War In iran: 1)China: ‘No point’ in continuing Iran war, 2)Iran has ‘no trust’ in the U.S., will negotiate only if it is serious, Araghchi says; 3)Iran responds to US ceasefire proposal but Trump rejects it as ‘unacceptable’

1)China: ‘No point’ in continuing Iran war

Courtesy: The Hill

by Sophie Brams, the Hill – 05/15/26

The Chinese Foreign Ministry said Friday that it saw “no point” for the U.S. conflict with Iran to continue, as President Trump claimed he reached agreement with Chinese President Xi Jinping on key issues in the war, such as reopening the Strait of Hormuz.

“There is no point in continuing this conflict which should not have happened in the first place,” a Foreign Ministry spokesperson said, sidestepping questions about whether Trump and Xi discussed Iran during their bilateral meeting.

“To find an early way to resolve the situation is in the interest of not only the U.S. and Iran, but also regional countries and the rest of the world,” the statement continued, calling for a ceasefire and further diplomatic negotiations.

The assessment came at the end of a two-day, high-stakes summit between the leaders of the world’s two most powerful nations that focused on trade, Taiwan and the situation in the Middle East.

It was not immediately clear whether Trump and Xi reached any formal agreements on Iran, but the U.S. president had been pressing China to leverage its position as the main buyer of Iranian oil to pressure Tehran into a deal.

China purchases roughly 90 percent of Iran’s exported oil, generating tens of billions in annual revenue for the regime, according to the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission.

Trump told reporters Friday the U.S. and China feel “very similar” about wanting the two-month conflict to end, saying “we don’t want them [Iran] to have a nuclear weapon” and “we want the strait open.”

The Strait of Hormuz has been a key point of tension in the standoff between the U.S. and Tehran, with a sustained halt in shipping traffic roiling global oil prices for months. The waterway carries about one-fifth of the world’s oil supply during peacetime.

A readout from the White House about the Beijing visit on Thursday stated Xi “made clear” China is opposed to the “militarization of the Strait” and any effort to charge a toll for its use. It also said Xi “expressed an interest in purchasing more American oil” to reduce the country’s future dependence on the strait.

Trump also said Thursday that Xi committed during their meeting to withhold military equipment from Iran. China previously maintained that it was not supplying Tehran with weapons.

“That’s a big statement,” the president told Fox News’s Sean Hannity in an interview. “He said that strongly, but at the same time he said you know they buy a lot of their oil there, and they’d like to keep doing that.”

2)Iran has ‘no trust’ in the U.S., will negotiate only if it is serious, Araghchi says

Courtesy CTV News

Reuters, May 15, 2026

NEW DELHI — Tehran has “no trust” in the U.S. and is interested in negotiating with Washington only if it is serious, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said on Friday, as talks on ending the war remained on hold.

Araqchi told reporters in New Delhi that all vessels can pass through the Strait of Hormuz except those “at war” with Tehran, if they coordinate with Iran’s navy.

But the situation around the waterway, vital to global energy and commodities markets, was “very complicated,” he added, during a visit to attend a BRICS foreign ministers’ meeting in India.

In a post on X, Araqchi said he told India’s Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar that “Iran will always carry out historical duty as protector of security in Hormuz,” according to his post on X.

Iran effectively shut the strait, which normally handles about one-fifth of the world’s seaborne oil and gas supply, to most shipping after the U.S. and Israel began their war on Iran in February.

Pakistani-mediated U.S.-Iran talks have stalled

Washington and Tehran announced a ceasefire last month but have been struggling to thrash out a lasting peace pact. Talks mediated by Pakistan have been suspended since Iran and the U.S. each rejected the other’s latest proposals last week.

Araqchi said “contradictory messages” had raised Iranian doubts about the Americans’ real intentions, adding that the Pakistani mediation process had not failed but was in “difficulty.”

The United States and Israel have cut short two previous rounds of talks with Tehran in the past 13 months by launching campaigns of air strikes on Iran.

Iran is trying to keep the latest ceasefire to give diplomacy a chance but is also prepared to go back to fighting, Araqchi said.

The issues holding up negotiations between the two sides include Iran’s nuclear ambitions and its control of ⁠the Strait of Hormuz.

Hours before he spoke, U.S. President Donald Trump said his patience with Iran was running out and said he had agreed in talks with Chinese President Xi ​Jinping that Tehran must reopen the strait.

Asked if Tehran was open to mediation by Beijing, Araqchi said Iran appreciated the efforts of any country that had the ability to help.

“We have very good relations with China,” he said. “We are strategic partners, and we know that the Chinese have good intentions. So, anything they can do to help diplomacy would be welcomed.”

Araqchi added: “We hope that, with the advancement of negotiations, we will reach a good conclusion so that the Strait of Hormuz can be completely secured and we can expedite the normalization of traffic through the strait.”

Reporting by Aftab Ahmed and Saurabh Sharma, writing by Sakshi Dayal; Editing by YP Rajesh, Kevin Liffey and Toby Chopra, Reuters

3)Iran responds to US ceasefire proposal but Trump rejects it as ‘unacceptable’

Courtesy Barrie360.com and The Associated Press

By Jon Gambrell And Samy Magdy, May 10 2026

Iran sent its response to the latest U.S. proposal to end the Iran war via Pakistani mediators on Sunday, but U.S. President Donald Trump quickly rejected it in a social media post as “TOTALLY UNACCEPTABLE!” — the latest setback to efforts to resolve the standoff in the Persian Gulf that has throttled shipping and sent energy prices soaring.

