Iran war deadlock endures
Tehran has tightened grip on Strait of Hormuz
Published: 05:05 PM,May 17,2026 | EDITED : 09:05 PM,May 17,2026
US President Donald Trump on Sunday threatened consequences for Iran if its leaders do not act quickly.
'For Iran, the Clock is Ticking, and they better get moving, FAST, or there won’t be anything left of them. TIME IS OF THE ESSENCE!,' he wrote in a Truth Social post.
Meanwhile, a drone strike caused a fire at a nuclear power plant in the United Arab Emirates, officials in Abu Dhabi said on Sunday, at a time when progress appears to have stalled in efforts to end the US-Israeli war with Iran and restart shipping in the Gulf.
Emirati officials said they were investigating the source of the strike and that the UAE had the full right to respond to such 'attacks'.
The drone hit an electrical generator outside the inner perimeter of the Barakah Nuclear Power Plant, the Abu Dhabi Media Office said. Radiological safety levels were unaffected and there were no injuries, it said. The International Atomic Energy Agency said emergency diesel generators were providing power to the plant's 'unit 3', and called for 'maximum military restraint' near any nuclear power plant, adding that it was following the situation closely.
The UAE defence ministry said two other drones had been 'successfully' dealt with, and that the drones had been launched from the 'western border'. It did not elaborate.
DIPLOMATIC DEADLOCK
More than five weeks after a tenuous ceasefire in the conflict took effect, US and Iranian demands remain far apart despite diplomatic efforts to end the war and reopen the strait, the world's most important shipping route for oil and gas.
Washington has called for Tehran to dismantle its nuclear programme and lift its hold on the strait. Iran has demanded compensation for war damage, an end to a US blockade of Iranian ports and a halt to fighting on all fronts, including in Lebanon.
Trump, who held talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping last week without securing an indication from China that it would help resolve the conflict, has threatened to resume attacks if Iran does not agree to a deal.
A senior spokesperson for the Iranian armed forces, Abolfazl Shekarchi, said on Sunday that if Trump's threats were carried out, the US would 'face new, aggressive, and surprise scenarios, and sink into a self-made quagmire'.
Iranian foreign ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baqaei said the US and Israel had tried to shift the blame for destabilising energy markets following their 'unprovoked military aggression against Iran'.
The disruption to shipping through the Strait of Hormuz has caused the biggest oil supply crisis in history, pushing up prices. The US has imposed its own blockade of Iranian ports and said that as of Sunday, it had redirected 81 commercial vessels and disabled four vessels to ensure compliance.
Ebrahim Azizi, who heads the Iranian parliament's national security committee, said on Saturday that Tehran had prepared a mechanism to manage traffic through the strait along a designated route that would be unveiled soon.