explainer
Amid heightened tensions over the Iran war and the Strait of Hormuz, President Trump heads to Beijing for a high-stakes meeting with President Xi Jinping.
Published May 13, 2026
US President Donald Trump departed for Beijing on Tuesday for a high-stakes summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping, saying the two leaders would have a “long talk” on Iran, although trade remained the main focus of the visit.
The summit comes as tensions over the war involving Iran continue to rise, with Tehran accusing the US and Israel of fabricating “justifications for atrocities” while President Trump insists the conflict will end “peacefully or not.”
Meanwhile, Kuwait said it had arrested four members of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) on charges of planning “hostile” activities after they tried to enter Iran via Bubyan Island, while Qatar accused Iran of “weaponizing” the Strait of Hormuz and using it to “blackmail” Gulf states, while key energy supplies remain in the region.
Here’s what we know:
in iran
Iran presses US for peace plan: Iran’s chief negotiator and parliament speaker Mohammad Berger Ghalibaf said the US must accept Tehran’s latest peace offer or face failure. His comments came after President Trump, who faces mounting pressure over the war’s impact on the US economy, said on Monday that the ceasefire between the US and Iran was “on life support” and that he was considering restarting naval escorts through the Strait of Hormuz. Iran maintains missile force, reports: The New York Times reported Tuesday that a classified U.S. intelligence assessment shows Iran still has significant missile capabilities, with mobile launch pads and about 70 percent of its pre-war missile stockpile still operational and has regained access to 30 of 33 missile bases along the Strait of Hormuz.
war diplomacy
Chinese supertanker passes through Hormuz: Chinese crude oil supertanker Yuan Hua Fu passed through the Strait of Hormuz on Wednesday, passing Iran’s Larak Island on its way out of the Gulf, ship tracking data showed. Hezbollah denies disarmament talks: Hezbollah’s supreme leader Naim Qassem has said his group’s weapons will not be part of any future ceasefire talks between Lebanon and Israel. “This is an internal Lebanese issue and not part of negotiations with the enemy,” he said ahead of the third round of Lebanese-Israeli talks scheduled for Thursday and Friday. Qatar warns of pressure on Hormuz: Qatar’s prime minister said Iran should not use the Strait of Hormuz, which has been closed since the early days of the war, as a means of “blackmail” against Gulf states. Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani also said that his recent visit to Washington was aimed at supporting Pakistan’s mediation efforts to end the conflict. Iran defends Hormuz position: Reporting from Tehran, Al Jazeera’s Armigdad Al-Hayed said Iranian officials rejected suggestions that they were using the Strait of Hormuz as a weapon, insisting that ships could safely navigate routes coordinated by the Revolutionary Guards Navy even as Tehran tightened its control of the strategic waterway. Australia joins Gulf mission: Defense Minister Richard Mars said Australia would join a “high defense” mission led by France and the UK to secure shipping through the strait once it is established and provide surveillance aircraft to protect the United Arab Emirates from Iranian drone attacks. President Turkiye sees opportunity for de-escalation: Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said he believed both the United States and Iran had “sufficient will” to end the conflict, warning that further escalation would further exacerbate global economic instability and regional tensions. Fidan told Al Jazeera that the impact of the war goes far beyond both countries and urged both sides to seek a durable solution.
Gulf Coast
UAE gas facility hit by war: The UAE’s main gas processing facility, one of the largest in the world, has been hit hard by the Iran war and will not be able to resume full operation until next year, its operator has announced. ADNOC Gas said its Habshan operation in Abu Dhabi is at 60% capacity. Kuwait arrests suspected Revolutionary Guard agents: Kuwait has arrested four men suspected of belonging to Iran’s Revolutionary Guards for injuring a Kuwaiti soldier while attempting to invade Bubyan Island by sea. Authorities said the suspects, who were arrested aboard a chartered fishing boat on suspicion of “hostile acts,” admitted that they had been assigned to carry out the operation by the Revolutionary Guards. Iran has denied the allegations and condemned the arrest of its nationals.
in the US
President Trump: Xi Jinping: President Trump said he doesn’t think the United States doesn’t need Chinese help to end the war involving Iran, but acknowledged the issue will continue to come up in his talks with Xi Jinping this week. “We’re going to have a long conversation about this,” Trump told reporters before leaving for Beijing. But he also said, “We have a lot of things to discuss. To be honest, I can’t say Iran is one of them, because we have a lot of control over Iran.” President Trump Says Ending War Will Lead to Lower Inflation: Facing mounting domestic pressure over conflict-related price increases, President Trump said wars “won’t last long” and argued that ending wars would cause oil prices and inflation to plummet. He told reporters that hundreds of oil tankers were waiting to leave the region, and predicted that energy markets and stock prices would soar once the conflict ends. US says Iran war will cost $29 billion: Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth told lawmakers that the war has cost the US government at least $29 billion in munitions and equipment over 74 days, not including damage to bases. He said military escalation remained an option. Democrats pushed back amid growing public concern over rising gas prices and uncertainty over the war’s objectives.
in lebanon
Israel shells Lebanon: Lebanon on Tuesday called on the U.S. ambassador to Beirut to pressure Israel to halt its attacks, after it bombed Lebanon on Monday despite a ceasefire in the Israel-Hezbollah war. Hezbollah claims to have collided with an Israeli tank in Lebanon: Hezbollah claims it has collided with an Israeli Merkava tank near the town of Hura in Lebanon’s Nabatiyeh region, as the group’s leader Naim Qasem vows to turn the battlefield into “hell” for Israeli forces as fighting intensifies. Lebanon worries about ‘lost generation’: Israel’s war with Lebanon has displaced hundreds of thousands of students, destroyed schools and deepened inequality in an education system already strained by economic crisis, experts warn. While many schools have moved to online learning, citizenship education has been increasingly sidelined in a country already divided along sectarian lines, and students are still falling behind, experts say. Deadly attack hits Lebanese paramedics: Reporting from southern Lebanon, Al Jazeera’s Obaidah Hitto said an Israeli attack killed at least two Lebanese Civil Defense paramedics and a wounded man near Tire where they were trying to evacuate, as continued shelling deepens the humanitarian crisis and displacement across the south.
