War returns to Iran with Israel, US strikes

The United Arab Emirates’ main gas-processing complex, one of the world’s largest, will not resume full capacity until next year, its operator has said, after it was targeted in the war, according to AFP.

ADNOC Gas has said the Habshan site in the capital Abu Dhabi, which supplies gas across the UAE, was operating at 60 per cent and “the company is currently working towards achieving 80pc restoration by the end of 2026, with full capacity restored in 2027”.

In a statement sharing its first quarter results, ADNOC Gas has reported $1.1 billion in net income, a 15pc decrease compared to the same quarter last year.

It has said the drop was caused by “increased regional uncertainty and difficult market conditions” as the energy sector faces major disruption due to Iran’s blockade of the Strait of Hormuz.

If the strait opens in the second half of 2026, the company expects its full-year net income to range from $3.5 billion to $4.0bn, compared to $5.2bn last year.

US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee said that Israel had sent an Iron Dome battery and personnel to operate the air defence system to the United Arab Emirates, Reuters reports.

“Israel just sent (the UAE) Iron dome batteries and personnel to help them operate them. How come? Because theres an extraordinary relationship between the UAE and Israel based on the Abraham Accords,” Huckabee said at an event in Tel Aviv, referring to a 2020 deal that saw Israel establish ties with the UAE.

A source briefed on the matter told Reuters that Israel had sent air defence systems to the UAE to help it defend against Iranian attacks during the war.

An Israeli drone attack on a car in the town square of Doueir yesterday killed three people from the southern Lebanese town of Adchit, NNA reports according to Al Jazeera.

According to the report, a person who was injured as a result of a raid on their town was transported to a hospital in Nabatieh, and while passing through Doueir, they were subjected to the raid.

Pakistan plans to increase oil imports from Russia amid the crisis in the Strait of Hormuz, Russia’s state-run TASS news agency reported, citing Pakistan’s ambassador to Russia, Faisal Niaz Tirmizi, according to Reuters.

Israel has bombed the town of Jebchit, in southern Lebanon’s Nabatieh region, with four consecutive air strikes, Al Jazeera reports citing the National News Agency.

The air attacks were followed by artillery shelling targeting the town, the agency said, noting the Israeli army also hit an area surrounding the mosque in Jebchit.

Earlier, at least six people were killed by Israeli warplanes in Tyre district with another seven wounded.

Israel is establishing a military factory to produce a fleet of suicide drones in response to Hezbollah’s explosive drones, Al Jazeera reports citing Israel’s Army Radio.

“Hezbollah’s explosive drones pose a strategic difficulty for [Israeli] forces in southern Lebanon and on the northern border, and since the ceasefire began, those drones have claimed the lives of many fighters and civilians in the area,” the Army Radio said.

The Israeli Air Force has attacked more than 1,100 Hezbollah targets, killing more than 350 members of the group, since the “start of the ceasefire understanding”, Israel’s military has claimed.

It also claimed in a post on X that warplanes had destroyed Hezbollah buildings, weapons depots, and other infrastructure in Lebanon.

The “ceasefire” between Lebanon and Israel since April 16 has been in name only, with Israel continuing to launch attacks and Hezbollah responding.

The Israeli military has destroyed a solar-powered water pumping station in Deir Mimas town, which overlooks the Litani River, Lebanon’s National news Agency (NNA) reports.

The explosives detonated this morning after being planted earlier, causing extensive damage to the facility that supplied drinking water to the town, NNA said

Iranian Parliamentary Commission spokesperson Ebrahim Rezaei said one of Iran’s responses in the event of another US-Israeli attack on its territory “could be 90 per cent enrichment”.

“We will review it in the parliament,” Rezaei said in a post on X.

The Israeli army has issued new forced displacement notices for villages and towns in southern Lebanon as it continues its military operations despite an ongoing ceasefire, Al Jazeera reports.

The latest order targeted the villages and towns of Arzoun, Tayr Debba, Bazouriyeh, and al-Haush.

Residents were told to flee in advance of Israel taking military action against the locations.

Israeli forces demolished a number of houses in the Ain al-Saghira neighbourhood of Bint Jbeil, southern Lebanon, Al Jazeera reports citing National News Agency (NNA).

Earlier, warplanes carried out two air raids on the town of Srifa, and heavy drone activity was also reported over the Litani River.

The US dollar has strengthened broadly as talks to end the war in the Middle East showed no signs of progress, pushing oil prices higher and worrying investors that interest rates may need to stay higher to tackle inflationary pressures, according to Reuters.

Investors now fear that the ceasefire that has been in place since April 7 can be in danger and hostilities can resume in the conflict.

