GRAINS-Grains choppy as traders monitor Middle East conflict

By Heather Schlitz

CHICAGO, May 8 (Reuters) - Chicago grain prices seesawed in muted trade on Friday as market players continued to assess renewed fighting between the U.S. and Iran as well as weather forecasts in the drought-stricken U.S. wheat belts.

Chicago Board of Trade most-active wheat Wv1 was up 2 cents at $6.14-1/4 per bushel at 10:30 a.m. CT (1530 GMT). Soybeans rose 9 cents to $12.01-1/4 a bushel, while corn Cv1 rose 3/4 cent to $4.68-1/4 a bushel.

"Futures are taking a bit of a pause today, and it's a wait-and-see moment," said Terry Linn, analyst at Linn and Associates, referencing uncertainty around the U.S.-Iran war.

Oil prices firmed on Friday, providing limited support to grain futures. O/R

The U.S. said it expected an Iranian response as soon as later in the day on Friday to its latest proposal to end the war in the Gulf, even as U.S. and Iranian forces clashed in the Gulf and the United Arab Emirates came under renewed attack.

Recent days have seen the biggest flare-ups in fighting in and around the contested Strait of Hormuz since a ceasefire began a month ago, despite the U.S. and Iran indicating they were closer than ever to a deal to end the war.

Dealers are also monitoring weather in drought-hit U.S. wheat belts, where this week's rainfall missed some critically dry areas and may have arrived too late or in insufficient amounts to prevent crop damage.

Some rain is forecast next week, but volumes are expected to be moderate while a swing toward warmer weather could also heap stress onto the crop.

"This hard red winter crop has been through a lot. Wheat has nine lives, they say, but we've probably used up about eight of them," Linn said. "There's a realization that the crop has been hurt."