Iran's Revolutionary Guards warned on Tuesday that they would respond firmly to any ships that diverge from the Islamic republic's approved route through the Strait of Hormuz.

Trump is renewing his criticism of Pope Leo XIV even as Rubio prepares to visit Vatican City, ostensibly to ease tensions between Washington and the Holy See.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi will travel to Beijing on Tuesday for talks, the foreign ministry said, amid stalled negotiations with the United States to end the Middle East war.

"During the visit, he will meet his Chinese counterpart (Wang Yi) to discuss bilateral ties and regional and international developments," the ministry said in a brief statement.

World leaders on Tuesday piled pressure on Tehran to stick to diplomacy to bring an end to the Middle East war, after a salvo of attacks in the region left a ceasefire crumbling.

Iran's powerful chief negotiator warned the United States against any further escalation in the Strait of Hormuz, after a spate of attacks risked reigniting the Middle East war.

U.S. President Donald Trump warned Iranian forces on Monday that they would be “blown off the face of the Earth” if they attempted to target U.S. ships in the Strait of Hormuz or Persian Gulf.

Iran had "no pre-planned programme" to attack oil facilities in the United Arab Emirates, Iranian state TV said Monday, after the UAE blamed the Islamic republic for a drone strike at an energy installation in Fujairah.

Authorities in the emirate said the strike injured three Indian nationals who were taken to hospital. The UAE meanwhile said it had been targeted by a fresh Iranian barrage which it described as a "dangerous escalation", amid a ceasefire in the Middle East war.

U.S. President Donald Trump said Iran had "taken some shots" but caused little harm in the Strait of Hormuz Monday, while urging South Korea to join the war after one of its vessels was hit.

The United States has destroyed six Iranian boats and shot down missiles and drones fired at U.S. Navy and commercial vessels by Tehran's forces, a top U.S. admiral said Monday.

More than 300 families have been evacuated after massive amounts of ash billowed from the Mayon volcano over the weekend due to the collapse of lava deposits from its slopes, officials said Monday.

There was no explosive eruption from Mayon, which has been erupting mildly on and off since January, but huge deposits of lava on its southwestern slope suddenly cascaded down in a pyroclastic flow — an avalanche of hot rocks, ash and gas — before nightfall on Saturday, said Teresito Bacolcol, director of the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology.