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US Republican Senator Roger Wicker, who has backed President Donald Trump’s decision to go to war with Iran, urged Trump to allow the US military to finish what it started with its air campaign against the Islamic republic.

“We are at a moment that will define President Trump’s legacy,” Wicker said in a statement issued on May 22.

Trump’s “instincts have been to finish the job he started in Iran, but he is being ill-advised to pursue a deal that would not be worth the paper it is written on.”

“Our commander-in-chief needs to allow America's skilled armed forces to finish the destruction of Iran's conventional military capabilities and then reopen the strait [of Hormuz],” he said.

“Further pursuit of an agreement with Iran's Islamist regime risks a perception of weakness. We must finish what we started. It is past time for action,” the Mississippi Republican added.

In a speech on the Senate floor in March, Wicker argued that critics were unfairly second-guessing Trump’s decision to strike Iran beginning on February 28 and setting arbitrary limits on the military campaign.

“Apparently, if this war lasts as long as five weeks, we should agree that we will fold our tents, come home, and leave the job undone,” Wicker said.

It wasn’t immediately clear what prompted the latest statement, but the US Senate – including four Republicans – voted on May 19 for the first time to move forward with a measure to force Trump to end the war.

However, Republican leaders of the House of Representatives on May 21 canceled a resolution a similar resolution after it appeared likely to pass, also with several Republican defectors.

Any bills passed by Congress would still be subject to a likely veto by Trump.

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei on May 22 ⁠said a ⁠Qatari ‌delegation was holding talks with Iran’s ‌foreign minister, but he added that Pakistan remains the main ‌mediator ⁠in the ‌negotiations between Washington and Tehran.

"In recent days, many countries -- both regional and non-regional -- have been trying to help bring the war to an end... However, Pakistan remains the official mediator," he said.

Pakistan has been the public face of mediation efforts to end the war in the Middle East, although many observers have said Qatar has worked behind the scenes in efforts to also facilitate peace efforts.

Pakistan last month hosted the only direct negotiations between US and Iranian officials since the war began at the end of February.

Pakistan's powerful army chief, Field Marshal Asim Munir, arrived in Tehran on May 22 to meet with Iranian officials as part of mediation efforts.

Anwar Gargash, a senior official in the United Arab Emirates, said a resumption of hostilities in the Iran war would be “catastrophic” for the Middle East, which has been embroiled in the US-Israeli conflict with the Islamic republic.

In an interview with RFE/RL on May 22 at the annual Globsec security conference in Prague, the diplomatic adviser to the UAE president said only a “political resolution” could end an 11-week war that has disrupted international oil and gas supplies and upended the global economy.

Read full story here.

(This item is updated to reflect Munir's arrival in Iran)

Pakistan’s powerful army chief, Asim Munir, has arrived in Tehran amid renewed peace efforts, the Pakistani military and Iranian state media reported late on May 22.

Munir’s visit comes as US officials voiced hope of progress on ending the 11-week war with Iran, with Washington looking to Pakistani mediators to help advance efforts to strike a deal.

The Iranian state-run IRNA news agency and Pakistan's Dawn newspaper both reported that Munir was expected to hold talks with senior Iranian officials as part of Islamabad's mediation efforts.

The trip is Munir’s second to Tehran since a cease-fire between the United States and Iran went into effect on April 8.

Pakistan’s Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi has been in Tehran since May 20.

Munir’s trip has raised hopes that the United States and Iran are close to agreeing a draft peace agreement.

Calling Iran’s actions against vessels transiting through the Strait of Hormuz a violation of international law, the Council of the European Union has decided to impose restrictions on individuals and entities involved in these “actions and policies” by the Iranian authorities.

“Such actions infringe upon established rights of both transit and innocent passage through international straits,” the council said in a press release on May 22.

In an X post on the same day, the EU Council said that from now on the bloc "will be able to sanction individuals and entities threatening freedom of navigation in the Middle East.”

Individuals and entities in violation of the freshly adopted measures will face travel restrictions as well as asset freezes in EU territory, according to the press release.

Since the start of the US-Israeli war against Iran on February 28, Tehran has practically closed the Strait of Hormuz, a key maritime chokepoint, causing a surge in oil prices across the world.

Anwar Gargash, diplomatic adviser to the president of the United Arab Emirates, said any change in the status of the Strait of Hormuz would have serious consequences for the region and even Europe, warning that any form of control over the strategic waterway would create a dangerous precedent.

