War, latest news. Araghchi: The Strait of Hormuz under our control for 30 days. Khamenei’s funeral on 4–5 July

The United States has asked Israel to make two amendments to the text to secure the agreement with Lebanon. Axios reports this, specifying that the points in question were Israel’s withdrawal from a village in southern Lebanon currently under Israeli occupation and an explicit statement that this would mark the start of a wider process of redeployment out of Lebanon.

Mines will bring maritime traffic in the Strait of Hormuz to a standstill for months. Takaya Soga, chief executive of the Japanese shipping company NYK Line – which operates a fleet of over 900 vessels – told the Financial Times, who believes that the presence of mines means maritime traffic through the Strait of Hormuz will operate at less than half pre-war levels for months, even if the agreement between the United States and Iran holds. “The routes available for navigation are extremely limited; they are very narrow corridors,” he said. “We are still a long way from returning to the conditions that existed before the closure of the Strait of Hormuz.” It is estimated that Iran has laid around 80 mines in the main shipping lanes of the strait, the Secretary-General of the International Maritime Organisation, Arsenio Dominguez, stated two days ago. Concerns over the mines leave only two much narrower routes available: one near the island of Larak, close to the Iranian coast, and another near Oman, to the south. The type of mines laid by Iran in the strait remains unclear. If most of them are on the seabed, they will be more difficult to locate and destroy than the more rudimentary contact mines.

“US aircraft have just struck Iranian missile and drone depots, as well as coastal radar posts, for having violated, ONCE AGAIN, the ceasefire agreement! It is highly likely that they will never learn!” US President Donald Trump wrote this on Truth, announcing the new attacks against Iran. The parties are accusing each other of failing to respect the ceasefire agreed in the Memorandum, which included a halt to Israeli military actions in Lebanon.

“There may come a time,” added the White House occupant, “when we will no longer be able to act reasonably and will be forced to complete by military means the task we have begun with great success. Should that happen, the Islamic Republic of Iran will cease to exist!”

At least twenty million people are expected to attend the funeral ceremonies on 4 and 5 July for the former Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was killed in an Israeli-American air raid at the end of February. This was reported by the Iranian news agency Mehr, quoting General Hassan Hassanzadeh, commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps in Tehran.

The commander stated that two main ceremonies have been organised in Tehran: the first will take place on 4 July, with a public farewell ceremony and prayers at the capital’s large Imam Khomeini Cemetery; the second will take place the following day, with the funeral procession taking place at a separate location. The burial will take place on 9 July in Mashhad, Khamenei’s birthplace, in the north-east of the country.

Israeli defence companies have supplied missile defence systems and components for advanced fighter aircraft to Qatar and Saudi Arabia over the years, despite the fact that Israel does not have formal diplomatic relations with either country. This has been revealed by Haaretz in an investigation based on an analysis of documents and satellite photographs.

Among the systems supplied to Qatar is Elbit’s C-Music, designed to protect aircraft from shoulder-fired surface-to-air missiles, which is reported to have been installed on at least three aircraft belonging to the Qatari royal family between 2020 and 2022. Furthermore, Israeli companies have also been involved in the Qatar Air Force’s F-15 project through subcontracts with Boeing. The components supplied are said to include advanced flight helmets and night-vision goggles.

The spokesperson for the Iranian Foreign Ministry, Esmail Bagahei, has stated that Tehran is calling for “a clear timetable” for “Israel’s withdrawal from the occupied Lebanese territories”. This has been reported by the Iranian media.

“I condemn in the strongest possible terms the latest Iranian attacks that have struck Bahrain and Kuwait in the last few hours; the Italian government stands in full solidarity with them. It is essential to avoid any escalation that could jeopardise the agreements that have been painstakingly reached,” said Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani in a post on X. “Italia reaffirms its commitment to freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz and to swiftly achieving peace and stability in the Middle East,” the minister added.

Iran’s Supreme Leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, has ordered that the crimes committed against the Iranian people by the United States and Israel be prosecuted in both national and international courts. In a message released today to mark Judiciary Week and reported by the IRNA news agency, Khamenei stated: “The explicit confessions – indeed, the shameful glorification – of these atrocities by certain leaders of the American and Zionist enemy constitute unequivocal admissions of criminal guilt.”

“These admissions have effectively paved the way for the legitimate pursuit of the nation’s trampled rights,” he added, “the crimes against the Iranian people, from the unprecedented war crimes in Minab and Lamerd (the provinces where a school was struck, killing 168 people, and where weapons were tested on civilian structures, causing a further 21 deaths, ed.) to the martyrdom of Iran’s eminent Supreme Leader, must be seriously prosecuted in both national and international courts.” “The criminals must be arrested and held to account for their crimes,” Khamenei concluded.

“It is time for a new approach to creating a regional security framework for the Persian Gulf, with the participation of all states in the region and without the presence or interference of extra-regional powers – said Araghchi – ‘We welcome the Iraqi Foreign Minister’s proposal for a dialogue between the Gulf Cooperation Council, Iran and Iraq’.”

“The Kingdom of Bahrain is calling for international action to put a stop to Iran’s repeated aggression.” The statement appears in a post on the official account of Bahrain’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Iran “will respond decisively to any hostile action” and “any breach of the ceasefire will be met with a stronger response than before”. This was the message from Hossein Mohebi, spokesperson for the Revolutionary Guards, the Iranian Pasdaran, in statements addressed to the United States and reported by the Iranian broadcaster Press TV. “As we had anticipated, the enemy is deceitful and untrustworthy and, at any moment – even during negotiations – could take hostile action,” said Mohebi.

