Here's the latest
• Strait of Hormuz: The fragile ceasefire between the US and Iran is being tested after both sides fired shots in the Strait of Hormuz. The US military “blew up” six Iranian boats Monday after Tehran launched “multiple cruise missiles, drones and small boats” at US Navy ships and commercial vessels, US Central Command said.
• New US threat: President Donald Trump warned Iranian forces they would be “blown off the face of the Earth” if they attempted to target US ships in the strait or the Persian Gulf. Meanwhile, schools in the UAE are shifting to remote learning after Iranian strikes targeted the country.
• Impact on economy: Oil prices rose and stocks fell on concerns about the safety of transiting the waterway. Average gas prices could reach $5 a gallon if the strait remains closed, an oil market expert said.
• In the region: The Israeli military has issued a fresh evacuation order for 10 villages in southern Lebanon.
UAE schools shift to remote learning through Friday amid Iranian strikes
Schools in the United Arab Emirates are shifting to remote learning this week after renewed Iranian strikes targeted the Persian Gulf country.
The Emirati Ministry of Education said in a statement that schools and nurseries would operate remotely from Tuesday through Friday “out of concern for the safety of students and all those working in the education sector.”
“The current situation will be reassessed on Friday, May 8, 2026, if there is a need to extend the period,” the ministry added.
Many schools and universities in the Persian Gulf — including the UAE — moved to online learning when the war broke out in late February. Qatar ordered all schools and universities to switch to distance learning on the first day of fighting.
Iranian army chief's warning to US carriers came from fake X account, Fars News Agency says
A warning purportedly by Iran’s army chief that US aircraft carriers approaching the Strait of Hormuz would be met with force was made from a fake X account, according to Iran’s semi-official Fars News Agency.
The post on X on Monday had featured what appeared to be Maj. Gen. Amir Hatami warning that “every inch of these waters is within the range of our will” and that “cruise missiles and combat drones” had taken to the skies.
But Fars, which is linked to several Iranian military branches, said later that the post came from a fake account. The account has since been suspended.
However, Iran’s Tasnim news agency also reported similar comments it attributed to Hatami.
Following the post purportedly made by Hatami, the US military said it had blown up six small Iranian boats after Iran launched “multiple cruise missiles, drones and small boats” at US Navy ships and commercial vessels being protected by the US military.
Trump warns that Iran forces will be "blown off the face of the Earth" if they target US ships
President Donald Trump warned Iranian forces on Monday that they would be “blown off the face of the Earth” if they attempted to target US ships in the Strait of Hormuz or Persian Gulf.
In the phone interview with Fox News, Trump also said the Iranian neogitators were being “far more malleable” than they were previously.
Trump has made similar threats before — including writing on social media last month that “a whole civilization will die” — but this time, they were accompanied by some military action that will test an extended ceasefire between the two countries. The president said on Truth Social Monday afternoon that the military “shot down” seven Iranian boats in the strait after Tehran targeted other boats trying to traverse the passage.
Trump also told Fox News that he sees two paths forward: Reaching a good faith deal or resuming military operations.
Why consumers are paying for the jet fuel shortage when filling up their car
On top of higher airfares and fees because of the war in Iran, airlines in Europe and Asia, many of which depend on imported jet fuel, are now facing a potential shortage. CNN’s David Goldman explains how consumers are paying for it at the gas pump:
Trump says US has "shot down" 7 small Iranian ships in Strait of Hormuz
President Donald Trump said Monday that the United States has shot down “seven small” Iranian boats after Tehran took shots at several ships in the Strait of Hormuz.
He added that “no damage” has been incurred as a result of the Iranian strikes, other than to a South Korean vessel.
“Iran has taken some shots at unrelated Nations with respect to the Ship Movement, PROJECT FREEDOM, including a South Korean Cargo Ship. Perhaps it’s time for South Korea to come and join the mission! We’ve shot down seven small Boats or, as they like to call them, ‘fast’ Boats. It’s all they have left,” Trump said.
“Other than the South Korean Ship, there has been, at this moment, no damage going through the Strait,” Trump added.
Earlier Monday, US Central Command chief Adm. Bradley Cooper told reporters that the US military “blew up” six small Iranian boats in the Strait of Hormuz. While Trump has frequently said Iran’s navy is obliterated, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Dan Caine has acknowledged that Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps — an elite branch of the military — still had small boats that could be used in the strait.
