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Key developments
• Ceasefire under strain: The ceasefire between the US and Iran is being tested after both sides fired shots in the Strait of Hormuz, prompting President Donald Trump to decline to say if the truce remains in place. In addition, the United Arab Emirates, a US ally, said that its air defenses “engaged” 19 Iranian missiles and drones and that a drone attack caused a fire at an oil port in the Fujairah region.
• US threat: Trump also 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.
• Impact on economy: Oil prices rose and stocks fell on concerns about the safety of transiting the critical waterway. Average US gas prices could reach $5 a gallon if the strait remains closed, an oil market expert told CNN.
India condemns attack on Emirati oil port that injured three Indian nationals
India calls the attack on a major oil port in the United Arab Emirates that left three Indian nationals injured “unacceptable.”
“We call for immediate cessation of these hostilities and the targeting of civilian infrastructure and innocent civilians,” a statement from India’s Ministry of External Affairs said.
The comments come after Emirati authorities said Monday a “major fire” broke out at the Fujairah Oil Industry Zone after Iranian drones attacked the facility.
India “continues to stand for dialogue and diplomacy” in the region, the statement read.
CNN’s Manveena Suri contributed to this report.
First day of Project Freedom a "tactical success," analyst says, but can it scale up?
Day one of Project Freedom, the US military’s plan to get shipping moving again through the Strait of Hormuz, was a success, the top US commander in the Middle East says.
But independent analysts are more circumspect, pointing out that only two US-flagged vessels made it through the strait under US protection and scaling up the operation to restore pre-war traffic of 120 or vessels a day seems like a long shot, especially if Iran is not cooperating.
Adm. Bradley Cooper, the head of US Central Command, told reporters in a conference call Monday that the US used a combined force of destroyers, helicopters, fighter jets, drones and other assets to protect the movement of the two US ships through the strait.
Iranian cruise missiles that targeted US Navy destroyers and the merchant ships were shot down, and US helicopters sank six small Iranian boats that attempted to attack the commercial vessels, the US admiral said.
For those two merchant ships, the operation seemed to go exactly as it was envisioned, with layered US defenses protecting ships following a route the US Navy determined was safe from mines.
Cooper said there was “a lot of enthusiasm” for Project Freedom and other ships were moving to take advantage of it.
Analyst Carl Schuster, a former US Navy captain, told CNN he thinks those merchant ship numbers could soon grow to 20 to 30 a day if US protection isn’t breached.
But he and others cautioned, “Iran gets a vote in this.”
Retired US Army Lieutenant Gen. Karen Gibson, speaking on CNN’s “Anderson Cooper 360,” called the first day of Project Freedom a “tactical success,” but said it must be measured against that pre-war flow of 120 vessels a day.
Iran just needs to continue to present a perception of risk to keep merchant traffic to small numbers, she said, essentially keeping Hormuz all but closed.
Future of ceasefire could hinge on what happens in Strait of Hormuz Tuesday
The ceasefire with Iran is on shaky ground amid apparently competing priorities between hardliners and moderates in Iran and its future could hinge on what happens in the Strait of Hormuz Tuesday, CNN International Diplomatic Editor Nic Robertson reports.
South Korean ship that caught fire in Strait of Hormuz will be towed and investigated
The South Korean-operated vessel in the Strait of Hormuz that caught fire after an explosion on Monday will be towed to a nearby port for checks and repairs, Seoul’s foreign ministry said Tuesday.
The ministry said investigations will be carried out to determine the exact cause of the fire after the vessel is towed.
The ship was carrying 24 crew members, including six South Koreans, and no casualties were reported, authorities said.
Twenty-six South Korea-related vessels have been stranded at the strait since the war in the Middle East began.
Iranian drone strike causes "major fire" at UAE oil facility, officials say
Iran launched drone and rocket attacks at targets in the United Arab Emirates on Monday, authorities said.
The UAE, a US ally, said its air defenses “engaged” 19 Iranian missiles and drones. However, three Indian nationals were moderately injured following a drone strike that sparked a “major fire” at the Fujairah Oil Industry Zone.
CNN’s Paula Hancocks reports.
Three Indian nationals were moderately injured following an Iranian drone strike that sparked a “major fire” at the Fujairah Oil Industry Zone, Emirati authorities said. CNN's Paula Hancocks reports.
Trump's trip to China next week could complicate any decision on Iran ceasefire
US President Donald Trump’s highly anticipated visit to Beijing next week could complicate any decision to resume the war with Iran.
He initially delayed the trip from April while the conflict raged. China has called for reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, where much of the energy products it relies upon pass through.
Arriving in Beijing with the conflict at best unresolved — or at worst raging yet again — could place Trump in a weakened position in his talks with Chinese leader Xi Jinping.
Speaking to Fox News on Monday, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent — who has been leading preliminary discussions with the Chinese ahead of Trump’s visit — said the country could do more to convince Iran to allow ships to pass through the strait.
