AS IT HAPPENED: Australia imposes new sanctions against Iran; Trump says Iran is on 'life support'; UN warning 45 million face hunger crisis

Thanks for following our live coverage of US politics and the conflict in the Middle East.

Here is a recap of today's key developments:

- The Australian government has announced further sanctions against Iranian individuals and organisations over the regime's human rights record.

- Foreign Minister Penny Wong discussed the conflict in the Middle East with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio in a phone call today.

- A top UN official has warned tens of millions of people could face hunger and starvation if fertilisers do not soon resume through the Strait of Hormuz.

- President Donald Trump said the month-long ceasefire between the US and Iran is on "massive life support."

An overnight Israeli air strike targeting a house in southern Lebanon has killed six people, Reuters reports.

The attack in the community of Kafr Dunin also injured seven others, who were taken to hospitals in the city of Tyre.

The news agency has also reported Israeli artillery shelled the outskirts of the towns of al-Mansouri and Majdal Zun at dawn, citing local media reports.

Former negotiator Alan Eyre has told US media Iran "is a lot less likely" to make a deal on uranium than it was a decade ago.

His comments came after President Donald Trump accused Iran of reneging on an agreement to allow the US to remove its supply of enriched uranium.

Eyre, who worked on former President Barack Obama's negotiating team during the Iran nuclear deal in 2015, said he found it "unbelievable" that Iran would agree to the export early on in negotiations.

"Iran is a lot less likely to do a deal because back then we didn't attack them twice in the middle of negotiations," he said on CNN.

"Back then, they had a relatively more moderate leadership.

"That leadership was killed and there's a more hard-line and radical leadership in place.

"Right now there's a lot more issues on the table than just nuclear, there's also the Strait of Hormuz."

Trump should not mistake the current lack of fighting between the US and Iran as a victory as he heads to Beijing for a high-stakes meeting with Chinese leader Xi Jinping later this week, an advisor to Iran's supreme leader has warned.

"Mr. Trump, never imagine that by taking advantage of Iran's current calm, you will be able to enter Beijing triumphantly," Ali Akbar Velayati said, according to a report from Iran's semi-official Tasnim news agency.

"We defeated you on the "battlefield"; so never think that you will emerge victorious in diplomacy as well."

The Trump administration is providing 53.3 million barrels of crude oil from the US Strategic Petroleum Reserve to energy firms under a global agreement.

The move by the US Department of Energy aims to reassure financial markets spooked by the conflict's fallout, reports Reuters.

Last month, nine companies, including Exxon and Mobil, tapped into only 58 per cent of the 92.5 million barrels that the department released in a similar loan last month.

Foreign Minister Penny Wong discussed the conflict in the Middle East with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio in a phone call today.

They also restated their commitment to promoting a free and open Indo-Pacific, a US government spokesperson said.

"Secretary Rubio underscored the strength of the US-Australia Alliance and its importance to the security and stability of the region," they said.

"They also discussed Iran and ongoing efforts to restore freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz."

Donald Trump has grown increasingly frustrated with how the Iranians are handling negotiations to end the war, and some of the US president's aides say he is now more seriously considering a resumption of major combat operations than he has in recent weeks.

Trump has grown impatient with the continued closure of the Strait of Hormuz, as well as what he perceives as division in the Iranian leadership that is preventing them from making substantial concessions on nuclear talks, sources familiar with the discussions said.

The latest response from Iran, which Trump has deemed both "totally unacceptable" and "stupid," has led several officials to question whether Tehran is willing to take on a serious negotiating position, they said.

There are different camps within the Trump administration that are recommending varying paths for how to proceed, the sources said.

Some have argued for a more aggressive approach to pressuring the Iranians to the table — including targeted strikes that further weaken Tehran's position. Others, however, are still pushing to give diplomacy a fair shot, the sources said.

Trump met with again with his national security team at the White House on Monday to discuss options moving forward.

A top UN official has warned tens of millions of people could face hunger and starvation if fertilisers do not soon resume through the Strait of Hormuz.

One third of global fertiliser supplies transit through the waterway, but shipments have been severely reduced due to Iran's chokehold on the Strait.

Executive director of the UN Office for Project Services Jorge Moreira da Silva told the AFP media agency the coming weeks would determine whether a "massive humanitarian crisis" would unfold.

"We may witness a crisis that will force 45 million more people into hunger and starvation," he said.

The Australian government today announced it was imposing further sanctions against Iranian individuals and organisations over the regime's human rights record.

The seven individuals and four entities include senior officials and entities involved in the brutal repression of thousands of protesters in January, the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade said in a statement.

The new measures also target Iran's shadow banking system that allows it to fund terrorist proxies such as Hamas, support its ballistic missile program, and other destabilising actions.

The federal government announced the new sanctions alongside the UK.

The United Arab Emirates has completed military attacks on Iran, according to a report in the Wall Street Journal, quoting unnamed sources familiar with the matter.

"The strikes, which the UAE hasn't publicly acknowledged, have included an attack on a refinery on Iran's Lavan Island in the Persian Gulf, the people familiar with the matter said," the Journal report wrote.

"That attack took place in early April around the time President Trump was announcing a cease-fire in the war after a five-week air campaign and sparked a large fire and knocked much of its capacity off line for months."

The UAE has been targeted by almost 3000 Iranian drones and missiles.