“Project Freedom” is an effort to support “merchant vessels seeking to freely transit” the passage, though it does not involve formal military escorts. It includes guided-missile destroyers, over 100 land and sea-based aircraft, multi-domain unmanned platforms, and 15,000 service members, according to a statement from US Central Command.
Trump also announced that Caine and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth will hold a press conference Tuesday morning.
CNN earlier reported that an explosion and fire occurred Monday on a South Korean-linked vessel at the Strait the Hormuz, according to spokesperson from the South Korean Foreign Ministry.
Israeli air defense system in UAE helped intercept Iranian missiles, source says
An Israeli air defense system deployed to the United Arab Emirates was involved in intercepting Iranian missiles on Monday, a source familiar with the matter told CNN.
Israel had secretly deployed an Iron Dome aerial defense system — and the soldiers to operate it — to the UAE at the beginning of the war with Iran, bolstering the Persian Gulf nation’s defenses. The deployment, first reported by Axios, was a clear sign of growing cooperation between Israel and the UAE.
Other aerial defense systems may also have been used to intercept the incoming Iranian projectiles. At least three missiles were intercepted, Emirati authorities said. It was not immediately clear how many were shot down by the Iron Dome system.
The UAE has sustained more incoming fire from Iran than any other country over the past two months. The UAE and Israel normalized relations in 2020 under the Abraham Accords, President Donald Trump’s major foreign policy accomplishment during his first term.
CNN has reached out to the UAE’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs for comment.
This post has been updated with additional details.
Tanker hit by projectiles; two ship fires reported off UAE coast, UKMTO says
A tanker has reported being hit by projectiles seven nautical miles north of Fujairah in the United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) said Monday.
All crew were safe, and “no environmental impact” was reported, the UKMTO said. The origin of the projectiles is not known.
The UKMTO also said a cargo vessel reported a fire in its engine room while 36 nautical miles north of Dubai, with the cause of the fire unknown. All crew were “safe and accounted for,” it said.
In a separate report, UKMTO said it had received third-party information that a vessel was on fire 14 nautical miles west of Mina Saqr, also in the UAE, and asked nearby ships to keep a safe distance. The cause of that fire has not been verified, UKMTO said.
Unclear whether ceasefire between Iran and US will hold after both countries fire shots
The fragile ceasefire between the US and Iran is being tested as both countries have fired munitions in the last 24 hours, with the US commander in charge of the war declining to weigh in on whether the nearly monthlong ceasefire will continue.
“I wouldn’t go into details of whether the ceasefire is over or not,” Adm. Bradley Cooper, head of US Central Command, told reporters Monday. “I think the key thing is for us is we’re merely there as a defensive force and to give a very thick layer of defense to commercial shipping to allow them to proceed out of the (Persian Gulf).”
“What we saw this morning with Iran initiating aggressive behavior, we were simply going to respond to that specifically with the president’s direction,” Cooper added.
President Donald Trump on Sunday night announced a new initiative to encourage commercial ships to transit the Strait of Hormuz while the US military would “guide” ships through the disputed waterway.
While Cooper said there has been “great enthusiasm” for US efforts to clear a pathway, it remains unclear how that has translated to any change in shipping traffic.
CNN has previously reported that the status of the strait depends largely on the confidence of commercial shipping companies and whether they believe it is safe enough to transit.
UAE condemns renewed Iranian missile and drone attacks
The United Arab Emirates condemned renewed “treacherous” Iranian attacks targeting civilian sites and facilities in the country using missiles and drones, saying three Indian nationals were injured.
The UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement on Monday that the strikes represented a “dangerous escalation,” an “unacceptable transgression” and a direct threat to the emirates’ security, stability and territorial safety, adding that they contravene international law and the UN Charter.
The UAE said it “will not be complacent” in protecting its security and sovereignty under any circumstances, and that it reserves its “full and legitimate right” to respond in line with international law in order to safeguard its sovereignty, national security and the safety of its territory, citizens, residents and visitors.
The statement also denounced the targeting of civilians and civilian objects as unacceptable “by all legal and humanitarian standards.” It called for an immediate halt to the attacks and full adherence to a cessation of hostilities. The UAE said Iran bears full responsibility for the attacks and their consequences.
