live Trump Says US Doesn't Need China's Help On Iran

Pakistan’s role as a mediator between Iran and the United States has come under renewed scrutiny after reports that Iranian aircraft were parked at a military base just outside Rawalpindi, raising questions about Islamabad’s balancing act in the unfolding conflict.

The Pakistani Foreign Ministry was quick to call the news reports "misleading and sensationalized" without denying the presence of the Iranian aircraft at the country’s Nur Khan Air Base.

"Iranian aircraft parked in Pakistan arrived during the cease-fire period and bear no linkage whatsoever to any military contingency or preservation arrangement," the ministry said in a statement.

Quoting unnamed US officials, the American broadcaster CBS reported on May 11 that Pakistan had allowed Iranian military aircraft to park on its airfields, potentially shielding them from US air strikes.

Reacting to the news report, US Republican Senator Lindsey Graham said in a social media post that “if this reporting is accurate, it would require a complete reevaluation of the role Pakistan is playing as mediator between Iran, the United States, and other parties.”

There has not yet been any official comment from the White House or US State Department.

The allegations have also revived a long-running debate in Washington over whether Pakistan can simultaneously maintain close security ties with the United States while preserving strategic relationships with America’s adversaries.

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The brother of imprisoned Iranian Nobel Peace Prize laureate Narges Mohammadi says doctors cannot yet offer a definitive prognosis on her condition, days after Iranian authorities released her on bail amid a health crisis that her family says nearly killed her.

Hamidreza Mohammadi told RFE/RL’s Radio Farda on May 12 that after 10 days in the critical care unit of a hospital in the northwestern city of Zanjan, the family arranged their own ambulance to transport her to Tehran, where she is now being treated by a medical team. He said her blood pressure had dropped to critically low levels during her hospitalization.

"The doctors cannot say anything definitive because Narges's medical file is complicated," he said, citing her underlying health conditions, including cardiac inflammation, as compounding factors.

He added that the coming week would be devoted entirely to tests and angiography to determine the extent of her health deterioration before any treatment could begin.

Mohammadi, 54, suffered a suspected heart attack in Zanjan prison on March 24 while serving a sentence that carries 18 years still to run. Her Paris-based lawyer said last week that she had lost 20 kilograms and was unrecognizable from her state before her most recent arrest in December.

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US President Donald Trump has said that the Chinese president had been "relatively good" on the Iran war although Washington did not need his help.

Speaking to journalists ahead of his trip to China, Trump said, "I don't think we need any help with Iran. We'll win it one way or another. We'll win it peacefully or otherwise."

He also said he was scheduled to have a "long conversation" with Xi Jinping about Iran in China, adding that the Chinese leader was "a friend" and "somebody we get along with."

Trump will arrive in China on the evening of May 13 and have two days of talks and public appearances with Xi on May 14-15. The US president last visited the country in 2017.

Trump has rejected Iran's latest offer for a deal to end the war, calling it "completely unacceptable" and "incredibly weak."

The US president's trip to China was originally scheduled for March but was delayed due to the Iran war.

A second Qatari liquefied natural gas (LNG) tanker has successfully crossed the Strait of Hormuz under a special arrangement involving Iran and Pakistan, highlighting efforts to maintain energy shipments despite regional conflict risks.

The vessel Mihzem departed Qatar’s Ras Laffan terminal on May 11 and passed through the strategic waterway the following day en route to Pakistan’s Port Qasim, according to shipping data from the London Stock Exchange Group.

The transit follows the earlier passage of the tanker Al Kharaitiyat, which crossed the Hormuz strait over the weekend.

A source familiar with the matter told Reuters that Iran approved the shipments to Pakistan, which faces acute gas shortages and has been seeking limited safe passage for LNG cargoes supplied by Qatar under a government-to-government agreement.

With reporting by Reuters

US President Donald Trump has said that he is "100 percent" confident that Iran would stop enriching uranium and hand over its stockpile to the United States.

In an interview with the Sid & Friends show on New York's TalkRadio 77 WABC, Trump said that the Iranians had committed to stopping uranium enrichment: "They're going to stop, and they told me they're going to give us the dust."

Trump has repeatedly used "nuclear dust" to refer to Iran's enriched uranium. Tehran has not confirmed Trump's claim that it would give up its uranium stockpile.

