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.

Hours after the UAE's top oil executive said the country had "emerged stronger" from war and as thousands attended an Abu Dhabi summit to boost the local economy, phones across the country were alerting that missiles were incoming.

The first attacks since a truce came into effect last month were a stark reminder of its fragility, dampening hopes of a quick return to normality, with Iran imposing a new reality: should the United States or Israel strike, the UAE would be the one to pay.

Israel's military chief Lieutenant General Eyal Zamir said on Tuesday that the army was prepared to respond "with force" to any attack by Iran.

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.

U.S. President Donald Trump urged Iran Tuesday to "do the smart thing" and make a deal, saying even as a Middle East ceasefire teetered that he did not want to kill more Iranians.

The United Arab Emirates said Tuesday its air defenses were engaging missiles and drones coming from Iran for the second consecutive day, weeks into a fragile ceasefire in the Middle East war.

"UAE air defense systems are actively engaging with missiles and UAV threats," the defense ministry said in a statement on X, adding that they had "come from Iran".

The United States is "not looking for a fight" over the Strait of Hormuz and its ceasefire with Iran still holds, but any attack on commercial shipping will be met with a "devastating" response, the Pentagon chief said Tuesday.

The warning from Pete Hegseth came on the second day of a U.S. effort to facilitate the transit of commercial ships through the Strait of Hormuz, which Iran had closed in response to the U.S.-Israeli war against the Islamic republic.

Hezbollah on Monday claimed a series of attacks on Israeli military targets in south Lebanon that it said were in response to "the Israeli enemy's violation of the ceasefire."

The state-run National News Agency (NNA) meanwhile reported Israeli air strikes on more than 20 south Lebanon locations, some of them towns where the Israeli military earlier Monday told residents to evacuate.

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.