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Oman Agrees With Britain, France To Safeguard Hormuz Shipping
The British and French leaders said the Gulf state of Oman has agreed to work with the two European countries to ensure that the crucial Strait of Hormuz remains open to world shipping.
"The Strait of Hormuz is a vital artery for the global economy. Restoring safe transit for ships of all nations through the strait is a matter of global concern," British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and French President Emmanuel Macron said in a joint statement on July 3.
"The Sultanate of Oman has agreed to work with the United Kingdom and France to ensure that its sovereign territorial waters are safe for navigation," the statement added.
The important waterway -- through which 20 percent of the world’s oil and gas transits – was effectively blocked by Iran in response to the US and Israeli air strikes beginning on February 28.
The move, and a subsequent blockade of Iranian ports by US forces, sent global fuel prices soaring.
As part of a now-fragile cease-fire between Iran and the US, the shipping lane has been reopened, although incidents in and around the strait have kept tensions high in the region.
Britain and France have been preparing to launch a coordinated mission to keep the strait free from future blockades, although no specific plans have been announced.
"The United Kingdom and France reaffirm their shared commitment to regional stability, respect for the sovereignty of all states, and their willingness to maintain close cooperation with their partners in order to uphold global security, freedom of navigation and international law," the statement by Starmer and Macron said.
With reporting by dpa
News Analysis: Curtains On Khamenei As Iran Stages Five-Day Farewell
More than four months after he was killed in the opening strikes of the war with the United States and Israel, Ali Khamenei, who ruled the country for more than three decades with an iron first, is finally being buried.
Starting on July 4, Iran is staging what officials are calling one of the largest, most complex funerals in its history: five days of ceremonies stretching across Tehran, Qom, and Mashhad -- with stops in Baghdad, Karbala, and Najaf in neighboring Iraq -- before his body reaches its final resting place at the Imam Reza shrine on July 9.
The event is expected to have the scale of pageantry usually reserved for founding figures, but having ruled Iran for nearly 37 years, Khamenei leaves as the Islamic republic's longest-serving supreme leader and a defining force in Iran's modern history.
The drawn-out affair, according to Taghi Rahmani, a rights activist and husband of Nobel Peace Prize Winner Narges Mohammadi, is designed as a show of the state "still standing" and reasserting itself after the war. It will also attempt to gloss over the deaths of tens of thousands of Iranians at the hands of Khamenei's regime.
To read the full news analysis, click here.
Netanyahu's Office Denies NYT Report On Israel Plotting To Kill Iranian Negotiators
The office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has denied a story by The New York Times that reported US officials believed Israel might have been plotting to kill two top Iranian officials.
Citing unnamed US officials, The New York Times reported on July 2 that American officials feared Israel would target Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi and Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf, Iran's chief negotiators, during talks over an interim US-Iran deal that was signed in June.
Concerned that an Israeli assassination attempt could scupper negotiations, the administration of US President Donald Trump indirectly alerted Iran in April, The New York Times reported.
"As usual, The New York Times' latest story about Israel and the Iranian negotiators is fake news. A complete fabrication of reality," Netanyahu's office said in a July 3 post on X.
Israel assassinated dozens of Iranian military and political leaders, including the late Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, in the first few weeks of the war that started on February 28.
In March, The Wall Street Journal reported that Araqchi and Qalibaf were on Israel's target list.
Houthis Threaten Saudi Arabia Over Iran Flight
Yemen's Houthi rebels said they confronted Saudi Arabian "warplanes" that allegedly attempted to prevent an Iranian civilian aircraft from landing in the capital, Sanaa.
According to a July 3 statement by the Houthi military spokesman Yahya Sarea, the Iran-backed group warned it would target "Saudi airports and vital interests on land and sea" if Riyadh continued to violate Yemeni airspace, he added.
Earlier, local media said the aircraft successfully landed and headed back to Tehran carrying the Houthi delegation to attend the funeral of Iran's late Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was killed in an Israeli air strike on the first day of the war on February 28.
