UAE reports drone and missile attack as Iran ceasefire is challenged

By  ADAM SCHRECK and AUDREY McAVOYFriday May 8, 2026

This locator map shows Iran and its capital, Tehran. (AP Photo)

The Iran war’s fragile ceasefire came under fresh pressure Friday after the United Arab Emirates said it had responded to a missile and drone attack, just hours after the U.S. announced it had stopped attacks on three Navy ships in the Strait of Hormuz and carried out retaliatory strikes on Iranian military sites.

As Iranian and U.S. negotiators continue searching for a way to end the fighting, both sides have kept up the pressure without sliding back into full-scale war. Even so, major questions remain unresolved, including the fate of Iran’s nuclear program — which the U.S. and Israel vowed to stop when they launched the war on Feb. 28 — and the status of the Strait of Hormuz, a critical shipping route Iran has effectively shut down to squeeze the global economy.

On Thursday, Tehran said it was reviewing the latest U.S. ceasefire proposals, which were delivered through Pakistan, acting as mediator.

Trump dismissed the exchange of fire involving Iran and the U.S. Navy on Thursday. Speaking by phone to an ABC reporter, he described the retaliatory strikes on Iran as “just a love tap.” He said the ceasefire remained intact and suggested a deal could arrive “any day,” while again warning of bombing if Tehran rejects an agreement that would allow oil and natural gas shipments to resume after being disrupted by the conflict.

“They have to understand: If it doesn’t get signed, they’re going to have a lot of pain,” he told reporters in Washington.

The ceasefire between the U.S. and Iran has mostly held since April 8. Talks held face-to-face in Pakistan last month failed to produce an accord to end the war, which began Feb. 28 when the U.S. and Israel launched strikes on Iran.

US military says it’s not seeking escalation

The UAE’s defense ministry told residents not to approach, photograph or touch “any debris or fragments that have fallen as a result of successful air interceptions.”

Earlier Thursday, the U.S. military said it intercepted Iranian attacks aimed at three Navy ships in the Strait of Hormuz and “targeted Iranian military facilities responsible for attacking U.S. forces.”

U.S. Central Command said in a social media post that American forces stopped “unprovoked Iranian attacks” and answered with self-defense strikes.

The military said no ships were hit. It said it is not seeking escalation but “remains positioned and ready to protect American forces.”

President Donald Trump told reporters that the ceasefire was still holding despite the violence.

Pakistani Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar spoke by phone Thursday with his Iranian counterpart, Abbas Araghchi, according to the Pakistani Foreign Ministry.

“We expect an agreement sooner rather than later,” Pakistani Foreign Ministry spokesperson Tahir Andrabi said. “We hope the parties will reach a peaceful and sustainable solution that will contribute not only to peace in our region but to international peace as well.”

He declined to provide a timeline.

Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, speaking in televised remarks, said Islamabad remained in “continuous contact with Iran and the United States, day and night, to stop the war and extend the ceasefire.”

Meanwhile, direct talks between Israel and Lebanon were set to resume next week in Washington, according to a U.S. official who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the closed-door meetings. The official said the talks are scheduled for May 14 and 15.

Iran creates agency to control passage at Hormuz

Earlier Thursday, a shipping data company said Iran has set up a government agency to vet vessels seeking passage through the strategically important strait and collect taxes from them.

The move to formalize Iranian control over the waterway has raised new alarm for global shipping, with hundreds of commercial vessels trapped in the Persian Gulf and unable to sail into the open sea. Even so, hopes that the two-month war may be nearing an end helped lift international markets.

A report from shipping data firm Lloyd’s List Intelligence said Iran has created a new government agency to approve transit and collect tolls from ships moving through the strait, stoking fresh concerns about freedom of navigation, a cornerstone of global trade.

The agency, the Persian Gulf Strait Authority, is “positioning itself as the only valid authority to grant permission to ships transiting the strait,” Lloyd’s said in an online briefing Thursday. Lloyd’s said the authority had emailed it an application form for vessels seeking passage.

Iran has effectively closed the strait, a vital route for shipments of oil, gas, fertilizer and other petroleum products, while the U.S. is blockading Iranian ports. The resulting disruption has sent fuel prices soaring and unsettled the global economy.

The new agency puts a formal structure around a wartime system Iran has used to let ships pass and impose tolls. Tehran aims to control which vessels are allowed through and, for at least some, levy a tax on cargo.

Maritime law experts say Iran’s attempts to vet or tax vessels run afoul of international law. The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea requires countries to allow peaceful passage through territorial waters. The U.S. has threatened sanctions against companies that pay tolls to Iran.

The U.S. and its Gulf allies are pressing the U.N. Security Council to back a resolution condemning Iran’s chokehold on the strait and threatening sanctions. A previous resolution urging the reopening of the strait was vetoed by Iran’s allies Russia and China.