Read more here about Trump’s gambit to move ships through the strait
Meanwhile, Bryan Clark, a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute, told CNN that the US plan to guide vessels through the Strait of Hormuz leaves “them somewhat vulnerable.”
Shipping executives wary of Project Freedom after strikes on ships and UAE port
After triggering fresh violence in the Gulf, “Project Freedom” appears to have backfired and shipping executives remain extremely wary about crossing the Strait of Hormuz.
“The strait is still incredibly hazardous and I expect most ships will continue to avoid transit until both sides come up with something more concrete,” said Tim Huxley, Chairman of Mandarin Shipping.
Even if an agreement is reached, “it may take time for political statements and military initiatives to translate into safe, workable operating conditions for vessels and crews in crowded and contested waters,” said Angad Banga, CEO of The Caravel Group, which oversees the world’s second-largest ship management company.
“In the meantime, tens of thousands of civilian seafarers continue to operate under risks they did not choose, and global trade depends on them. Their safety and well-being must remain a priority at every stage of the response.”
Since US President Donald Trump launched “Project Freedom” Monday in an effort to guide shipping traffic through the strait, a number of commercial ships have been hit, including a South Korean vessel.
And the UAE said Iran fired missiles and drones at a major oil port in Fujairah, which lies just beyond the strait. Its location is significant as it’s one of the few export routes for Middle East oil that does not need to transit through the critical waterway.
This is the biggest escalation in violence since the ceasefire was announced four weeks ago.
There is also no surge in shipping traffic. The US said two US merchant ships crossed the strait, which Iran denied. The US also said it destroyed at least six small Iranian boats, a claim also denied by Iran.
The US plan has left shipping executives scratching their heads, with few details provided by Trump or US Central Command and Iran saying commercial ships and tankers need to coordinate with its armed forces.
“There is no specificity about which countries have asked for this humanitarian mission, nor how this may be coordinated with Iran, if at all,” said Simon Kaye, Global Director of Reinsurance at NorthStandard, which provides liability insurance for much of the world’s shipping fleet.
As the shipping industry waits for clarity, oil prices continue to soar. US gas prices have hit $4.46 a gallon – the highest level in nearly four years.
One oil market expert told CNN that gas prices could reach $5 a gallon if the strait remains closed.
"No military solution to a political crisis": Iran minister warns US and UAE over “quagmire”
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has warned the United States and United Arab Emirates against getting drawn into a “quagmire,” saying that recent “events in (the Strait of) Hormuz make clear that there’s no military solution to a political crisis.”
Araghchi also dismissed Washington’s “Project Freedom” plan to guide merchant ships out of the strait, writing: “Project Freedom is Project Deadlock.”
Araghchi’s remarks came after the US and Iranian militaries traded shots in the strait, prompting questions over whether the nearly monthlong ceasefire will continue.
The US-Iran ceasefire is looking shaky today. Here's the latest
It has been a day of tension in the Strait of Hormuz, with Iran and the US trading shots — and putting a fragile ceasefire on even shakier footing.
US President Donald Trump declined to say if the ceasefire is still in effect during an interview with radio host Hugh Hewitt.
Here’s where things stand:
- The ceasefire between the US and Iran is being tested as both countries have fired munitions in the last 24 hours. Along with Trump, US Central Command chief Adm. Bradley Cooper also declined to weigh in on whether the nearly monthlong ceasefire will continue.
- The US military “blew up” six small Iranian boats in the Strait of Hormuz on Monday, Cooper said. A report in Iranian state media disputed the US claim of having sunk the boats. Trump later said the US shot down “seven small” Iranian boats.
- It came after Iran launched “multiple cruise missiles, drones and small boats” at US Navy ships and at commercial ships being “protected” by the US military, Cooper said.
- Trump said “no damage” has been incurred as a result of the Iranian strikes, other than to a South Korean vessel. In an interview with Fox News, he warned Iranian forces would be “blown off the face of the Earth” if they attempted to target US ships in the Strait of Hormuz or Persian Gulf.
- There are no “escorts” of commercial ships by the US Navy, according to Cooper. Instead the US has used “a much broader defensive package” to clear a “one way” path through the Strait meant to allow commercial vessels in the Persian Gulf to exit, he said.
- Danish shipping and logistics company Maersk confirmed that one of its ships traversed the strait with US military protection. US Central Command had earlier announced two ships had transited the waterway.
- Trump dismissed declining American support for the war as “fake polls.”
Other news:
- 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. The UAE, a US ally, said that its air defenses “engaged” 19 Iranian missiles and drones.
- 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.
- Meanwhile, preparatory talks are expected ahead of more negotiations between Israel and Lebanon in Washington, Lebanese President Joseph Aoun’s office said in a statement, without offering any more details. Just before Aoun’s statement, Hezbollah and the Israeli military acknowledged a firefight that wounded two Israeli soldiers.
CNN’s Max Saltman, Mohammed Tawfeeq, Eyad Kourdi, Natasha Bertrand, Zachary Cohen, Tal Shalev, Kit Maher, Donald Judd and Adam Cancryn contributed reporting to this post.