Speaking on May 22 at the annual GLOBSEC security conference in Prague, Gargash also urged Europeans on behalf of Abu Dhabi to view the issue not as a distant problem but as one directly tied to their own energy supplies and trade.

He said the chances of the United States and Iran reaching an agreement that would lead to the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz were “50-50,” adding that Iranian authorities "had missed a lot of chances over the years because there's a tendency to overestimate their cards."

"I hope they don't do that this time," he added.

Gargash also stressed that any control over the Strait of Hormuz would set a perilous precedent and claimed the issue would become politicized in Iran’s hands.

Asked about the possibility of another round of war between the United States and Iran, the UAE adviser said it would make the situation even more complicated.

At the same time, he stressed that any political solution must address the root causes of the crisis and be designed in a way that avoids creating new complications in the future.

"Negotiations just to reach a cease-fire and sow the seeds for further conflict in the future is not what we're seeking," he said. "And I think that the Strait of Hormuz clearly has to go back to the status quo and this should be an international waterway."

Speaking about Tehran’s nuclear program, Gargash said the Islamic republic’s nuclear activities had previously been the UAE’s "second or third worry," but that now "it's our first worry. "

"We see that Iran is capable of using any weapon that it has in its hands, which is what we learned," he added.

The remarks came a day after a newly established Iranian government body published a map asserting control over the Strait of Hormuz that also included what the UAE described as its territorial waters, prompting a sharp reaction from Abu Dhabi.

Gargash wrote on X late on May 21 that Tehran was “trying to impose a new reality born from a clear military defeat. But attempts to control the Strait of Hormuz or violate the UAE’s maritime sovereignty are nothing more than pipe dreams."

With reporting by RFE/RL's Radio Farda and AFP

United World Wrestling, the Switzerland-based governing body for the sport, says that the world championships scheduled to be held in Bahrain this year have been postponed indefinitely.

In a joint statement issued with the Bahrain Olympic Committee and the country’s wrestling federation on May 22, it said the 2026 World Wrestling Championships, which had been scheduled for October 24-November 1 were postponed because of the Iran war, which has directly affected countries along the Persian Gulf.

The statement referred to the “the current geopolitical situation in the region” and the “uncertainty” surrounding the future of the conflict as well as its "broader impact on regional stability and international travel"

It added that the decision had been announced early in the hope of allowing enough time to select an alternative host for this year’s championships.

Bahrain is among the countries that have been directly targeted by missile and drone attacks by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps since the start of the US-Israeli war against the Islamic republic.

The country hosts one of the largest US military bases in the region.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said there has been "slight progress" in Pakistan-mediated talks to end the Iran war, while warning against what he described as Tehran's attempt to establish a tolling system in the Strait of Hormuz, which he said no country should accept.

Speaking to reporters on May 22 in Helsingborg, Sweden, where he is attending the second day of a NATO foreign ministers' meeting, Rubio said discussions mediated by Pakistan had shown limited but positive movement

"There has been some slight progress," he said. "I don't want to exaggerate it, but there's been a little bit of movement, and that's good."

Rubio also criticized Iran's reported move to introduce a tolling system for the strategically vital Strait of Hormuz.

"Iran is trying to create a tolling system. They're trying to convince Oman, by the way, to join them in this tolling system in an international waterway," he said. "There is not a country in the world that should accept that."

A state-approved photo story intended to celebrate motherhood and volunteerism became a political controversy in Iran because the images used showed a woman unveiled at home. The photos were deleted within hours, and the news agency’s boss was later summoned by the authorities.

Read Kian Sharifi's story here

TankerTrackers, a firm that monitors global oil shipments using satellite data, says that the United States Navy has halted a large number of vessels under US sanctions off the eastern coast of Oman

In the latest instance, it said the Levine tanker, which is typically used to transport Iranian oil, "was pursued by a US Navy vessel after being redirected back into the Arabian Sea."

The tanker, which was carrying no cargo at the time, was placed under US sanctions in February 2026 as part of Iran’s “shadow fleet” used to circumvent restrictions.

According to TankerTrackers, despite increased US monitoring, a number of Iran-linked tankers that have not yet been sanctioned by the US Treasury Department have entered the area of the American naval blockade against Iran. The company said the number of such vessels stood at 49.

In recent weeks, the United States has intensified pressure on Iran’s oil shipping network through a naval blockade. At the same time, the Strait of Hormuz has remained nearly closed by the Iranian government, contributing to turmoil in global energy markets.

Some media reports also indicate that, amid tightening restrictions, Iran has been storing part of its oil on aging tankers and attempting to continue exports through indirect routes or by disabling tracking systems.