Iran live updates: Trump says he's in 'no hurry' to make a peace deal with Iran

Trump on Tuesday dismissed concerns about the economic impact of the conflict.

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Last updated: Wednesday, May 20, 2026 9:31PM GMT
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President Donald Trump announced "major combat operations" against Iran on Feb. 28, with massive joint U.S.-Israeli strikes targeting military, government and infrastructure sites.

Following the announcement of a two-week ceasefire, initial U.S.-Iran talks in Pakistan in April failed to reach a peace deal.

Trump later announced the open-ended extension of the ceasefire and the continuation of a U.S. blockade until negotiations are concluded "one way or the other."

ByMichelle Stoddart and Isabella Murray ABCNews logo
May 19, 2026, 5:14 PM GMT

Trump sets new deadline for Iran, explains why he backed off strikes

President Donald Trump offered an account of the details and timeline related to his decision to call off a planned attack on Iran this week, while setting a new deadline of next week for Iran to strike a deal or face strikes.

During an event showing the construction of the White House ballroom project on Tuesday, the president appeared to suggest that he had been "one hour away" from definitively ordering strikes Iran on Monday before he made the decision to delay the attacks at the request of allies in the region who said there has been progress with Iran peace talks.

"I was an hour away," Trump said on Tuesday. "You're talking about yesterday? We were going to be striking very ... it would have been happening right now. Yeah, it was all done. The boats, the ships are all loaded. They're loaded to the brim, and we're all set to start," Trump said.

But, the president said just moments later that he was "one hour away" from "making the decision" to carry out those strikes.

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May 19, 2026, 3:29 PM GMT

Trump says he was 'an hour away' from striking Iran

President Donald Trump said he was "an hour away" from striking Iran, saying the U.S. would have been striking "right now."

The ships are all "loaded" and ready to attack, Trump said during an event the White House Tuesday.

President Donald Trump speaks as he tours Ballroom construction around the outside the White House, Tuesday, May 19, 2026, in Washington.
President Donald Trump speaks as he tours Ballroom construction around the outside the White House, Tuesday, May 19, 2026, in Washington.
ByTom Soufi Burridge ABCNews logo
May 19, 2026, 3:24 PM GMT

UK warns of looming food security crisis if Strait of Hormuz doesn't reopen soon

UK Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper warned Tuesday that "the world is sleepwalking into a global food crisis," saying that if the Strait of Hormuz is not reopened "tens of millions of people" could go hungry.

The closure of that critical waterway to almost all ships has disrupted exports of large quantities of fertilizer products.

A container ship sits at anchor as a small motorboat passes in the foreground in the Strait of Hormuz off Bandar Abbas, Iran, Saturday, May 2, 2026.
A container ship sits at anchor as a small motorboat passes in the foreground in the Strait of Hormuz off Bandar Abbas, Iran, Saturday, May 2, 2026.

Earlier this month the UN's Food and Agriculture Organization warned that the war had created a global "scarcity" of fertilizer which would "lead to lower [crop] yields and tightening food supplies in the latter half of 2026 and into 2027."

The UK Foreign Office warned that "if global partners don't get fertiliser moving" then vulnerable regions of the world will need "shipments of critical emergency aid...not just external investment and technology," it said in a press release.

Cooper said Iran had "hijacked" the critical international shipping lane.

"Iran's continued closure of the Strait of Hormuz while the agriculture clock is ticking shows why we need urgent global pressure to get the Strait reopened, fertiliser and fuel moving and ease the costs of living pressures", Cooper said.

May 19, 2026, 3:22 PM GMT

CENTCOM says 85 vessels redirected as blockade continues

U.S. Central Command said in a post to X on Monday that the number of commercial vessels redirected amid the ongoing American blockade of Iranian ports had reached 85.

"CENTCOM continues to strictly enforce the U.S. blockade against Iranian ports," the command said in its post.