Al Jazeera

By Jillian Kestler-D'Amours and Daniel Khalili-Tari

    The United States and Iran have agreed to halt attacks and meet in the Qatari capital, Doha, on Tuesday to resolve their dispute over the Strait of Hormuz, the Axios news site reports.

    Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi says responsibility for the Strait of Hormuz lies solely with Tehran and warns that any attempt to bypass its preferred route in the waterway will cause “tension and escalation”.

    Lebanese Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri says Beirut’s framework agreement with Israel “will not pass” and “will not be implemented” as it does not guarantee Lebanon’s rights.

    Israeli forces kill four Palestinians in Gaza as Syria condemns Israeli incursions into the southern provinces of Quneitra and Deraa, warning that the “continued attacks risk further escalation and tension across the region”.

Where does Scott Wiener stand on Gaza

    The California state lawmaker, who is the frontrunner in the race to succeed former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, has been making headlines this weekend after he was forced to leave a transgender rights event in San Francisco over his stance on Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza.

    Footage shared online showed Wiener, who is Jewish and gay, being heckled by people who shouted that he has been “terrible on Gaza”.

So, what’s going on

    Wiener was criticised earlier this year after a congressional debate in which he failed to call Israel’s military assault on Gaza a genocide.

    He later reversed course, saying in a video shared on X in January that he believes “Israel has committed genocide” in Gaza. “To me, the Israeli government has tried to destroy Gaza and to push Palestinians out, and that qualifies as genocide,” he said.

    At the time, a spokesperson for the other candidate vying for Pelosi’s seat, Connie Chan, accused Wiener of political opportunism, saying: “People getting killed didn’t move him, but boos at a forum did. This is about politics, not principle.”

US, Iran ready for talks after ‘military action to underscore their interpretation’ of MoU

    Richard Schmierer, a former US ambassador to Oman, says mediation by Qatar and Pakistan has succeeded in bringing Washington and Tehran back to the table, and that the exchange of military strikes appears to be over for now.

    “I think we’ve probably had some good mediation from Qatar and Pakistan to try to get the two sides to stand down,” he told Al Jazeera, adding that “both sides now feel they have made their point”.

    Each party has “used military action to underscore their interpretation” of the MoU, and both sides seem to think they can now “return to diplomatic engagement”.

    Schmierer said he expected Qatar and Pakistan to participate in Tuesday’s talks to try to help keep the tensions down.

    “Maybe now, for the time being, we are past the back and forth, tit-for-tat, military activity, and on Tuesday, we’ll see what I hope will be successful diplomatic engagement, and to clarify the situation in the Strait of Hormuz,” he added.

Oil prices climb

    Oil prices have risen following days of tit-for-tat strikes by the US and Iran that again disrupted shipping through the Strait of Hormuz.

    Brent crude futures climbed 58 cents, or 0.8 percent, to $72.57 a barrel at 02:07 GMT, while US West Texas Intermediate crude was at $70.11 a barrel, up 88 cents, or 1.3 percent.

    This comes after Brent crude fell 10.6 percent last week, in its third weekly decline, after crude shipments through the strait rose to their highest level since the US-Israel war on Iran began in late February.

US congresswoman slams Trump’s ‘unhinged’ threats against Iran

    Yassamin Ansari, an Iranian-American lawmaker, has condemned Trump’s recent social media post threatening Iran.

    In a post on his Truth Social platform yesterday, confirming US attacks on Iran, the US president said Washington may “be forced to militarily complete the job” if Tehran does not abide by the deal that was signed by both countries.

    “If that happens, the Islamic Republic of Iran will no longer exist!” he wrote.

    Ansari, a Democrat from Arizona, wrote on X that Trump’s rhetoric is “dangerous” and “unhinged”.

    “Thousands of innocent people are dead, the region is in chaos, and our economy is devastated. This war must end now,” she said.

Iran issues ‘serious warning’ to Bahrain

    An adviser to Iran’s supreme leader has warned Bahrain that Tehran would strike the country with greater force if provoked.

    “A serious warning is being given to the Bahrainis to know their limits and not play such games with their own fate, and not force Iran to adopt harsh decisions,” Ali Akbar Velayati was quoted as saying by the semi-official Tasnim News.

    Iran targeted a US Navy base in Bahrain on Saturday and Friday in response to US attacks. Tehran claims the US uses military bases in the region to launch attacks on its territory. Gulf nations deny the claim, and Manama has condemned the latest attacks, saying they violated its sovereignty and undermined “opportunities for de-escalation and stability in the region”.

    Bahrain, which is home to a large Shia population, has arrested dozens of people in recent months on accusations of having military ties to Tehran.

How did the latest US-Iran escalation begin

    June 23: The UN announces two routes to evacuate stranded ships in the Strait of Hormuz, including through Oman’s waters. Iran rejects the plan, saying it was announced without consultation.

    June 25: The Taiwanese-operated Ever Lovely is struck off the coast of Oman.

    June 26: The US bombs Iran, accusing it of violating the MoU by attacking the Ever Lovely.

    June 27: The IRGC says it responded with assaults on US forces in the region, with Bahrain reporting several drone attacks. Another ⁠tanker is struck ⁠⁠in the Strait of Hormuz.

    June 27: US Central Command launches a second wave of strikes on Iran.

    June 28: Iran launches retaliatory attacks on US forces in Bahrain and Kuwait and insists it alone has the responsibility to manage traffic in the Strait of Hormuz.

Israel-Lebanon deal ‘does not reflect the justice’ Lebanese people deserve

By Justin Salhani

Reporting from Beirut, Lebanon

    Some of the harshest critics of the Lebanon-Israel-US framework agreement are those most affected by Israel’s attacks on the country, many of whom say the deal falls short because it does not require the Israeli army to withdraw from the areas it occupies in Lebanon.

    Ali Zaytoun, a resident of Dahiyeh, the southern suburbs of Beirut, said he finds it “incredibly difficult” to accept the deal.

    “After everything my family, my village, the south, and Dahiyeh have endured – the destruction, the displacement, the grief and the loss – it is incredibly difficult for me to accept an agreement with the same state that carried out the military actions that devastated our communities,” Zaytoun said.

    Zaytoun, who runs a popular Instagram account called History of Dahiyeh, told Al Jazeera he had been displaced multiple times due to Israeli attacks.

    “Imagine someone destroys your home and your life, and then you’re expected to simply move on as if nothing happened,” he said. “My protest is about remembering those who suffered, standing up for my community, and expressing that this agreement does not reflect the justice or respect that people who lived through this war deserve.”

48 vessels passed through Hormuz after US-Iran attacks, data shows

    Al Jazeera’s Open Source Unit has been tracking traffic through the Strait of Hormuz since the US and Iran traded strikes, accusing each other of violating the ceasefire agreement.

    Let’s take a look:

    From Friday, June 26, to Sunday, June 28, a total of 48 vessels transited the strait during two separate timeframes.

    That includes 23 oil and gas tankers and seven bulk carriers, which are specialised ships designed to transport commodities such as iron, coal, grain, fertiliser and cement.

    Some 19 cargo or container ships also transited the waterway.