Here's the latest
• Ceasefire takes strain: Some aides to President Donald Trump said he is now more seriously considering resuming combat operations in Iran. Trump said the ceasefire is on “life support” after he rejected Iran’s counterproposal to end hostilities.
• Trump’s China trip: A major decision on how to proceed is unlikely to be made before Trump’s departure to China today, sources said. An adviser to Iran’s supreme leader warned Trump he should not mistake the current lack of fighting as a victory as he heads to Beijing.
• Oil crisis: The oil market won’t return to normal this year if the Strait of Hormuz doesn’t reopen soon, a Saudi oil giant warned. The US released 53.3 million barrels of oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve to loan energy firms, as part of a global effort to stabilize oil prices.
Hegseth says he'll join Trump on China visit amid Iran uncertainty
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth told lawmakers Tuesday that he will be with President Donald Trump on his upcoming trip to China, which comes amid uncertainty over the ceasefire with Iran.
Asked about the status of weapons sales to Taiwan, Hegseth responded, “The president’s on the cusp of a trip and I’ll be with him, and he will make all decisions related to that.”
Trump is expected to leave Washington for Beijing this afternoon.
Iran’s ambassador to China said Tuesday that Beijing “can be an important force for reducing tensions” between the US and Iran.
Trump said Monday that the ceasefire with Iran was on “massive life support” and is “unbelievably weak.” Hegseth has said the US military is prepared to restart operations against Iran if ordered to do so.
China a potential mediator between Washington and Tehran, Iranian official says
Iran’s ambassador to China, Rahmani Fazli, said that Beijing is viewed as a potential mediator between Washington and Tehran, according to Iranian state news agency IRNA.
“China can be an important force for reducing tensions between Tehran and Washington, but mediation should not become a tool for managing pressure against Iran,” Fazli told IRNA.
The Iranian official’s comments come after a visit by Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi to China and ahead of US President Donald Trump’s departure for Beijing on Tuesday afternoon. Sources familiar with White House discussions told CNN that a major decision on how to proceed on the conflict was unlikely to be made prior to Trump’s trip.
Fazli added that China is “not merely an economic partner” but part of Tehran’s “political balancing” against external threats.
According to Fazli, Araghchi’s visit came as Iran actively tries to reshape its diplomatic position after the recent conflict with the United States and Israel, rather than simply reacting militarily or tactically.
“Iran, in managing the post-war phase, is not merely relying on temporary reactions, but is seeking to redefine its diplomatic alignment through engagement with strategic partners,” Fazli was cited as saying by IRNA, adding that “China viewed the crisis not from the angle of pressuring Iran, but from the standpoint of containing war and preventing the collapse of regional security.”
Regarding the Strait of Hormuz, the Iranian official said that Iran’s security measures in the waterway are defensive rather than anti-trade.
On the eve of Trump’s trip to Beijing, the US Treasury Department blacklisted 12 people and entities for their roles enabling the “sale and shipment of Iranian oil” to China.
Iran war has cost $29 billion so far, senior Pentagon official says
The US war against Iran has cost $29 billion so far — an estimate that was higher than the $25 billion figure senior Pentagon officials provided to Congress two weeks ago.
“So, at the time of testimony from [the House Armed Services Committee], it was $25 billion but the joint staff team and the comptroller team are constantly looking at that estimate, and so now we think it’s closer to 29. That’s because of updated repair and replacement of equipment costs, and also just general operational costs to keep people in theater,” Jay Hurst, who is performing the duties of Pentagon Comptroller, said Tuesday during a House Appropriations Committee hearing.
CNN previously reported that the $25 billion estimate Hurst provided to Congress in April was a lowball figure that doesn’t include the estimated cost of repairing extensive damage to US bases in the Middle East. One source said a more accurate estimate is closer to $40-50 billion, when accounting for those repair costs and replacing damaged assets.
Asked if he could provide a more formal accounting of the cost of the war with Iran with Congress, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said the Pentagon would “share what we can … when it’s relevant and required.”
“I think this would be the format that it would be required,” Democratic Rep. Pete Aguilar responded.
