Iran…Trump…Conflict/War…Evening…5/27/2026…More US Air Attacks…Still a Stalemate

The strikes were the latest of multiple attacks in recent days that have ratcheted up hostilities and threatened a fragile cease-fire, as officials in Washington and Tehran have not indicated that a peace deal was imminent.

In a lengthy cabinet meeting on Wednesday, President Trump signaled he was open to protracted peace talks with Iran and expressed indifference to political pressure caused by a monthslong war that has proved unpopular in the United States. Iranian officials “thought they were going to outwait me,” he said, adding, “I don’t care about the midterms.”

Both Washington and Tehran have suggested in recent days that a narrow agreement to reopen the Strait of Hormuz was near, but Mr. Trump reiterated that he did not want the key waterway to be under Iranian control. “Nobody’s going to control it; we’re going to watch over it,” he said.

Earlier on Wednesday, the White House dismissed an Iranian state television report claiming to have obtained a draft of a preliminary deal with the United States, calling it a “complete fabrication.” According to the reported draft, Iran would reopen the Strait of Hormuz to commercial marine traffic in return for the United States lifting its naval blockade. Iran’s broadcaster projected the “initial, unofficial” 14-point agreement as one in which Iran “cemented its power in the Strait,” while laying out a potential path to peace with the United States.

The reported draft said that the management and routing of ship traffic through the waterway, a crucial shipping route for oil and gas that Iran has effectively closed since the early days of the war, would be handled by Iran in cooperation with Oman. It also said that the United States would withdraw an unspecified number of military forces “from the areas surrounding Iran.”

The prospect of quickly reopening the strait seemed to dim as attacks continued this week. Two U.S. officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss military matters, described attacks carried out against Iranian boats and launch sites early Tuesday as having been in response to threatening actions by the Iranians, including reported mine-laying in the strait.

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps responded by vowing a “decisive reciprocal response” to any cease-fire violations, and the supreme leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, suggested that the country could renew strikes on U.S. military installations in the Persian Gulf.

Iranian officials have said that the recent talks have focused on the strait, leaving the even more contentious issue of Iran’s stockpile of highly enriched uranium until later. Iran’s state media report did not mention the nuclear issue and, responding to a reporter’s question during Wednesday’s cabinet meeting, Mr. Trump said he would not be “comfortable” with letting Iran’s stockpile to be handed over to Russia or China.

A resurgence in fighting between Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah in Lebanon also complicated the broader peace prospects. Iran has demanded that any peace deal it makes with the United States and Israel must encompass Lebanon.

Israel pounded southern Lebanon for a second day on Wednesday and issued fresh evacuation warnings for residents there. Tuesday’s Israeli strikes killed at least 31 people, including four children, according to the Lebanese health ministry.

Here’s what else we’re covering:

• Hamas in Gaza: The leader of Hamas’s military wing, Mohammed Odeh, was killed in an Israeli airstrike in northern Gaza on Tuesday, Hamas confirmed, less than two weeks after Israel said it had killed his predecessor. They are the most senior Hamas officials to be killed by Israel since a cease-fire began last fall.

• Internet in Iran: Iran has begun restoring internet access, lifting a blackout imposed after the war began. NetBlocks, a monitoring group, said that its data showed a “partial restoration to internet connectivity” in Iran after 88 days, making it “the longest nationwide internet shutdown in modern history.” Read more ›

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The Guardian….

• Donald Trump suggested there is still hope for a deal with Iran, but added that the US might have “to just finish the job” if they’re not satisfied with it. “We’re not satisfied with it. But we will be – either that or we’ll have to just finish the job,” he told a cabinet meeting on Wednesday. He later added that he could, “make a good deal now but maybe not a great deal, and if it’s not a great deal, we’re not making it.”

• His secretary of state Marco Rubio said there has been “some progress” made in talks, but added, “we’ll see over the next few hours and days whether progress can be made.” He reiterated that Washington would “prefer the negotiated, diplomatic route and we’re going to give it every chance to succeed”, but also warned that Trump has “other options available … if that doesn’t work”. The sentiment was echoed by Trump’s defense secretary Pete Hegseth.

