War latest news. Iran threatens US allies: they will have problems in Hormuz. Pezeshkian: 'We will never give in'

In the Iranian port city of Chabahar in the province of Sistan-Baluchistan, the sound of a loud explosion was heard. According to the Mehr Agency, the detonation was attributable to unexploded ordnance from the Iran-US war. Chabahar is located on the Gulf coast of Oman.

"Iran will never bow down to the enemy," said President Masoud Pezeshkian, stressing that "if we talk about starting talks, it does not mean that we give up or withdraw, but rather that we aim to realise Iran's rights and strongly defend its national interests. According to the Irna news agency, the president called on the people to unity in the face of the 'current situation and difficulties'.

According to ship tracking data reported by the website MarineTraffic, the Qatari ship Al Kharaitiyat loaded with liquefied natural gas (LNG) has crossed the Strait of Hormuz bound for Pakistan. It is the first Qatari-owned and operated tanker to have crossed the strait since the start of the Iran-US conflict on 28February, according to maritime analysts quoted by CNN. At 4am local time on Sunday, Al Kharaitiyat was in the Gulf of Oman. Its route shows that it crossed the Strait of Hormuz using the northern route approved by Iran, near the island of Qeshm. The Al Kharaitiyat, which can transport over 200,000 cubic metres of liquefied gas, picked up its cargo at the Ras Laffan export hub in Qatar earlier this month. Qatar normally supplies almost 20% of the world's LNG, but its production was interrupted and its main plant damaged during the conflict.

The Iranian Navy has deployed domestically produced light submarines, known as 'Persian Gulf dolphins', in the Strait of Hormuz to counter enemy ships. This was stated by the commander, Rear Admiral Shahram Irani, quoted by the Tasnim news agency, pointing out that the fleet of light submarines is being expanded and positioned on the seabed in the waters of the Strait of Hormuz according to existing threats, capabilities and operational needs. Irani added that the submarines are able to remain on the seabed for long periods in the strategic waters of the Strait of Hormuz, intercepting and destroying enemy ships.

"From now on, countries that follow the United States in implementing sanctions against the Islamic Republic of Iran will certainly have problems with transit through the Strait of Hormuz." This was stated by Brigadier General Amir Akraminia, spokesman for the Iranian Army, according to statements released by the Iranian media and relayed by CNN.

China's GDP growth rate in the first quarter of 2026 was 5 per cent, year-on-year. This seems to indicate that the economic slowdown and deflationary tendencies that were evident in the Chinese economy during the past year seem to have been overcome for the time being. The interesting issue is to see which component of aggregate demand has supported this growth. Basically, as early as 2022, China's macroeconomic policy had posed the problem of how to rebalance support for aggregate demand, which was too unbalanced on the side of investment and exports, and as of 2024 had increasingly focused on supporting consumption with a wide range of instruments, especially last year. However, the growth in this first quarter of the year seems to be due to a jump in infrastructure investment of 8.9 per cent in annual terms. Is there, then, a return to growth supported by infrastructure investment?

Certainly there is still plenty of room in China for infrastructure investments, just think of those needed to support the energy transition, and green investments more generally. But what is interesting to consider here is how macroeconomic stabilisation policy, to be effective, must act in a targeted manner on both components of aggregate demand, consumption and investment. Of course, acting on consumption is more complex because it depends on the free choices of households, which may not react to stimuli on current disposable income, as income expectations, wealth and precautionary and uncertainty elements come into play, affecting the desired level of savings. So much so that China's consumption support policy seems to have difficulties as a demand support lever. Infrastructure investments can, on the contrary, be better calibrated, i.e. increased in phases of stagnation or potential recession and slowed down in phases of overheating of the economy. Moreover, investment multipliers are the most effective in restarting consumption as well.

"After the failure in the military war, the enemy is trying to transfer the war to the economic terrain". This was claimed by the Iranian president, Massoud Pezeshkian, during a meeting reported by Tehran regime television. 'The people must bring down this plot as well, with their participation and cooperation,' he added.

"I have just arrived in Athens. Thousands of Palestinian prisoners children, women and men remain behind. I am sure that the treatment I have suffered cannot compare to the suffering they endure, the testimonies we have of their torture, of the violence every day'. This is the video message posted on X by Hispanic-Palestinian activist Saif Abukeshek, immediately after his release and arrival at the airport in Athens, before boarding a flight to Spain. "We must continue to mobilise, we cannot forget the Palestinian prisoners," is the activist's appeal, in thanking "all those who mobilised, the Adalah legal team, my family, my wife and children, my colleagues in the movement, the 180 brave people" members of the Global Flotilla. "I listened to your voice," while in prison, "it gave me strength, but we have not finished the job yet. We have to keep going, we have to keep mobilising until Palestine is free", is Saif Abukeshek's exhortation, as he remembers "the people at sea who are doing their part", in relation to the other boats of the humanitarian expedition, which aim to reach Gaza. The activist appeals to "rise up in every corner of the world" "on land and at sea for a free Palestine".

Further reading

West Bank, economy heading for default: how Israel blocks PNA finances

08 May 2026

If even in 1945 the United States, at the height of its power, needed to win friends and influence people to build the American order, according to historian Harold James America today should certainly do the same.

Instead, Donald Trump has transformed the United States from the 'insurer' of the world into a 'lace collector' - in the words of Adam Posen, president of the Peterson Institute - thereby dispersing a wealth of alliances built up over decades.

The British maritime safety agency Ukmto has reported receiving a report of an incident 23 nautical miles northeast of Doha, Qatar. The captain of a merchant vessel, the note says, 'reported that the vessel was hit by an unidentified projectile. A small fire developed, which was later extinguished, and no casualties were reported. No environmental impact was reported'.

The Marine Command of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (Irgc) issued a new warning against any act of aggression against Iranian oil tankers and commercial vessels. This was reported by the Irna news agency. The Irgc Navy Command, it says, emphasised in a message that 'any aggression against Iranian oil tankers and commercial ships will result in a heavy attack against one of the American centres in the region and enemy ships'.

The Israeli government confirms the expulsion of Saif Abukeshek and Thiago Ávila, activists who were taking part in the Global Sumud Flotilla initiative that was headed towards the Gaza Strip but who were apprehended in international waters at the end of April. "Upon completion of the investigation, the two professional provocateurs Saif Abukeshek and Thiago Ávila of the provocation flotilla were expelled from Israel today," the Israeli Foreign Ministry announced via X. Israel reiterates that it 'will not allow violations of the legitimate naval blockade imposed on Gaza'.