BREAKING: Following Trump's plan to “walk away“ from the Iran War without a nuclear deal, he says he is now “low keying it with Iran” and is resorting to economic pressure instead of starting new military strikes, adding he is “semi-negotiating“ and “It will work out. It always works out. It's like a chess game.“ The reason for the switch includes catastrophic munitions and interceptor shortages leaving Gulf countries vulnerable to Iranian strikes, prompting Trump to search for an alternative strategy and an exit. Iran continues to deny any negotiations with the US and says the Strait will only open if Trump accepts its full list of demands in the US surrender document, including $300 billion in compensation, the release of up to $100 billion in frozen assets, lifting all sanctions, US troop withdrawal from the entire region, an end to the naval blockade, and accepting transit fees on every ship.

BREAKING: Iran is looking to permanently ban US, Israeli, and all other "hostile" vessels from transiting through the Strait of Hormuz, with fines of up to 20% of cargo value for violations, both military and civilian, per Fars. Iran's Parliament is reviewing the draft bill, and is also expected to be part of the Oman-Iran agreement once announced as finalized.

BREAKING: A source close to Iranian officials says Tehran has documented a pattern of oil market manipulation tied to Axios reporting and Trump administration insiders, including evidence of a $9 billion insider trading operation linked to Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff. The documented timeline of the $9 billion insider profit: Between April and May 2026, a series of highly suspiciously timed trades in oil futures markets preceded major Iran war and deal announcements, each tied to reporting by Axios. On March 23, approximately $500–580 million in shorts were placed 15 minutes before Trump announced he was postponing strikes on Iran, oil dropped. On April 7, roughly $950–960 million in shorts were placed hours before Trump announced a two-week ceasefire with Iran, oil fell 15 percent. On April 17, approximately $760 million in shorts were placed 20 minutes before Iran's foreign minister announced the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, oil dropped. On April 21, around $430 million in shorts were placed 15 minutes before Trump extended the ceasefire, oil dropped again. On May 6, nearly $920 million to $1.7 billion in crude oil shorts were placed approximately 70 minutes before an Axios scoop claimed the U.S. and Iran were near a "14-point agreement." Oil dropped 12 percent. Traders made an estimated $125 million in profit, while Iran called the May 6 Axios report "the Americans' wish list," and completely false. A senior Iranian official previously told Drop Site News that Iran privately warned VP JD Vance during Switzerland talks that Kushner and Witkoff were "abusing" negotiations, being "more interested in exploiting insider knowledge to profit in financial markets than reaching a deal."

BREAKING: Iran's Maj. Gen. Mohsen Rezaei, IRGC Military Adviser to Iran's Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei rejects Iran's Foreign Ministry and Oman's claim that a temporary new second shipping route will open managed by Iran and Oman, saying "we will absolutely not allow the opening of a second corridor in the Strait of Hormuz" and "we will not allow any other route than Iran's [current northern] route," per Tasnim.

BREAKING: Just 10 minutes before futures market open, Trump has claimed "there's a deal on Hormuz and there will be a deal on denuclearization" with the US "talking to them in the form of a negotiation" and "Iran negotiations to begin Monday afternoon." Iran continues to reject any negotiations with the US and launched anti-ship cruise missiles toward a ship just a few minutes ago.

BREAKING: China has directly negotiated with Yemen's Houthis to enable Chinese tankers exclusive preferences for safe passage through the Bab el-Mandeb after the Houthi maritime blockade against Saudi Arabia, with Chinese officials clearing each vessel individually with the Houthis and both sides informing Iran of their actions, per Reuters citing 6 sources including a senior Iranian official. At least 4 tankers have already loaded Saudi crude bound for China and transited the Bab el-Mandeb since the Houthi restrictions were announced. China is seeking to plug the supply gap caused by Iran's effective Hormuz closure by keeping oil exports flowing from Saudi Arabia's Red Sea terminals, principally Yanbu.

