Iran’s FM Araghchi says return to war will ‘feature many more surprises’

This live blog follows the latest developments across the Middle East crisis, including regional diplomacy, maritime security, ceasefire negotiations, and economic fallout.

Catch up: Yesterday’s top developments

• US resident released from Iranian prison, returns home: rights group
• Israeli strike in Lebanon kill at least 10 people, including women, children
• Palestinian foreign ministry slams Israel’s flotilla interception as war crime
• Vance says Iran talks making 'good progress'
• Qatar says US-Iran negotiations need 'more time' 

Israel says 430 Gaza flotilla activists being transferred to Israel

Published: May 20, 2026 | 03:42 GMT | by AFP

Israeli authorities said late Tuesday that 430 activists aboard a Gaza-bound aid flotilla were en route to Israel, after their vessels were intercepted at sea the day before.

"Another PR flotilla has come to an end. All 430 activists have been transferred to Israeli vessels and are making their way to Israel, where they will be able to meet with their consular representatives," a spokesman from Israel's Ministry of Foreign Affairs said.

UN expert accuses EU of enabling Israel’s kidnapping of flotilla activists

Published: May 20, 2026 | 03:05 GMT | by Web Desk

Francesca Albanese, the UN special rapporteur for the occupied Palestinian territory, has expressed alarm amid reports Israeli forces had fired on activists aboard the Gaza-bound Global Sumud Flotilla in international waters, Al Jazeera reported. 

“Maximum alert on the Flotilla! Israel has been given license to threaten, kidnap, and shoot at civilians ALSO in international waters!" Albanese wrote in a post on X.

“Shame on the EU, [Israel’s] main enabler in this part of the world,” she added.

Araghchi says returning to war will feature 'many more surprises'

Published: May 20, 2026 | 00:33 GMT | by Web Desk

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has said that if the war were to return in the region, it would feature "many more surprises" due to the "lessons learned and knowledge" Iran gained during the conflict. 

"Months after initiation of war on Iran, US Congress acknowledges loss of dozens of aircraft worth billions," Araghchi said in a post on X.

"Our powerful armed forces are confirmed as first to strike down a touted F-35," he added.

Iran says US trying to ‘whitewash’ its crimes at UN

Published: May 20, 2026 | 01:25 GMT | by Web Desk

Iran’s UN mission has accused Washington of “spreading lies, false accusations, and disinformation against Iran and its peaceful nuclear programme” at the Security Council.

The US “continues to violate international law through unlawful maritime blockades, and unwavering support for the Israeli regime’s crimes and atrocities across the region,” the Iranian mission said in a post on X.

“In fact, the culprit and the thief are now playing the role of prosecutor and judge, trying to whitewash his own crimes.”

The criticism from Tehran comes as a resolution drafted by the US and Gulf countries on the Strait of Hormuz has reportedly gained support from about two-thirds of UN member states, ahead of a possible vote.

Pakistan at UN strongly condemns drone attacks on UAE, Saudi Arabia

Published: May 20, 2026 | 01:25 GMT | by Web Desk

Pakistan’s Permanent Representative to the UN, Ambassador Asim Iftikhar Ahmad, strongly condemned the drone attacks on the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia.

While speaking to the UN, he said that Pakistan stood in “complete solidarity” with the Middle Eastern country, reiterating its full support for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of all friendly countries of the region.

He also said that the attack on Saudi Arabia constituted a serious violation of the Kingdom’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.

Trump says to get done with Iran war ‘in a very nice manner’

Published: May 20, 2026 | 00:43 GMT | by Web Desk

US President Donald Trump has said that Washington had done a good job in its war with Iran, stating that it was going to be finished "very quickly.”

“We are going to get it done in a very nice manner," he said. 

The US president also said that the deal would be reached without Tehran acquiring a nuclear weapon.

Separately, while speaking to reporters in the White House, he said that if an agreement is not reached within the next "two or three ⁠days," a new US attack would happen.

Russia ready to ‘extend helping hand’ to resolve US-Iran conflict

Published: May 20, 2026 | 00:25 GMT | by Web Desk

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabko says his country is ready to extend a helping hand to negotiations between Iran and the US, if necessary, but does not intend to impose its services, Al Jazeera reported.

“Russia is ready to provide all possible assistance in resolving this conflict, which is well known to its parties. At the same time, we have never imposed and do not intend to impose our services. But in the event of an appropriate request, we will extend a helping hand,” he said during an interview with the country’s TASS state news agency.

Ryabkov emphasized that Moscow has always been and remains “committed to finding solutions exclusively through political and diplomatic channels”. 

He said Moscow welcomes attempts by Washington and Tehran to resume the negotiation process and notes the “active role of the Pakistani side in stabilizing the situation and creating conditions for moving toward a lasting peace.”

Developing countries bearing brunt of war on Iran, UN warns

Published: May 20, 2026 | 00:12 GMT | by Web Desk

The UN has cut global growth forecasts to 2.5% this year, compared with an estimated 3 percent last year, citing higher energy costs and weaker trade due to the US-Israel war on Iran.

In the latest World Economic Situation and Prospects Report, the global body warned that low-income families in developing countries bear the heaviest burden “as higher food and energy prices take up a larger share of their spending and rising costs outpace wages”.

Sharply declining aid flows and increased debt levels in low-income countries mean that those governments have less funding available to respond to the crisis, through “spending on health, education, and social protection”, it said.

The biggest economic shocks are being felt in Western Asia, it added, “driven not only by the energy shock but also by direct infrastructure damage and severe disruptions to oil production, trade, and tourism”.

‘Appalling lie’: Iran rejects US claim over missile strike on school

Published: May 19, 2026 | 23:18 GMT | by Web Desk

Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman, Esmaeil Baghaei, has written on X that a US claim about the elementary school in Minab that was hit by a missile is a “baseless fabrication and an appalling lie.”

Baghaei said that US Central Command chief Admiral Brad Cooper’s earlier statement that the Shajareh Tayyebeh school was located on an active Iranian cruise missile site was “a clear attempt to obscure the severe reality of the 28 February missile attacks, which resulted in the tragic slaughtering of over 170 school children and their teachers.”

The spokesman added that “targeting an active educational institution during school hours constitutes a grave violation of international humanitarian law and is a clear war crime”.

“The civilian nature of the site cannot be obscured by technical misrepresentations,” he said, adding that the US authorities “responsible for ordering and executing this catastrophic assault must be held fully accountable under international law.”