Iran war live: Trump is weeks away from plunging world into 'global recession' – The Mirror
Donald Trump has agreed to 'hold off' US attacks on Iran at the request of the leaders of Qatar, UAE and Saudi, though the US president said the country's military was preparing to attack at a moment's notice.
Trump posted on Truth Social and said he had instructed US military leaders to cancelled a planned attack for Tuesday, May 19 after speaking to leaders in the Middle East.
This comes as economic experts warn Donald Trump is on the verge of plunging the world into recession with rising oil prices and fears of a stock market crash thanks to his war with Iran. The closure of the Strait of Hormuz has been putting a strain on the global economy with around 80 countries now introducing emergency fuel rationing as oil prices threaten to climb above $180 a barrel.
Economists fear that unless an agreement is found quickly to bring Trump's war to a close, there will be further turmoil with rising prices and shortages. EU transport commissioner Apostolos Tzitzikostas told Financial Times "a world recession could be on the table" if the conflict doesn't end in the coming weeks.
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has said off-site power was restored to Unit 3 of the Barakah nuclear power plant in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) following a drone strike on Sunday.
A fire broke out in an electrical generator outside the Barakah Nuclear Power Plant in the Al Dhafra region of Abu Dhabi following a drone strike on Sunday, officials said.
Donald Trump has said that the US will 'hold off' on planned attacks on Iran after the leaders of Qatar, Saudi and UAE asked him to stop the attack while they negotiated with their Middle Eastern neighbour.
In a message on Truth Social the US president said that the Emir of Qatar, Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia, Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud, and the President of the United Arab Emirates, Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan asked for planned US attacks to be stopped.
Trump said that based on his 'respect' for the leaders, planned US attacks have been halted.
https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/116597121700043134
Earlier today we reported that the Israeli military had intercepted boats off the coast of Cyprus, part of the latest wave of flotilla activists attempting to break Israel's naval blockade of Gaza.
Now it has emerged that Dr Margaret Connolly, the sister of Irish President Catherine Connolly, was aboard one of 10 boats in the 60-vessel flotilla which were intercepted in international waters and boarded by Israeli forces.
The flotilla posted videos from Dr Connolly and five others, which appear to have been recorded in advance of their detention. In her video, Dr Connolly said: “If you are watching this video, it means I have been kidnapped from my boat in the flotilla by the Israeli occupying forces, and I’m now being held illegally in an Israeli prison.”
Read the full story here
Well-known Sligo GP, Dr Margaret Connolly was on the flotilla bound for Gaza(Image: Courtesy drmargaretconnollysligo.com)
Iran’s new organisation set up to manage the Strait of Hormuz, the Persian Gulf Strait Authority (PGSA), has registered its account on X.
Any passage through the waterway without permission from it “will be considered illegal”.
It stated on X: “Navigation within the introduced boundaries of the Strait of Hormuz, which were previously determined by the Armed Forces and authorities of the Islamic Republic of Iran, is contingent upon full coordination with these entities and passage without permission will be considered illegal.”
The United States military says it has redirected 84 commercial ships as it continues a blockade of Iranian ports.
With a continued impasse in the conflict in the Middle East, shipping has been unable to move through the Strait of Hormuz.
And a post on X by the US Central Command read: "U.S. Sailors stand watch in the combat information center aboard USS Delbert D. Black (DDG 119) as the ship transits the Arabian Sea supporting the U.S. maritime blockade against Iran.
"As of May 18, CENTCOM forces have redirected 84 commercial vessels and disabled 4."
Growth in the UK economy will be stronger this year than previously thought but the Iran war continues to dampen the outlook, with the cost of living set to rise and borrowing costs kept on hold, according to new forecasts.
The International Monetary Fund updated its growth projections a month after warning of a sharp slowdown caused by the global energy shock.
The influential financial body said it was now predicting UK gross domestic product (GDP) to rise by 1% in 2026. This is higher than the 0.8% growth it was forecasting last month.
However, the forecast remains lower than it was before the US-Israeli conflict with Iran which has contributed to the IMF downgrading its expectations for the UK. As recently as January, it had predicted 1.3% growth in 2026 and 1.5% in 2027.
Brent crude, the international oil standard, lost 6 cents to $109.20 per barrel compared to trading at around $70 a barrel in late February before the start of the Iran war.
“Re-escalation risks are increasing,” ING commodities strategists Warren Patterson and Ewa Manthey wrote in a research note.
While there has been a pick up on shipping activities over the past week around the strait, they said, “this can change quickly.”
The pair also noted that the oil market was reacting to the lack of tangible results on the Iran war after last week’s widely-watched summit between Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing, even as the White House said both the US and China had agreed that the Strait of Hormuz must remain open.
Economists fear that Donald Trump is pushing the world towards recession with no end to the Middle East conflict in sight.
World shares mostly retreated and oil prices jumped on Monday after Trump warned Tehran that the “clock is ticking” as US-Iran negotiations over a permanent end to the war stall. US futures fell and markets in Japan and South Korea pulled back from their records.
