RIYADH, Saudi Arabia (AP) — Cristiano Ronaldo scored his 100th Saudi Pro League goal on Thursday as Al-Nassr beat Al-Shabab 4-2 to move five points clear at the top of the table.
The 41-year-old forward converted a Sadio Mané cross at the near post with 15 minutes remaining to record the 971st goal of his career. It was also his 26th league goal of the season.
“Ronaldo is always dangerous going forward and we saw that again today,” Al-Nassr coach Jorge Jesus said.
João Félix, signed from Chelsea in July, scored three goals for the league leaders.
The win took Al-Nassr to 82 points from 32 games, five ahead of Al-Hilal, which has three matches, one more than Nassr, left to play. Al-Hilal meets Al-Kholood on Friday and faces Nassr on Tuesday in what could be a title decider against its Riyadh rival.
“Now we have a derby match against our rival, which is a difficult encounter,” Jesus said. “We are fully aware of its importance, and we are dealing with it with complete focus as we know that small details could decide the result.”
Ronaldo, a five-time Ballon d’Or winner, has yet to secure a major trophy in Saudi Arabia since signing with Al-Nassr in December 2022.
AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer
FILE - Al Nassr's Cristiano Ronaldo celebrates after scoring at the King Saud University Stadium, in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, Jan. 19, 2023. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla, file)
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — The U.S. military said it intercepted Iranian attacks Thursday on three Navy ships in the Strait of Hormuz and “targeted Iranian military facilities responsible for attacking U.S. forces," highlighting the fragility of the month-old ceasefire between the two countries.
U.S. Central Command said in a social media post that U.S. forces intercepted “unprovoked Iranian attacks” and responded with self-defense strikes.
The U.S. military said no ships were hit. It said it doesn’t seek escalation but “remains positioned and ready to protect American forces.”
Meanwhile, Iranian state media said the country’s armed forces exchanged fire with “the enemy” on Qeshm Island in the strait. It is the largest Iranian island in the Persian Gulf, home to about 150,000 people. It also houses a water desalination plant.
Iranian state media also reported loud noises and defensive fire in western Tehran. In southern Iran, explosions were heard near Bandar Abbas, semiofficial Iranian news agencies Fars and Tasnim said. The reports did not identify the source of the blasts.
Earlier in the day, a shipping data company reported that Iran has created a government agency to vet and tax vessels seeking passage through the crucial Strait of Hormuz.
The Iranian effort to formalize control over the channel raised new concerns about international shipping, with hundreds of commercial vessels bottled up in the Persian Gulf and unable to reach the open sea. Still, hope that the two-month conflict could soon be over buoyed international markets.
The ceasefire between the U.S. and Iran has largely held since April 8. In-person talks between the two countries, hosted by Pakistan last month, failed to reach an agreement to end the war that began Feb. 28 when the U.S. and Israel launched strikes against Iran.
Earlier Thursday, Tehran said it was examining the latest U.S. proposals for ending the war.
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghaei said the Islamic Republic was reviewing messages from Pakistan, which is mediating peace negotiations, but Iran “has not yet reached a conclusion, and no response has been given to the U.S. side,” Iranian state TV reported.
At the Vatican, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio discussed Middle East peace efforts with Pope Leo XIV, whose opposition to the Iran war has led to open sparring with President Donald Trump.
The Trump administration has sent mixed messages on its strategy to end the war. The tenuous ceasefire and previous declarations that military operations were over have given way to new threats of bombing if Tehran does not accept a deal that allows for resumption of oil and natural gas shipments disrupted by the conflict.
Trump reiterated those after Thursday's exchange of fire.
“Just like we knocked them out again today, we’ll knock them out a lot harder, and a lot more violently, in the future, if they don’t get their Deal signed, FAST!” Trump said in a social media post.
Earlier this week, Trump suspended an attempt by the U.S. military to open a safe passage for commercial ships through the strait, saying the pause would allow more time to reach a peace agreement. An official in Saudi Arabia said Thursday that the key U.S. ally refused to support Trump's effort to reopen the strait by force.
Pakistani Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar spoke by phone Thursday with his Iranian counterpart, Abbas Araghchi, the Pakistani Foreign Ministry said.
“We expect an agreement sooner rather than later,” Pakistani Foreign Ministry spokesperson Tahir Andrabi said. “We hope the parties will reach a peaceful and sustainable solution that will contribute not only to peace in our region but to international peace as well.”
He declined to give a timeline.
Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, speaking in televised remarks, said Islamabad remained in “continuous contact with Iran and the United States, day and night, to stop the war and extend the ceasefire.”
Meanwhile, direct talks between Israel and Lebanon were scheduled to resume next week in Washington, according to a U.S. official speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss plans for the closed-door meetings. The official said talks will be held May 14 and 15.
The report by shipping data firm Lloyd’s List Intelligence that Iran has established a new government agency to approve transit and collect tolls from shipping in the strait raised concerns over the freedom of navigation on which global trade depends.
The agency, called the Persian Gulf Strait Authority, is “positioning itself as the only valid authority to grant permission to ships transiting the strait,” Lloyd’s reported in an online briefing Thursday. Lloyd's said the authority had emailed it an application form for ships seeking passage.
Iran has effectively closed the strait, a vital waterway for the shipment of oil, gas, fertilizer and other petroleum products, while the U.S. is blockading Iranian ports. The disruptions have sent fuel prices skyrocketing and rattled the global economy.
The new Iranian agency formalizes an existing, albeit murky, vetting lane that takes vessels through the strait’s northern waters near the Iranian coastline. Iran controls which ships pass and, for at least some vessels, imposes a tax on their cargo.
Maritime law experts say Iran’s demands to vet or tax vessels violate international law. The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea calls for countries to permit peaceful passage through their territorial waters.
The U.S. and its Gulf allies are pushing for the U.N. Security Council to support a resolution that condemns Iran’s chokehold on the strait and threatens sanctions. A prior resolution calling for reopening the strait was vetoed by Iran allies Russia and China.
Top Iranian officials have said Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei is playing a key role in overseeing negotiations with the U.S. But he remains in hiding and has not appeared in public since he was wounded early in the war.
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said he met recently for more than two hours with Khamenei. In remarks aired Thursday on Iranian state television, Pezeshkian praised the supreme leader’s “sincere” behavior in what he said was a long in-person meeting.
Khamenei has only released a series of written statements since being named supreme leader in March, replacing his father, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was killed during the war’s initial strikes.
Trump did not consult with U.S. ally Saudi Arabia before launching the short-lived effort to force open a shipping passage through the strait, according to a Saudi official who was not authorized to discuss the matter publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.
“We told them that we are not part of this and that they can’t use our territories and bases for this,” the official said Thursday.
The official said Saudi Arabia sent a message to Iran that the kingdom would not be involved in U.S. attacks related to Trump’s attempt to reopen the strait.
Trump suspended the effort, dubbed Project Freedom, during its second day Tuesday. Only two American-flagged merchant ships are known to have passed through the U.S.-guarded route. The U.S. military said it sank six Iranian small boats threatening civilian ships.
McHugh reported from Frankfurt, Germany, and Bynum reported from Savannah, Georgia. Associated Press journalists Sally Abou AlJoud, in Beirut; Elena Becatoros in Athens, Greece; Matthew Lee in Washington; Samy Magdy and Amir-Hussein Radjy in Cairo; Munir Ahmed in Islamabad, Pakistan; Farnoush Amiri in New York; Nicole Winfield in Vatican City and Audrey McAvoy in Honolulu contributed to this report.
Children play in the water along the shore as a mix of bulk carriers, cargo ships, and service vessels sit offshore in the Strait of Hormuz off Bandar Abbas, Iran, Sunday, April 26, 2026.(Razieh Poudat/ISNA via AP)
Secretary of State Marco Rubio calls on a reporter in the James Brady Press Briefing Room at the White House, Tuesday, May 5, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)
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. (Amirhosein Khorgooi/ISNA via AP)
Motorbikes drive past a billboard with graphic showing the late Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was killed in the U.S. and Israel strikes on Feb. 28, with his framed fist amongst his supporters framed fists in downtown Tehran, Iran, Wednesday, May 6, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
An Emirati patrol boat, left, is near a tanker anchored in the Gulf of Oman near the Strait of Hormuz, as seen from a coastal road near Khor Fakkan, United Arab Emirates, Friday, May 1, 2026. (AP Photo/Fatima Shbair)
FILE - French President Emmanuel Macron, center right, visits the French aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle, during his visit to Cyprus, March 9, 2026. (Gonzalo Fuentes/Pool Photo via AP, File)
A man waves an Iranian flag for a pro-government campaign under a billboard with graphic showing Strait of Hormuz and sewn lips of U.S. President Donald Trump in a square in downtown Tehran, Iran, Wednesday, May 6, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
