Closing summary
We’re wrapping up this live coverage now but a full report is here and below is a recap of the latest in the Middle East crisis. Thanks for reading.
The US and Iran exchanged fire on the strait of Hormuz in the most serious test yet of their month-long ceasefire.
Iran accused the US of violating the truce by targeting two ships in the waterway and attacking civilian areas, while the US insisted it struck Iranian targets in retaliation for “unprovoked” attacks on three US warships transiting the strait on Thursday.
The renewed hostilities cast doubt on the fragile ceasefire that had largely held for the previous month, but Donald Trump insisted it remained intact, describing the US strikes as a “love tap”.
The president also said the US would knock out Iran “a lot harder and a lot more violently” if it didn’t quickly agree to a peace deal, and that negotiations with Tehran were continuing.
Iranian state media also reported loud noises and what it called defensive fire in western Tehran, while in southern Iran explosions were heard near Bandar Abbas.
The United Arab Emirates said its air defences were dealing with missile and drone attacks from Iran on Friday.
The US and Iran offered conflicting messages over the state of negotiations to end the war, with Trump signalling the talks were “very good” and a deal “very possible” while Iranian officials sought to dampen expectations. Tehran says it is reviewing a US proposal.
Stocks sank and oil prices leapt on Friday as the renewed US-Iran clashes in the Hormuz strait jolted hopes for a deal to end the war and reopen the waterway.
Iran established a new government agency to approve transit and collect tolls from shipping in the waterway, shipping data firm Lloyd’s List Intelligence said on Thursday. The move has raised concerns about eroding the freedom of navigation on which global trade depends.
About 1,500 ships and their crews are trapped in the Gulf due to the Iranian blockade in the Hormuz strait, the UN’s International Maritime Organisation said.
Lebanon and Israel will hold a new round of talks on 14 and 15 May – Thursday and Friday of next week – in Washington on seeking a peace deal, despite a new Israeli strike against Hezbollah, a US official said.
US secretary of state Marco Rubio held talks with Pope Leo at the Vatican. The US state department said the pair discussed “efforts to achieve a durable peace in the Middle East”, which are at the heart of the disagreement between Trump and the pontiff.
The Israeli military said it would investigate after a soldier was photographed appearing to place a cigarette in the mouth of a statue of the Virgin Mary in southern Lebanon, in an image widely shared on social media.
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An oil tanker that passed through the strait of Hormuz arrived in South Korea on Friday – the first such vessel to reach the Asian nation by that route since Iran declared the critical waterway closed.
The arrival of the Malta-flagged Odessa, carrying 1m barrels of crude oil, will likely ease Seoul’s concerns over energy security as the war in the Middle East drags on.
The hulking vessel was spotted around 10am (0100 GMT) near a mooring facility off the coast of Seosan, AFP reports.
Its arrival is expected to help stabilise supply, securing crude equivalent to nearly half of South Korea’s daily oil consumption, industry sources said.
Its cargo will undergo refining before being supplied to the market as petroleum products, including gasoline and diesel, the sources said.
The Odessa passed through the Hormuz strait on 17 April, a source said, during a brief reprieve in the blockade.
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