Iran war updates: ‘Some good signs’ peace deal can be reached, says Rubio

• US Secretary of State Marco Rubio says there are “some good signs” from mediated peace talks with Iran, but added that President Trump has been clear he has “other options” if a deal is not reached.
• Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said 31 ships transited the Strait of Hormuz over the past 24 hours under its “coordination”.
• Israeli attacks on southern Lebanon killed more than 20 people, including four people in an ambulance centre in the town of Hannaouiyah, according to the Health Ministry and media reports.
• The US Treasury Department announced sanctions on nine people “for obstructing the peace process in Lebanon and impeding the disarmament of Hezbollah”.
• Gaza Sumud Flotilla activists deported by Israel and arriving in Istanbul showed signs of abuse while in Israeli custody.

The UK’s Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) organisation says the threat in the Strait of Hormuz and the Gulf of Oman/Arabian Sea remains at a critical level, with traffic through the Strait of Hormuz still “significantly reduced”.

The update from the UKMTO found the piracy threat in the region also remains “severe”, with three merchant vessels still held after being captured between April 21 and May 2.

The status of an oil tanker seized 10 nautical miles (about 18.5km) off the coast of Yemen and diverted towards Somali waters on May 2 is currently unconfirmed, the British maritime body said.

The update also noted mining of shipping routes through the strait and interference in satellite navigation systems remain consistent.

Meanwhile, in the nearby Bab el-Mandeb and Gulf of Aden, commercial shipping traffic remains steady despite “Houthi rhetoric”.

US crude futures rose ⁠more than $1 ⁠in early trade on Friday as investors doubted the prospects of ⁠a breakthrough in US-Iran peace talks.

The two countries ⁠remain stuck in opposing stances over Tehran’s uranium stockpile and controls on the Strait of Hormuz.

US West Texas Intermediate crude ⁠futures climbed as high as $98 a barrel and ⁠last traded up $1.20, ⁠or 1.3 percent, at $97.55 as of 22:28 GMT. They fell about 2 percent on Thursday, closing at their ‌lowest in nearly two weeks.

An unnamed “senior Iranian source” earlier ‌told the Reuters news agency that no peace deal has been reached with the US, but the gaps have been narrowed, while US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said there have ⁠been “some good signs” in talks, ⁠but any toll system in the strait would be unacceptable.

Palestine’s UN envoy Riyad Mansour says Israel continues to unleash violence against Palestinian civilians through both soldiers and settlers, warning the world must not grow “accustomed to seeing Palestinians killed”.

“Nothing can justify collective punishment against over two million Palestinians,” Mansour said at the UN Security Council.

“Humanitarian aid is neither conditional nor can it serve as leverage nor be utilised as a weapon of war. The crossings must … remain open, and aid must flow at scale, including desperately needed shelters, medicine and food.”

Mansour acknowledged the global efforts towards a ceasefire despite its shortcomings, but said: “We recognise that the ceasefire agreement has saved thousands of lives, but Israel killed over 870 Palestinians [since it began]. Imagine if 800 Israelis had been killed?”

Republicans have postponed another vote on a measure to curb Trump’s power to wage war on Iran.

US media outlets, including The Hill, reported the decision to hold off on the vote may have been because a number of Republicans were absent, potentially meaning the measure would have had enough votes to pass.

“Republicans just postponed the War Powers vote on Iran because they knew they were going to LOSE,” US representative Mike Levin, a Democrat, said in a post on X.

The US Senate on Tuesday voted to advance a War Powers Resolution with the support of four Republicans and almost all Democrats.

Republicans just postponed the War Powers vote on Iran because they knew they were going to LOSE. Members of both parties were ready to reassert Congress’s constitutional authority over war and peace. Instead of facing that vote, GOP leadership ran from it. The American people… https://t.co/eqmjmfCu9J

— Rep. Mike Levin (@RepMikeLevin) May 21, 2026

Three top UK barristers are facing a Bar Standards complaint over their role as patrons of UK Lawyers for Israel (UKLFI).

The European Legal Support Centre (ELSC) and the Public Interest Law Centre (PILC) said they submitted the formal complaint concerning senior barristers – Lord David Pannick King’s Counsel (KC), Lord Anthony Grabiner KC, and Stephen Hockman KC – to the regulator of barristers in England and Wales.

According to the legal centres, UK Lawyers for Israel sent correspondence to “individuals and organisations engaged in lawful advocacy, cultural work, education, and public expression relating to Palestine” that made reference to its patrons and their senior legal status.

The complaint asks the Bar Standards Board to consider whether “the prestige and professional status associated with King’s Counsel has been used in a way that falls short of the standards expected”, a spokesperson for PILC said in a statement.

“The legal profession carries real authority, and that authority should never be used, or appear to be used, to intimidate people or organisations engaged in lawful campaigning and public debate,” the spokesperson added.

