War returns to Iran with Israel, US strikes

The Terrorist Financing Targeting Center (TTFC), a joint US and Gulf initiative, has sanctioned parts of Hezbollah’s financial infrastructure including 16 individuals and five entities, AlJazeera reports.

The US Department of Treasury said the targets include Al-Qard Al-Hassan, Bayt al-Mal as well as their senior leaders.

Al-Qard Al-Hassan is a quasi-banking institution that offers interest-free loans to people and is one of the many charity organisations run by Hezbollah, including schools, hospitals and low-price grocery stores.

The US vice president JD Vance has been making several media appearances to tout the Iran MoU, Al Jazeera reports.

He told Fox News that the Trump administration was in a “great position” regardless of how the talks pan out.

The US “obviously” wanted the talks to succeed, Vance said, but added that his country was “still in a much stronger position” than Iran even if they fail. He insisted that Tehran’s nuclear programme and military had been “destroyed” and warned that Trump had made clear that any Iranian attacks on shipping in the Strait of Hormuz would prompt a US military response.

Vance again said Iran would be “permanently transformed” if negotiations aimed at securing a lasting settlement are successful.

South Korea’s Oceans Ministry said on Wednesday the cargo vessel Namu, operated by HMM, would exit the Strait of Hormuz in mid-July at the earliest once the damage sustained in an attack in May was repaired, Reuters reports.

The bulk carrier’s hull was hit near the stern in the attack, which Seoul claimed on May 27 probably involved an Iranian anti-ship missile, summoning the Iranian ambassador to share the results of its investigation and lodge a protest.

Saeed Koozechi, Iran’s ambassador to South Korea, denied Tehran’s involvement, the Yonhap news agency reported, and South Korea later said it could not conclusively determine who was responsible or whether the attack was intentional.

There are currently two vessels stuck in the Strait of Hormuz, including Namu, with 35 crew members on board, Nam Jae-heon, vice oceans minister, told a press briefing.

Israeli police have arrested a 20-year-old US citizen on allegations of spying for Iran, including taking photos and videos of “sensitive sites” in Israel, AlJazeera reports, citing media reports.

The man maintained contact with a Tehran-linked agent and allegedly received tens to hundreds of dollars for each task, the Times of Israel and the Jerusalem Post reported, citing a police statement.

They said he was arrested by the Jerusalem District police on June 9 and that a prosecutor’s declaration has been filed against him, signalling he will be formally charged in the coming days.

Gold prices extend losses after falling to a seven-month low in the previous session, as fading prospects of a permanent US-Iran peace deal have heightened inflation concerns and bolstered expectations of Federal Reserve rate hikes, according to Reuters.

Spot gold down 0.6 per cent at $3,981.69 per ounce, as of 0112 GMT, after hitting its lowest level since last November in the previous session.

US gold futures for August delivery lost 1.1pc to $3,994.40.

Traders are pricing in roughly a 67pc chance of a rate hike in September, according to the CME FedWatch Tool, reflecting firming expectations of tighter monetary policy.

Oil prices rose in early trade as investors responded to news that Iran will not be meeting with US envoys, a further strain on the interim ceasefire agreed between the two in the four-month-long war, Reuters reports.

Brent futures rose 50 cents or 0.69 per cent to $73.45 a barrel at 1208 GMT, while US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude climbed 63 cents, or 0.91pc, to $70.13 a barrel.

US President Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner and envoy Steve Witkoff arrived in Doha for what the White House described as “high level” talks, but Iran and host Qatar said they would meet with mediators, rather than the Iranians themselves.

Current meetings held by Iran are aimed at fulfilling MoU commitments and we will not enter further negotiations until conditions of the MoU signed between Iran and the United States are met, Iran’s Top Negotiator Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf said in an interview with state TV, Reuters reports.

Iran has sovereignty in the Strait of Hormuz along with Oman and it will never compromise on its rights in the Strait of Hormuz, Qalbaf said, adding passage without cost in the strait is only for 60 days per the MoU.