US and Iranian militaries trade shots as Strait of Hormuz tensions escalate
The US military “blew up” six small Iranian boats in the Strait of Hormuz on Monday after Iran launched “multiple cruise missiles, drones and small boats” at US Navy ships and at commercial ships being “protected” by the US military, US Central Command chief Adm. Bradley Cooper told reporters.
The Iranian boats were attacked by US Apache and SH-60 Seahawk helicopters, Cooper said.
A report in Iranian state media disputed the US claim of having sunk the boats.
There are no “escorts” of commercial ships by the US Navy in the strait, Cooper said.
Cooper said that the US had cleared a “one way” path through the Strait meant to allow commercial vessels that have been “held hostage” in the Persian Gulf for weeks to exit the waterway — though he did not specify how many ships have used the newly cleared lane so far.
CNN’s Mohammed Tawfeeq contributed to this report
Three injured in drone strike on Emirati oil port
Three Indian nationals were moderately injured in a “major fire” caused by an Iranian drone strike on the Fujairah Oil Industry Zone, Emirati authorities said Monday.
All three were taken to a hospital, the Fujairah government said in a statement.
“Fujairah civil defense teams immediately began responding to the (fire) and are continuing efforts to bring it under control,” the government said in an earlier statement.
The drone strike and fire came as Emirati authorities announced that the UAE intercepted three Iranian missiles, the first since the country declared its airspace free of threats nearly a month ago.
Lebanese president hints at preparations for new talks with Israel
Preparatory talks are expected ahead of further Lebanon-Israel negotiations in Washington, Lebanese President Joseph Aoun’s office said in a statement Monday.
Aoun’s office did not say when the preparatory meetings or the talks themselves might take place, though it added that Lebanon stands “ready to accelerate the pace of negotiations.”
Previous talks in Washington between Israeli and Lebanese diplomats yielded a nominal ceasefire, though Israel’s principal adversary in the conflict, the pro-Iranian militant group and political party Hezbollah, was not present for negotiations. A lawmaker from Hezbollah later told CNN that it would commit to the ceasefire “as long as the Israeli occupation forces stop their aggression.”
Nonetheless, Israel has continued to strike deep within Lebanon, and its army occupies much of the country’s south. On Monday, Hezbollah leader Naim Qassem said that “there is no ceasefire in Lebanon, but rather ongoing Israeli-American aggression.”
Just before Aoun’s office released its statement, Hezbollah and the Israeli military acknowledged a Monday afternoon firefight that wounded two Israeli soldiers. Meanwhile, the Israeli army’s Arabic-language spokesperson warned residents of 10 Lebanese villages to flee north, a common sign that airstrikes are imminent.
Catch up on the latest headlines as the US-Iran Strait of Hormuz standoff continues
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) denied that two-American flagged vessels transited the Strait of Hormuz today, despite US Central Command saying the merchant vessels successfully passed through earlier.
The IRGC said no commercial vessels or oil tankers have transited the strategic waterway in recent hours, rejecting statements by US officials as “baseless” and “outright lies,” according to a statement carried by Iran’s semi-official Tasnim News Agency.
If you’re just joining us, here’s the latest:
Strait of Hormuz tensions:
- The Iranian navy has said it fired warning shots near US Navy destroyers operating near the Strait of Hormuz. The navy “detected US destroyers near the Strait of Hormuz and issued warnings, including firing warning shots, cautioning of the consequences of what it described as risky actions,” according to the state-run Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB).
- US Central Command denied claims from Iranian state media that a US vessel was struck by Iranian missiles near the Strait of Hormuz. “No U.S. Navy ships have been struck,” CENTCOM said in a post on X.
- The United Arab Emirates condemned what it said was an “Iranian terrorist attack” that targeted a tanker belonging to the state-owned Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) that tried to pass through the Strait of Hormuz.
- Meanwhile, the once-unthinkable closure of the strategic waterway could lift gasoline prices to $5 a gallon if the situation is not resolved soon. US gas prices skyrocketed from an average of $2.98 a gallon before the war started to $4.46 a gallon on Monday, according to AAA.
Wider conflict:
- Hezbollah leader Naim Qassem said Monday that “there is no ceasefire in Lebanon, but rather ongoing Israeli American aggression,” as the Iranian-backed group trades fire with Israeli forces despite a nominal ceasefire between Lebanon and Israel.
- The UAE on Monday sent out multiple emergency alerts for potential missile threats throughout the country, the first in just under a month when the US and Iran agreed to a ceasefire.
