Trump rejects proposal to end war

US President Donald Trump has rejected an Iranian proposal to end the war.

In a post on his Truth Social platform, Trump said, “I have just read the response from Iran’s so-called ‘Representatives.’ I don’t like it — TOTALLY UNACCEPTABLE!”

Earlier on Saturday, Tehran had sent a proposal to Washington

The proposal had demanded an end to the war on all fronts and for sanctions against Tehran to be lifted, according to Iranian state media.

Iran’s proposal had specifically emphasized the need for the US to lift sanctions on Iranian oil for 30 days, as well as demanding an end of the naval blockade on Iranian ports.

Iran has sent out its answer to the proposal made by the US to end the war between the two countries, state news agency IRNA said.

According to IRNA, the proposed plan’s focus will be on ending the war at this stage, with Iranian agency ISNA reporting another issue mentioned being maritime traffic safety in the Strait of Hormuz and the Persian Gulf.

Neither the US nor mediating country Pakistan have so far commented on Iran’s response.

Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed ‌bin Abdulrahman al-Thani told Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi during ahpone call that the use of the Strait of Hormuz as a “pressure tool” would only deepen the crisis in the Gulf, the foreign ministry in Doha said.

While the ministry did not mention when the phone call took place, it said al-Thani — who also serves as Qatar’s foreign minister — told Araqchi that mediation effortsto end the war should be responded to by all parties.

An attack including a number of drones in Kuwait‘s direction was detected overnight, the country’s military said.

“At dawn today, the armed forces detected a number of hostile drones in Kuwaiti airspace, which were dealt with in accordance with established procedures,” the general staff of the army said on X.

While Kuwait did not specify the drones’ origins, the country was often targeted by Iran as part of Tehran’s war with the US and Israel.

The United Arab Emirates said it intercepted two Iranian drones launched toward the country.

The incident comes as the ceasefire between Iran and the US and its allies remains shaky and is tested daily, including by overnight drone launches toward Kuwait.

Ships from countries siding with the US in imposing sanctions on Iran would face difficulties crossing the Strait of Hormuz, Iran’s army said.

Iran army spokesperson Mohammad Akraminia told the official IRNA news agency that the Islamic Republic had established a “new legal and security system” in the strait, meaning any vessel crossing it must coordinate its passage with Iran.

Akraminia said the system was “now in force,” adding that it would bring “economic, security and political gains” for the Islamic Republic.

A UN resolution drafted by the US and Bahrain has called on Iran to stop all restrictions on vessels transiting the Strait of Hormuz.

Saudi oil company Aramco reported a 25.5% increase in first-quarter 2026 profit compared with the same period a year earlier.

The gains followed a spike in oil and gas prices amid the war between the US, Israel and Iran.

In a statement to the Saudi stock exchange, Aramco said quarterly net income rose to 120.13 billion Saudi riyals ($32.04 billion), up from 95.68 billion riyals ($25.51 billion) in the first quarter of 2025.

With a fragile ceasefire still in force and Iran restricting the passage of hydrocarbons through the Strait of Hormuz, the company said its “increase in revenue was mainly due to higher prices and volumes sold” of refined and chemical products, as well as higher crude oil volumes and prices.

Aramco, which is majority-owned by the Saudi state, is the world’s biggest oil exporter.

The British military said a bulk carrier ship was hit by an unknown projectile and caught fire off the coast of Qatar.

The military’s United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations Centre said small fire caused by the hit was extinguished, and no casualties were reported.

Ships sailing through the Persian Gulf have repeatedly been targeted over the past week despite the ceasefire between the US and Iran.

Iran and the US are yet to reach a breakthrough in negotiations to end the war that began in late February.

President Donald Trump said the US was waiting on Iran’s response to its latest proposal to end the war.

Iran has given no indication whether it will accept Trump’s plan, which proposes that Tehran ease its chokehold on the Strait of Hormuz and the US end a blockade on Iranian ports during diplomatic discussions to end the war.

Iran also continued with its criticism over the US blockade on its ports on Saturday.

Situation remains tense

Both US and Iran have said that their fragile ceasefire remains in place despite clashes in and around the Strait of Hormuz in recent days.

Israel carried out deadly airstrikes in Lebanon on Saturday despite a US-brokered ceasefire reached last month.

