War returns to Iran with Israel, US strikes

Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty has spoken by phone with Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri to discuss the latest developments in Lebanon and Middle East de-escalation efforts, Al Jazeera reports.

Abdelatty reiterated Cairo’s support for Lebanese sovereignty, unity, and territorial integrity, and stressed the importance of building on the US-sponsored “framework agreement” to achieve a full Israeli withdrawal from Lebanese territory, Egypt’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Tamim Khalaf said.

Berri expressed appreciation for Egypt’s backing during the current crisis, a statement added.

The Lebanese group says the Israeli army continues to breach the ceasefire in southern Lebanon and it reserves the right to retaliate against these attacks, Al Jazeera reports.

Violations include targeting civilian areas in the city of Nabatieh and the town of Mayfadoun with fighter jets and an open area in the town of Froun with drones, it has said in a statement.

Homes were also blown up in the towns of Taybeh and Haddatha, the village of Majdal Zoun was targeted, stun grenades were thrown near civilians in the towns of Burj Qalawiyah and Barashit, and suspicious objects were left by soldiers in the towns of Upper Nabatieh and Kfar Tebnit.

The Hezbollah statement says ongoing Israeli attacks constitute a “clear violation” of the Israel-Lebanon agreement.

Iran’s Deputy FM Kazem Gharibabadi has said no technical meetings with the US have been scheduled this week for the working groups under the peace MoU, Iran’s semi-official Tasnim news agency reports.

He added that consultations with Qatar continue, including those related to following up on the implementation of the United States’ obligations.

Tasnim further quoted Gharibabadi as calling reports circulated by some media outlets regarding the holding of technical talks in Doha as “untrue”.

Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud will pay a two-day official visit to China this week, Al Jazeera reports.

Saudi Arabia’s top diplomat will visit Beijing from Tuesday to Wednesday at the invitation of his Chinese counterpart, Wang Yi, according to the Chinese Foreign Ministry.

Commercial traffic through the Strait of Hormuz continued at a reduced pace over the weekend after attacks on two vessels renewed concerns over the safety of one of the world’s most important energy chokepoints, Anadolu reports.

Tracking data showed that some open transits were still taking place after a Singapore-registered container ship, Ever Lovely, was damaged on June 25 and the Panama-flagged tanker M/T Kiku was hit on June 27.

The continued crossings suggest some operators are still prepared to use the waterway, but the slowdown points to uneven confidence among shipowners, insurers and charterers after the latest escalation.

Numan Kurtulmus, Turkiye’s parliament speaker, says halting the far-right Israeli government’s expansionist policies would not only allow Palestinians to live in peace but also help stabilise the region, Al Jazeera reports.

Speaking at the opening of a NATO summit in Istanbul, Kurtulmus said there can be no lasting Middle East peace without the Palestinian people receiving justice after decades of Israel’s incursions.

“The end of these acts of aggression by the Israeli government would not only allow Palestinians to attain peace and tranquillity, but would also mean securing world peace,” he said.

Kurtulmus reiterated Turkiye’s support for the establishment of an independent and sovereign Palestinian state, with East Jerusalem as its capital, adding “there is no other way forward than a two-state solution.”

He also highlighted the recent Iran-US interim deal. “We hope that they will ultimately lead to a lasting and just peace, not merely a ceasefire but a genuine peace settlement.”

Residents in Iran’s port city of Bandar Abbas say the war has hit their livelihoods hard, Al Jazeera reports.

Bandar Abbas sits on the northern shore of the Strait of Hormuz, through which about 20 per cent of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas pass daily.

Al Jazeera reported that fishermen were “too afraid” to go to sea and auto repair shop owners say prices are jumping daily. A bread seller told Al Jazeera she could not afford medicine for her daughter.

“You sleep at night and wake up in the morning and find prices have risen,” one shop owner said.

The Saudi foreign ministry has said its Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan received a phone call from Deputy PM and FM Ishaq Dar.

Dar expressed his condolences over Sunday’s helicopter crash of Aramco, while his Saudi counterpart appreciated the “sincere fraternal sentiments”.

The two sides also reviewed the latest regional developments and discussed the recent developments regarding the memorandum of understanding signed between the US and Iran.

“They further discussed ongoing efforts to advance the negotiating path between the two sides and reach comprehensive solutions that enhance security and stability in the region,” the ministry said.

Iranian and US technical teams working on the implementation of a memorandum of understanding are set to meet in Doha in the coming days, a source with knowledge of the talks tells Reuters.

Mediators have established communications channels to de-escalate any incidents, and technical talks are set to continue, the source added.

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said that, after an agreement with the United States lifted oil and petrochemical sanctions, $6 billion out of $12bn of assets frozen in Qatar would be released and returned to Iran, Iranian state media reported, Reuters reports.

Iran and the United States signed an interim agreement this month to prepare the ground for a settlement of their conflict.

Iran’s semi-official Tasnim news agency, citing the Tehran governor, has provided details on the farewell and funeral procession to be held for former supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

The programme on July 6 will begin at 6am.

The main route starts from Damavand Street and extends from Imam Hossein Square, Revolution Street, and Azadi Street to Shahid Lashkari Street.

