09/05/2026

SATURDAY | MAY 9, 2026

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US, Iran trade fire despite truce

Washington sanctions Iraqi minister WASHINGTON: The United States on Thursday imposed sanctions on Iraq’s deputy oil minister over support to Iran, as Washington puts intense pressure on the incoming government to sever links. The deputy minister, Ali Maarij al-Bahadli, “abused his government position to divert Iraqi oil in support of the Iranian regime and its terrorist proxies,” State Department spokesman Tommy Pigott said. “As part of a scheme to evade sanctions, Iranian oil was fraudulently mixed with Iraqi oil and sold for Iran’s benefit.” The US has unilateral sanctions against Iranian oil, seeking to punish any country or company that buys it. Iran, led by Shia clerics, has had close relations with many key players in Shia-majority Iraq since the 2003 US invasion toppled Saddam Hussein. The US has been escalating pressure on the Iraqi state to break off alleged cooperation with armed Iraqi Shia groups linked to Iran. Since the US and Israel attacked Iran on Feb 28, armed groups have hit US facilities in Iraq more than 600 times before a ceasefire was announced, according to a US official. The official said the US was looking for “concrete actions” from Iraq to cast aside the armed groups before Washington is able to resume full cooperation. – AFP Some 1,500 ships trapped in Gulf PANAMA CITY: About 1,500 vessels and their crews are trapped in the Gulf due to the Iranian blockade in the Strait of Hormuz, the UN’s International Maritime Organisation (IMO) chief said in Panama on Thursday. The war in the Middle East, unleashed on Feb 28 by Israel and the United States against Iran, provoked reprisals from Tehran across the region and a shipping blockade in Hormuz, a crucial global trade route. “Right now, we have approximately 20,000 crewmen and around 1,500 ships trapped,“ IMO secretary-general Arsenio Dominguez told the Maritime Convention of the Americas. He added that maritime shipping moves over 80% of total consumed products in the world. The stranded crew members “are innocent individuals who are doing their jobs every day for the benefit of other countries,” but “are trapped by geopolitical situations outside their control”. He also said “10 sailors have lost their lives” in more than 30 attacks on vessels. Domingues advised against sending vessels to the Gulf to avoid more deaths among sailors and further losses. – AFP

WASHINGTON: United States President Donald Trump yesterday said the ceasefire with Iran remains in place despite an Iranian attack on three American destroyers in the Strait of Hormuz that fanned fears that the truce was faltering. The US military said it carried out strikes on Iranian military targets in response, although Tehran charged that it was Washington that had initiated the exchange of fire. The latest violence threatens to unravel a fragile truce in effect since April 8 that brought an end to weeks of US-Israeli attacks on the Islamic republic, which has retaliated with strikes across the Middle East and by blocking the strait, a vital route for oil and gas shipments. The United Arab Emirates yesterday said that its air defences were “engaging missile and drone attacks originating from Iran”. When asked in Washington on Thursday if the Iran ceasefire was still on, Trump said: “Yeah, it is. They trifled with us today. We blew them away. They trifled. I call that a trifle.” US Central Command (Centcom) said in a post on X that Iranian forces launched “multiple missiles, drones and small boats” at the three US warships, but none were hit, and that it “eliminated inbound threats and targeted Iranian military facilities responsible”. “Centcom does not seek escalation but remains positioned and ready to protect American forces.” For its part, Iran’s central military command accused the US of violating the ceasefire by attacking an oil tanker and

o Trump insists ceasefire remains in place

old photographer Shervin told AFP reporters in Paris, messaging from Tehran. “This is another one of Trump’s games; otherwise, why are so many warships and military forces being sent towards Iran?” A US State Department official confirmed on Thursday that the new Israel-Lebanon talks would take place on May 14 and May 15. It will be the third meeting in recent months between the two countries, which have technically been at war for decades and have no diplomatic relations. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Tuesday said that a peace deal between the two sides was “eminently achievable,” insisting Hezbollah was the sticking point, rather than any issue between the two governments. Lebanon was drawn into the Middle East war when Hezbollah fired rockets at Israel in retaliation for the killing of Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. A ceasefire between the two countries, and including Hezbollah, was extended after the last round of talks in Washington, but Israel has kept up its strikes on the group. – AFP

another ship, saying Tehran’s forces “immediately and in retaliation attacked American military vessels.” Trump this week fuelled hopes of a deal, saying an agreement could be near even as he again threatened to return to bombing if Tehran refused to back down. Iran’s foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei said Tehran would communicate its position to mediator Pakistan “after finalising its views.” Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif had struck an optimistic tone prior to the exchanges of fire on Thursday, saying in televised remarks: “I firmly believe that this ceasefire will turn into a long-term ceasefire.” However, inside Iran, civilians were cynical. “Neither side in these negotiations is really capable of reaching an agreement,” 42-year

PRECIPITOUS POSITION ... Rescuers work at the site of an Israeli strike that took place in the southern suburbs of Beirut in Lebanon. – REUTERSPIC

Russia, Ukraine clash in lead-up to Kremlin WWII celebration MOSCOW: Russia and Ukraine launched major attacks on each other yesterday, with a two-day unilateral ceasefire that Moscow had declared around its World War II commemorations appearing to be in tatters. “They want from Ukraine a permit to hold their parade so that they could go out onto the square safely for one hour once a year, and then go on killing.” leave the city in good time,” the defence ministry said in a statement. Britain’s foreign office said Moscow’s threats were “unwarranted, irresponsible and completely

long-range strikes on military infrastructure. It added that if Ukraine did not follow suit, Moscow would respond “in kind”. Russia marks World War II Victory Day each year on May 9 with a massive military parade through the Red Square. Putin has made memory of the war a central narrative of his 25-year rule and invoked it to justify his invasion of Ukraine. In recent weeks, Kyiv, which has expanded its drone capabilities, has stepped up strikes on Moscow and deep inside Russia, hitting targets hundreds of miles from Ukraine. The attacks have created unease in Russia ahead of the parade. – AFP

strikes on Kyiv’s frontline positions. Russia’s defence ministry said it had downed 264 Ukrainian drones overnight, the first hours of the Kremlin’s unilateral two-day ceasefire. Ukraine had blasted Russia’s temporary truce as a propaganda measure to protect the victory parade on May 9, one of the most important patriotic events for Russian leader Vladimir Putin. Hours before Russia’s ceasefire began, Zelensky warned allies of Russia against attending the parade. “We have also received messages from some states close to Russia, saying that their representatives plan to be in Moscow. We do not recommend it.

unjustified”, adding that any attack on a diplomatic mission would be a further escalation in the war. German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul told Bloomberg TV that Berlin will not pull its embassy staff out from Kyiv. Zelensky will also stay“in Kyiv”over the weekend, a senior source close to the Ukrainian president told AFP on condition of anonymity. During the truce, Russia’s defence ministry said it would “completely” halt fire along the frontline and stop

Zelensky had earlier proposed a counter-truce from May 6 that has gone unheeded. With Moscow doubling down on its attacks on Ukraine in the last days, Kyiv has struck back. The Russian defence ministry had, in turn, urged residents and diplomats to leave Kyiv, threatening a potential retaliatory strike in case of a Ukrainian attack during its ceasefire. “We remind the civilian population of Kyiv and staff at foreign diplomatic missions once again of the need to

“On the Russian side, there was not even a token attempt to cease fire on the front,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said, as Ukraine’s air force reported downing 56 drones in the last hours. “As we did over the past 24 hours, Ukraine will respond in kind today as well,” Zelensky wrote on X. He added that Russia lobbed“more than 850 strikes with drones of various types” along with more than 140