More headlines:
- The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) warned that it will not be able to cope with the fallout in Iran if the war restarts.
- Emirates airline says it has restored 96% of its global network after widespread disruption and mass cancellations across the Middle East during the US-Iran war.
- Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has warned that Europe must increase its “response capacity,” after the White House threatened to slash US military presence in the country.
CNN’s Sarah Tamimi, Tala Alrajjal, Michael Williams, Mohammed Tawfeeq, Sharon Braithwaite, Sana Noor Haq, Matt Egan, Nadeen Ebrahim, Adia Karimi, Tim Lister, Mustafa Qadri and Charbel Mallo contributed to this report.
UAE says it intercepted three missiles from Iran
The United Arab Emirates Defense Ministry said on Monday that it intercepted three missiles from Iran over the country’s territorial waters, while a fourth missile fell into the sea.
These are the first missile interceptions since the UAE declared its airspace free of threats on April 9, coinciding with the start of the US-Iran ceasefire.
“Four cruise missiles coming from Iran toward the country were detected. Three missiles were successfully intercepted over the country’s territorial waters, while another fell into the sea,” the Defense Ministry said.
The UAE sent out mobile phone alerts warning about potential missile threats throughout multiple emirates, including Dubai and the capital Abu Dhabi.
Ahead of the interceptions, the UAE said its air defense systems were responding to a missile threat, urging citizens to remain in “a safe location.”
ICRC won’t be able to cope with humanitarian fallout if Iran war restarts
The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) warned that it will not be able to cope with the fallout in Iran if the war restarts.
Following her trip to Iran, ICRC President Mirjana Spoljaric told CNN’s Becky Anderson that a potential escalation in Iran cannot be excluded and remains a “possibility.”
Spoljaric warned that none of the “humanitarian preparedness will be able to adequately respond to the needs of the people if there were a renewed escalation at scale,” adding that this is especially the case if the escalation takes a long time to come to a ceasefire.
When asked about her observations on the humanitarian situation in Iran, Spoljaric said the continuation of the war risks “becoming a war against civilians not only in Iran but also in the neighboring countries.”
“They’re in constant anticipation of the next war, and that defines the daily decisions,” she said.
On Lebanon, Spoljaric told CNN that the situation for displaced people “is deplorable,” adding that civilians who have been forced to flee their homes are losing their houses and are “beginning to lose their lands” as “they don’t know whether they will ever be able to return.”
To date, more than 2,690 people in Lebanon have been killed and more than 8,260 injured since the current conflict with Israel began, according to the Lebanese Ministry of Health.
Central Command says 2 US-flagged merchant vessels have gone through Strait of Hormuz; Tehran denies it
Two US-flagged merchant vessels have successfully transited through the Strait of Hormuz, the US military said this morning.
“American forces are actively assisting efforts to restore transit for commercial shipping,” US Central Command said in a post on X.
The ships’ successful navigation of the strait comes a day after President Donald Trump vowed to guide vessels through the waterway, where Iran is attempting to control shipping.
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), however, claimed no commercial vessels or oil tankers had transited the Strait of Hormuz in recent hours, rejecting statements by US officials as “baseless” and “outright lies,” according to a statement carried by Iran-semi official Tasnim News on Monday.
The IRGC said that “other maritime movements” that run contrary to principles announced by the IRGC Navy “face serious risks,” and warned that vessels deemed to be in violation would be “forcibly stopped,” as cited by Tasnim.
This story has been updated with additional developments.
A tectonic collision gave Iran its oil riches — and the control over their flow
A major obstacle in the US and Iran’s attempts to end the war is the Strait of Hormuz, the crucial waterway effectively closed by Iran.
The closure of the strait has caused global oil prices to soar and inflation to rise, demonstrating just how significant it is in relation to the global economy.
Here’s a look at how the strait came to be:
Around 35 million years ago, the Arabian tectonic plate began colliding with its Eurasian counterpart, causing the prehistoric Tethys Ocean that once separated the supercontinents of Laurasia and Gondwana to shrink.
Laurasia would later morph into North America, Europe and parts of Asia, while Gondwana fragmented into South America, Africa, Antarctica, Australia and India. But the ancient sea did not disappear entirely, for a remnant of it survives today, in the form of the Strait of Hormuz.
Experts say the geological process that created the critical waterway – now an emergent new frontier in the US and Israel’s war with Iran – is the very same process which gave the region its oil riches in the first place.