Trump declines to say whether ceasefire with Iran is still in effect
President Donald Trump declined to say if the fragile ceasefire between the US and Iran remains in place Monday after both sides fired shots in the Strait of Hormuz.
Pressed by conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt if the ceasefire with Iran is “over,” and if strikes could resume as soon as Monday night, Trump told Hewitt, “Well, I can’t tell you that.”
“You wouldn’t — if I answered that question, you’d say this man is not smart enough to be president,” Trump said.
Earlier Monday, in an interview with Fox News, 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.
Later in the interview, he insisted war with Iran, “militarily … is essentially over.”
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Danish company confirms ship transited Strait of Hormuz with US military protection
Danish shipping and logistics company Maersk confirmed Monday that one of its ships traversed the Strait of Hormuz with US military protection and said that all of its crew members are “safe and unharmed.”
The ship, called the Alliance Fairfax, had been in the Persian Gulf when the war broke out in February and was “unable to depart,” according to a statement from Maersk.
Maersk said that it was contacted “recently” by the US military, which “offered the opportunity for the vessel to exit the Gulf under US military protection.”
After coordination with Maersk leadership and the military, “the vessel subsequently exited the Persian Gulf accompanied by US military assets” on Monday.
“Maersk extends its gratitude to the US military for its professionalism and effective coordination in making this operation possible, and the company looks forward to the Alliance Fairfax returning to its normal commercial service,” the statement concluded.
US Central Command earlier announced that two ships transited the strait on Monday. The Alliance Fairfax is part of the US Maritime Security Program, which pays ship operators an annual stipend to keep a commercial ship registered in the US and available for military use.
This post has been updated with additional details about the ship.
"Fake polls": Trump dismisses declining support for Iran war
Amid signs that Americans are increasingly unhappy with the war against Iran, President Donald Trump on Monday retreated to a familiar explanation: The polling is fake.
“They give me fake polls,” Trump complained during a small business event at the White House. “They did a poll on the war with Iran, and they said only 32% of people like it. Well I don’t like it and I don’t like war at all, but we’re equipped better and we have the greatest military in the world.”
The president went on to argue that polling questions were biased against him, adding that pollsters should instead be asking whether Americans believe Iran should be allowed to have a nuclear weapon. Yet even then, he mused, it might not make a difference.
“It wouldn’t be 32%,” he said. “But even if you said that, there’d be a 32% because the polls are fake. I mean, they’re totally fake.”
Trump’s remarks represented the second extended criticism of Iran war polling in recent days, though it remains unclear which polls he was talking about. A Washington Post-ABC News-Ipsos poll published Friday showed that just 36% of respondents believed the US did the right thing in using military force against Iran.
But his comments came as a delicate ceasefire between the US and Iran hung in the balance over the extended closure of the Strait of Hormuz. On Monday, Trump downplayed the difficulty in securing a permanent end to the war, contending that his critics were being too impatient.
“We have a war right now and we’re into what, like, six weeks? They say, ‘What’s taking so long?” Trump said. “We were in Vietnam 19 years. We were in Iraq for many years, 10 years, 12 years. We’re in all these different wars, Korea, seven years. I won’t even mention World War II.”
UAE air defenses engaged 19 missiles and drones on Monday, Defense Ministry says
The United Arab Emirates said that its air defenses “engaged” 19 Iranian missiles and drones on Monday.
UAE air defenses “engaged 12 ballistic missiles, 3 cruise missiles, and 4 UAV’s launched from Iran, resulting in 3 moderate injuries,” the Ministry of Defense said in a statement. It was not immediately clear how many of the projectiles were destroyed by Emirati air defenses.
Earlier, authorities in the emirate of Fujairah said a drone attack on an oil port caused a fire that injured three Indian nationals.
The Qatari government expressed support for its Persian Gulf neighbor in a statement late Monday, pledging ”full solidarity with the United Arab Emirates” and backing for “all measures taken by the UAE to preserve its sovereignty, security, and territorial integrity.”
Qatar has been similarly targeted by Iranian missiles and drones throughout the war and even engaged in its first air-to-air combat against Iranian bombers in March.
Saudi Arabia also expressed solidarity with the UAE “in the measures it takes to preserve its sovereignty, security and territorial integrity.” In a statement, the Saudi Foreign Ministry also condemned “in the strongest terms” Iran’s targeting of “civilian and economic facilities” in the UAE, as well as an Emirati company vessel.
Sources told CNN that an Israeli Iron Dome air defense system was used to intercept Iranian projectiles in Emirati airspace. CNN has reached out to the UAE Foreign Ministry for comment.
Axios initially reported that Israel had secretly deployed the Iron Dome to assist the UAE, a sign of the growing relationship between the two countries, which established formal relations only six years ago.
The former US Ambassador to NATO Ivo Daalder told CNN’s Bianna Golodryga that shooting missiles at UAE is not something the US can let go unanswered.
CNN’s Tal Shalev and Nadeen Ebrahim contributed to this report.
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.
