”

Hours earlier, the US military said it had intercepted Iranian attacks on three navy ships in the Strait of Hormuz on Thursday evening and “targeted Iranian military installations responsible for attacks by US forces.”

Central Command said in a social media post that U.S. forces had intercepted “unprovoked Iranian attacks” and responded with self-defense strikes. The U.S. military said no ships were hit. He said he was not seeking escalation but was “remaining positioned and prepared to protect U.S. forces.”

Trump told reporters the ceasefire held despite the violence.

Pakistani Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar spoke by telephone with his Iranian counterpart Abbas Araghchi on Thursday, the Pakistani Foreign Ministry said.

“We hope for an agreement as soon as possible,” said Foreign Ministry spokesperson Tahir Andrabi. “We hope that the parties will reach a peaceful and lasting solution that will contribute not only to peace in our region but also to international peace.” He declined to give a timetable.

Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, speaking in a televised address, said Islamabad remained in “continuous contact with Iran and the United States, day and night, to end the war and extend the ceasefire.”

Meanwhile, direct negotiations between Israel and Lebanon are expected to resume next week in Washington, according to a U.S. official who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss plans for closed-door meetings. The official said the talks would take place on May 14-15.

Iran creates agency to control crossing to Hormuz

A Chinese personnel tanker was attacked near the strait, apparently for the first time since the start of the war. China’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson expressed concern and said the tanker was registered in the Marshall Islands with a Chinese crew on board. No casualties have been reported.

Earlier Thursday, a maritime data company reported that Iran had created a government agency to monitor and tax ships seeking to pass through the strait.

Iranian efforts to formalize control of the canal have raised new concerns about international shipping, with hundreds of commercial ships stuck in the Persian Gulf and unable to reach the open sea. However, there is hope that the conflict which has lasted for two months can soon end, which has stimulated international markets.

The report by maritime data firm Lloyd’s List Intelligence, which said Iran has created a new government agency to approve transit and collect tolls from ships through the strait, has raised concerns about the freedom of navigation on which global trade depends.

The agency, called the Persian Gulf Straits Authority, “positions itself as the only valid authority to grant authorization to vessels transiting the strait,” Lloyd’s reported in an online press briefing Thursday. Lloyd’s said the authority had emailed it an application form for ships seeking passage.

On Friday, an oil tanker that crossed the Strait of Hormuz in mid-April arrived off the South Korean coast to collect its million barrels of crude to be unloaded at the HD Hyundai Oilbank refinery. South Korea, which imported more than 60% of its crude through the strait last year, has capped the prices of gasoline and other petroleum products as the war raises fears of an energy crisis.

Iran has effectively closed the strait, a vital waterway for the transport of oil, gas, fertilizer and other petroleum products, while the United States blocks Iranian ports. The disruptions have sent fuel prices skyrocketing and shaken the global economy.

The new Iranian agency formalizes a system used by Iran to let ships pass through the strait and charge tolls during the war. Iran aims to control which ships pass through and, at least for some ships, impose a tax on their cargo.

Maritime law experts say Iran’s demands to control or tax ships violate international law. The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea calls on countries to allow peaceful passage through their territorial waters. The United States has threatened to impose sanctions on companies that pay tolls to Iran.

The United States and its Gulf allies are pushing for the U.N. Security Council to back a resolution condemning Iran’s hold on the strait and threatening sanctions. Iran’s allies Russia and China vetoed an earlier resolution calling for the reopening of the strait.