U.S. President Donald ​Trump launched a new operation on Monday (May 4, 2026) seeking to open the Strait of Hormuz to shipping, prompting Iran to lash out in an effort to keep control of the critical ‌energy shipping route.

A handful of commercial vessels were reported to have been hit and a UAE oil port was ablaze ​after an Iranian strike as Mr. Trump’s attempt to use the U.S. Navy to free up shipping provoked the war’s biggest escalation since ⁠a ceasefire was declared four weeks ago. The U.S. said it destroyed six small Iranian boats.

U.S. President Donald Trump, on Thursday (April 2, 2026), addressed the nation on the Iran-Israel war, the U.S. strikes on Tehran, and the fluctuating global oil prices.

The address included references to Iran’s plans to build a nuclear bomb and came amid a global turmoil in oil prices and supply chains. 

Here are some of the key quotes from Mr. Trump’s speech: 

On military operations against Iran: “We are going to hit them extremely hard over the next two or three weeks. We will bring them back to the Stone Age.”

On increasing oil prices and Strait of Hormuz: “This short-term increase has been entirely the result of the deranged Iranian regime” 

“We are the number one producer of oil and gas on the planet. We produce more than Saudi Arabia and Russia combined.”

“U.S. imports almost no oil through the Hormuz Strait. We haven’t needed it, and we don’t need it.” 

“Buy oil from the United States of America. We have so much.” 

“The countries of the world that do receive oil through the pass, they must protect the strait.”

“Build up some delayed courage. Go to the Strait and just take it. Use it for yourself.” 

On the US economy: “We built the strongest economy in history. In one year, we have taken a dead and crippled country and made it the hottest country in the world.”

Also Read | Leaders killed, U.S. strikes and Iranian response: a month of Iran-U.S. war

On regime change in Iran: “Regime change has occurred because of all of their leaders’ death. Yet if there is no deal, we are going to hit each of their electric generating plants. We are unstoppable as a military force.” 

“We have all the cards, they have none.” 

Iran-Israel and U.S. conflict: Context

President Trump had said on March 31, 2026, that the U.S. forces would end operations in Iran “very soon,” evoking a timeline of two or three weeks as his administration pursues talks with Iranian authorities while continuing its aerial campaign. 

Asked during a White House event about the impact of high fuel prices since the start of the war on February 28, Mr. Trump said that “All I have to do is leave Iran, and we’ll be doing that very soon, and they’ll tumble down.”

On February 28, 2026, in a joint operation, Israel and the U.S. attacked Iran’s Tehran, calling it a ‘pre-emptive action’. Code-named Operation Roaring Lion or Operation Epic Fury, several key Iranian cities, including Tehran, Qom, and Isfahan, were attacked.

The strikes killed Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, as well as over 200 civilians.

Iran has practically closed the Strait of Hormuz in response, leading to soaring oil prices that affect global supply chains. 

The Pentagon is preparing plans for weeks of ground operations in Iran — potentially including raids on Kharg Island and coastal sites near the Strait of Hormuz — though President Donald Trump has not yet approved any deployment, the Washington Post reported on Saturday (March 28, 2026).

Any ground operation would stop short of a full-scale invasion, instead involving raids by special operations forces and conventional infantry troops, the Post said, citing unnamed officials.

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U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio insisted on Friday the United States “can achieve all of our objectives without ground troops,” but the Post said planning is advanced, with one official saying: “This is not last-minute planning.”

The United States is weighing sending up to 10,000 extra troops to West Asia, U.S. media reported on Friday (March 27, 2026), as speculation grows that Washington may be preparing a ground operation in Iran.

The deployment would mark a significant boost to Washington’s military presence in the region, despite U.S. President Donald Trump insisting that Tehran was taking part in peace talks with Washington to end the war.

The Wall Street Journal reported that the move would aim to provide Mr. Trump with “more military options” in West Asia, engulfed by war since U.S.-Israeli strikes on Iran on February 28.

The troops would join thousands of paratroopers and Marines who have already been ordered to the region.

An Iranian official said on Wednesday (March 26, 2026) that Tehran would retaliate to a ground invasion of its territory by Washington by activating its Houthi rebels in Yemen to attack shipping in the Red Sea.

That would open up a new front in a war of spiralling economic, political and military repercussions.

Mr. Trump has repeatedly said he does not plan to send ground troops into combat with Iran.

