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Live Updates: Iran vows to fight on as Trump says ceasefire is "on life support" - CBS News
From CBS News via USVI News: President Trump is expected to encourage China to pressure Iran into making a deal to end the war when he visits Beijing later this week and meets with President Xi Jinping.
Follow updates on the war in the Middle East for Tuesday, May 12, here. See earlier developments below.
What to know about the Iran war:
- President Trump said Monday that the ceasefire with Iran is "on life support" after Iran's response to the latest U.S. peace proposal. He has rejected Iran's reply as "totally unacceptable " and on Monday called it a "piece of garbage."
- The Iranian government insists it demanded only the country's "legitimate rights" and no "concessions" in its response.
- Mr. Trump is expected to encourage China to pressure Iran into making a deal to end the costly war during his visit to Beijing this week, when he will meet with President Xi Jinping.
U.S. ambassador to Israel says Israel sent Iron Dome batteries and personnel to UAE
Israel sent Iron Dome anti-missile batteries and personnel to operate them to the United Arab Emirates to defend the country during the Iran war, the U.S. ambassador to the country said Tuesday.
Mike Huckabee made the comment on stage at an event in Tel Aviv, Israel.
"I'd like to say a word of appreciation for United Arab Emirates, the first Abraham accord member," Huckabee said at the Tel Aviv Conference. "Just look at the benefits. Israel just sent them Iron Dome batteries and personnel to help operate them."
The United Arab Emirates, a federation of seven sheikhdoms on the Arabian Peninsula, diplomatically recognized Israel in 2020.
The UAE didn't immediately respond to a request for comment over the acknowledgment by Huckabee, though it underlined the growing defense relationship between the countries long suspicious of Iran.
Trump and Xi appear intent on keeping deep differences over Iran war from overshadowing China summit
President Trump heads for Beijing to meet with President Xi Jinping after weeks of trying, and failing, to persuade the Chinese government to use its considerable leverage to prod Iran to agree to U.S. terms to end the two-month old Mideast war or, at the very least, reopen the critical Strait of Hormuz.
Mr. Trump has veered between venting that China, the world's biggest buyer of Iranian oil, hasn't done more to get the Islamic Republic in line and acknowledging that Xi's government helped de-escalate the conflict last month by nudging Tehran back to ceasefire talks when negotiations wobbled.
But ahead of the U.S. leader's high-stakes visit, the White House has set low expectations as far as Mr. Trump being able to persuade Xi to change China's posture is concerned.
Instead, the administration seems determined not to let differences on Iran overshadow efforts to make headway on other difficult matters in the complicated relationship - ranging from trade to further Chinese cooperation to block exports of fentanyl precursors.
"We don't want this to be something that derails the broader relationship or the agreements that might come out of our meeting in Beijing," U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said on Bloomberg TV last week.
Beijing publicly insists that it wants to see the war end, and has been working diplomatically behind the scenes to help its ally Pakistan push to broker a peace agreement. It has also sent a "subtle message of discontent to Iran" for closing the Strait of Hormuz, and to the U.S. for its blockade of Iranian shipping, said Ahmed Aboudouh, a specialist on China's influence in the Middle East with the London-based Chatham House thinktank.
"They are very cautious, risk-adverse, and they don't want to be involved in anything that would drag them into something that they don't consider their problem," he said.
Israeli strikes kill 6 in south Lebanon, state media say
Israeli strikes on a town in southern Lebanon killed six people and wounded seven others, state media said Tuesday, as fighting continued despite a ceasefire agreement.
Lebanon's state-run National News Agency (NNA) reported that Israeli strikes Monday night hit a house in Kfar Dounine, a town about 59 miles from Beirut.
The NNA reported the wounded were transported to hospitals in the coastal city of Tyre.
This article is republished through the USVI News affiliate desk. Reporting, analysis, and viewpoints are those of the original publisher and do not necessarily reflect USVI News.