Iran’s chief negotiator Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf said that Iran was prioritising diplomacy with the United States, but remained ready for war, AFP reports.

“We are pursuing dialogue, but if the dialogue is not implemented, we are also prepared for war and will respond accordingly,” Ghalibaf said in an interview on state television, as Iranian and US delegations were due to hold separate discussions in Doha.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has assailed US Secretary of Homeland Security Markwayne Mullin over comments he made about the Iranian football team’s exit from the FIFA World Cup, which is co-hosted by the United States, Canada and Mexico.

Araghchi has attached a news headline which claims that Mullin did a “happy dance” when Iran was knocked out of the tournament’s group stage.

“‘Mission accomplished’ Mr Mullin,” Araghchi writes on X. “You also accomplished something else: proving to the world that you have no business hosting an international tournament. Your conduct has been a masterclass for how to squander the dignity that comes with being a host.”

Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi says there is “no evidence” that recent attacks against Gulf nations originated from Iraqi territory, Al Jazeera reports.

“We will not accept dictates from outside our borders, neither from the East nor the West,” he adds.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi says in a post on X that Iraq is also preparing for the funeral of late Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

“Like Iran, Iraq is preparing for a mass funeral for Grand Ayatollah Khamenei — an event that will undoubtedly be remembered by history and further strengthen the bonds between our two nations,” he writes, adding that during a visit to Baghdad, he met the Iraqi president, prime minister, foreign minister and other senior officials.

Arsenio Dominguez, secretary-general of the International Maritime Organisation (IMO), says mandatory tolls or any system that undermines free navigation through international waterways would be illegal under international law, while suggesting a voluntary fund for the Strait of Hormuz, Al Jazeera reports.

Dominguez says he discussed “management of the strait” with Omani officials, including talks about the existing arrangement in the Straits of Malacca and Singapore.

The trilateral framework involving Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore has operated since 2007, funded largely through voluntary contributions from user states and the shipping industry rather than compulsory tolls, to support navigational safety and environmental protection in the busy waterway.

“It’s learning from something that already exists, that is being tested,” he explains, adding that the aim is to find practical solutions to the crisis triggered by regional conflict, and that he intends to present various options to IMO member states “to see what is viable”.

The US Treasury Department has announced joint sanctions by the Terrorist Financing Targeting Centre (TFTC) against five entities and 16 individuals it claims are linked to Hezbollah’s financial network, Al Jazeera reports.

The TFTC, a multilateral body co-chaired by the US and Saudi Arabia that includes Gulf Cooperation Council member states, has established coordinated measures to target the al-Qard al-Hassan Association, which the Treasury alleges masquerades as a non-governmental organisation while providing financial services similar to an unlicensed bank.

The actions also target Bayt al-Mal, described by US officials as the group’s unofficial treasury and investment arm.

At least 4,278 people have been killed and 12,196 wounded by Israeli attacks across Lebanon since March 2, when the fighting between Israel and Hezbollah resumed, Al Jazeera reports citing the state-run National News Agency.

US crude oil production rose to 13.93 million barrels per day (bpd) in April, the highest on record, monthly data from the Energy Information Administration (EIA) shows, as producers ramp up output in response to higher oil prices owing to the Iran war, Reuters reports.

Production rose by 216,000 barrels per day in April, EIA data shows, with production in New Mexico touching a record high of 2.37 million bpd.

Crude production in Texas edged 36,000 bpd higher to 5.83 million bpd, the highest since November. Texas and New Mexico are home to the Permian Basin, which accounts for roughly half of US crude output.

Output from North Dakota, the third largest producing state, also rose to 1.13 million bpd, the highest since November.

US crude futures are trading around $70 a barrel. It had traded as high as $117.63 in April.

Strait of Hormuz traffic picked up on Monday, largely driven by vessels entering the Gulf, after a weekend lull as the United States and Iran traded strikes, AFP reports citing maritime tracking data.