According to National Geographic, as the Arabian plate began to move further under the Eurasian plate, the two plates crumpled together, creating the Zagros Mountains – an impressive stretch of peaks that still exist in Iran. The weight of these mountains depressed part of the Arabian plate, causing the strait to form.
For hundreds of millions of years before the Arabian plate collided into Eurasia, it sat below sea level, providing the perfect environment for crude oil to form, according to National Geographic.
That is because when animals and plants in marine environments die, their remains fall to the bottom of the seabed, slotting between layers of silt and sand. Then, over millions of years and under intense heat and pressure, these remains morph into what we call crude oil.
“You can have the most powerful military the world has ever seen but standing in its way will be nature,” said Tim Marshall, author of best-selling book “Prisoners of Geography,” testifying to the strategic importance of the strait.
“No wonder the Assyrians called the Persian Gulf ‘The Bitter Sea’,” he wrote in March.
Explosion rocks South Korean ship at Strait of Hormuz, officials say
An explosion and fire occurred Monday on a South Korean-linked vessel at the Strait the Hormuz, according to spokesperson from the South Korean Foreign Ministry.
The Panama-flagged ship was carrying 24 crew members, including six South Koreans, and docked by the strait near the United Arab Emirates before the explosion occurred. No casualties have been reported, the ministry said.
The ministry said the cause of the explosion and fire is not immediately known and that the government is checking details of the damage.
“The government will closely communicate with the relevant countries on this issue and take necessary measures for the safety of our ships and crew members within the Strait of Hormuz,” the ministry added.
Twenty-six South Korea-related vessels have been stranded at the strait since the war in the Middle East began.
Meloni warns Europe must “strengthen our security” after US' spat with Germany
Meanwhile, Italy’s Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has warned that Europe must increase its “response capacity,” after the White House threatened to slash US military presence in the country.
Meloni insisted the continent “must strengthen our security” at an EU leaders’ summit in the Armenian capital, Yerevan, after US President Donald Trump claimed he would cut troop levels in Italy and Spain.
“I can’t tell you what will happen. The US has been discussing its disengagement in Europe for some time, which is why I think we must strengthen our security and increase our response capacity,” Meloni told reporters when asked about Trump’s remarks.
“It’s a choice that’s not up to me, and one that I personally wouldn’t agree with,” she added.
Over the weekend, US President Donald Trump declared the military would withdraw 5,000 troops from Germany, after the country’s Chancellor Friederich Merz condemned Washington’s approach to negotiations with Iran. It was the latest sign of crumbling relations between the White House and members of NATO through Trump’s second term in office.
The president has repeatedly claimed that US forces are disproportionately carrying Western security responsibilities against the backdrop of Russia’s grinding war in Ukraine, later accusing Italy and Spain for not aiding the US-Israeli campaign on Iran late February.
Several European ministers, including Meloni, have refused to participate in the offensive, slamming the campaign as illegal or outside the realm of international law. On Monday, Meloni insisted that Italy “has always kept its commitments.”
“I don’t consider some of the things said about us to be correct,” she said.
Meloni will meet US Secretary of State Marco Rubio in the Italian capital, Rome on Friday, according to her public calendar.
$5 gas could become a reality if the Strait of Hormuz doesn’t reopen soon
The once-unthinkable closure of the Strait of Hormuz could lift gasoline prices to $5 a gallon if the situation is not resolved soon.
US gas prices have skyrocketed from an average of $2.98 a gallon before the war started to $4.46 a gallon on Monday, according to AAA.
Oil futures climbed again on Monday even after President Donald Trump announced Project Freedom, a plan to “guide” ships through the Strait of Hormuz.
That’s a sign that the oil market is not viewing this new effort as a gamechanger.
If the Strait of Hormuz does not reopen in the next month, US gas could hit $5 a gallon, Andy Lipow, president of Lipow Oil Associates, told CNN. That would rival the all-time high of $5.02 a gallon in June 2022 after Russia invaded Ukraine.
Diesel, a fuel that’s arguably even more critical to the economy, is already at all-time highs in some places.
The average price of diesel climbed to a record on Monday in Wisconsin ($5.67 a gallon), Illinois ($6.00) and Michigan ($6.01), according to AAA. That’s bad news for truckers, railroads, farmers and virtually all consumers who could face higher costs.
Nationally, diesel is selling for an average of $5.64 a gallon — up from just $3.76 before the war started.