Trump says Iran is "100%" going to stop uranium enrichment
President Donald Trump said Tuesday he is confident Iran will stop enriching uranium and abandon any effort to build a nuclear weapon, even as negotiations between Washington and Tehran remain at an impasse.
“100% they’re going to stop,” Trump said during an interview on WABC’s “Sid and Friends in the Morning” when asked whether he believed Iran could be prevented from enriching uranium and developing a bomb.
Trump said he has been directly engaged with Iranian officials during the talks.
“I deal with them,” Trump said. “And they said that we’re going to get the dust. I call it the nuclear dust because it’s appropriate. And we’re going to get it.”
The president also said the US does not need to move quickly toward a deal.
“We’re not going to rush anything, we have a blockade,” Trump said.
The remarks come a day after Trump said the ceasefire between the US and Iran is on “massive life support” following Tehran’s latest counterproposal, which he described as “simply unacceptable.”
Kuwait says it arrested four IRGC members attempting to infiltrate the country
Kuwait arrested what it said were four members of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) who were attempting to infiltrate the Gulf Arab country to “carry out hostile acts,” state-run Kuwait’s News Agency (KUNA) reported.
The four attempted to enter the country on May 1 aboard a fishing boat and clashed with Kuwaiti soldiers, which led to the injury of one soldier, KUNA said.
The incident, if confirmed, would be the first known attempted military infiltration by Iran into one of its neighbors during the war. KUNA named the four who were arrested, including their military ranks.
Kuwait’s interior ministry said the four confessed about being tasked by the IRGC to infiltrate Bubiyan Island, a major commercial and logistics hub, on May 1 “to execute the mission which includes conducting hostile acts against Kuwait.”
Kuwait was among the Gulf Arab countries struck by Tehran following the US-Israeli attacks on Iran.
Major UAE gas facility will not return to full capacity until 2027 after Iranian strikes
A major gas facility in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) will not return to full operational capacity until 2027, after Iranian strikes hampered around 40% of its production, according to its operator.
ADNOC Gas said the Habshan site in Abu Dhabi – one of the world’s largest onshore gas processing facilities – is currently operating at “60% of the complex’s processing capacity” and is “working towards achieving 80% restoration by the end of 2026, with full capacity restored in 2027.”
The Habshan energy facility came under Iranian bombardment in April, triggering a fire that killed one person, according to local media.
Since Iran began attacking Gulf nations in response to the US-Israeli assault in February, the UAE said its air defense has intercepted 550 ballistic missiles, nearly 30 cruise missiles, and more than 2,200 drones.
In its statement Tuesday, ADNOC Gas reported a net income of $1.1 billion in the first quarter of 2026, marking an 8% decline from the previous quarter. The state-owned company cited “increased regional uncertainty and difficult market conditions, which have caused major disruption in the energy sector and to maritime movements through the Strait of Hormuz.”
Iran’s blockade of the strait, a vital trade route, has caused energy prices to skyrocket by disrupting Gulf oil exports. The world’s top oil exporter, Saudi Aramco, warned on Monday that the oil market will not return to normal until next year if the reopening of the waterway is delayed for a few more weeks.
A food truck owner in LA is feeling the pinch from rising gas and food prices
This food truck owner in Los Angeles says she has taken a huge hit from the fluctuations in fuel and food prices since the beginning of the war in Iran.
Anabel Martinez, the owner of Eagles Tacos in Los Angeles, says her food truck business has taken a huge hit from the fluctuations in fuel and food prices since the beginning of the war in Iran. CNN’s Julia Vargas Jones speaks to Martinez about how she has been handling the economic turmoil and how she feels about the war.
The war's possible silver lining for the global economy
The longer the Iran war lasts and the more damaging its economic fallout, the better off the global economy may be in the long run.
It’s a hard-to-square possibility, especially with the war’s large number of human casualties. War is ugly, cruel and deeply painful, and the economic harms of this one have hurt billions of people around the globe – many of them in devastating ways.
Nevertheless, the world could undergo some fundamental and necessary changes as a result of the war’s destruction.
