Ceasefire challenged as UAE reports attack

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — The Iran war’s shaky ceasefire came under further strain on Friday as the United Arab Emirates responded to a missile and drone attack hours after the U.S. said it thwarted attacks on three Navy ships in the Strait of Hormuz and retaliated against Iranian military facilities.

The violence jeopardized the fragile truce between Iran and the U.S. while the two sides considered a deal to end the fighting.

On Thursday, Tehran said it was examining the latest U.S. proposals for ending the war.

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghaei said the Islamic Republic was reviewing messages from Pakistan, which is mediating peace negotiations, but Iran “has not yet reached a conclusion, and no response has been given to the U.S. side,” Iranian state TV reported.

The Trump administration has sent mixed messages on its strategy to end the war. The ceasefire and previous declarations that military operations were over have given way to new threats of bombing if Tehran does not accept a deal that allows for resumption of oil and natural gas shipments disrupted by the conflict.

Trump reiterated those threats after Thursday’s exchange of fire involving the U.S. Navy.

“They have to understand: If it doesn’t get signed, they’re going to have a lot of pain,” he told reporters in Washington.

Asked how close the U.S. was to a deal with Iran, Trump said: “It could happen any day,” but quickly added, “And it might not happen.”

The ceasefire between the U.S. and Iran has largely held since April 8. In-person talks between the two countries, hosted by Pakistan last month, failed to reach an agreement to end the war that began Feb. 28 when the U.S. and Israel launched strikes against Iran.

The UAE’s defense ministry advised residents not to approach, photograph or touch “any debris or fragments that have fallen as a result of successful air interceptions.”

Hours earlier, the U.S. military said it intercepted Iranian attacks on three Navy ships in the Strait of Hormuz and “targeted Iranian military facilities responsible for attacking U.S. forces.”

U.S. Central Command said in a social media post that U.S. forces intercepted “unprovoked Iranian attacks” and responded with self-defense strikes.

The U.S. military said no ships were hit. It said it doesn’t seek escalation but “remains positioned and ready to protect American forces.”

Iranian state media said the country’s armed forces exchanged fire with “the enemy” on Qeshm Island in the Strait of Hormuz. It is the largest Iranian island in the Persian Gulf, home to about 150,000 people. It also houses a water desalination plant.

Iranian state media also reported loud noises and defensive fire in western Tehran. In southern Iran, explosions were heard near Bandar Abbas, semiofficial Iranian news agencies said. The reports from the Fars and Tasnim agencies did not identify the source of the blasts.

Earlier in the day, a shipping data company reported Iran has created a government agency to vet and tax vessels seeking passage through the crucial strait.

The Iranian effort to formalize control over the channel raised new concerns about international shipping, with hundreds of commercial ships bottled up in the Persian Gulf and unable to reach the open sea. Still, hope that the two-month conflict could soon be over buoyed international markets.

Trump also suspended an attempt by the U.S. military to open a safe passage for commercial ships through the strait, saying the pause would allow more time to reach a peace agreement. An official in Saudi Arabia said Thursday that the kingdom and U.S. ally refused to support Trump’s effort to reopen the strait by force.

Trump did not consult with Saudi Arabia before launching the short-lived effort to force open a shipping passage through the strait, according to the Saudi official who was not authorized to discuss the matter publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.

“We told them that we are not part of this and that they can’t use our territories and bases for this,” the official said Thursday.

The official said Saudi Arabia also sent a message to Iran that the kingdom would not be involved in U.S. attacks related to Trump’s attempt to reopen the strait.

PAKISTAN: DEAL SOON

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

“We expect an agreement sooner rather than later,” Pakistani Foreign Ministry spokesperson Tahir Andrabi said Thursday. “We hope the parties will reach a peaceful and sustainable solution that will contribute not only to peace in our region but to international peace as well.”

He declined to give a timeline.

In other regional developments, direct talks between Israel and Lebanon were scheduled to resume next week in Washington, according to a U.S. official speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss plans for the closed-door meetings. The official said talks will be held Thursday and Friday.

Iran established a new government agency to approve transit and collect tolls from shipping in the strait, shipping data firm Lloyd’s List Intelligence said Thursday. The move has raised concerns about eroding the freedom of navigation on which global trade depends.

The agency, called the Persian Gulf Strait Authority, is “positioning itself as the only valid authority to grant permission to ships transiting the strait,” Lloyd’s reported in an online briefing. Lloyd’s said the authority had emailed it an application form for ships seeking passage.

Iran has effectively closed the strait, a vital waterway for the shipment of supplies of oil, gas, fertilizer and other petroleum products, while the U.S. is blockading Iranian ports. The disruptions have sent fuel prices skyrocketing and rattled the global economy.

Maritime law experts say Iran’s demands to vet or tax vessels violate international law. The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea calls for countries to permit peaceful passage through their territorial waters.

The U.S. and its Gulf allies are pushing for the U.N. Security Council to support a resolution that condemns Iran’s chokehold on the strait and threatens sanctions. A prior resolution calling for reopening the strait was vetoed by Iran allies Russia and China.

IRANIAN LEADER IN THE SHADOWS

Top Iranian officials have said Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei is playing a key role in overseeing negotiations with the U.S. But he remains in hiding and has not appeared in public since he was wounded early in the war.

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said he met recently for more than two hours with Khamenei. In remarks aired Thursday on Iranian state television, Pezeshkian praised the supreme leader’s “sincere” behavior in what he said was a long in-person meeting.

Khamenei has only released a series of written statements since being named supreme leader in March. He replaced his father, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was killed during the war’s initial strikes.

UNEASE IN CONGRESS

Also Thursday, a first-term House Republican facing a difficult reelection fight introduced a bill that would authorize continued U.S. military operations in Iran through the end of July, but with strict limits, implicitly rejecting Trump’s claim that the war has ended.

The legislation by Rep. Tom Barrett, R-Mich., was the latest indication of growing uneasiness among Republicans on Capitol Hill about the war that Trump began with no authorization from Congress and that has dragged on far beyond his initial timetable. Unhappiness with the war has further darkened an already grim political environment for the GOP as it grasps to keep its majorities.

Barrett, an Army veteran whose race to hold onto his Lansing-area district is considered among the most competitive in the country, said the legislation was an effort to give Congress a say in the ongoing conflict.

The bill would largely bar the introduction of ground forces and would specify how force could be used in Iran. Those uses would include to “demolish, degrade or defeat” Iran’s nuclear program, to address “imminent threats” to U.S. forces or facilities, to enforce a blockade of Iranian ports, and to ensure the safe passage of U.S. and allied ships through the Strait of Hormuz.

“The commander in chief has the sole authority to lead our troops in wartime, but I’ve lost too many friends on the battlefield to allow that to happen without Congress exercising its constitutional role to clearly define the mission with safeguards and a deadline,” Barrett said in a statement announcing the measure, which he filed during a congressional recess.

Information for this article was contributed by Adam Schreck, Audrey McAvoy, David McHugh, Russ Bynum, Sally Abou AlJoud, Elena Becatoros, Matthew Lee, Samy Magdy, Amir-Hussein Radjy, Munir Ahmed, Farnoush Amiri and Nicole Winfield of The Associated Press, and by Robert Jimison of The New York Times.