The escalation of hostilities continues as the US awaits a response from Iran on a proposal to end hostilities

The United States said it was waiting for a response from Iran to its latest proposal to end its war, as American and Iranian forces clashed again on Friday.

Recent days have seen a major escalation in fighting in and around the disputed Strait of Hormuz since a ceasefire began last month, despite the US and Iran signaling they were closer than ever to an agreement to end the conflict.

“We have to know something today,” US Secretary of State Marco Rubio told reporters in Rome. “We are waiting for an answer from them… Hope is something that can put us in a serious negotiation process.”

A spokesman for Iran’s foreign ministry said Tehran was still considering its response. The US proposal would formally end the war first, before negotiations to resolve contentious issues such as the fate of Iran’s nuclear program.

Clashes between Iran’s military and US ships continued in the Strait of Hormuz on Friday, reported Iran’s state-run Fars media.

The U.S. Navy said it hit two more ships linked to Iran that were trying to enter an Iranian port. American warplanes hit the stacks of ships blocking them from entering Iran.

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The confrontation on Friday was not limited to the waterway. The United Arab Emirates said its air defenses were engaged by two ballistic missiles and three drones from Iran on Friday, causing three moderate injuries.

During the war, Iran has repeatedly targeted the UAE and other Gulf states that host US military bases.

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American President Donald Trump said on Thursday that the ceasefire is still in place despite the uproar.

On Thursday, the US military said it had intercepted an Iranian attack on three naval vessels in the Strait of Hormuz on Thursday and “targeted Iranian military facilities responsible for attacking US forces.”

Iran has accused the United States of violating the ceasefire, which had been largely held since it was announced on April 7 but has come under severe strain this week since Trump announced — and then paused — a new naval operation to force the opening of the current.

“Every time a diplomatic solution is on the table, the US chooses a reckless military attack,” Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas. Araghchi said on Friday.

The commander of the allied forces in Iran said that the American forces were targeting an Iranian oil tanker and another ship, and attacked the inhabited areas of Qeshm Island in the Strait of Hormuz and the areas near the coast. The Iranian military responded by attacking US military vessels east of the Strait and south of the port of Chabahar.

A spokesman for Khatam al-Anbiya Central Command said the Iranian strikes had caused “extensive damage,” but US Central Command said none of its assets had been hit.

“They played with us today. We blew them up,” said Trump in Washington.

“If there is no ceasefire, you will have to look at the big light coming out of Iran,” he added. The US president last month warned Iran that “the whole civilization will die” if it did not meet a self-imposed deadline to open the floodgates, comments that drew widespread criticism.