It is almost certain to harden and diversify its energy supply chain as a result, preventing a single 23-mile-wide waterway from becoming a chokepoint for the global economy and allowing Iran to shut off the global oil market.
And the harder the economy falls, the greater the incentive to make those necessary changes.
A network of Chinese oil refineries is funding Iran
A few hundred miles from where Chinese leader Xi Jinping will roll out the red carpet for President Donald Trump this week, a shadowy ecosystem has long been at work pumping billions of dollars into Iran’s economy – now helping keep Tehran afloat in defiance of the US.
These are the ports, pipelines, and oil refineries of Shandong province and its borderlands, where the hulking architecture of oil storage tanks and spindly profiles of smokestacks jut up from barren, coastal flatlands.
Here, so-called “teapot refineries” – small, independent oil companies that operate with the permission of Beijing – quietly process US-sanctioned Iranian crude into gas, diesel and petrochemicals for the world’s second largest economy.
Now, as Washington looks to cut Tehran’s financial lifelines and force it to capitulate to end the war, these activities are being yanked out of the margins and onto the negotiating table between Trump and Xi.
Tensions around this trade are deepening – playing out against a backdrop in which Beijing seeks stability in its relationship with the US, but also holds close economic and diplomatic ties with Iran.
The industry in Shandong province cropped up decades ago to feed off the Shengli oilfields in the Yellow River delta, but now they import heavily from overseas – processing roughly a fifth of the oil China consumes.
And the source of those imports? Often sanctioned crude, analysts say.
China doesn’t acknowledge importing Iranian crude in its customs data, and the origins of the imported oil has already been obscured upstream. But Beijing also rejects what it calls “unilateral” US sanctions and has ordered companies not to comply with Washington’s sanctions on refineries.
Why Asia’s new economic reality is a warning for the world
In Asia, there are now two economic realities.
The oil shock is accelerating a divergence of economic fortunes across the region. One is driven by tech giants and the promises of artificial intelligence. The other is darkened by fuel scarcity and rising prices that threaten a humanitarian crisis.
As the disproportionate impact of oil shortages in Asia widens the divide, economists warn that the phenomenon has significant ramifications for monetary policy, political stability, and future economic growth across the continent – and other parts of the world that rely on it for trade.
Asia, which is heavily reliant on the Middle East for energy, has borne the initial brunt of higher prices driven up since shipping stalled in the Strait of Hormuz. But the impact isn’t spread evenly.
Advanced, tech-heavy economies in East Asia like Japan, South Korea and Taiwan have bigger fuel reserves to draw on, as well as the cash to pay higher prices to secure more stocks.
Meanwhile, nations like India, the Philippines and Thailand, whose growth is dominated by traditional manufacturing and services, are facing greater struggles to secure fuel and offset slowing economic activity.
The stark contrast has become known as the “K-shaped economy.” The term refers to a steepening deviation between upper and lower economic classes, popularized after the Covid-19 pandemic disproportionately hit underprivileged groups. Economists said the war in Iran is having a similar effect.
Oil prices rise, stocks fall as Trump weighs a return to fighting
Oil prices are climbing and stock markets retreating after US President Donald Trump said the ceasefire with Iran was on “life support,” with some aides saying he was considering a possible resumption of major combat operations.
Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, ticked up 2.5% to $106.8 a barrel. WTI, the US benchmark, rose 3% to $101 a barrel.
Trump called Iran’s latest counterproposal to end the war “a piece of garbage.” Tehran’s terms reportedly include sanctions relief and the recognition of its sovereignty over the Strait of Hormuz, ordinarily a conduit for around a fifth of the world’s oil and natural gas supply.
If the reopening of the strait is delayed by a few more weeks, the oil market won’t return to normal until next year, Saudi Aramco, the world’s top oil exporter, warned yesterday. “Markets are also pricing rising chances of lasting disruption,” with Brent futures for oil deliveries in six months’ time rising 2.5% to $89.5 a barrel yesterday, according to Deutsche Bank analysts.
