Iran Response

• US President Donald Trump publicly denounced Iran's reply to a US peace proposal as 'totally unacceptable' amid stalled negotiations in recent weeks. • Iran submitted its 'war-ending' response through Pakistan mediators, while a fragile ceasefire holds despite intermittent Gulf flare-ups and reported drone strikes. • The exchange escalates tensions, with Iran dismissing Trump's rejection as 'irrelevant' and warning countries enforcing US sanctions of 'difficulties' transiting the Strait of Hormuz.

• President Trump stated on May 9, 2026, that the U.S. is still awaiting Iran's response to the latest peace plan, emphasizing it could arrive 'any minute.' • Wartime fuel prices averaged $4.53 per gallon nationwide, marking a 25-cent increase for the second consecutive week amid ongoing tensions. • The lack of reply heightens risks in the Strait of Hormuz, where recent naval actions underscore fragile ceasefire dynamics.

• The United States is monitoring Iran's reply to a renewed peace proposal following mutual strikes, as reported by Fox News White House correspondent Aishah Hasnie. • President Trump pursues a diplomatic deal amid Middle East tensions, with former Iran special representative Brian Hook praising the administration's 'disciplined deterrence' strategy. • The developments signal potential de-escalation in the conflict, highlighting Trump's foreign policy focus on security and negotiation.

Diplomatic efforts continuing despite fighting in and around contested strait of Hormuz in recent daysMiddle East crisis – live updatesThe US secretary of state, Marco Rubio, has said that Washington is expecting a response from Iran on Friday to its proposals for an interim deal to end the conflict in the Middle East, as Iran accused the US of breaching the increasingly fragile ceasefire announced last month.In recent days there have been the biggest flare-ups in fighting in and around the contested strait of Hormuz since the informal truce began. The rise in violence followed Donald Trump’s announcement – then rapid pause – of a new naval mission aimed at opening the strategic waterway. Continue reading...

Pakistani intermediaries deliver 15-point plan but some proposals proved intractable in previous negotiationsIranian officials expressed initial disapproval of a US ceasefire plan on Wednesday, even as intermediaries suggested direct talks between the two could start as early as this weekend.Representatives from Pakistan who reportedly delivered the US plan to Iran told the Associated Press that it was a 15-point proposal that would include sanctions relief for Iran, dismantling Iran’s nuclear programme, restricting its use of missiles and reopening the strait of Hormuz, a chokepoint for about 20% of the world’s oil. Continue reading...

Energy minister Michael Shanks reassures drivers ahead of chancellor’s statement to MPsGood morning. At lunchtime Rachel Reeves, the chancellor, will give a statement to MPs that will cover what the government is doing, and (more tentatively) might do, in response to the soaring global energy prices caused by the Iran war. After Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022, also creating a global energy shortage, the Conservative government ended up spending £40bn supporting families and firms with energy bills over the following winter. Reeves’s problem is that she has not got £40bn spare. With spring upon us, and people starting to turn down their central heating, the issue may not seem particularly pressing in many households (although heating oil and petrol prices are already soaring.) But, by the end of this year, this could be the sort of colossal economic crisis that gets remembered for half a century.As Chris Mason explains in a good preview, Reeves is expected to cover three points. She is expected to confirm that the government wants to give the Competition and Markets Authority new powers to deal with any potention profiteering by oil companies. She will confirm that the government wants to go “further and faster to secure the next generation of nuclear power and to reclaim Britain’s place as a leading nuclear nation” (as the Treasury puts it in its overnight preview).[Drivers] should do everything as absolutely normal because there is no shortage of fuel anywhere in the country at the moment. We monitor this every single day, I look at the numbers personally. There’s no issue at all with that …People should go about their business as normal. That’s what the RAC and the AA have said. It’s really important people do that. There’s no shortage of fuel and everything is working as normal.Look genuinely, people shouldn’t change their behaviour or their habits in the slightest. Continue reading...

US president was meeting with Japanese PM when he said: ‘Who knows better about surprise than Japan?’Sign up for the Breaking News US email to get newsletter alerts in your inboxIt would be funny if it wasn’t so Trumpy.Hosting the Japanese prime minister, Sanae Takaichi, in the Oval Office on Thursday, Donald Trump could not resist mocking Japan about its 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor during the second world war. Continue reading...