The US president also said: "We don't have to rush anything. We have a blockade which allows them no money. It's a very simple thing: we cannot let them have a nuclear weapon, because they'd use it."

Trump has emphasized that he will continue to pressure Iran until an agreement to end the war is reached and that he would not tire of continuing a war of attrition.

He also called Iran's response to the US proposal to reach an agreement "extremely weak" and "completely unacceptable."

The Pentagon says that the United States’ war with Iran has cost about $29 billion, up $4 billion from an estimate made two weeks earlier.

The figure was revealed while Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Joint Chiefs Chairman General Dan Caine, and acting Pentagon finance chief Jules Hurst were testifying at a budget hearing in Washington on May 12.

According to Hurst, the higher figure reflects updated repair and operational costs.

“The joint staff team and the comptroller team are constantly looking at that estimate,” Hurst said.

The rising price tag comes as President Donald Trump’s Republicans face mounting scrutiny months ahead of midterm elections, with Democrats tying the war to rising living costs.

With reporting by Reuters and AFP

US Central Command (CENTCOM), which is responsible for American forces in the Middle East, says that its operations are ongoing in the Arabian Sea, "including enforcement of the US blockade on Iran."

CENTCOM said it has "redirected" 65 vessels and "disabled" 4 during the blockade, which began on April 13.

On May 8, the US military said that it had struck two Iranian-flagged oil tankers, the Sea Star III and the Sevda, and that the Iranian-flagged Hasna tanker was also targeted.

US forces also seized an Iranian cargo ship last month.

Following the transfer of Nobel Peace Prize winner and Iranian political prisoner Narges Mohammadi to a hospital, a group of 112 Nobel laureates from various fields issued a joint statement calling for her immediate and unconditional release and the dropping of all charges against the human rights activist.

The statement was released on May 12 in coordination with the Nobel Women's Initiative and the Narges Foundation. The signatories include Nobel laureates in chemistry, economics, literature, medicine, peace, and physics.

The statement said that reports published by the Narges Foundation and other credible sources indicate that Mohammadi's physical condition has become "critical" and that she is experiencing severe weight loss, unstable blood pressure, and serious heart symptoms.

Nobel laureates have warned that Mohammadi's life may be at "immediate risk" and have emphasized that she has been denied access to specialized medical services for months.

Mohammadi was transferred to Tehranpars Hospital by ambulance on May 10 and is currently being treated by a specialized medical team. However, the signatories of the statement emphasized that her hospitalization does not eliminate "the injustice of her imprisonment."

Jody Williams, winner of the 1997 Nobel Peace Prize, said in the statement: "No one should be imprisoned for peacefully protesting or defending human rights."

Tawakol Kerman, another Nobel Peace Prize laureate, has also described Mohammadi as "a fearless voice of women who stand up against oppression" and has called for continued global support for Iranian women.

The signatories also called on the authorities of the Islamic republic and the international community to take immediate action to release Mohammadi and ensure her access to appropriate medical services.

Kuwait's Interior Ministry announced that it had arrested "four infiltrators" affiliated with Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) after they attempted to enter the Persian Gulf country by sea.

The official Kuwaiti government news agency, KUNA, reported the news.

The ministry added that during the clash with these individuals, one Kuwaiti armed force member was injured and "two infiltrators" managed to escape.

KUNA also quoted the Kuwaiti Interior Ministry as saying that the detainees "confessed" during interrogation that they were affiliated with the IRGC.

The ministry's claims could not be independently verified.

According to the report, they "admitted that they were on a mission to infiltrate Bubiyan Island in a fishing boat that had been specifically chartered to carry out hostile acts against Kuwait."

Previously, the Kuwaiti Defense Ministry had released initial news of the four people's attempt to enter the country by sea.

US President Donald Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping are set to open a closely watched summit in Beijing as Washington and Beijing seek a fragile economic truce while maneuvering over Iran, Taiwan, and control of critical supply chains.

Trump, who last visited China in 2017, will arrive on the evening of May 13 and engage in two days of talks and public appearances with Xi on May 14-15. The trip marks the two leaders' first face-to-face talks in more than six months as they try to stabilize ties strained by tariffs, mineral export controls, and other areas of disagreement.

While the highly anticipated meeting will cover a range of economic and geopolitical issues -- from US soybean exports to China's relationship with Russia -- the Iran war is also expected to feature on the summit's agenda, senior US officials told reporters during a May 10 briefing.

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