Meanwhile, equity markets are under pressure this morning. S&P 500 and Nasdaq futures point to a weaker open, after notching fresh records yesterday. Dow futures are flat. Major indexes in London, Paris and Frankfurt traded lower by around 0.5-1%, “as fears of re-escalation resurface, deepening inflationary worries,” according to Neil Wilson, a strategist at Saxo bank.
In Asia, South Korea’s KOSPI index led declines, with Deutsche Bank analysts ascribing the 2.3% drop to comments by a senior official who floated the idea of a “citizen dividend” on excess profits linked to artificial intelligence.
Japan’s Calbee chip bags go monochrome as Iran war bites
If you’re shopping for your favorite Calbee chips in Japan and see that familiar bag in black and white – it’s not a printing mistake.
The Japanese snack maker said on Tuesday it will temporarily change the packaging to grayscale and ditch its typically bright and eye-catching colors in stores nationwide because of supply chain disruptions from the Iran war.
The move comes in response to “supply instability affecting certain raw materials amid ongoing tensions in the Middle East,” the company said in a statement.
The new packaging will apply to 14 products from May 25 and won’t affect product quality, Calbee said.
The stripped-down packaging might mean shoppers need to rely more on the words on the packets, rather than the colors, when quickly grabbing their favorite flavors from supermarket shelves. Usually, regular Calbee consumers would know that the red bag is for lightly salted potato chips, while the yellow packets with green labels are for seaweed flavor fans.
The company didn’t specify exactly which shortages had prompted the change. But a spokesperson from the Japanese government said it had “received no reports of immediate supply issues regarding printing ink or naphtha, and we recognize that the necessary volume for Japan as a whole is being secured.”
Naphtha is a petroleum byproduct sometimes used in parts of the ink manufacturing process.
Former national security adviser says he expects full-scale military action to resume in Iran
H.R. McMaster, former national security adviser during President Donald Trump’s first term, predicts the military campaign against Iran will restart and says, “I think the regime is making another huge mistake, they’re driving past another off-ramp.”
Israeli airstrike kills six in southern Lebanon, state media reports
An Israeli airstrike on a house in southern Lebanon killed six people and wounded seven, Lebanon’s National News Agency reported on Tuesday.
The attack took place on Monday night in the town of Kfardounine. The injured were taken to hospitals in the city of Tyre.
Israel and Hezbollah, the Iranian-backed paramilitary group, have continued to exchange fire, which have intensified in recent days, despite a ceasefire deal between the Lebanese and Israeli governments. The truce was intended to pave the way for peace talks. Israel and the militant group have repeatedly accused one another of violating the agreement.
The cumulative toll from Israeli attacks since March 2 stood at 2,869 killed and 8,730 wounded, according to the Lebanese Health Ministry.
US releases 53 million barrels of oil from Strategic Petroleum Reserve
The US Department of Energy announced the release of 53.3 million barrels of oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) on Monday to loan energy firms, part of a global effort to stabilise oil prices following the US-Israeli war with Iran.
The latest release is part of a larger US commitment to add 172 million barrels to the global market. That pledge, announced in March as part of an International Energy Agency (IEA) initiative involving more than 30 countries, aimed to add approximately 400 million barrels of oil to the global market.
Iran’s closure of the Strait of Hormuz, a vital waterway which carried 20% of the world’s oil and natural gas supply prior to the conflict, has raised oil prices and caused inflationary pressure across the global economy. Crude prices are up around 45%, or some $30 a barrel, since the war started.
To date, approximately 35 million barrels have been delivered to the market from the SPR, according to the energy department.
The US SPR is the world’s largest supply of emergency crude oil. The reserve has been maintained by the federal government since 1975 to help protect the US economy from major disruptions in petroleum supply.
While some producers, including Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, have found alternative routes for their exports, around 10-12 million barrels of crude remain choked off from global markets per day, according to analysts.
World oil consumption was around 103 million barrels per day last year based on preliminary estimates from the US Energy Information Administration.
Trump heads to China today as Iran ceasefire teeters on the brink. Here's what to know
US President Donald Trump said the ceasefire with Iran is on “life support” after he rejected Tehran’s counter-proposal to the US plan to end the war.
