Former IRGC commander Mohsen Rezaee compares the US forces blockading the Strait of Hormuz to “pirates” and threatens to turn the waterway into “a graveyard” of US aircraft carriers and troops. 🔴 LIVE updates:

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Iran war live: US options are ‘impossible’ military attack or a ‘bad deal’

Vehicles drive past a billboard with graphic showing Strait of Hormuz and sewn lips of U.S. President Donald Trump in a square in downtown Tehran, Iran, Saturday, May 2, 2026.

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Al Jazeera Live

By Nils Adler and Tamila Varshalomidze

Published On 3 May 2026

3 May 2026

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Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps says it set a deadline for the US military to end its blockade of ports, adding President Trump “must choose between an impossible military operation or a bad deal”.

Trump says he will “soon be reviewing the plan Iran has just sent to us” but does not think he can make a deal.

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4m ago (12:15 GMT)

If you’re just joining us

Here are the latest developments:

The intelligence unit of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps says “Trump must choose between an impossible military operation or a bad deal with the Islamic Republic of Iran”.

Mohsen Rezaee, former IRGC commander and secretary of Tehran’s Expediency Council, compares the US forces blockading the Strait of Hormuz to “pirates” and threatens to turn the waterway into “a graveyard” of US aircraft carriers and troops.

The Israeli military says it has killed two Hezbollah fighters who posed “an imminent threat” to its soldiers in southern Lebanon.

An Israeli court has approved a two-day extension to the detention of two foreign activists from a captured vessel in the Gaza-bound humanitarian flotilla who were brought to Israel for questioning.

Israeli police have detained 21 suspects who allegedly tried to carry out a Passover sacrifice in the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound, the Israeli newspaper Haaretz reports.

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14m ago (12:05 GMT)

Spain demands ‘immediate release’ of Spanish-Palestinian activist abducted by Israel

Spain’s Foreign Ministry has called for the “immediate release” of a Spanish-Palestinian activist, who was abducted on Thursday by the Israeli army from a captured vessel in the Gaza-bound humanitarian flotilla.

“The government of Spain demands his immediate release,” the ministry said in a comment sent to the AFP news agency shortly after Israeli court extended his detention by two days.

The ministry said that the Spanish consul in Tel Aviv accompanied Saif Abu Keshek, who is being “illegally detained”, to the hearing.

A rights group at the hearing said the court extended the detention of Keshek and Brazilian activist Thaigo Avila for two days.

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24m ago (11:55 GMT)

Houthi

At least one killed, three injured in Israeli attack on Lebanon’s Nabatieh district

An Israeli air raid on the municipality of Arab Salim in southern Lebanon’s Nabatieh district has killed at least one person and injured three others, including a child.

That’s according to a statement by the country’s Health Ministry carried by the state-run National News Agency.

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29m ago (11:50 GMT)

What’s happening in the occupied West Bank?

As the world’s attention remains focused on the latest diplomatic steps to reach a permanent end to the US-Iran war, the Israeli army and settlers continue to carry out attacks across the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem.

Here are some of the incidents reported by Wafa news agency:

Israeli forces have carried out a series of incursions into several towns and villages north of Tulkarem, in the occupied West Bank, including Saida, Attil, Ellar, and Deir al-Ghusun.

Israeli settlers began paving a road in the Palestinian town of Beit Awwa, west of Hebron.

A 13-year-old Palestinian was injured last night after being assaulted by Israeli troops in the town of al-Ram, north of Jerusalem.

Israeli soldiers detained two Palestinians, including a woman, from the Bethlehem governorate in the occupied West Bank.

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34m ago (11:45 GMT)

Analysis

Despite military threats, Iran-US diplomacy continues

Alexandru Hudisteanu, a military analyst and maritime expert, says a return to war between the United States and Iran is possible but not inevitable despite fiery rhetoric being espoused by both sides.

“The diplomatic track is still continuing. For all the positioning President Trump is doing on social media, we have to understand negotiations are happening behind the scenes in official channels,” Hudisteanu told Al Jazeera.

He described the ongoing diplomacy as “very hard and incisive” with “hiccups” thwarting progress in talks.

“Yes, the nations need to position themselves militarily to show in case negotiations fail the alternative is there – the military track is still active, and it’s just an operational pause,” Hudisteanu said.

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39m ago (11:40 GMT)

Houthi

Four paramedics among 5 people injured in Israeli attack on Lebanon

At least five people, including four paramedics, have been wounded in an Israeli attack on the municipality of Srifa in southern Lebanon’s Tyre district, according to the Health Ministry.

The air raid occurred next to a medical centre, the ministry said in a statement carried by Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency.

“The ministry reiterated its condemnation of these repeated attacks, and recalled Article 19 of the Geneva Convention, which states the need to ensure that medical facilities are protected from any danger caused by attacks in conflict zones, while the opposite is actually happening,” it said.

