Iran's army announced it shot down a US-made LUCAS drone over the southern port city of Bandar Abbas, and Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf warned that any new US attack would provoke a response beyond imagination [8][9][22]. The statements came as US President Donald Trump told Fox News he faces a binary choice — whether to make a deal or eliminate Iran — while refusing to disclose whether or when he would strike [1][4][30][32].
The US-Israeli war on Iran began in February 2026 and remains unresolved despite an April 8 ceasefire [5][28]. A US naval counter-blockade of Iranian ports remains in force, and the Islamabad Memorandum of Understanding collapsed in June [6][28].
Trump told Fox News that the US destroyed Iran's military and economic capacity and now fully controls the Strait of Hormuz, with pre-war oil transit restored [30]. He said Washington could strike "as soon as tomorrow" or reach a "big, beautiful" agreement, while refusing to disclose his decision [5][32]. At a Florida rally, he signaled another round of "Operation Epic Fury" [26]. The Wall Street Journal reported that Trump reviewed military options including strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities and islands controlled by Tehran [27]. Trump also said he holds two contradictory intelligence reports on Iran [19]. Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian accused the US of disrupting talks to end the war [16]. Qalibaf told parliament that Americans believe media pressure or military threats can force Iran to surrender, and that any aggression against Iran's territorial integrity would receive a response that "cannot even be imagined" [10][11][22]. He rejected comparisons to the Pahlavi era [8].
Director of National Intelligence Jay Clayton warned in a memo to Secretary of State Marco Rubio that Iran has significantly increased efforts to target US officials and that lethal attack plots are in their final stages [12][14][23]. The State Department ordered non-emergency staff and families to leave Saudi Arabia [12]. The Israeli military's announcement opening the war in February described a joint US-Israeli campaign against Iran, framing Iranian missile-production reconstruction and nuclear-program concealment as an existential threat [36]. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth made an unannounced visit to Israel and was presented with attack plans [20]. Iran's Revolutionary Guard announced a 'preventive' drone attack on a Komala opposition base in Iraq's Erbil province, claiming casualties and damage, while Komala said its fighters were unharmed and only material damage occurred [21].
Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said the war has changed everything and that shipping routes through the Strait of Hormuz and the strait's management will not return to their previous state, with negotiations ongoing with Oman [2][6][15][22][28]. He called for a new regional security structure built with Persian Gulf states and the complete absence of foreign forces [8][28]. Bahrain's foreign minister told the UN General Assembly that Gulf states and Jordan suffered about 7,000 Iranian attacks with ballistic missiles, cruise missiles and drones, and rejected any permit or fee regime in Hormuz [37]. The GCC secretary-general stressed the necessity of guaranteeing freedom of navigation without restrictions or fees [38]. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio accused Iran of attacking ships in a manner not seen since World War II and the era of Caribbean pirates; Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmail Baqaei responded that Trump himself boasted on 1 May 2026 of seizing commercial vessels and looting their oil cargoes [29]. An informed Iranian source dismissed as "a lie and fantasy" a Saudi report that Iran offered to reopen Hormuz in exchange for lifting the US blockade [25]. Iran's ambassador to Islamabad said Tehran remains ready for talks within a Pakistan-mediated interim deal [13]. IRGC political bureau deputy head Yadollah Javani named seven internet cables in the strait as possible targets if strikes resume [14].
Foreign ministers from Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Turkiye, the UK, Germany, France, and Italy met in Istanbul under the 'R4+E3' format and warned against a new US-Israeli attack on Iran [18]. Turkey's foreign minister said "no one supports" intervention, and France's top diplomat warned that any escalation "would only have losers" [18]. German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said Iran is playing for time and pressure must increase, but set conditions for sanctions relief and any Hormuz security mission: war's end, a legal basis with a Bundestag mandate, and a viable political-military concept [48]. China's foreign ministry called the strait an international passage whose stability serves everyone's interest [40]. Araghchi said Iran is ready to give diplomacy another chance if the US shows sincere intent [20]. Baqaei told Germany's ARD that Tehran cannot trust Washington's claims and will not submit to unilateral demands [19].
Democratic Senator Chris Van Hollen warned that Trump's "illegal war" with Iran is becoming "the next forever war," responding to a New York Times report that the US and Israel have drawn up detailed plans for renewed attacks after the midterms [33]. The House passed a war powers resolution limiting military action against Iran, with Republican support rising from four to seven members [35]. Representative Gregory Meeks argued Congress never authorized the war and the administration is waging it without a plan to win or end it, citing 19 fallen and more than 750 wounded service members [35]. Former President Barack Obama criticized the war, saying his administration prevented Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons through diplomacy without firing a missile [23]. A Bangladeshi opinion column argued that Trump's pre-midterm pause in strikes is a political calculation to shield Republicans from an unpopular war's costs rather than a genuine shift toward peace [24].
A Gulf oil-company executive said war risk premiums and cargo insurance through Hormuz now reach five to six percent of cargo value [39]. Iran's customs administration reported non-oil exports down 28.2 percent and imports down 26.1 percent, while the energy analytics firm Kpler estimated oil exports have fallen to about 255,000 barrels per day from nearly two million [42]. Iranian workers described freight rates tripled, Bandar Abbas traffic reduced to a trickle, and meat and medicine unaffordable, with official inflation near 70 percent [43]. African governments treated the strait as a cost-of-living emergency: Kenya convened fuel importers, Nigeria deployed gas conversion kits, Ethiopia urged fuel economizing, and Mozambique defined alternative routes [44][45]. Japan's shipowners' association said resuming transits is a decision for each individual company, with Japan's transport ministry reporting 35 Japan-related vessels still stranded [41]. Brazil's Petrobras rerouted Saudi crude imports through the Red Sea [46]. A Central Asian analysis framed the crisis as a "double blockade" whose main transmission channel is imported inflation [47].
IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi said the agency will resume inspections in Iran, with dates, procedures and locations still under negotiation [34].
Trump said he believes the war will end immediately after November's midterm elections [35]. The New York Times reported that US and Israeli attack plans envision a possible three-day campaign against nuclear facilities, missile and drone arsenals and possibly energy infrastructure after the vote [33]. Iran's security chief Mohsen Rezaei is scheduled to hold security talks in Tehran with defense officials from Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and Turkiye under the Mecca Defence Alliance [3].