Pakistan Asks Singapore For Help To Bring Stranded Pakistani, Iranian Sailors Home
Pakistan’s Foreign Minister spoke by telephone with his Singaporean counterpart, Vivian Balakrishnan, to request assistance in repatriating Pakistani and Iranian seafarers aboard vessels “seized by US authorities” near Singaporean waters.
In a social media post on May 8, Ishaq Dar said he had also discussed the matter with his Iranian counterpart, Abbas Araghchi. The US has not commented on the matter.
According to Pakistan’s Foreign Office, 11 Pakistani and 20 Iranian seafarers are aboard the vessels. Dar said the Foreign Office is closely coordinating with US authorities and other relevant parties to ensure the “safety, welfare, and earliest possible return of the crew members.”
Earlier this week, Pakistan facilitated the return of the Iranian sailors from a vessel seized by the United States. The Pakistani Foreign Office says the transfer of the Iranian crew members was part of “confidence-building measures.”
The Iranian ship was seized by US forces on April 19. At that time, the US Central Command (CENTCOM) has said that ship’s crew “failed to comply with repeated warnings over a six-hour period.”
Human Rights Watch Slams Iranian Government For Wave Of 'Politically Motivated Executions'
Human Rights Watch has called on all UN members to take action to halt the use of the death penalty in Iran, which it says has executed at least 28 people in the past six weeks.
Bahar Saba, a researcher for the organization, said in a video posted on the organization's X account late on May 7, that many of the executions involved people who were accused of participating in protests over eroding economic conditions at the start of the year.
HRW said those executed have all been convicted in courts where "the defendants' fundamental and basic rights are violated," while confessions were extracted from all of these individuals under "pressure and torture."
Iran was wracked by mass protests in January that were brutally suppressed by security forces. HRANA, a US-based human rights monitoring group, said it had verified nearly 7,000 deaths during Iran's crackdown on protesters in January and many more arrests.
The country also has one of the highest rates of capital punishment in the world. At least 1,639 people were executed in 2025, including 48 women, according to the Norway-based Iran Human Rights (IHR) and the Paris-based Together Against the Death Penalty (ECPM).
Human rights defenders have repeatedly accused Iran of using the death penalty to instill fear in society in the wake of a wave of anti-government protests in recent years.
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1,500 Ships, 20,000 Crewmembers Trapped Around Hormuz, Maritime Official Says
Some 1,500 ships and their crews are trapped in the Persian Gulf because of the Iranian blockade in the Strait of Hormuz, the UN International Maritime Organization (IMO) chief said on May 7.
"Right now, we have approximately 20,000 crewmen and around 1,500 ships trapped," IMO secretary-general Arsenio Dominguez told the Maritime Convention of the Americas in Panama.
Following the US-Israeli air strikes against Iran launched on February 28, Tehran has fired missiles and drones at US Gulf allies and set a blockade of the strait, through which some 20 percent of the world’s oil and gas supplies transited before the war.
The stranded crew members "are innocent people who are doing their jobs every day for the benefit of other countries," but "are trapped by geopolitical situations outside their control," Dominguez said.
"Ten sailors have lost their lives" in more than 30 attacks on vessels, he later told reporters.
On May 4, US President Donald Trump announced a naval operation to escort the trapped ships and force the opening of the strait but called off the effort shortly after as Washington waits for Tehran’s response to its latest peace proposal.
With reporting by AFP
US Says It Struck Iranian Naval Assets, Military Sites After 'Unprovoked' Attacks On Warships
US Forces intercepted and "eliminated inbound threats" and struck unspecified Iranian military sites after Iranian forces launched missiles, drones, and small boats at US Navy vessels in the Strait of Hormuz, the US Central Command (CENTCOM) said on May 7.
"US forces intercepted unprovoked Iranian attacks and responded with self-defense strikes as US Navy guided-missile destroyers transited the Strait of Hormuz to the Gulf of Oman, May 7," CENTCOM wrote on X.
The statement said Iranian forces "launched multiple missiles, drones, and small boats" at a number of US Navy ships -- including the USS Truxtun, the Rafael Peralta, and the Mason -- transited the crucial waterway, adding that no US assets were hit.
CENTCOM "eliminated inbound threats and targeted Iranian military facilities responsible for attacking US forces including missile and drone launch sites; command and control locations; and intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance nodes," it said.
US President Donald Trump later told ABC News that retaliatory strikes against Iran were just a "love tap" and insisted that, despite the strikes, the cease-fire announced on April 7 was still "in effect" and that negotiations were ongoing.
In a social media post, Trump said there was "no damage" to US vessels but "great damage" done to "numerous small boats."
He added that Iran is "led by LUNATICS, and if they had the chance to use a Nuclear Weapon, they would do it, without question...just like we knocked them out again today, we’ll knock them out a lot harder, and a lot more violently, in the future, if they don’t get their Deal signed, FAST! "
A day earlier, the Pentagon said its forces struck an Iranian-flagged ship attempting to break the US blockade of the country's ports. Tehran claimed the attacks were a violation of the cease-fire.
The semiofficial Fars News Agency reported that parts of Iran's Bahman Port on Qeshm Island in the Strait of Hormuz had been targeted by unknown attackers.
“During an exchange of fire between Iran’s armed forces and the enemy, commercial sections of Bahman Port were targeted,” said Fars, which is close to the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC).
Residents in coastal areas also reported blasts in social media postings, with witnesses on Qeshm Island describing hearing explosions and seeing flares above the surrounding seas.
Fars claimed there had been an exchange of fire with the "enemy," causing damage to a pier in Qeshm.
Tasnim News Agency, which is also closed to the IRGC, reported that several explosions had been heard in the port city of Bandar Abbas.