And around 80 countries have already imposed emergency fuel rationing with oil prices threatening to climb above $180 a barrel.
The closure of the Strait of Hormuz has blocked shipping and led to shortages with fears that a further spike in energy prices could take place in the next few weeks, reports the Financial Times.
While JPMorgan estimates oil inventories across developed economies could approach 'operational stress levels' by June.
"[If the Iran war] does not end in the coming weeks and we don't have the reopening of the Hormuz strait, I'm afraid a world recession could be on the table," said EU transport commissioner Apostolos Tzitzikostas.
The Israeli military intercepted Monday boats off the coast of Cyprus, part of the latest wave of flotilla activists attempting to break Israel's naval blockade of Gaza.
More than 50 vessels departed from the port in Marmaris, Turkey, last week in what the organizers of the Global Sumud Flotilla described as the final leg of their planned journey to Gaza's shores.
The organisation's livestream on Monday showed activists aboard several vessels putting on life jackets and raising their hands before a boat carrying Israeli troops approached. Wearing tactical gear, they boarded the ship, and the livestream abruptly ended. Many of the ships are currently off the coast of Cyprus.
Iranian Nobel Peace Prize laureate Narges Mohammadi has been released from a hospital in Tehran after more than two weeks, her supporters said Monday.
They called for Mohammadi, 54, to remain at home to receive follow-up care and daily physiotherapy.
Mohammadi was urgently transferred from prison to a hospital in northwestern Iran on May 1 after she fell unconscious. She was released on bail nearly 10 days later and transferred to the hospital in Tehran, where specialists examined her.
She was awarded the Nobel in 2023 while in prison and has been jailed repeatedly throughout her career. Her latest imprisonment began in December when she was arrested in the northeastern Iranian city of Mashhad.
Her family has said that her health had been deteriorating in prison, in part because she was heavily beaten during her arrest.
Donald Trump shared a number of bizarre images on Truth Social, including one showing him walking alongside an alien.
Budget airline Ryanair has cautioned over rising costs from soaring fuel prices and said consumer uncertainty caused by the Iran war is keeping fares under pressure.
The Irish carrier said air fares had weakened in recent weeks in response to the Middle East conflict, with expectations for prices to be down by a mid-single digit percentage in its first quarter to the end of June.
It also cut its outlook for summer fares, saying it now sees the pricing trend remaining “broadly flat” between July and September, having previously expected a low single-digit increase over the peak season.
Ryanair chief executive Michael O’Leary said: “Pricing in recent weeks has eased somewhat in response to economic uncertainty caused by higher oil prices, the fear of fuel shortages and the risk of inflation adversely impacting consumer spending.”
Ryanair plane (file)(Image: Collins Photo Agency)
A former ally of Donald Trump has warned of a "political revolution in America" if the US sends troops into Iran.
Marjorie Taylor Greene, who fell out with the US president and stepped down from Congress said on X: "If you send in US military troops into Iran, there is going to be a political revolution in America. WE. ARE. DONE.
"We said no more foreign wars and we meant it.
"The coalition will unite and be unstoppable. I'll make sure of it. End this war. It's stupid."
US Senator Lindsey Graham, a Republican, issued his support for striking Iran's energy infrastructure.
He said, in an interview with NBC’s Meet the Press: "There’s still more targets to be had. And there’s things we can do to hurt."
"The energy infrastructure is their soft underbelly. If you go back to the fight, I’d put energy on top of the list."
A member of Tehran’s Expediency Council and former IRGC commander, Mohsen Rezaei, has told the US to lift its blockade of Iranian ports and threatened further conflict.
"We advise the US military to end the siege before the Sea of Oman becomes your graveyard," Rezaei said on state television.
Executive vice president of the US foreign policy think tank Quincy Institute, Trita Parsi, has said that both Iran and the US appear increasingly convinced that another round of conflcit could help them in future talks.
“I think [Trump] is seriously considering taking additional military action," he told Al Jazeera news agency.
“It is, in and of itself, a clear indication that, despite the rhetoric coming from the administration, they recognise that not only was the previous war a failure, but also that the blockade of the blockade – which was supposed to break the Iranians and avoid this scenario – was also a failure."
Trump also posted an image of a Middle East map.
The map is covered by a US flag, with arrows pointing to Iran.
Trump did not provide context for the image posted on Truth Social.
Trump posted an image of a Middle East map with the US flag over it(Image: Truth Social/Donald Trump)
A senior Pakistani minister has flown to Iran to "faciliate" peace talks between the US and Iran, semi-official Iranian media reports.
Naqvi met with his Iranian counterpart to try and revive peace negotiations, the Tasnim news agency reported.
Trump posted what appears to be an AI-generated image of himself.
In the image he is seen pushing a big, red button while plumes of mushroom-shaped clouds rise on screens in the background.
Trump posted this image on Truth Social shortly after issuing a threat to Iran(Image: Truth Social/Donald Trump)
US President Donald Trump issued a threat to Iran in a post on Truth Social.
He wrote:
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