Three Israeli drone strikes on vehicles just south of Beirut killed four people, while a series of airstrikes on southern Lebanon killed at least 13, state media and the Health Ministry said.

Hezbollah launched drones and rockets at Israeli troops in southern Lebanon, injuring three soldiers, the Israeli military said.

Lebanon reported three Israelistrikes south of Beirut and in the south of the country, which the health ministry said killed seven people, including a child.

“The Israeli enemy launched two strikes on the Saadiyat highway,” according to the state-run National News Agency, referring to a location around 20 kilometres (12 miles) south of the Lebanese capital. The NNA later reported a third strike nearby.

The news agency also reported several casualties after a series of Israeli strikes across the south of the country, including one on the southern town of Saksakiyeh.

The Lebanese health ministry said seven people were killed in Saksakiyeh, including a girl, while 15 others were wounded.

The ministry said a motorbike carrying two Syrian nationals was hit by an Israeli strike in the city of Nabatieh, which killed the father and left his 12-year-old daughter in a critical condition in hospital.

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Meanwhile, Hezbollah said a drone had struck “a gathering of Israeli enemy army soldiers near Misgav Am” in northern Israel.

The attacks come despite a ceasefire arranged in mid-April.

The United Kingdom said it was sending the warship HMS Dragon to the Middle East as part of a multinational effort preparing to protect shipping in the Strait of Hormuz.

The UK’s move follows France’s deployment of its carrier strike group to the southern Red Sea.

HMS Dragon, ‌an air ⁠defence ⁠destroyer, was sent to the Eastern Mediterranean in March, shortly after the Iran war began, to help ​defend Cyprus.

“The pre-positioning of HMS Dragon is part of ‌prudent planning ​that will ensure that the UK is ready, as part of a multinational coalition jointly led by the UK and France, to secure ​the Strait, when conditions allow,” a spokesperson for Britain’s Ministry of Defense said.

The two countries have been planning measures to ensure the safe transit of shipping through the Strait once Iran and the US reach a long-term peace deal.

A fragile ceasefire remains in place, although attacks on Friday saw US forces hit two Iranian tankers that were trying to breach the US blockade of Hormuz.

Bahraini authorities have arrested 41 people suspected of links to Iran’s Revolutionary Guards (IRGC), Reuters reported, citing Bahrain’s Interior Ministry.

The ministry said investigations by the public prosecutor involved a group linked to the IRGC and cases related to expressions of sympathy with Iranian attacks on Gulf states.

Bahrain and other Gulf Arab countries have been hit by Iranian strikes, with Tehran saying it was acting in retaliation for the United States and Israel’s war against Iran, launched on February 28.

Israel’s military told residents of nine villages in southern Lebanon to leave the area on Saturday.

In the statement, the Israeli military accused the Hezbollah militant group of breaching a ceasefire agreement and said that it was “compelled to act against it with force.”

“You must evacuate your homes immediately and move away from the villages and towns by a distance of at least 1000 metres to open areas,” the Israeli military’s Arabic-language spokesman Avichay Adraee said in a post on the platform X.

Eight of the villages in question lie in inland areas of the southwestern Tyre district and one village is in the far south of neighboring Sidon district.

Israel reached a ceasefire with Lebanon on April 16.

The United States Treasury has announced sanctions on 10 entities it accuses of supporting Iran’s arms procurement and drone and missile production.

According to a Treasury statement, the targeted entities “are enabling efforts by Iran’s military to secure weapons, as well as raw materials with applications in Iran’s Shahed‑series unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) and ballistic missile program.”

A number of Chinese firms were targeted in the measure, as were entities based in Belarus and the United Arab Emirates.

China is a major trade partner of Iran and is the largest buyer of Iranian oil.

Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani on Friday urged both the US and Iran to engage in mediation efforts during a meeting with US Vice President JD Vance in Washington.

The Qatari Foreign Ministry said in a statement on X that the prime minister “stressed the need for all parties to engage with the ongoing mediation efforts, to pave the way for addressing the root causes of the crisis through peaceful means and dialogue, leading to a comprehensive agreement that achieves lasting peace in the region.”

“We reaffirm our support for diplomacy advancing security, stability, and lasting regional and global peace,” Al Thani later wrote on X.

Qatar is among the Gulf countries drawn into the conflict as Iran targeted US military facilities there in retaliation for US and Israeli attacks on the Islamic Republic.