Some Trump aides said he is now more seriously considering a resumption of major combat operations in Iran. Tehran’s top negotiator, meanwhile, said his country is “prepared for every option.”
Trump heads to China later today, where Iran will be one of many talking points in his high-stakes summit with leader Xi Jinping. China has long been a close ally of Iran and is the main importer of Iranian oil.
A major decision on Iran is unlikely to be made before Trump’s departure to China, according to sources.
Here’s what to know about negotiations:
- Nuclear sticking point: Trump accused Iran of reneging on an agreement to allow the US to remove its supply of enriched uranium. Trump said Iran told the administration that it would give up its enriched uranium but that the US would have to remove it. He added that China was the other country the Iranians said was capable of retrieving the uranium. Iran didn’t mention nuclear weapons in their counterproposal, he said.
- Trump’s view: The president said there are “moderates” and “lunatics” in dealing with Iran, and the “moderates are dying to make a deal.”
- Iran’s view: Iran’s foreign ministry said its proposal, which state media reported included recognition of its sovereignty over the Strait of Hormuz, was “reasonable.” An advisor to Iran’s supreme leader warned that Trump should not mistake the current lack of fighting between the US and Iran as a victory as he heads to Beijing.
The deadlock again delays the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, an oil trade chokepoint crucial to global energy supplies.
Here’s the latest on the economic crisis:
- Oil crisis: The oil market won’t return to normal this year if the strait doesn’t reopen soon, a Saudi oil giant warned. Even if it were to reopen now, Saudi Aramco warns it would “still take months for the market to rebalance,” CEO Amin Nasser told analysts on a conference call.
- US prices: Trump said he intends to suspend the federal gas tax amid soaring prices at the pump. But pausing the the levy won’t do much to relieve drivers’ pain, multiple experts told CNN. American consumers are facing a $37 billion hit from the spike in gasoline and diesel prices, according to research from Brown University.
- Stranded seafarers: Oman’s foreign minister said there is an “urgent need” to free ships stranded near the strait following a meeting with the head of the International Maritime Organization. There are as many as 20,000 seafarers trapped at sea in what the UN has called a humanitarian crisis.
Trump more seriously considering resuming combat operations than he has in weeks, sources say
President Donald Trump has grown increasingly frustrated with how the Iranians are handling negotiations to end the war, and some Trump aides say that he is now more seriously considering a resumption of major combat operations than he has in recent weeks.
Trump has grown impatient with the continued closure of the Strait of Hormuz, as well as what he perceives as division in Iranian leadership that is preventing them from making substantial concessions on nuclear talks, sources familiar with the discussions said. The latest response from Iran, which Trump has deemed both “totally unacceptable” and “stupid,” has led several officials to question whether Tehran is willing to take on a serious negotiating position, they said.
There are different camps within the administration that are recommending alternating paths for how to proceed, the sources said. Some, including officials in the Pentagon, have argued for a more aggressive approach to pressuring the Iranians to the table — including targeted strikes that further weaken Tehran’s position. Others, however, are still pushing to give diplomacy a fair shot, the sources said.
Many in Trump’s orbit want Pakistani mediators to be far more direct in their communications with the Iranians. Some Trump officials have long questioned whether the Pakistanis are aggressively conveying Trump’s displeasure with the state of talks, as Trump has done publicly. Some administration officials also believe that Pakistan is often sharing a more positive version of the Iranian position with the US than what reflects reality, two of the sources said.
There has been an intense push by countries throughout the region and by Pakistan to convey to the Iranians that Trump is frustrated and this is the last chance for them to seriously engage in diplomacy, but it does not appear that Iran is listening or taking anyone seriously, a regional official said Monday.
This official said that the US and Iran are operating on two different tolerances and timelines in their approach to negotiations, and Tehran has withstood economic pressure for decades.
Trump met with again with his national security team at the White House on Monday to discuss options moving forward. Sources familiar with the talks say a major decision on how to proceed is unlikely to be made prior to the president’s departure to China, which is slated for Tuesday afternoon.
CNN’s Zachary Cohen contributed to this report.