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49m ago (11:30 GMT)

Analysis

Iran ‘rearranged’ previous list of demands in latest proposal to show ‘flexibility’

Mostafa Koshcheshm, a professor at University of Applied Sciences in Tehran, says Iran’s latest proposal includes all the 10 items of its first proposal, but they are rearranged “to show some kind of flexibility”.

In the first list that went into discussion in Islamabad, Iran’s enrichment programme was at the top, but it was ruling out any negotiations, he said.

Now, in the latest proposal, it has been put in the third place, giving the first and the second spot to the end to hostilities in Iran as well as Lebanon and elsewhere, and the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, Koshcheshm told Al Jazeera.

“But Trump is adamant to anything like that, no matter what you offer … he insists he wants 100 percent of everything,” he concluded.

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1h ago (11:15 GMT)

Israeli soldiers accused of looting in southern Lebanon

The Israeli military is struggling to stop looting by soldiers in southern Lebanon despite warnings from top commanders.

The Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper quoted an unnamed reservist who said he has witnessed several instances of looting.

“We came across many reserve units at the border. They simply took everything – weapons, souvenirs, jewellery, blankets, pictures,” the soldier said.

In another instance, he said, he witnessed an Israeli commander preventing soldiers from taking looted goods back to Israel.

The Haaretz newspaper also reported soldiers have looted private homes and shops in Lebanon whose inhabitants or owners fled the fighting. There were similar reports during the war in Gaza.

Israeli Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir issued a stark warning about looting by soldiers in a speech to senior military officers a week ago.

A Palestinian shopper stops as she watches Israeli soldiers on patrol walk past in the market of the Old City of Nablus, in the northern Israeli-occupied West Bank on April 27, 2026.

Israeli soldiers on patrol in the market of the Old City of Nablus in the occupied West Bank [AFP]

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1h ago (11:00 GMT)

Photos: Global Sumud Flotilla activists detained in Israel back in court

Brazilian activist Thiago Ávila, center, a member of the Global Sumud Flotilla, is escorted by prison service guards to a hearing at the District Court in Ashkelon, Israel, on Sunday, May 3, 2026. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)

Brazilian activist Thiago Avila, centre, a member of the Global Sumud Flotilla, is escorted by prison guards to a hearing at the District Court in Ashkelon, Israel [Ohad Zwigenberg/AP]

epa12929423 Saif Abu Keshek (C), a member of the Global Sumud Flotilla, arrives to attend his trial for a remand extension at the Ashkelon Magistrate’s Court in Ashkelon, Israel, 03 May 2026. Abu Keshek along with Thiago Avila were arrested on 02 May off the island of Crete, according to the organization. According to the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Abu Keshek is suspected of affiliation with a terrorist organization, and Avila of illegal activity. EPA/ABIR SULTAN

Saif Abu Keshek arrives at the court for a remand extension on Sunday [Abir Sultan/EPA]

epa12929419 Saif Abu Keshek (C), a member of the Global Sumud Flotilla, arrives to attend his trial for a remand extension at the Ashkelon Magistrate’s Court in Ashkelon, Israel, 03 May 2026. Abu Keshek along with Thiago Avila were arrested on 02 May off the island of Crete, according to the organization. According to the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Abu Keshek is suspected of affiliation with a terrorist organization, and Avila of illegal activity. EPA/ABIR SULTAN

Keshek and Avila were arrested on May 2, 2026, off the Greek island of Crete [Abir Sultan/EPA]

epa12929418 Thiago Avila (C), a member of the Global Sumud Flotilla, arrives to attend his trial for a remand extension at the Ashkelon Magistrate’s Court in Ashkelon, Israel, 03 May 2026. Thiago Avila along with Abu Keshek were arrested on 02 May off the island of Crete, according to the organization. According to the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Abu Keshek is suspected of affiliation with a terrorist organization, and Avila of illegal activity. EPA/ABIR SULTAN

Officials around the world have condemned the interception of the boats bound for Gaza, calling it a violation of international law [Abir Sultan/EPA]

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1h ago (10:45 GMT)

Israeli court extends detention of 2 Gaza flotilla activists by 2 days

An Israeli court has approved a two-day extension to the detention of two foreign activists from a captured vessel in the Gaza-bound humanitarian flotilla who were brought to Israel for questioning.

“The court extended their detention by two days,” said Miriam Azem, international advocacy coordinator at the rights group Adalah, which represents the men.

Israeli authorities had asked the court to extend their detention by four days, Azem was quoted as saying by AFP.

The flotilla of more than 50 vessels set sail from France, Spain and Italy with the aim of breaking a decades-old Israeli blockade of Gaza and bringing supplies to the devastated Palestinian territory.

The boats were intercepted by Israeli forces in international waters off Greece on Thursday with Israel saying it captured 175 activists, two of whom – Spanish national Saif Abu Keshek and Brazilian Thiago Avila – were taken to Israel for “questioning”.