Iran-US war escalates as Trump dismisses fresh Gulf strikes

The Iran-US war took a sharper turn on Friday, May 8, as US President Donald Trump brushed aside a fresh wave of Iranian missile and drone strikes on the United Arab Emirates, insisting the month-old ceasefire remained intact even as the Gulf edged closer to all-out conflict. The attack on the UAE came a day after American and Iranian forces clashed directly around the Strait of Hormuz, a conduit for roughly a fifth of the world's oil and LNG supplies that Iran has largely shut since the war began on February 28.

US President Donald Trump acknowledged that three US Navy destroyers came under fire while transiting the strait but insisted the ceasefire remained in force, dismissing the exchanges as minor. Iran's military command contradicted him, accusing the US of striking an oil tanker, a second vessel, and civilian areas on Qeshm Island and the coastal towns of Bandar Khamir and Sirik. Tehran said its forces retaliated by hitting US vessels east of the strait; Washington denied any of its assets were damaged.

Oil markets jolted at the news, with Brent crude surging past $100 a barrel. Despite the clashes, Trump said negotiations with Iran were continuing and claimed Tehran had accepted his demand that Iran never acquire nuclear weapons, though no deal has been signed. A US peace proposal is on the table, but it does not address Washington's core demands suspension of Iran's nuclear programme or reopening of the strait. Iran has yet to formally respond.

The war has driven average US petrol prices up more than 40 per cent since late February, dealing a blow to Trump's campaign pledge to cut fuel costs.