The Iranian reports could not immediately be verified, but the actions come as Trump has threatened renewed strikes unless the regime accepts a US peace deal handed to Tehran through Pakistani mediators.
Tehran has said it is studying the US proposal and will provide its response through the Pakistanis.
US-Backed UN Resolution On Strait Of Hormuz Faces Likely Vetoes From Russia, China
A US-backed resolution in the UN Security Council demanding Iran halt attacks and mining of the Strait of Hormuz faced likely vetoes by Russia and China, diplomats said.
The draft condemns Iran's alleged violations of the current cease-fire and its "actions and threats aimed at closing, obstructing, tolling" freedom of navigation through the crucial waterway.
It demands Tehran cease attacks, provide the locations of any mines, and that it not impede demining operations.
Washington's UN envoy, Mike Waltz -- standing alongside representatives of Persian Gulf allies that support the new -- told reporters on May 7 that any countries that "seek to throw it out are setting a very, very dangerous precedent."
"We have to ask ourselves, if a country chooses to oppose such a simple proposition, do they really want peace?"
The text was drafted by the US and Bahrain, with support from Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, and Qatar.
Iran’s UN ambassador, Amir Saeid Iravani, called the resolution “deeply flawed, one-sided, and politically motivated.”
Russia and China have not officially commented. But one diplomat told Reuters that Moscow called for the draft to be withdrawn or completely rewritten.
The diplomat said China called the text biased and criticized its use of Chapter VII of the UN Charter, which allows the Security Council to put in place measures ranging from sanctions to military action.
With reporting by Reuters
Trump Says Europe Agrees Iran's Government 'Can Never Have A Nuclear Weapon'
US President Donald Trump says he spoke with the European Commission's president about Iran and ongoing trade negotiations with the European Union.
In a post on Truth Social on May 7, he wrote that he and Ursula von der Leyen had "discussed many topics, including that we are completely united that Iran can never have a Nuclear Weapon."
"We agreed that a regime that kills its own people cannot control a bomb that can kill millions," he added.
The remarks come as Iran continues to review a US proposal delivered through Pakistani mediators and has yet to finalize its response to Washington’s offer aimed at ending the war.
Hours earlier, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said in a letter to the UN secretary-general and the president of the Security Council that the normal passage of maritime traffic through the Strait of Hormuz "would resume if the war permanently ends and sanctions and the blockade against Iran are lifted."
In the letter, he also criticized a draft resolution proposed by the United States and Bahrain at the UN Security Council that seeks to end tolls and the laying of mines in the Strait of Hormuz, which he described as "one-sided and provocative."
With reporting by RFE/RL's Radio Farda and Anadolu Ajansi
Qeshm Port Hit by Enemy Fire, Say Iranian Media
Parts of Iran's Bahman Port on Qeshm Island had been targeted by unknown attackers, the semiofficial Fars News Agency reported late on May 7.
The statement followed reports in media outlets and on social networks about several explosions being heard in southern Iran.
“During an exchange of fire between Iran’s armed forces and the enemy, commercial sections of Bahman Port were targeted,” said Fars, which is close to the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC).
The Tasnim News Agency, which is also closed to the IRGC, reported that several explosions had been heard in the port city of Bandar Abbas and Qeshm Island.
Unnamed officials told Tasnim that the sounds may have been linked to operations by the IRGC Navy, warning vessels about making an unauthorized passage through the Strait of Hormuz. There was no confirmation of this.
Referring to explosions heard in Sirik near Bandar Abbas, the semiofficial Mehr News Agency said it appears "the sounds were related to clashes in the waters off Sirik County,"
Iran’s state broadcaster also reported explosions at the “Bahman passenger port on Qeshm Island.”
Citizen reports circulating on social media also said several explosions were heard “from the sea.”
According to those accounts, the blasts were heard in Qeshm, Bandar Abbas, and Sirik.
With reporting by RFE/RL's Radio Farda and Anadolu Ajansi
UAE Forms Committee To Document Iranian Attacks
The United Arab Emirates has formed a national committee to document what it described as "Iranian acts of aggression, international crimes, and the damages resulting from them."
According to a decree issued by Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, who holds multiple government posts, the committee will compile evidence related to attacks affecting the Gulf state nation.
According to the state news agency WAM, the body will create “a comprehensive national record based on reliable evidence” and coordinate with domestic and international experts.
WAM said the move would ensure "the documentation of violations in a manner that supports the achievement of justice and the protection of rights."
The United Arab Emirates has been the target of more than 2,800 drone and missile attacks by Iran during the recent Middle East war, which has severely strained relations between the Persian Gulf state and Iran.
With reporting by RFE/RL's Radio Farda
Tehran Reviews Latest US Proposal Amid Trump Optimism -- And Threats
Iran said it was reviewing the latest US proposal that sources say would end the fighting but leave several key issues open, as US President Donald Trump claimed a deal was “very possible” but also warned of renewed fighting if Tehran rejected the deal.
Iran’s state-run ISNA news agency cited a Foreign Ministry spokesman as saying Tehran had received the US proposal and was studying the details, even as he suggested there were provisions that were unacceptable to leaders of the Islamic republic.
The US proposal to end the war is still "under review," Esmaeil Baqaei was quoted as saying, adding that Tehran will convey its response to mediator Pakistan after "finalizing its opinion."
Still, Trump said Pakistani-mediated talks were progressing well.
"They want to make a deal. We've had very good talks over the last 24 hours, and it's very possible that we'll make a deal," Trump told reporters in the Oval Office on May 6.
Later, in a video message to a Republican party rally in Georgia, Trump asserted that the war will "be over quickly."
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