The Houthi rebels are a key ally of Tehran and entered the war in March when they fired missiles at Israel.
War broke out between Saudi Arabia and the Houthis in 2015. A UN-brokered truce in 2022 largely stopped the fighting.
NATO To Reiterate At Summit Iran Must Never Have Nuclear Weapons
NATO leaders will reiterate that Iran "must never have a nuclear weapon and call on Iran to fully respect freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz."
That's according to a text approved by NATO ambassadors on July 3 and reviewed by Reuters.
NATO leaders will meet at a summit in Ankara next week.
Under a memorandum of understanding (MOU) signed by Tehran and Washington on June 17, Iran agreed to allow 60 days of toll-free navigation in the Strait of Hormuz, a key artery for global energy supplies.
Under the interim agreement, Iran also reaffirmed that it will not "procure or develop nuclear weapons."
The sides have 60 days to reach a lasting peace deal, but several thorny issues, including the fate of Iran’s nuclear program, remain unresolved.
Mixed Feelings Among Iranians As Khamenei's Body Lies In State
The body of Iran's late supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, was laid in state in Tehran on July 3 as authorities began a week of funeral processions for the slain cleric amid mixed reactions among Iranians over a man whose more than three decades in power was marked by oppression and the death of tens of thousands of Iranians through crackdowns and executions.
Foreign dignitaries began arriving in the capital early in the day ahead of official mourning ceremonies set for July 4 for Khamenei, who was killed at the age of 86 in US and Israeli air strikes on February 28.
It is unclear whether Mojtaba Khamenei -- who was appointed to replace his father but has not appeared in public since his parent's death -- will attend the ceremonies.
"This goes beyond an ordinary funeral procession," Babak Dorbeiki, a UK-based political analyst, told RFE/RL's Radio Farda.
"It serves a full political function, a legitimizing function, and it's meant to reinforce their own propaganda."
Read more here
As Iran Prepares Elaborate Funeral For Khamenei, Many Recall A Brutal Leader
Iran's government is preparing a multiday funeral ceremony for late Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, who was killed in US and Israeli strikes in February. But many Iranians are not mourning his loss, and are instead sharing complex reactions to the death of a man who led an oppressive theocratic regime.
Foreign Dignitaries Arrive In Tehran For Khamenei Funeral Ceremonies
Foreign dignitaries arrived in Tehran on July 3 ahead of official mourning ceremonies for former Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, Iranian state television reported.
Delegations from China, Belarus, Iraq, and Turkmenistan were shown arriving as Khamenei's coffin lay in state at Tehran's Grand Mosalla prayer complex.
The weeklong ceremonies will begin in Tehran before continuing to Qom and Iraq, culminating in Khamenei's burial at the Imam Reza Shrine in his hometown of Mashhad on July 9.
With reporting by dpa
Iranian State Media Shows Revolutionary Guards Chief Making First Public Appearance Since War Began
Ahmad Vahidi, the commander-in-chief of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC), appeared publicly for the first time since the outbreak of the US-Israeli war with Iran, paying his respects at the coffin of late Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei in Tehran on July 3, according to footage broadcast by Iranian state media.
Vahidi, who has kept a low profile since the conflict began amid concerns that senior Iranian commanders could be targeted for assassination, placed his hand on Khamenei's coffin and prayed, images published by the semiofficial Fars news agency showed.
A day earlier, the IRNA state news agency reported that Vahidi had appeared at an official government meeting that was also attended by President Masud Pezeshkian, Parliament Speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf, and Tehran Mayor Alireza Zakani among others. The agency also published photographs from the meeting.
A veteran IRGC commander and former defense minister, Vahidi took over as head of the Revolutionary Guards in March after his predecessor, Mohammad Pakpur, was killed during the war.
He had previously served as deputy commander following the death of the previous IRGC chief, Hossein Salami, in Israeli strikes in 2025, making him the third commander to lead the force in less than a year.
The IRGC is Iran's powerful ideological military force, operating alongside the country's regular armed forces and wielding significant influence over national security, foreign policy, and large parts of the economy.