live UAE Rejects Tehran's 'Attempts To Justify' Its 'Terrorist Attacks'

The US State Department said on May 15 that Israel and Lebanon have agreed to a 45-day extension of a cease-fire to "enable further progress" and announced US-mediated follow-up talks later this month and in June.

"We hope these discussions will advance lasting peace between the two countries, full recognition of each other’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, and establishing genuine security along their shared border," State Department spokesperson Tommy Pigott wrote on X.

Israel has been launching strikes targeting Hezbollah militants in Lebanon since March 2, two days after the start of the US-Israeli war with Iran, when Hezbollah forces opened fire in support of Tehran.

Hezbollah is a militant group and political party that controls much of southern Lebanon. It is considered a terrorist organization by the United States, while the European Union has only blacklisted its armed wing.

A truce in place since April 17 has reduced fighting between Israel and Hezbollah but has not stopped it; hundreds of people have been killed in strikes since then and each side has accused the other of numerous violations.

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) rejected what it called Tehran’s “attempts to justify” its attacks on Gulf countries after Iran accused Abu Dhabi of being an “active partner” in the US military campaign.

In a statement released on May 15, the UAE’s Minister of State Khalifa bin Shaheen Al Marar affirmed the country's "categorical rejection of Iranian claims and attempts to justify Iranian terrorist attacks.”

"The UAE reserves all its sovereign, legal, diplomatic, and military rights to confront any threat, claim, or hostile act," Marar said. "It reserves its full and legitimate right to defend its sovereignty and territorial integrity to ensure the protection of its citizens, residents, and visitors."

A day earlier, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi wrote on Telegram that the UAE has been "an active partner" in what he called "US aggression."

In a separate statement cited by Iranian media, Araqchi said he had “advised the representative of the UAE that [Israel] and the United States cannot guarantee their security” and pointed to the “consequences” of the Iranian air strikes on US military bases in the country’s territory.

The UAE said it has been subjected to about 3,000 missile and drone attacks since the beginning of the joint US-Israeli war with Iran on February 28.

Twenty Iranians and 11 Pakistanis who were aboard vessels “seized in the high seas by the United States” are being repatriated, Pakistani Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar said in a post on X on May 15.

All 31 “are in good health and high spirits,” Dar said, adding that they had reached Bangkok from Singapore and boarded a flight to Islamabad. The Iranians “will then be facilitated to return to their homeland.”

Dar thanked the governments of Singapore, Thailand, and the United States, including Secretary of State Marco Rubio, as well as Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi, for their support in the operation.

The United States imposed a naval blockade on Iran in mid-April, about six weeks after the start of the US-Israeli war with Iran on February 28.

President Donald Trump has signaled he would be agreeable to Iran suspending its nuclear program for 20 years.

Speaking to reporters on Air Force One shortly after leaving Beijing, Trump said “20 years is enough but...it’s got to be a real 20 years.”

Tehran’s reluctance to accept a suspension -- or complete cessation -- of its uranium enrichment program continues to be the central sticking point between Iran and the United States.

For much of the past year, the Trump administration demanded that Iran permanently renounce domestic uranium enrichment. Iran countered by offering a temporary suspension, including a five-year freeze during recent talks.

In April, during peace talks in Pakistan, the US appeared to soften its position, proposing that Iran agree to halt enrichment for 20 years.

According to The Wall Street Journal, Trump’s comments on May 15 mark his clearest signal yet that he could accept a time-limited suspension of Iran’s nuclear program.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi on May 15 said Tehran had received messages from the United States indicating that the Trump administration is seeking continued talks aimed at ending the Middle East war.

The US has not confirmed Araqchi's claim.

Speaking in New Delhi at a press conference at the BRICS summit, Araqchi said: "We received messages again from the Americans that they were willing to continue negotiations and continue engagement."

In recent days, US President Donald Trump called Iran's latest peace proposal "stupid" and "totally unacceptable."

Araqchi said that Iran is ready for both a return to military conflict and diplomatic solutions. He went on to add that the Pakistani mediation process has not failed but is facing difficulties.

The Iranian foreign minister did not provide any further details about the alleged US offer of talks nor his claim that the mediation process was facing difficulties.

