EXPLAINER
The concern of renewed US strikes in Iran looms whereas Israeli assaults proceed in Lebanon regardless of prolonged ‘ceasefire’.
Printed On 18 Could 2026
United States President Donald Trump has warned Iran that the “clock is ticking” to clinch a deal to finish the conflict as experiences have emerged that Washington and Israel could be planning to hold out air strikes on Iranian vitality infrastructure.
“For Iran, the Clock is Ticking, they usually higher get shifting, FAST, or there gained’t be something left of them,” Trump wrote on his Reality Social platform. “TIME IS OF THE ESSENCE!”
Iranian Ministry of Defence spokesperson Reza Talaei-Nik mentioned on Sunday that the army is “absolutely ready” to confront any new aggression from the US and Israel.
Saudi Arabia on Monday mentioned it intercepted three drones, a day after a drone strike hit the Barakah Nuclear Energy Plant within the United Arab Emirates.
In the meantime, Israel has continued its bombardment of Lebanon regardless of one other “ceasefire” extension.
Because the US-Israeli conflict on Iran continues for its eightieth day, here’s what we all know:
In Iran
- Mohsen Rezaei, a member of Tehran’s Expediency Council and former Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps commander, issued a warning to the US to raise its blockade of Iranian ports, saying the Iranian army is prepared for additional confrontation. Rezaei made this warning whereas chatting with state tv.
- Talaei-Nik mentioned the Iranian armed forces are “absolutely ready to confront any new potential assault by the US and the Israeli regime towards the nation”.
Warfare diplomacy
- Mikhail Ulyanov, Russia’s envoy to worldwide organisations in Vienna, urged in an X publish that Iran appoint a particular envoy to Moscow, much like Tehran’s association with China.
- In an X publish, Jean-Luc Melenchon, the main determine of France’s left-wing La France Insoumise occasion, condemned “European complicity” within the US-Israeli strikes on Iran, which have triggered a wider regional conflict.
Within the Gulf
- The New York Occasions reported that the Israeli army has operated two “covert” outposts in Iraq’s western desert and killed a shepherd and a soldier in a bid to cover one of many websites close to the city of al-Nukhaib.
- After the drone assault on the nuclear facility brought about a fireplace, the UAE Ministry of Defence mentioned two different drones had been “efficiently” handled after they have been launched from the “western border”. It didn’t elaborate.
- The drone that received by the UAE’s defences hit {an electrical} generator outdoors the internal perimeter of the Barakah Nuclear Vitality Plant, the Abu Dhabi Media Workplace mentioned. Radiological security ranges have been unaffected, and there have been no accidents, it mentioned. The UAE’s Federal Authority for Nuclear Regulation later confirmed that the plant remained protected with no radioactive materials launched from the strike.
- Saudi Arabia mentioned the three drones it intercepted entered from Iraqi airspace and warned that it could take the required operational measures to reply to any try to violate its sovereignty and safety.
Within the US
- Marjorie Taylor Greene, a former US congresswoman and a once-close ally of Trump, has warned in a publish on X that any try to ship US troops into Iran would set off what she described as a “political revolution”.
- Republican Senator Lindsey Graham, chatting with the NBC broadcaster, urged Trump to “damage” Iran, together with launching assaults on its vitality websites, till it agrees to US phrases on its nuclear programme. The US and Israel have hit civilian targets a number of occasions throughout the conflict on Iran. Assaults on civilian services are thought-about conflict crimes below worldwide legislation.
In Israel
- Israel’s Channel 13 reported that dozens of US cargo planes carrying ammunition from bases in Germany have landed in Tel Aviv.
- Israeli media reported that the army is making ready for renewed hostilities with Iran. The general public broadcaster Kan quoted an unnamed safety official as saying that Israel would be part of any new US strikes and goal Iranian vitality infrastructure.
In Lebanon
- Israeli strikes have continued in southern Lebanon, the place Israel issued evacuation orders for 4 cities and villages after which struck two of these areas.
- Strikes have been additionally reported in Az-Zrariyah on a shifting car whereas one other raid in Tayr Debba resulted in some vital casualty numbers, Al Jazeera’s Obaida Hitto reported from Tyre, Lebanon.
World markets
- Stalled peace efforts between Iran and the US brought about oil costs to rise once more on Monday. This pushed the worth of the worldwide benchmark Brent crude as much as about $111 per barrel, near its highest degree in weeks.
