The war in Iran and the wider Middle East appeared to be in a holding pattern late on May 9 as Washington awaited Iran's response to its latest peace proposal, while Tehran, which has not yet offered a formal reply, maintained its belligerent stance toward the United States.
Iran's hard-line Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) angrily responded to the continuation of the US naval blockade of Iranian ports, threatening that "any attack on Iranian tankers and commercial vessels will result in a heavy attack on one of the American centers in the region and enemy ships."
It comes a day after US strikes disabled two Iranian-flagged tankers in the Gulf of Oman that Washington accused of attempting to violate its blockade of Iranian ports.
The US Central Command (CENTCOM) on May 9 said its naval blockade "continues to be fully enforced" and that it has redirected 58 commercial vessels and disabled four others since April 13 "to prevent the ships from entering or leaving Iranian ports."
Iranian Leadership Questions
The US-Israeli air strikes launched on February 28 have wiped out much of the Iranian leadership, prompting US President Donald Trump to call the regime "messed up" and without clear rulers.
Some observers have said the IRGC has increased its power and has opposed more moderate leaders who have sought to reach an agreement with US negotiators.
On May 8, both Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio said they were waiting for an imminent replay to the latest US offer, reportedly a one-page memorandum that would end the fighting and open the crucial Strait of Hormuz but would leave several key issues -- including Iran's right to enrich uranium -- for later discussions.
But as of early May 10 Middle East time there was no indication that Tehran had sent Pakistani mediators its response or other public remarks other than a tersely worded statement questioning Washington's seriousness in the talks.
"The recent escalation of tensions by American forces in the Persian Gulf and their numerous actions in violating the cease-fire have added to suspicions about the motivation and seriousness of the American side in the path of diplomacy," Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said, according to the semiofficial ISNA news agency.
Rubio defended recent US military action in the Persian Gulf and rejected Iranian efforts to regulate shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, a strategic maritime route that accounts for around one-fifth of global oil and gas supplies.
"Iran now claims that they own, that they have a right to control, an international waterway.... That's an unacceptable thing that they're trying to normalize," Rubio said after reports that Tehran had established an agency to approve vessel passage through the strait.