The “acts of escalation” that Bahrain and Kuwait claim to have suffered “constitute a flagrant violation of state sovereignty and a direct threat to the security and stability of the region”. This was stated by Lebanese President Joseph Aoun in a statement issued by his office and quoted by Al Jazeera, in which he said he regarded the ongoing Iranian attacks as an attempt to undermine “all regional and international efforts and initiatives aimed at ending the war and containing tensions”. The situation “requires urgent intervention by the sponsors of the memorandum of understanding between the United States and Iran and by the international community”, Aoun added, reiterating “Lebanon’s full solidarity with Bahrain and Kuwait”.

The Iranian Foreign Minister, Abbas Araghchi, has called on the United States to halt Israeli attacks in Lebanon, as provided for in the Memorandum of Understanding. “Unfortunately, the Zionist entity continues to launch its air strikes in Lebanon,” he said at a press conference held in Baghdad alongside his Iraqi counterpart Fuad Hussein, adding that “the United States bears direct responsibility for bringing the aggression to an end, implementing the ceasefire and withdrawing from the occupied territories, as stipulated in the agreement”.

“According to the memorandum of understanding, the Strait of Hormuz, under the management arrangements adopted by Iran, will return to its pre-war capacity within 30 days. The Islamic Republic of Iran is responsible for the adoption and implementation of these agreements; no other institution or country is responsible for them, in accordance with the memorandum of understanding. Any interference or attempt to adopt new agreements or ones that differ from the current ones would only serve to further complicate the situation and delay the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, thereby increasing tensions.” So said Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, speaking at a press conference in Baghdad.

The Kuwaiti Armed Forces “have intercepted two hostile ballistic missiles”. This was reported by the Kuna news agency, which stated that there were no consequences, nor any damage or casualties. The news comes after the Kuwaiti Foreign Ministry “strongly condemned the repeated Iranian attacks”.

Kuwait’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs has condemned a new Iranian attack on its territory, after Tehran stated that it had launched attacks against US bases in the Gulf in retaliation for US strikes. The ministry said in a statement that it “condemns and denounces… in the strongest possible terms, the recurrence of Iran’s atrocious acts of aggression against the State of Kuwait, the latest of which took place at dawn today, in flagrant violation of its sovereignty”.

Iran has stated that it is determined to defend its sovereignty following the latest US attacks against the country, whilst the fragile truce in the Middle East conflict hangs in the balance. “Iran strongly condemns the air strikes carried out by the US ‘terrorist army’ against several monitoring and surveillance facilities on the country’s southern coast in the early hours of Sunday,” the Iranian Foreign Ministry said in a statement, adding that it “reiterates its determination to defend Iran’s national sovereignty” against US attacks. Iran and the United States have accused each other of violating the truce, putting the negotiations aimed at ending the war in the Middle East under severe strain.

(Bahrain’s air defences have intercepted Iranian missiles and drones, according to reports from the Gulf kingdom’s armed forces, following fresh US strikes against Iran. The Bahraini army stated that it had “intercepted and destroyed a number of projectiles used in these malicious Iranian attacks”, adding that it was on “high alert”. Iran had previously announced that it had launched attacks against the US Fifth Fleet base in Bahrain and another base in Kuwait, in retaliation for US attacks on its own territory.

In a social media post, Trump stated that the United States had “struck Iranian missile and drone depots, as well as coastal radar installations, for violating the ceasefire agreement, ONCE AGAIN!”. He also warned that there may come a time when the United States will no longer be able to act with restraint “and will be forced to complete the task by military means”.

“If that were to happen, the Islamic Republic of Iran would cease to exist!”, Trump wrote on Truth Social. The US air strikes follow yesterday’s Iranian drone attack on an oil tanker. This incident follows a similar exchange of fire a few days ago, when an Iranian drone struck a merchant ship off the coast of Oman and the US armed forces responded with air strikes.

Iran has launched attacks against US forces in Bahrain and Kuwait after the US military announced that it had carried out raids on 10 Iranian sites, citing the attacks on ships in the Strait of Hormuz as the reason. This morning, air-raid sirens sounded for the second time in Bahrain, whilst Kuwait stated that its air defences had responded to “hostile threats from missiles and drones”. The news was reported on the website of the Qatari network Al Jazeera.

The United States has carried out further air strikes against Iranian targets in the Strait of Hormuz. Centcom, the US Central Command, has announced that “further strikes have been carried out against several targets in Iran” in response to Tehran’s action against a vessel transiting the Strait. “Following yesterday’s US strikes in response to the Iranian attack on the Ever Lovely, Iran was given the opportunity to honour the ceasefire agreement”. The Islamic Republic, however, “chose not to do so by launching a one-way attack drone that struck the ‘Kiku’ this morning”. “The Panamanian-flagged oil tanker was transiting near the Strait of Hormuz carrying over two million barrels of crude oil”. The US, therefore, “launched strikes today in direct response to Iran’s continued aggression against commercial shipping. US military aircraft targeted Iranian infrastructure used for military surveillance, communications systems, air defence sites, drone depots and mine-laying vessels. Centcom concludes by assuring that “the transit of commercial vessels through the Strait of Hormuz continues” and that “US forces remain vigilant and ready for action”.