War returns to Iran with Israel, US strikes

Iraq’s government has given pro-Iran armed groups in the country until September 30 to disarm, its spokesman said during a press conference, Reuters reports.

The announcement comes ahead of a visit to the United States by new Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi, with Washington exerting pressure on Baghdad to ensure the factions turn in their weapons.

Some of the groups targeted US facilities in Iraq during the Middle East war, which was sparked by Israeli-American strikes against Iran in late February.

Iraq’s government has given pro-Iran armed groups in the country until September 30 to disarm, its spokesman has said during a press conference, AFP reports.

The announcement comes ahead of a visit to the United States by new Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi, with Washington exerting pressure on Baghdad to ensure the factions turn in their weapons.

Some of the groups targeted US facilities in Iraq during the Middle East war, which was sparked by Israeli-American strikes against Iran in late February.

According to Al Jazeera, former US Secretary of State John Kerry has said, “Iran has a new sense of power by virtue of having withstood the military assault that has taken place to date”.

Kerry, a Democrat who held the role between 2013 and 2017, was also the lead negotiator in a now-moribund nuclear deal that the US and other world powers signed with Iran in 2015.

Speaking to MS Now, Kerry warns US negotiators about their approach in talks with Iran.

“Iran knows and understands and uses asymmetrical warfare as effectively as anyone on the planet, and that’s what we’ve seen play out here,” he explains.

White House spokesperson Karoline Leavitt tells Fox News that US President Donald Trump wants to “see the peace process play out”, warning that Washington will respond to Iranian attacks on vessels in the Strait of Hormuz.

“The president obviously wants to see the peace process play out, and the Iranians would be best to sign a good deal with the United States of America, because the president has proven he’s unafraid to use the might of our military,” she says.

US President Donald Trump’s envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner will attend an expected meeting with Iran in Doha, Reuters reports quoting White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt.

“Special Envoy Witkoff and Jared Kushner will be flying to Doha for high-level meetings this week, as we continue to discuss the memorandum of understanding. On the sidelines of those high-level talks, there will be the technical talks,” she says in an interview with Fox News.

Oil has risen almost 1 per cent after attacks by the US and Iran underscore the fragility of their interim peace deal, while expectations of a continued recovery in energy shipping through the Strait of Hormuz limit gains, Reuters reports.

Iran and the US have agreed to renew talks over the strait, raising hopes of saving the peace deal that had been threatened by days of tit-for-tat strikes.

Brent crude futures are up 62 cents, or 0.9pc, at $72.61 a barrel as of 1203 GMT. US West Texas Intermediate crude has gained 53 cents, or 0.8pc, to $69.76.

US President Donald Trump, in two separate posts on Truth Social, has announced that both oil and gasoline prices are “coming down”.

“WTI (West Texas International) crude — $69, and heading down,” he writes. “This is less than it was prior to the start of the denuclearisation of Iran!”

He adds that gasoline prices are “coming down, fast” and urges the public to report “any abuses at retail level”.

US President Donald Trump has said a meeting between the US and Iran will take place tomorrow in Doha, insisting that it was requested by Tehran.

“Iran has requested a meeting. It will take place tomorrow in Doha,” he wrote on Truth Social.

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.