“It is unclear where precisely forces will go in the Middle East, but they will likely be within striking distance of Iran and Kharg Island, a crucial oil export hub off Iran’s coast,” the Journal said.

The Pentagon did not immediately respond to AFP‘s request for comment.

Mr. Trump has pushed back his deadline for strikes on Iran’s energy assets, assuring that talks on ending the war were “going very well.”

Israel’s military, meanwhile, said early Friday (March 27, 2026) that it carried out “a wide-scale wave of strikes targeting infrastructure of the Iranian terror regime in the heart of Tehran”.

Iraq’s Interior Ministry said on Monday (March 16, 2026) ‌that a drone ​hit a ⁠hotel in Baghdad without causing casualties or ‌material damages.

Security sources earlier ‌said a ‌drone ⁠hit Al-Rasheed ⁠hotel in the Green Zone, which houses governmental ​buildings and ‌the U.S. Embassy, as fire and smoke were seen ‌rising.

Iran-Israel war updates on March 16, 2026

After examination, ​it was determined a drone ⁠had collided with the hotel’s upper ‌fence, the ministry said, condemning any attempts to target diplomatic envoys in ‌the country.

Security sources also ​earlier said two Katyusha rockets ⁠were fired at the ⁠U.S. Embassy in Baghdad. 

With a focus on U.S. President Donald Trump visiting Beijing next month, China appears to be carefully weighing its response to the Iran crisis, calibrating what would have ordinarily been a strong condemnation of massive military strikes on a close partner.

On Sunday (March 8, 2026), China’s Foreign Minister and Politburo member Wang Yi, in his annual 90-minute remarks with Chinese and foreign journalists along the sidelines of the National People’s Congress (NPC) or legislature, called for an end to “a war that should not have happened” and warned of the return of “the law of the jungle”.

Israel-Iran war LIVE

At the same time, it was made clear that preparations were in full swing to ensure Mr. Trump’s upcoming visit to Beijing would be successful.

Mr. Wang also praised Mr. Trump, saying the Presidents of both countries were “leading by example” and “providing an important strategic safeguard for the China-U.S. relationship to improve and move forward”, ahead of what he described as “a big year” for China-U.S. relations.

Mr. Wang took questions on issues China sees as its diplomatic priorities, including relations with the U.S., Russia, India and Japan – the only countries that received specific mention. He also broadly addressed China’s ties with Europe, Latin America, Africa, ASEAN, and the Global South.

On India, the Chinese Foreign Minister said relations had been given a “fresh start” following the 2024 meeting between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Xi Jinping in Kazan, and their second meeting in Tianjin last year when China hosted the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit. Mr. Xi is expected to visit India this year for the BRICS Summit, and Mr. Modi is likely to head to China when it is its turn to host next year.

Mr. Wang said both sides “must step up to the plate, and support each other’s BRICS presidency over the next two years, so as to make BRICS cooperation more substantive and bring new hope to the Global South.” He said Beijing was “heartened to see reenergised interactions at all levels, a new record in bilateral trade, and closer people-to-people exchanges.”

‘Partners, not rivals’

In addition to cooperating as part of BRICS, he put forward three other measures for relations, including maintaining “the correct strategic perception of each other as partner rather than rival, and opportunity instead of threat”; jointly safeguarding peace and stability in the border areas; and focusing on “development, which is the biggest common denominator of our two countries” to “produce more visible outcomes of practical cooperation.”

On Sunday (March 8, 2026), the ongoing Iran crisis and the China-U.S. relationship received the most attention. “This is a war that should not have happened,” Mr. Wang said, repeating China’s “calls for an immediate stop to military operations”.

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Beijing remains especially concerned about the implications to its energy security from continuing instability in West Asia, at a time when it is already dealing with economic headwinds at home. At the opening of the NPC last week, Chinese Premier Li Qiang’s work report announced a lowering of China’s GDP target to “4.5% to 5%”.

Economic concerns also underpin Beijing’s interest in ensuring economic relations with the U.S. remain on an even keel. Without naming the U.S., he said “a certain country is erecting tariff barriers and pushing economic and technological decoupling.”

Mr. Wang downplayed the idea of a China-U.S. “G2”, saying “there are more than 190 countries”, but added that “the relationship between China and the U.S. is one of far-reaching and global implications.” “Sliding into conflict or confrontation,” he said, “could drag the whole world down.”