Iranian state television reported that Tehran rejected the U.S. proposal as amounting to surrender, insisting instead on “war reparations by the U.S., full Iranian sovereignty over the Strait of Hormuz, an end to sanctions, and the release of seized Iranian assets.”

Washington’s latest proposal addressed a deal to end the war, reopen the strait and roll back Iran’s nuclear program.

Trump’s rejection of the Iranian response included no details. In an earlier post, he accused Tehran of “playing games” with the United States for nearly 50 years, adding: “They will be laughing no longer!”

Trump is giving diplomacy “every chance we possibly can before going back to hostilities,” the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, Mike Waltz, told ABC earlier.

Iran’s new supreme leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, who has not been seen or heard publicly since the war began, “issued new and decisive directives for the continuation of operations and the powerful confrontation with the enemies” while meeting with the head of the joint military command, the state broadcaster reported, with no details.

Drone attacks target Gulf Arab nations

The fragile ceasefire was tested when a drone ignited a small fire on a ship off Qatar and the United Arab Emirates and Kuwait reported drones entering their airspace. The UAE said it shot down two drones and blamed Iran. No casualties were reported, and no one immediately claimed responsibility.

Qatar’s Foreign Ministry called the ship attack a “dangerous and unacceptable escalation that threatens the security and safety of maritime trade routes and vital supplies in the region.” The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations Center gave no details about the ship’s owner or origin.

Kuwait Defence Ministry spokesperson Brig. Gen. Saud Abdulaziz Al Otaibi said forces responded to drones but did not say where they came from.

Iran and armed allied groups such as the Lebanese militant Hezbollah group have used drones to carry out hundreds of strikes since the war began with U.S. and Israeli attacks on Feb. 28.

Iran says it’s on ‘full readiness’ to protect nuclear sites

Trump has reiterated threats to resume full-scale bombing if Iran does not accept an agreement to reopen the strait and roll back its nuclear program. Iran has largely blocked the strategic waterway that’s key to the global flow of oil, natural gas and fertilizer since the war began, rattling world markets.

The U.S. military in turn has blockaded Iranian ports since April 13, saying it has turned back 61 commercial vessels and disabled four. On Friday, it struck two Iranian oil tankers it said were trying to breach the blockade. Iran’s Revolutionary Guard navy says any attack on Iranian oil tankers or commercial vessels would be met with a “heavy assault” on U.S. bases in the region and enemy ships.

Another sticking point in negotiations is Iran’s highly enriched uranium. The UN nuclear agency says Iran has more than 440 kilograms (970 pounds) enriched up to 60 per cent purity, a short, technical step from weapons grade.

In an interview posted late Saturday, an Iranian military spokesperson said forces were on “full readiness” to protect sites where uranium is stored.

“We considered it possible that they might intend to steal it through infiltration operations or heliborne operations,” Brig. Gen. Akrami Nia told the IRNA news agency.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in an excerpt of an interview with CBS airing Sunday said the war isn’t over because the enriched uranium needs to be taken out of Iran. “Trump has said to me, `I want to go in there,’ and I think it can be done physically,” he said.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said Saturday that Moscow’s proposal to take enriched uranium from Iran to help negotiate a settlement remains on the table.

The majority of Iran’s highly enriched uranium is likely at its Isfahan nuclear complex, the International Atomic Energy Agency director-general told The Associated Press last month. The facility was hit by U.S.-Israeli airstrikes in the 12-day war last year and faced less intense attacks this year.

Iran warns against French-British effort in the strait

Iran’s deputy foreign minister warned against a planned French-British effort that aims to support maritime security in the Strait of Hormuz after hostilities are over.

“The presence of French and British vessels, or those of any other country, for any possible cooperation with illegal U.S. actions in the Strait of Hormuz that violate international law will be met with a decisive and immediate response from the armed forces,” Kazem Gharibabadi said on social media.

French President Emmanuel Macron responded by saying it won’t be a military deployment but an international mission to secure shipping once conditions allow.

Several attacks against ships in the Persian Gulf have occurred over the past week, and a U.S. effort to “guide” ships through the strait was quickly paused.

South Korea announced initial findings from an investigation that said two unidentified objects struck the South Korean-operated vessel HMM NAMU about one minute apart while it was anchored in the strait last week, causing an explosion and fire. Officials have yet to determine who was responsible.

Netanyahu denies telling Trump the war would cause regime change

In the interview with CBS’ “60 Minutes,” the Israeli prime minister denied New York Times reporting that he made a hard sell for Trump to start the Iran war by saying it would bring about regime change.

“We both agreed, you know, that there was both uncertainty and risk involved,” Netanyahu said. “And I remember that we — I said and he said — that the danger, there’s danger in action, in taking action, but there’s greater danger in not taking action.”

Asked whether he said in that February meeting that Iran would be so weakened it could not choke off the Strait of Hormuz, he said “the problem” of the vital oil shipping corridor “was understood as the fighting went on.”

“I don’t claim the perfect foresight,” he said.

Netanyahu also said he wants to “draw down to zero” the military aid provided by the U.S., which he said now stands at US$3.8 billion per year.

Israel has been a leading recipient of U.S. military aid for decades, but the war in Gaza, with its high number of civilian casualties, has caused that aid to come under greater scrutiny as American public support for Israel declines.

Netanyahu, however, offered an extended timeline, saying he wants to see the aid cut off over the next decade.

Magdy reported from Cairo. Associated Press writers Munir Ahmed in Islamabad; Melanie Lidman in Tel Aviv, Israel; Tong-hyung Kim in Seoul, South Korea; Julia Frankel in Jerusalem and Josh Boak in Washington contributed to this report.