The Lebanese armed group claimed responsibility for 16 separate assaults on Israeli troops occupying southern Lebanon on Thursday.

The group, in a statement, outlined its use of rocket salvoes, attack drones, quadcopters and artillery fire.

The attacks focused on Israeli troop clusters, artillery positions, and armoured vehicles located throughout southern border villages – including Rachaf, Bint Jbeil, Naqoura and Deir Seriane, said Hezbollah.

Iran has destroyed more than two dozen MQ-9 Reaper drones operated by US forces since the onset of the current war, a news report says.

The losses were estimated at about $1bn – nearly 20 percent of the Pentagon’s pre-war inventory of the unmanned aerial vehicles, said Bloomberg News, quoting unnamed sources.

Many of the drones were downed mid-flight by Iranian air defences, while others were destroyed on the ground during missile strikes on US facilities or lost in operational accidents, an unidentified person “with direct knowledge” told Bloomberg.

US congressional reports indicate the US military suffered damage or destruction to at least 42 aircraft during the war, with total equipment losses estimated near $2.6bn, it said.

A Palestinian man has been wounded by live ammunition during an Israeli military incursion into the town of Anabta, east of Tulkarem in the occupied West Bank.

Emergency crews treated the man at the scene after he received shrapnel wounds from live rounds fired, the official Wafa news agency reported.

Israeli forces entered the town with military vehicles and took up positions along the main street.

During the incursion, troops stopped civilian vehicles to question the occupants and then began firing live ammunition towards some residents, said Wafa.

The United Nations chief Antonio Guterres has condemned Israel’s move to set up an Israeli army base in occupied East Jerusalem at the site where an UNRWA office once operated for besieged Palestinians.

Stephane Dujarric, spokesman for the UN secretary-general, said the move is a breach of international law.

“The UN Relief and Works Agency is an integral part of the United Nations, and UNRWA Sheikh Jarrah compound remains United Nations premises. These unprecedented and escalatory measures against UNRWA are a breach of the inviolability of United Nations premises,” Dujarric told reporters.

“The state of Israel is not entitled to exercise sovereign powers in any part of the occupied Palestinian territory, and is under obligation to bring an end to its unlawful presence … as soon as possible.”

The UN has warned Gaza’s healthcare system remains under extreme pressure as Israel’s siege continues to block vital supplies needed to keep hospitals and critical equipment running.

The World Health Organization has documented 22 attacks on healthcare facilities and services in Gaza, causing casualties and disrupting medical transport and hospital operations.

Palestinians are struggling to access water, with three-in-four families now relying on trucked supplies. Aid groups are distributing about 24,000 cubic metres (about 6.3 million gallons) of water each day through roughly 2,000 points.

The United States exhausted a significant share of its advanced missile defence arsenal while shielding Israel during the war with Iran, according to defence assessments cited by The Washington Post.

US forces fired more than 200 THAAD interceptors to counter Iranian ballistic missiles – roughly half of the Pentagon’s total stockpile – while Israel conserved much of its own arsenal, according to the news report.

The figures show how heavily Washington carried the burden of intercepting incoming fire as Israel relied far less on its own defence systems.

Israeli forces launched fewer than 100 Arrow interceptors and about 90 David’s Sling missiles, the Post reported.

Speaking to Al Jazeera after landing in Istanbul, Catriona Graham says the Gaza flotilla movement is seeking to force global attention on the suffering of Palestinians under decades of Israeli occupation and siege.

She argued that Israeli violence against Palestinians rarely receives consistent international coverage.

“It should be a headline every single time a Palestinian person [is] brutalised,” she said. “Every single time a child has to have a limb amputated … it should be headlines.”

Graham said activists understood that international attention would increase when non-Palestinian campaigners were involved. “Our whole point is that we know that attention will be brought when it is people to other backgrounds,” she said.

The Irish activist described the flotilla’s goal as opening “a humanitarian corridor to Gaza”, and challenged what she called “the illegal siege” of the territory.

The Trump administration has continually sent broad and at times contradictory messages on Iran even as a renewed flurry of diplomacy is under way.

“If you’re sitting in Tehran, you’re not sure if the president is actually serious about getting a deal, because every day, every few hours, the president changes his position, threatens Iranians with a strike,” said Sina Azodi, an assistant professor of Middle East politics at The George Washington University.

“They can’t really decide whether the US actually wants to deal or it wants war.”

Azodi told Al Jazeera that Trump’s continued preference for “negotiation on air” makes it harder for Tehran to agree to concessions in private.

Read more here.

A senior Iranian official ⁠has told Reuters news agency no deal has been ‌reached with the United States but gaps have been narrowed.

Iran’s ⁠uranium enrichment and Tehran’s ⁠control over ⁠the Strait ⁠of Hormuz remain among the ‌sticking points, the unnamed source ⁠added.

Earlier, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said there are “some good signs” in peace talks with Iran, but “I don’t want to be overly optimistic … let’s see what happens over the next few days.”