Nineteen commodities vessels entered the Gulf on Monday, matching the number of entries by such ships recorded last Wednesday, when total crossings reached a wartime high of 70, Kpler data shows.

Of the ships entering since Monday, at least nine were supertankers, which had mostly avoided entering over the weekend.

Monday’s total of 40 transits in both directions is in line with last week’s wartime record number of crossings. However, these numbers are still far below peacetime traffic when around 120 ships crossed the strait each day.

Just 15 commodity vessels crossed on Sunday.

Iran and Oman are moving forward with plans to collect payment for ships transiting the Strait of Hormuz, despite public American objections, The New York Times reports, citing an Iranian official and four diplomats with knowledge of the matter.

If enacted, the plans will be a significant change from the prewar status in the strategic waterway, underscoring how the US-Israeli decision to attack Iran on February 28 has changed the Middle East in far-reaching and unanticipated ways.

Iranian officials have repeatedly declared their intentions to monetise the strait.

Oman has recently delivered a formal proposal to the United States and other Western allies that outlined a plan in which shipping companies would pay service fees to use the strait, according to the Iranian official and a regional diplomat.

A person familiar with the US position has confirmed that American negotiators had received the Omani proposal and said that they had concerns they intended to discuss with Omani officials. The officials and diplomats cited have all spoken on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive diplomacy.

Iran’s Foreign Minister Araghchi has visited an exhibition of objects left behind by the sailors of the Iranian frigate IRIS Dena, which was attacked by a US submarine, Al Jazeera reports.

Eighty-seven bodies were recovered at sea after a torpedo attack in international waters off Sri Lanka’s coast.

Araghchi says, “What happened is undoubtedly a war crime that will be recorded in history,” as the frigate “was attacked without any military action, without weapons, and without any prior warning”.

“This action is in no way considered a naval victory, but only shows the enemy’s helplessness,” Araghchi adds.

He further says, “Attacking an unarmed target far from the battlefield is not courageous; rather, it is a sign of cowardice”, although he has not explicitly mentioned the US.

He adds that the legal department of Iran’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in cooperation with the Navy, will “collect the documentation of this crime and we will carry out all the necessary legal follow-ups”.

Many Gulf stock markets ended lower today after doubts over ⁠whether US-Iran talks in Doha will make any progress to end the four-month-old war, Al Jazeera reports.

Saudi Arabia’s ‌benchmark stock index has edged 0.1 per cent higher on Tuesday. Dubai’s main share index has dropped 0.6pc, with top lender Emirates NBD (ENBD) retreating 1.8pc.

In Abu Dhabi, the index has fallen 0.4pc. The Qatari index has ⁠eased 0.1pc, weighed down by a 2.2pc fall ⁠in the Gulf’s biggest lender, Qatar National Bank.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has visited troops in southern Lebanon, vowing that his country’s forces will stay in the area as long as Iran-backed Hezbollah remains a “threat”, AFP reports.

“Our position is clear: we will not leave southern Lebanon until the threat has disappeared. And as long as Hezbollah, armed, is here and threatening us, we will stay here,” Netanyahu has said, according to a statement from his office.

He adds that “Lebanon recognises Israel, Israel recognises Lebanon, and we say to Iran and to Hezbollah: leave this place, you no longer belong here …

“There are two sovereign states that want to live in peace”.

Iranian foreign ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baqaei has said that the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) is still not being granted access to inspect the Islamic republic’s nuclear sites, according to state news agency IRNA.

Baqaei has also criticised the nuclear watchdog for its “shortcomings” and urged Director General Rafael Grossi to “focus on his professional responsibilities instead of what he described as ‘campaign-style publicity’“, IRNA adds.

China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi has called for maintaining the momentum of negotiations between the US and Iran in a meeting in Beijing with his Saudi counterpart, Reuters reports citing the state-run news agency Xinhua.

“The current ceasefire remains fragile, but talking is better than fighting, and dialogue is better than confrontation,” Wang says, adding that Beijing is willing to work with Saudi Arabia to ease tensions in the region and promote lasting peace.