• Trump also issued an extraordinary threat to “blow up” Oman. Asked about reports that Iran and Oman are negotiating a deal to jointly manage the strait of Hormuz, the US president told reporters: “Oman will behave just like everybody else. Or else we’ll have to blow them up, they understand that, they’ll be fine.”

• The US president also insisted that November’s midterm elections are not motivating him to reach a deal to end his war more quickly. He once again dismissed Americans’ concerns over the cost of living as a result of his war, declaring: “I don’t care about the midterms.” He went on: “The primary urgency is that we can’t let Iran have a nuclear weapon.”

• Earlier, the White House blasted an Iranian state television report about a framework deal with the United States to end the Middle East war as a “complete fabrication”. The Iranian report cited a draft outline of a memorandum of understanding (MOU) that it said included a US commitment to lift the naval blockade on Iran and withdraw its forces from the Gulf region.

• Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said a return to war with the United States was unlikely, while warning that the Islamic republic stood ready against any attack. The statement came a day after Iran accused the US of breaching the ceasefire in place since April, and warned it was ready to retaliate after the most serious strikes since the truce took effect.

• Meanwhile in Lebanon, where Israel continues to wage war despite a ceasefire, Israeli airstrikes hit the outskirts of the southern city of Tyre on Wednesday, state media and an AFP correspondent reported, after the Israeli army issued an evacuation warning for swathes of the city and its surroundings. The state-run National News Agency (NNA) said that “Israeli enemy warplanes launched a strike on the outskirts of Tyre”, also reporting another raid near the city despite a ceasefire.

• The Lebanese army said a soldier had been killed in an Israeli air strike near his post in Bekaa and that it had retrieved his body. It said the retrieval was delayed from the previous day due to the security situation in the area.

• Hezbollah said it traded fire with Israeli soldiers in Lebanon as the Israeli military pushes deeper intp the country. The Iran-backed group said its fighters engaged in close-range combat with Israeli troops in Zawtar al-Sharqiyah, a town north of the Litani river and beyond the buffer zone that Israel has enforced in parts of southern Lebanon.

• Israeli airstrikes killed at least 31 people in southern Lebanon on Tuesday, according to health officials, in one of the deadliest attacks since a ceasefire took effect in April. The Israeli prime minister. Benjamin Netanyahu, said he had instructed the military to expand its operations in Lebanon with “large forces on the ground” and take control of new areas north of the Israeli-held buffer zone.

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ISW...Iran Update Special Report, May 27, 2026

1. Senior Iranian officials continue to frame Iranian control over the Strait of Hormuz as a strategic necessity and core element of Iranian deterrence against the United States and Israel.
2. Iranian officials continue to insist that Iran will “reopen” the strait to civilian shipping under “Iranian arrangements.” Any arrangement in which maritime traffic can only pass through Iran’s traffic separation scheme with Iranian approval contradicts the US demand for freedom of navigation, and such an arrangement would significantly undermine US interests and establish a dangerous precedent for the freedom of navigation in international waterways.
3. Conflicting reports about the draft US-Iran agreement, as well as public statements from both sides, highlight continued disagreements on other key issues between the United States and Iran. Iran’s proposed sequencing of concessions would require the United States to surrender key sources of leverage before negotiations over Iran’s nuclear program begin, which would significantly reduce US leverage in any future nuclear negotiations.
4. Iranian media outlet Nour News published an op-ed that emphasized the need for Iran to convert its recent “military victory” into broader political success, which reflects a belief within the regime that Iran emerged from the recent conflict in a position of strength. Iran’s maximalist and uncompromising negotiating positions reflect the Iranian regime’s effort to translate its perceived success in the war into long-term strategic and political gains.
5. An Israeli open-source intelligence analyst posted satellite imagery that shows Iranian reconstitution efforts at the Yazd Missile Base in Yazd Province since the start of the US-Iran ceasefire in April 2026. These reconstitution efforts corroborate ISW-CTP’s assessment that Iran is exploiting the ceasefire period to reconstitute its military capabilities at the tactical and operational levels.