THE NEW YORK TIMES: Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, Iran’s top negotiator, accused the United States of violating the shaky cease-fire, after Iranian forces fired at vessels that the U.S. Navy was guiding through the strait.
A top Iranian official warned on Tuesday of an escalation in the Strait of Hormuz and accused the United States of violating the fragile cease-fire, a day after the U.S. Navy began an initiative to escort commercial ships through the strait, a vital oil shipping waterway.
As the truce appeared to falter, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, Iran’s top negotiator in the stumbling peace negotiations, said in a social media post that “a new equation” was emerging in the waterway. He said that American actions had endangered shipping through the strait, which Iran has effectively blockaded since the war began in late February.
“We know well that the continuation of the current situation is unbearable for the United States, while we have not even started yet,” Mr. Ghalibaf said.
The U.S. Navy began escorting commercial ships through the Strait of Hormuz on Monday. Reports of attacks from Iran in and around the Persian Gulf quickly tested the American actions and the Pakistani-brokered cease-fire that paused the war last month.
The United Arab Emirates said Iran had fired missiles and drones at its territory on Monday, the first time since the cease-fire had come into effect. The U.A.E.’s foreign ministry said in a statement that the country “reserves its full and legitimate right to respond” to the attacks.
American forces shot down cruise missiles and drones and destroyed six Iranian speedboats that had threatened the vessels, according to U.S. Central Command. The U.S. military said two commercial ships operating under the U.S. flag had passed through the waterway.
Iran did not officially confirm or deny whether it had resumed attacks. IRIB, Iran’s state-run broadcaster, said that a senior Iranian military official denied the American claim that several Iranian boats had been sunk.
In an interview with the conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt that aired Monday, President Trump declined to say whether the cease-fire was over. “Well, I can’t tell you that,” Mr. Trump said. » | John Yoon | Tuesday, May 5, 2026