The euro weakened 0.24 per cent to $1.1754, while sterling last bought $1.3575, down 0.26 per cent. The dollar index, which measures the US currency against six others, is at 98.17, up 0.2pc.

Tens of millions of people could face hunger and starvation if fertilisers are not allowed through the Strait of Hormuz soon, the head of a UN task force aimed at averting a looming humanitarian crisis has told the AFP news agency.

About a third of the world’s fertiliser normally passes through the waterway in the Gulf.

“We have a few weeks ahead of us to prevent what will likely be a massive humanitarian crisis,” Jorge Moreira da Silva, the executive director of the UN Office for Project Services (UNOPS) and leader of the task force, told AFP in an interview.

South Korea will participate in a multinational defence ministerial meeting on the Strait of Hormuz, Yonhap News Agency reports, citing officials.

Army Major General Woo Kyung-suk will attend the virtual meeting, co-chaired by Britain and France, the report states, quoting the defence ministry officials.

The Foreign Office (FO) has termed a report by an American media outlet claiming that Islamabad had allowed Iranian military aircraft to park on its airfields while playing the role of a mediator in the Middle East conflict as “misleading and sensationalised”.

Citing US officials, CBS News has reported that Pakistan “quietly allowed Iranian military aircraft to park on its airfields”. The report alleged that days after US President Trump announced the ceasefire with Iran in early April, Tehran sent multiple aircraft to the Nur Khan Air Base.

“Among the military hardware was an Iranian Air Force RC-130, a reconnaissance and intelligence-gathering variant of the Lockheed C-130 Hercules tactical transport aircraft,” the report claimed.

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Trump has grown increasingly frustrated with Iran’s handling of negotiations to end the war, with some aides saying he is now more open to resuming major combat operations, CNN reports.

Inside the administration, officials are divided on next steps. Some Pentagon officials favor stronger military pressure, including targeted strikes, while others still want to pursue diplomacy.

Trump allies also want Pakistani mediators to take a tougher approach with Iran, with some US officials believing Pakistan has softened Tehran’s position in communications with Washington.

Overnight Israeli air strike hit a house in Kfar Dounine, in southern Lebanon, killing six people, Al Jazeera reports.

The attack also wounded seven others who were transported to hospitals in Tyre.

The United Arab Emirates carried out attacks on Iran early last month, sources told the Wall Street Journal, revealing previously unknown participation in the war by the Gulf country, according to AFP.

The American newspaper said the UAE’s attacks targeted a refinery located on Iran’s Lavan Island and took place “around the time” US President Donald Trump was “announcing a ceasefire in the war” after a five-week air strike campaign.

The US has quietly welcomed the Emirati strikes and any other Gulf states who want to join the fight, the paper reported, citing one unnamed source.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has held separate calls with his Australian and British counterparts to discuss Iran and the Strait of Hormuz, the State Department said, Reuters reports.

Rubio discussed “Iran and ongoing efforts to restore freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz,” the State Department said in separate statements after his calls with Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong and British Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper.

The Indian rupee is set to weaken at today’s open, with a possible slide to a lifetime low against the US dollar, on concerns that the fragile US-Iran ceasefire may be fraying, keeping oil prices high and the currency under pressure, Reuters reports.

The rupee is expected to open at 95.4595.55, traders have said, after sliding 0.88 per cent to 95.31 in the previous session. At those levels, the currency will surpass the all-time low of 95.4325 hit last week.

Iran’s Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf has said that the rights of Iranian people laid out in the 14-point proposal.

“There is no alternative but to accept the rights of the Iranian people as laid out in the 14-point proposal,” he said in a social media post on X.

Ghalibaf has said: “Any other approach will be completely inconclusive; nothing but one failure after another.”

“The longer they drag their feet, the more American taxpayers will pay for it,” he has added.

The Israeli military has ordered residents of the Lebanese town of Sohmor to flee their homes or remain and expose “their life to danger”, Al Jazeera reports.

The Israeli military said the order was an “urgent warning to residents” who must leave the town, located in the Bekaa Valley, and move to “a distance of no less than 1,000 metres (0.6 miles) to open areas”.

Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong has announced news sanctions on seven Iranian individuals and four entities, due to Tehran’s “ongoing brutal oppression of its people and destabilisation of the region”, Al Jazeera reports.

Wong said in a statement that the Iranian “regime massacred thousands of its own citizens and carried out mass arrests of peaceful protesters”.

“The seven individuals and four entities sanctioned include senior officials and entities involved in these horrific acts, including violence against women and children,” she said.