By Idrees Ali, Erin Banco and Hatem Maher

WASHINGTON/CAIRO, May 9 (Reuters) - The U.S. and Iran appeared no closer on Saturday to finding an end to their war after the two sides traded fire in the Gulf amid a tenuous ceasefire, while a U.S. intelligence analysis concluded Tehran could withstand a naval blockade for months.

Recent days have seen the biggest flare-ups in fighting in and around the Strait of Hormuz since a ceasefire began a month ago, and the United Arab Emirates came under renewed attack on Friday.

Israel carried out strikes across Lebanon on Saturday, killing at least nine people in the south according to authorities, with raids also targeting a highway not far from Beirut outside of Hezbollah's traditional strongholds.

The fresh attacks were some of the most intense since the start of a three-week-old ceasefire between Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah that has done little to halt daily exchanges of fire, mostly in southern Lebanon.

By Matt Spetalnick and Andrea Shalal

WASHINGTON, May 9 (Reuters) - With his decision to pull some U.S. troops from Germany, his threats to draw down forces elsewhere in Europe and his downplaying of Iran’s recent attacks on an important Gulf partner, President Donald Trump's latest moves foreshadow what could be the war's enduring legacy: the fraying of ties with key allies.

Isolated and traumatised by drones and missiles, seafarers in the Gulf face grave mental suffering after more than two months stuck on board in the Middle East war, maritime charities warn.

From captains to cooks, engineers and other officers, the workers who keep global freight flowing have found themselves not just stranded but in some cases right in the firing line of the US-Israeli war with Iran.

By Andrea Shalal

WASHINGTON, May 8 (Reuters) - The U.S. Treasury on Friday announced sanctions against 10 individuals and companies, including several in China and Hong Kong, for aiding efforts by Iran's military to secure weapons and raw materials used to build Tehran's Shahed drones.

The Treasury move, first reported by Reuters, comes days before U.S. President Donald Trump plans to travel to China for a meeting with President Xi Jinping and as efforts to end the war with Iran have stalled.

May 8 (Reuters) - Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told his United Arab Emirates counterpart on Friday that U.S.-Iran talks needed to be supported to prevent a resumption of hostilities in the Middle East.

"The Russian side emphasised the need to focus on supporting the ongoing negotiations between Iran and the USA," a foreign ministry statement said of Lavrov's telephone conversation with Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan.

The statement said Russia did not want "to jeopardise the prospects for stabilisation by resuming hostilities."

May 8 (Reuters) - Washington has revised its proposed U.N. resolution demanding Iran halt attacks and mining in the Strait of Hormuz but the changes are unlikely to avert Chinese and Russian vetoes, diplomats said on Friday.

A Chinese veto would be awkward ahead of U.S. President Donald Trump's trip to China next week, where the Iran war is likely to be high on the agenda.

The latest developments in the Middle East war:

- Trump awaits Iran response -

US President Donald Trump told reporters Friday evening that he was expecting Iran's response to his latest proposal on a deal to ending the Middle East war by "tonight."

- Kharg oil slick -

Satellite images appeared to show an oil slick spreading off the coast of Iran's Kharg Island, a key oil export terminal for the Islamic republic.

By Guglielmo Mangiapane and Joshua McElwee

POMPEI, Italy, May 8 (Reuters) - Pope Leo asked that God would inspire world leaders to calm global tensions and reduce hatred in an address to mark his first anniversary as head of the Catholic Church, a day after he met U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio at the Vatican.

Leo, who has drawn the ire of U.S. President Donald Trump after criticizing the Iran war, asked worshippers on Friday to pray that global governments would turn away from violence.

The latest developments in the Middle East war:

- US jets fire on Iranian-flagged tankers -

US forces fired on and disabled two Iranian-flagged tankers that attempted to violate the American blockade of Iran's ports, the US military said on Friday.

A US Navy F/A-18 Super Hornet "disabled both tankers after firing precision munitions into their smokestacks, preventing the non-compliant ships from entering Iran," US Central Command said in a post on X that included footage of the strikes.