Iran…Trump…Conflict/War…Evening…5/5/2026…Trump trying to Back out of a War?

The president’s sudden U-turn on the escort mission was just his latest over the course of the war, which is now in its third month. When the U.S. Central Command was asked for comment on the change, a spokesman referred questions to the White House.

Mr. Rubio, briefing reporters at the White House earlier, had expanded on Mr. Trump’s assertion last week that he did not need to seek approval from Congress to continue the war in Iran beyond a 60-day legal limit, and said: “The operation is over: Epic Fury — as the president notified Congress — we’re done with that stage of it. We’re now onto this Project of Freedom.”

The war is in a shaky cease-fire, and ship traffic in the strait is a major point of contention. Iran, whose drones and missiles threaten both shipping and neighboring countries, has warned repeatedly that vessels can pass through the strait only with its permission.

At the same time, the U.S. blockade is keeping Iranian ships from crossing. Mr. Trump said in his post on Tuesday evening that the blockade would “remain in full force and effect.”

Commercial traffic is at a near-total standstill. Two commercial vessels crossed the strait under U.S. military protection on Monday and only one on Tuesday — a trickle compared to before the war, when around 130 vessels a day made the passage.

On Tuesday, the United States and Iran made competing claims about having control of the strait, which remains effectively closed. And an American ally, the United Arab Emirates, said that it had come under attack by Iranian missiles and drones for the second day in a row.

Here’s what else we’re covering:

• Cease-fire: President Trump suggested to reporters in the Oval Office that Iran knew what actions would violate the cease-fire. Mr. Trump dismissed recent attacks by Iran aimed at American vessels as minor, but declined to specify what he would deem a violation. “You’ll find out,” he said, “because I’ll let you know.”

• Shipping: Some 1,600 ships, and roughly 20,000 seafarers, remain stranded in or near the strait, but an American-flagged vessel made the passage on Monday. Read more ›

• Lebanon: A parallel cease-fire between Israel and Hezbollah, the Iran-backed militant group, also showed signs of strain on Tuesday, with reports of new clashes in the country’s south….

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The Guardian…

• President Donald Trump on Tuesday evening said he has paused ‘Project Freedom’ – the effort to guide stranded commercial vessels from the strait of Hormuz – in order to finalise a deal with Iran to end the war.

• Trump also said the US blockade of Iranian ports would continue. He announced the decision in a social media post Tuesday evening. The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Iran is yet to comment on Trump’s statement.

• The US secretary of state, Marco Rubio, said earlier that major US military operations against Iran are over. He said Iran must agree to US demands on its nuclear program and reopen the strait. Rubio said recent clashes with Iran related to US efforts to reopen the strait were “defensive in nature”.

• While Rubio was speaking, Britain’s Maritime Trade Operations agency reported that a cargo vessel had been struck by a projectile in the strait. Further details of the incident were not immediately available.

• The US defense secretary, Pete Hegseth, said earlier on Tuesday that the US had successfully secured a path through the waterway and that hundreds of commercial ships were lining up to pass through. The four-week-old truce with Iran was not over, he added.

• UN Security Council members began closed talks on Tuesday on a text the US drafted with Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, and Qatar, which, if it were to pass, could lead to sanctions against Iran, and potentially authorise force, if Tehran fails to halt attacks and threats to commercial shipping.

• Fresh exchanges of fire on Monday underscored the stakes as the US and Iran struggle for control of the narrow waterway, shaking a fragile four-week-old truce and reinforcing rival maritime blockades.

• For a second consecutive day, the United Arab Emirates said its air defences had shot down missiles and drones from Iran. Tehran did not immediately comment.

• Clashes have continued between Hezbollah and Israel. Israel’s military said late Tuesday that Iran-backed Hezbollah militants in Lebanon had launched “several rockets” toward Israeli soldiers in southern Lebanon. No injuries were reported.

• The US national average retail price of gasoline surpassed $4.50 a gallon on Tuesday for the first time since July 2022, data from GasBuddy showed…..

ISW.…Iran Update Special Report, May 5, 2026

1.  Iran has conducted a series of attacks against the United Arab Emirates (UAE) over the past 48 hours that are likely intended, in part, to isolate the UAE from other Gulf states. Iran’s decision to solely attack the UAE, as opposed to multiple Gulf states, indicates that Iran is likely trying to isolate the UAE and exploit fractures between the Gulf states to sow further divisions between the UAE and other countries in the Gulf.
2. Iran’s attacks against the UAE also likely seek to drive a wedge between the UAE and the United States and Israel in response to the UAE taking steps to strengthen its partnership with the United States and Israel. Iranian state-controlled media has suggested that Iran’s attacks against the UAE were driven by the UAE’s increasing alignment with the United States and Israel.
3. Iran’s recent attacks against the UAE are also a response to US efforts to restore freedom of navigation through the Strait of Hormuz. Iran attacked an Emirati-linked vessel and UAE territory after US President Donald Trump announced Project Freedom on May 3.
4. Iran’s escalation against the UAE also likely reflects internal Iranian regime dynamics and IRGC Commander Ahmad Vahidi’s efforts to constrain diplomacy. Vahidi continues to dictate the regime’s approach toward the Strait of Hormuz, which has reportedly angered Iranian “pragmatist” actors.
5. Iran is expanding its efforts to establish bureaucratic frameworks to assert its sovereignty over the Strait of Hormuz. The Iranian regime’s English-language media outlet, Press TV, reported on May 5 that Iran has designed and implemented “a new mechanism for exercising sovereignty over the Strait of Hormuz.”
6. US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth and US Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Dan Caine stated that Iranian attacks in the Strait of Hormuz and against the UAE on May 4 were not violations of the US-Iran ceasefire in a Pentagon press briefing on May 5. US officials have not commented on Iran’s May 5 attack on the UAE at the time of this writing.