US and UK Impose Sanctions on Iranian Oil Network to China as Israel-Hezbollah Fighting Continues

The United States announced new sanctions on May 11, 2026 targeting three people and nine companies linked to Iranian oil sales to China. The measures hit 12 individuals and entities enabling the IRGC’s sale and shipment of Iranian oil to China, including several Hong Kong-based entities, firms in Oman and the UAE, and three Iran-based individuals, according to the US Treasury Department.

The UK joined the US in imposing new sanctions against Iranian individuals and entities the same day.

President Trump said the ceasefire with Iran is unbelievably weak and on life support. He added that a diplomatic solution with Iran is still very possible while calling Iran’s response to the latest US peace proposal stupid. Iran’s parliamentary speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf posted on X on May 11, 2026 that there is no alternative but to accept the rights of the Iranian people as laid out in the 14-point proposal.

"Any other approach will be completely inconclusive; nothing but one failure after another," Ghalibaf wrote. He said the US must accept the Iranian proposal or any other approach would be inconclusive. Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani and Kuwaiti Foreign Minister Sheikh Jarrah Jaber Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah discussed the US-Iran ceasefire in a phone call on May 11, 2026.

Farhan Haq, the deputy spokesperson for UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, said the UN wants diplomatic efforts between the US and Iran to continue and appreciates Pakistan’s mediation role. Kazem Gharibabadi, Iran’s deputy foreign minister for legal and international affairs, criticised the United States’ push for a Security Council draft resolution on the Strait of Hormuz.

The criticism followed US talks with Gulf nations last week on a US-proposed UN resolution demanding that Iran cease attacks in the Strait of Hormuz.

In southern Lebanon, Israeli air attacks killed four people in Nabatieh on May 11, 2026, including a 78-year-old woman and her 11-year-old grandson. An Israeli drone struck a car with a guided missile in the town of Doueir the same day, killing two people.

Lebanon’s National News Agency reported Israeli warplanes carried out air raids on the towns of Baraachit, Kfar, Yater in five attacks, Jmeijmeh in two raids, Haris in two raids, Kfar Dounine, Majdal Selem, and Blat.

Israel struck Lebanon 100 times in 24 hours as of May 11, 2026. UN humanitarian chief Tom Fletcher warned about the impact of Israel’s strikes on Lebanon. Israel’s military said it intercepted a suspicious aerial target in an area its soldiers are occupying in southern Lebanon on May 11, 2026.

Hezbollah launched 20 attacks on Israeli forces in southern Lebanon on May 11, 2026. The group targeted Israeli forces in the towns of al-Bayyadah, Rishaf, and Tayr Harfa. Hezbollah claimed to strike a Merkava tank in Rishaf and reported a multi-stage engagement with three consecutive drone strikes in Taybe, causing casualties evacuated by helicopter.

It also intercepted an Israeli drone over the Tyre region using a surface-to-air missile. One Israeli soldier was killed in a Hezbollah air attack on May 11, 2026. Erika Guevara Rosas, Amnesty International’s senior director for research, advocacy, policy, and campaigns, called for Israel to immediately and unconditionally release Dr.

Hussam Abu Safiya and all other arbitrarily detained Palestinian healthcare workers. Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya has been imprisoned for 500 days as of May 11, 2026. ” Palestinians in Gaza marked 78 years since the Nakba on May 11, 2026.

Around 700,000 to 750,000 Palestinians were expelled or fled their homes in 1948 during the Nakba. Lamine Yamal waved a Palestinian flag during Barcelona’s La Liga title celebrations on May 11, 2026. The Iraqi Armed Forces issued a statement on X denying reports of unauthorised foreign military bases in Karbala and Najaf deserts.

The statement referenced a clash on March 5, 2026 involving Iraqi security forces and unidentified unlicensed detachments in the Iraqi desert. One Iraqi soldier was killed and two others wounded in that clash. The Wall Street Journal reported on May 9, 2026 that Israel had established a secret military base in the Iraqi desert.