WSJ: ‘Iran has a new plan to kill Trump’

The new round of talks between Israel and Lebanon, scheduled to take place in Rome on 15 and 16 July, may be postponed by a week. This is reported by Ynet, citing ‘sources familiar with the matter’, according to whom the reason for the postponement is the desire to hold talks between the negotiating teams after the meeting between Lebanese President Joseph Aoun and President Trump, scheduled for 21 July in the US.

Israeli forces from the Golani Brigade have identified and destroyed several weapons caches attributed to Hezbollah within the IDF-controlled security zone in southern Lebanon over the past few days. This was reported by The Times of Israel, citing the Israeli army.

According to the IDF, the depots contained rocket launchers, machine guns, explosive devices, missiles and other military equipment, which were reportedly intended for use in attacks against Israeli troops and Israeli civilians. The army has also released a video showing one of the sites identified and the destruction of an arms depot.

Israel is reportedly ready to join a new campaign of US strikes against Iran, but is said to be awaiting the go-ahead from US President Donald Trump. This is reported by the Israeli public broadcaster Kan, as cited by The Times of Israel, which states that a section of the Israeli political and military establishment is in favour of resuming operations against the Islamic Republic. According to Kan, which cites assessments by unnamed Israeli officials, it is believed in Jerusalem that the exchange of attacks between the United States and Iran may continue in the coming days. This is also supported by a report in the New York Post, which quotes a source in Jerusalem as saying that Israel is keen to take part in any future raids and to fully resume the war against Iran. “We are ready to do it again, if necessary,” the source told the US newspaper on Wednesday, before the US attacks on Iranian targets began. The same source added that Israel “is not eager to return to the days when the population has to take refuge in bunkers”, but does not intend to “ignore what is happening in Iran”. “If that is the price to pay, we will bear it,” the source concluded.

Further reading

From the VIX to spreads: risk indicators no longer signal any risk

18 June 2026

Tens of millions of Iranians and worshippers from all over the world turned the funeral ceremonies for the martyred Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution, Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei, into the largest procession ever seen in the world. According to the Iranian broadcaster Press TV, the six-day funeral ceremonies, which took place in five cities – Tehran, Qom, Najaf, Karbala and Mashhad – attracted huge crowds, with official estimates, cited by the Fars news agency, putting the figure at between 41 and 43 million people. These figures, writes Press TV, are based on a combination of data, including passenger records for public transport to and from the ceremony venues, the presence of active mobile phone signals in key areas such as the Mosque and the main procession routes, an average duration of individual participation of around two and a half hours, detailed calculations of crowd density along the procession routes in Tehran, measurements of the physical distance from the Jamkaran Mosque to the Shrine of Qom, and the route from the airport to the Shrine of Imam Reza in Mashhad.

“It is of fundamental importance” that the situation in Iran is resolved. “We know that the Strait of Hormuz has now become the economic hub of the global economy. The EU is less directly exposed to the crisis than Asia, but we have suffered from rising prices. We saw this in the growth figures for the first half of the year.” This was stated by the French Finance Minister, Roland Lescure, on his arrival at the Ecofin meeting in Brussels. “So we need a recovery, and I think the conditions for recovery can be created. Inflation has already fallen. Business confidence is improving slightly and, for that reason, we need tensions to ease. And I think they are working on it and I hope they will manage to resolve the situation,” he reiterated. (

Further reading

Gas at 50 euros: Qatar puts the brakes on the resumption of production; Hormuz once again at risk

09 July 2026

According to vessel tracking data, in recent days a greater number of liquefied natural gas tankers have resumed passing through the Strait of Hormuz. Despite the resumption of tensions between the United States and Iran, at least five empty LNG tankers have entered the strait in recent days, according to data from Kpler and LSE. The vessels include the GasLog Shanghai, operated by the Greek shipping company GasLog, and the Al Samriya, Al Dafna, Al Gattara and Al Rayyan, all linked to QatarEnergy. Meanwhile, 22 vessels linked to Japan have left the strait, including six large oil tankers that had passed through between 7 and 9 July, Japanese Transport Minister Yasushi Kaneko said at a press conference.

According to Iranian state media, explosions have been reported in various parts of Iran. However, US officials have told Al Jazeera that the US armed forces have not carried out any attacks in Iran in the last few hours.

Although a US defence official told Al Jazeera that the United States is not responsible for the latest attacks in Iran, it is “entirely possible” that Israel is behind them, says Dan Grazier, a former US Marine Corps officer, in an interview with the same broadcaster.

The Lebanese National News Agency has reported that Israeli forces are continuing to carry out demolition operations in southern Lebanon, carrying out extensive explosions within the town of Khiam.

According to the agency, numerous consecutive explosions were heard during the night, shaking the entire area, whilst operations continued.

Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, was buried in the early hours of Friday in Mashhad, a few months after his assassination in the early stages of the war with Iran.

The ceremony apparently took place without his son and successor, Mojtaba Khamenei, in attendance, according to footage broadcast by the state broadcaster Irib.

Israel has shared intelligence with the United States which, it claims, points to a new Iranian plot to kill Donald Trump. This is according to sources familiar with the matter who spoke to the Wall Street Journal. On Wednesday, speaking to journalists in Ankara, Turkey, the tycoon referred to the threats against him. “I’m number one on the list,” he said. “So far, I suppose I’ve been a bit lucky, but perhaps my luck won’t last much longer.”