LIVE: Trump threatens Iran if it doesn’t agree to end war

An Israeli official has claimed the country was made aware of a proposal put forward by the US to end the war in Iran.

Earlier an Israeli source told Reuters they were not made aware of any memorandum of understanding which could see a cease in conflict.

But an Israeli official has told Axios that Tel Aviv was not left in the dark with Donald Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu said to be in ‘continuous contact’.

Netanyahu is said to have instructed the Israeli military to prepare for all scenarios including a return to fighting.

French President Emmanuel Macron says the deployment of the Charles de Gaulle aircraft carrier in the Red Sea shows readiness to secure the Strait of Hormuz for ships to navigate freely.

The flagship of the French Navy and its escorts is transiting the Suez Canal en route to the southern Red Sea, the defence ministry has said.

Macron and UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer are leading a multinational mission to ensure freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz, while emphasising the force would be entirely defensive and only deployed once lasting peace in the region was agreed.

More than 40 countries have begun military planning in London.

‘The movement of the carrier strike group is separate from the military operations initiated in the region and complements the security posture,’ the defence ministry said.

Its presence near the Gulf will allow ‘an early assessment of the regional operational environment ahead of the possible launch of the initiative’, the ministry added.

by Eliana Silver, Senior Foreign News Reporter

Spain’s tourism industry is hitting record highs as holidaymakers pivot away from Middle Eastern destinations due to the Iran conflict, flocking to safer alternatives in Europe.

The first quarter of 2026 saw 17.5 million tourists arrive in Spain, a 2.6 per cent increase from the same period last year.

Although the rise in tourism brought a €25 million economic boost to the Spanish economy, locals are frustrated by severe overcrowding and skyrocketing rent prices.

Last month, residents in Seville launched an anti-tourist ‘guerrilla campaign’ after accommodation in the city reached 100 per cent capacity.

Buildings in the city used for temporary stays were graffitied with the words ‘Airbnb out’ and ‘Guiris go home’. ‘Guiri’ is a Spanish slang word commonly used to describe English-speaking tourists from the UK and Australia.

Iran is considering a US proposal to end the war, Tehran’s foreign ministry spokesman has said.

Esmail Baghaei told the Iranian Students’ News Agency (ISNA): ‘The American plan and proposal is still being reviewed by Iran, and after summing up its points of view, Iran will convey its views to the Pakistani side.’

ISNA reports the proposals put forward by the US contain ‘ambitious and unrealistic proposals’ which have already been rejected by Iran.

The report states Iranian negotiators are also discussing how to end the war and are not involved in talks about its nuclear programme.

Israel is not aware the US is potentially close to a deal with Iran that would end the war and pave the way to unblock shipping in the Strait of Hormuz, it is claimed.

An Israeli source, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told Reuters the country was instead preparing for an escalation in fighting.

by Jon Michael Raasch, US Political Reporter

The gunman accused of breaching the White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner and attempting to shoot President Trump was potentially motivated by the war with Iran, a bombshell report states.

A preliminary report from the Department of Homeland Security’s Office of Intelligence Analysis surmised that suspect Cole Thomas Allen, 31, had multiple social and political grievances,’ Reuters reported.

The report is dated two days after the shooting, on April 27.

It concludes that the US war with Iran ‘may have contributed to his decision to conduct the attack.’

The analysis cited social media posts from Allen critical of US actions against Iran during the months-long war.

Iran’s foreign minister Abbas Aragchi has said he hopes China continues to play a ‘positive role’ in the ending the war, adding Tehran ‘trusts’ Beijing.

Aragchi visited his counterpart Wang Yi in the Chinese capital this week ahead of a visit by Donald Trump to China next week.

In his remarks following the visit, Aragchi said both sides reaffirmed Iran’s right to sovereignty and dignity.

He said:

The Iranian side trusts the Chinese side and expects the Chinese side to continue playing a positive role in promoting peace and stopping war, and supports the establishment of a new post-war regional architecture that can coordinate development and security.

An Iranian MP has voiced doubts over an apparent near agreement between Iran and the US to end the war amid claims a deal is close.

Ebrahim Rezaei suggested the American demands are unrealistic and that no such agreement is near in comments on his X page .

Responding to the report in Axios that both countries are close to agreeing a one-page memorandum to halt the conflict, Rezaei said:

The Axios text is an American wish list rather than a reality. The Americans will not achieve in a losing war what they have not achieved in face-to-face negotiations.

Rezaei later stated Iran is ‘on the trigger and ready,’ adding:

If they do not surrender and do not make the necessary concessions, or if they themselves or their dogs try to misbehave, we will give a harsh and regrettable response.

France’s Charles de Gaulle aircraft carrier is moving into the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden as part of efforts by France and Britain to prepare for a future mission to help freedom of navigation on the Strait of Hormuz.

The French Armed Forces ministry said in a statement that the aircraft carrier group had crossed the Suez Canal on Wednesday, en route to the south of the Red Sea.

This French aircraft carrier strike group was deployed to the eastern Mediterranean shortly after the US and Israel launched air strikes on Iran, and it can stay at sea between four to five months.

Donald Trump has said it is ‘too soon’ to consider face-to-face talks with Iran, according to an interview with the New York Post.

Asked by the newspaper whether it should send a reporter to Pakistan for a fresh round of talks following claims a peace deal is close, the President apparently responded: ‘I don’t think so.’

He then added: ‘I think we’ll do it— it’s too far. No, it’s too much.’

Trump has previously indicated he would be willing to travel to Pakistan to sign a peace agreement out of respect for the mediators who have worked on the deal.

Wang Yi greets Iranian foreign minister Abbas Araghchi

Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi has told his Iranian counterpart Abbas Araghchi that China is “‘deeply distressed’ over the war that has lasted more than two months and said a ‘comprehensive ceasefire’ is needed.

The top Chinese diplomat met with Mr Araghchi in Beijing, the first time the Iranian foreign minister has travelled to China since the war with the US and Israel started on February 28.

Mr Wang said:

We believe that a comprehensive ceasefire is urgently needed, that a resumption of hostilities is not acceptable, and that it is particularly important to remain committed to dialogue and negotiations.

The Chinese comments could inject new energy into stalled efforts to push for an agreement between the United States and Iran that would end the war.

Vessels stranded in the Strait of Hormuz

Commodity ship traffic – the transportation of raw materials and bulk goods – through the Strait of Hormuz fell this week to its lowest level since the beginning of the war despite a brief US attempt to reopen the strategic waterway, new data reveals.

Marine analytics firm Kpler, which tracks only commodity-carrying vessels, recorded just one transit on Monday and none on Tuesday, the fewest seen since the start of the war triggered by a wave of US-Israeli strikes on Iran on February 28.

Around 120 vessels transit the strait daily in peacetime, according to maritime news outlet Lloyd’s List.

Before the war, the strait handled roughly one-fifth of global oil supplies, alongside other key commodities.

But traffic has been hammered by Iran’s chokehold on the strait – which was imposed at the start of the war and has allowed only limited passage – as well as a retaliatory US blockade of Iranian ports.