BREAKING: Iran calculated $9 billion in profits from market manipulation by "individuals close to Trump," mainly Kushner and Witkoff, and formally requested $4.5 billion of that sum be allocated to Iran through intermediaries, adding that "the exchanged texts will ultimately become part of the historical record," a senior Iranian official tells Drop Site. Iran sent a private message to Vance during the Switzerland talks warning that Kushner and Witkoff were "abusing" the negotiations, "more interested in exploiting insider knowledge to profit in financial markets than reaching a deal." Iran also expressed concern about repeated leaks from Kushner to Netanyahu, since Witkoff and Kushner “talk almost every day to Netanyahu” and the head of Mossad.

BREAKING: The US has struck Kish Island's water and power plant with seven projectiles over approximately one hour, damaging power generation units and port vessels, with power outages expected, per Tasnim.

BREAKING: The largest single flotilla of oil tankers and other vessels since the war began is now leaving the Strait of Hormuz via Iran's shipping lane, with 10 Japan-linked vessels including 6 VLCCs carrying ~12 million barrels of Saudi, UAE, and Qatari crude after being trapped for ~100 days, per LSEG data via Reuters. This is the first major Japan-related crude flow since the war began, with the vessels explicitly using Iran's approved corridor after Iran's IRGC shut down the US-backed Omani corridor on Saturday, which now sees only very limited vessel transit.

BREAKING: Iranian state media says it has now "no choice but to obtain the atomic bomb" to remove "the military option for the occupation and partitioning of Iran" from the table, arguing Iran must "absolutely reach nuclear deterrence" before current negotiations can be conducted "from a correct position," per Fars. Iran adds the acquisition is not only driven by negotiation leverage but also by Trump's two recent nuclear threats against Iran, including his April warning that "a whole civilization will die tonight" and his May threat of "one big glow coming out of Iran." This is also among the most direct nuclear weapons advocacy published on Iranian state media to date.

BREAKING: Iran's FM Araghchi announces the US has now launched the $300 billion reconstruction plan, waived all oil & petrochemical exports, lifted the naval blockade and released some frozen Iranian assets, extracting all of these items shortly before the delegation walkout over Trump's assassination threat. All parties also agreed to a roadmap to reach a final deal in 60 days. This roadmap won't start and Iran refuses to implement any commitments if Israel doesn't fully withdraw from southern Lebanon and all fighting stops, with Araghchi saying a newly established "Lebanon deconfliction cell" is "the first real test of the deal." Israel has refused to comply with the Lebanon deconfliction cell, with Defense Minister Katz declaring Israel "will not withdraw from the security zone in Lebanon" and Ben-Gvir vowing "not a single inch" of withdrawal, directly violating the MOU's first clause and stalling the entire 60-day roadmap before it can begin.

BREAKING: Iran says its negotiating delegation will not return to the Switzerland talks until Trump personally apologizes for his threats today and Israel fully withdraws from southern Lebanon, with Iran's delegation plane already repositioned to Zurich ready to fly back to Tehran, per Al-Mayadeen. This comes after Trump told Fox shortly before his Truth Social post that if Iran closes the Strait of Hormuz "you won't have a country" and "you won't even make it BACK to your f**king country," as a direct assassination threat against the Iranian delegation.

BREAKING: Iran says the US has agreed to pay $300 billion in reconstruction funds directly to Iran as part of the deal Pakistan announced, alongside the release of $24 billion in frozen funds with $12 billion released before negotiations even start, per Mehr News. This directly contradicts Trump's & Vance's claim that no funds will be transferred to Iran at all. If Trump denies this is true, there never was a deal. If Trump confirms, the US has fully capitulated to Iran's demands.

BREAKING: The Pentagon reveals Trump paused the strikes on Iran not for negotiations as he claimed, but because Iran is becoming rapidly more effective at tracking US air operations, improving its air defenses and becoming too strong at detecting signs of a surprise attack, per NYT. Iran has used the ceasefire to successfully dig out all bombed ballistic missile sites, making them fully operational again. Iran also moved a large number of new mobile launchers across the entire country and adjusted tactics for any resumption of strikes, per a US military official. Iranian commanders studied US fighter jet and bomber flight patterns with close Russian and Chinese help. The recent downing of an F-15E and groundfire striking an F-35 revealed American flight tactics had become "too predictable."