US envoy to UN Mike Waltz has claimed Iran stands “completely isolated” over its push to charge fees in the Strait of Hormuz and its leverage over the waterway is “diminishing by the day”, Al Jazeera reports.

Speaking after the US and Iran traded strikes following attacks on two ships in the strait, Waltz told Fox News that Gulf Arab states were already building alternatives with the UAE and Saudi Arabia, both expanding oil pipelines that bypass the waterway.

He added that the US will “create alternatives to our [military] basing posture” in the Middle East by “hardening some” and possibly moving others underground. “So this leverage that Iran thinks it has now is diminishing faster and faster, literally every week as we speak,” he was quoted as saying.

Waltz said even China had opposed fees or tolls in the strait and claimed that Oman had rejected Iran’s proposal to help set up the necessary infrastructure. “So they’re completely isolated here,” he asserted.

Michel Suleiman, who served as Lebanon’s president from 2008 to 2014, has defended the agreement with Israel, saying the country must be kept out of military conflicts in “service of foreign interests,” Al Jazeera reports.

In a statement carried by Lebanon’s National News Agency, Suleiman said it was “unacceptable” to accept the logic that decisions to launch wars and invite occupation could be taken “unilaterally in service of foreign interests” while efforts to end them required national consensus.

“Those who had the courage to take the decision to proceed with the framework agreement, based on the support of the majority of the Lebanese people, will not lack the same courage to annul this agreement if the other party fails to meet its commitments,” he said.

Middle East producers are pushing ahead with loading oil and liquefied natural gas despite fresh ship attacks in the Strait of Hormuz and renewed strikes between the US and Iran in recent days, shipping data shows, according to Reuters.

Today, a fourth Very Large Crude Carrier, capable of carrying 2 million barrels of oil, was seen loading at Saudi Arabia’s Ras Tanura terminal, LSEG data showed, even after a helicopter belonging to the company crashed on Sunday, killing 14 people. The cause of the crash was unknown.

Three other VLCCs have loaded oil and gone dark since leaving the terminal over the weekend, according to the data. Going dark refers to vessels with their transponders switched off to reduce the risk of attack while sailing through the Gulf.

One of these supertankers emerged today, having exited the strait, and is now heading for Japan, the data showed.

Yossi Karadi, director-general of Israel’s National Cyber Directorate, claims Iranian cyberattacks against Israel have surged since the launch of the US-Israeli war on Iran, Al Jazeera reports.

He told German newspaper Die Welt that hostile incidents rose from about 1,600 in June 2025 to roughly 4,800 in June 2026.

“Some groups are very skilled,” Karadi said. “We can handle them, but we have to take them seriously. Unlike in the kinetic realm, there’s no ceasefire in cyberspace.”

The attacks targeted critical infrastructure, large organisations and smaller businesses such as law firms and accounting practices. Companies that were easier to penetrate often had their systems wiped entirely, he claimed.

Iran and Oman have conducted the first meeting of a joint committee on the Strait of Hormuz in Muscat, an Iranian deputy foreign minister said on his X account, Reuters reports.

Kazem Gharibabadi said they had exchanged views on Gulf coastal states’ sovereign rights as well as on the strait’s future management based on the interim deal signed this month by Tehran and Washington.

Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud and Emmanuel Macron have spoken over the phone, Al Jazeera reports, citing the Saudi Press Agency (SPA).

The agency said that the two leaders reviewed regional and international issues while emphasising the importance of ensuring freedom of navigation in the region and supporting diplomatic efforts to reduce escalation.

They also discussed recent developments regarding the memorandum signed between the US and Iran, as well as efforts to reach comprehensive solutions aimed at achieving security and stability in the region, according to the agency.

Corn futures slipped after hostilities between the US and Iran eased, while traders monitored hot weather in the US that could impact crops, Bloomberg reports.

The most-active futures in Chicago dropped as much as 1.3 per cent, extending declines for a second session. Washington and Tehran have agreed to stop attacking each other before peace talks resume this week over the Strait of Hormuz and other issues, following a recent flare-up that tested a ceasefire.

Malaysia’s fuel supplies are sufficient to last until the end of August, economy minister Akmal Nasir told parliament, Reuters reports.

Fertiliser costs are expected to rise 15-20 per cent and livestock feed costs 8pc, Akmal said, adding that Malaysia’s rice supplies were also enough to last five or six months.

Yassamin Ansari, an Iranian-American lawmaker, has condemned Trump’s recent social media post threatening Iran.

In a post on his Truth Social platform yesterday, confirming US attacks on Iran, the US president said Washington may “be forced to militarily complete the job” if Tehran does not abide by the deal that was signed by both countries.

“If that happens, the Islamic Republic of Iran will no longer exist!” he wrote.

Ansari, a Democrat from Arizona, wrote on X that Trump’s rhetoric is “dangerous” and “unhinged”.

An adviser to Iran’s supreme leader has warned Bahrain that Tehran would strike the country with greater force if provoked, Al Jazeera reports.

“A serious warning is being given to the Bahrainis to know their limits and not play such games with their own fate, and not force Iran to adopt harsh decisions,” Ali Akbar Velayati was quoted as saying by the semi-official Tasnim News.