Araqchi also said that the issue of Iran's uranium enrichment is "complicated and we have proposed postponing this discussion in order to reach a conclusion with the American side."

As part of any potential peace deal, the Trump administration insists Iran agrees to a long-term suspension or outright halt of uranium enrichment.

The FBI has announced a $200,000 reward for any information leading to the arrest of a former US counterintelligence agent charged with espionage for Iran.

According to an FBI statement released on May 14, Monica Witt, a former US service member and counterintelligence agent, was indicted by a federal grand jury in February 2019 on charges of espionage, including transmitting national defense information to the Iranian government.

She defected to Iran in 2013, the FBI said.

According to the indictment, she subsequently provided information to the Iranian government, placing sensitive and classified US national defense information and programs at risk.

"The FBI has not forgotten and believes that during this critical moment in Iran's history, there is someone who knows something about her whereabouts. The FBI wants to hear from you so you can help us apprehend Witt and bring her to justice," the statement said.

Mohammad Ali Jafari, the former commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC), has said there will be no further peace negotiations "until the war is over on all fronts, sanctions are lifted, frozen funds are released, damages caused by the war are compensated, and Iran’s sovereignty over the Strait of Hormuz is recognized.”

Jafari, whose position in the current government is unclear, made the comments to the Tasnim news agency, which is close to the IRGC.

These five points, which Iran has called its "main conditions," can be seen summarized on propaganda billboards across the capital, Tehran. They also form the core of Iran's new peace proposal, which US President Donald Trump has called "stupid" and "unacceptable."

In his comments to Tasnim, Jafari also said that since Iran had been attacked twice in the middle of negotiations with the United States, "we completely distrust the enemy" and "the enemy must pay for the betrayals and breaches of promises that it committed by restarting the war in the middle of negotiations."

The former IRGC commander is repeating Iran's characterization of the US-Israeli attacks on Iran's nuclear facilities in June 2025 and the US-Israeli strikes that launched the current war on February 28. The US and Israel have described those operations as preemptive military actions, not unprovoked attacks during active peace negotiations.

Jafari also outlined Iran's phased approach to negotiations, although it is unclear what role -- if any -- he has taken in peace talks or whether his comments represent Iran's current official position: "Our logic is to first take confidence-building measures and then enter the next phase and the next step of negotiating nuclear issues so that decisions can be made about them. Until [this is done], entering the next stage makes no sense."

US President Donald Trump has left Beijing after a two-day summit with Chinese leader Xi Jinping, where Iran featured at the top of the agenda.

Read our full coverage here.

Iranian journalists, sisters Elahe and Elnaz Mohammadi, have won the 2026 Courage in Journalism Award from the International Women's Media Foundation (IWMF).

The foundation announced on May 14 that the sisters were being honored for reporting amid increasing risks, alongside journalists from Myanmar, the Philippines, and the United States.

"For years, the Mohammadi sisters have documented systemic state control and violence in Iran -- one of the world's most restrictive media environments -- and have been arrested, imprisoned, and censored for their journalism," the IWMF statement said.

Elahe Mohammadi, a former reporter for the Tehran-based reformist daily Ham-Mihan, was arrested in September 2022 after covering the funeral of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old Iranian woman who had died mysteriously in police custody. Elahe spent about 17 months in detention before being released on bail.

Her sister, Elnaz Mohammadi, a veteran social-affairs journalist and former editor at Ham-Mihan, was also briefly detained in 2022 and later sentenced to three years of suspended imprisonment.

Elnaz has long focused on women's rights, children’s rights, and social issues across Iran, the IWMF said.

Iran's Press Supervisory Board suspended the Ham-Mihan daily on January 18 amid intensified repression of independent media in Iran.

China's Foreign Ministry on May 15 called for a lasting truce in the Middle East and said shipping lanes should be reopened "as soon as possible."

"A comprehensive and lasting cease-fire should be reached as soon as possible to facilitate the early restoration of peace and stability in the Middle East and the Gulf region," the ministry said in a statement.

"Shipping lanes should be reopened as soon as possible in response to the calls of the international community," it added without specifically mentioning the Strait of Hormuz, which Iran has effectively closed since the outbreak of war on February 28.