Oil prices rose sharply on Monday (March 2, 2026) as U.S. and Israeli attacks on Iran and retaliatory strikes against Israel and U.S. military installations around the Gulf sent disruptions through the global energy supply chain.

Traders were betting the supply of oil from Iran and elsewhere in the Middle East would slow or grind to a halt. Attacks throughout the region, including on two vessels traveling through the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow mouth of the Persian Gulf, have restricted countries’ ability to export oil to the rest of the world. Prolonged attacks would likely result in higher prices for crude oil and gasoline, according to energy experts.

West Texas Intermediate, the light, sweet crude oil produced in the United States, was selling for about $72 a barrel early Monday (March 2), up around 7.3% from its trading price of about $67 on Friday (February 27, 2026), according to data from CME group.

A barrel of Brent crude, the international standard, was trading at $78.55 per barrel early Monday (March 2), according to FactSet, up 7.8% from its trading price of $72.87 on Friday (February 27), which had been a seven-month high at the time.

Higher global energy prices could lead to consumers paying more for gasoline at the pump and shelling out more for groceries and other goods, at a time when many are already feeling the impacts of elevated inflation.

Roughly 15 million barrels of crude oil per day — about 20% of the world’s oil — are shipped through the Strait of Hormuz, making it the world’s most critical oil chokepoint, according to Rystad Energy. Tankers travelling through the strait, which is bordered in the north by Iran, carry oil and gas from Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Iraq, Qatar, Bahrain, the UAE and Iran.

Iran had temporarily shut down parts of the strait in mid-February for what it said was a military drill, which led oil prices to jump about 6% higher in the days that followed.

Against that backdrop, eight countries that are part of the OPEC+ oil cartel announced they would boost production of crude on Sunday (March 1). The Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries, in a meeting planned before the war began, said it would increase production by 206,000 barrels per day in April, which was more than analysts had been expecting. The countries boosting output include Saudi Arabia, Russia, Iraq, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Kazakhstan, Algeria and Oman.

“Roughly one-fifth of global oil supply passes through the Strait of Hormuz, a vital artery for world trade, meaning markets are more concerned with whether barrels can move than with spare capacity on paper,” said Jorge León, Rystad’s senior vice president and head of geopolitical analysis, in an email.

“If flows through the Gulf are constrained, additional production will provide limited immediate relief, making access to export routes far more important than headline output targets.” Iran exports roughly 1.6 million barrels of oil a day, mostly to China, which may need to look elsewhere for supply if Iran’s exports are disrupted, another factor that could increase energy prices.

The ​head of ‌public relations at the ​Iranian ⁠Supreme Leader’s office on Saturday ‌(February 28, 2026) accused the country’s enemies ‌of “mental ‌warfare” ⁠after Israeli ⁠reports Ayatollah Ali Khamenei had been ​killed, ‌Iranian state media reported.

“The enemy is resorting ‌to mental ​warfare, all should be aware,” ⁠the public relations official ‌was quoted as saying.

A senior Israeli official ‌told Reuters on ​Saturday that Mr. Khamenei was killed ⁠in Israeli ⁠and U.S. strikes.

Israeli ‌Prime Minister Benjamin ​Netanyahu ⁠also said on Saturday (February 28, 2026) that ‌there were ‌many ‌signs indicating ⁠Iran’s ⁠Supreme Leader Ayatollah ​Ali ‌Khamenei “is no longer”, without explicitly confirming ‌his ​death.

Mr. Netanyahu also said ⁠Mr. Khamenei’s compound had ‌been destroyed.

Trump on Khamenei’s death

U.S. ​President ‌Donald Trump told ​NBC News ⁠in an interview ‌on Saturday (February 28, 2026) that ‌he ‌believes ⁠reports ⁠of Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah ​Ali ‌Khamenei’s death are correct.

“We feel that ‌that ​is a correct ⁠story,” Mr. Trump told ‌NBC News in a phone interview, according ‌to a ​report on its ⁠website.

U.N. Secretary-General Antonio ‌Guterres told an ​emergency ⁠meeting of the U.N. ‌Security Council on ‌the Iran ‌conflict ⁠on ⁠Saturday (February 28, 2026) that he deeply regretted ​that ‌an opportunity for diplomacy had been “squandered.”

He ‌also told ​the 15-member body ⁠he was not ‌in a position to confirm Israeli reports of ‌the death ​of Iran’s Supreme ⁠Leader Ali Khamenei.