Al Jazeera

By Stephen Quillen and Federica Marsi

    Iran Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and his Omani counterpart discuss “appropriate mechanisms” for safe passage of ships through Strait of Hormuz during talks in Muscat.

    In his first message since the funeral of his father, Iran’s Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei has pledged to “avenge [his] innocent blood”, adding that “revenge is the will of our nation”.

    Earlier, the US President Donald Trump said 1,000 missiles are “locked and loaded and aimed at the Islamic Republic of Iran” with thousands more to follow if it tries to assassinate him.

    Israeli air attacks have hit areas of southern Lebanon.

Iran ‘firm’ in view that it should regulate Hormuz traffic

By Resul Serdar Atas

Reporting from Tehran, Iran

    The recent statement by Iran’s foreign ministry does not give that many details [about the meeting in Muscat between Araghchi and Oman’s al-Busaidi].

    At the end, the statement said the two officials “exchanged views on appropriate mechanisms for the safe passage of ships through the Strait of Hormuz”.

    Iran has been insisting on this “mechanism” for Hormuz between Iran and Oman and now we know they have been focusing on that.

    Iran is quite firm in its view that Article 5 of the US-Iran MoU fully authorises Iran to be the sole actor regulating maritime traffic through the Strait of Hormuz.

    Iranian officials say that the Strait of Hormuz is within Iran’s and Oman’s territorial waters, so no third party can be involved. Of course, this is something that regional countries and the US are fundamentally against.

Hormuz shipping in focus as Iran-US rhetoric heats up

By Maziar Motamedi

    Iran and the United States have offered clashing narratives over the fate of ships passing through the Strait of Hormuz as they continue to trade threats, even as they maintain contact through mediators.

    Iranian state media on Saturday released the latest statement attributed to Mojtaba Khamenei, who has not been seen or heard from since being selected as the new supreme leader by a clerical body in March.

    Ali Vaez, the Crisis Group’s Iran Project director, said revenge rhetoric is for domestic consumption while diplomacy is aimed at preventing another punishing round of war.

    “Trump’s declaration that the ceasefire is over raises the costs of talks, but not necessarily their utility. Both sides appear to recognise that the alternative is an escalation neither can afford or reliably control,” he said.

Palestinian killed by Israeli forces in Gaza

    Israeli gunfire has killed a Palestinian man in Khan Younis near an area controlled by the military, emergency service sources have told Al Jazeera.

    Israeli forces have been building permanent, heavily fortified military posts in Gaza instead of withdrawing as agreed in the ‘ceasefire’ deal last October.

Seven injured by air strikes in Lebanon’s al-Mansouri: Lebanese state media

    Lebanon’s National News Agency (NNA) reports that seven people have been wounded by air strikes in southern Lebanon’s al-Mansouri.

    The agency said five of those injured have been hospitalised, while two were treated at the scene.

    Israeli air attacks have repeatedly targeted al-Mansouri today, according to NNA.

Lebanese government looking for Israeli withdrawal from pilot zones before Rome talks

Reporting from Beirut, Lebanon

    As part of the framework agreement mediated by the US between Israel and Lebanon, the Israeli military is supposed to be withdrawing from pilot zones in the south, where the Lebanese army will then deploy. There’s been a US military delegation in town here in Beirut, meeting with senior leaders from the Lebanese army to discuss those pilot zones.

    Officials have told local media here in Lebanon that the Lebanese government is insisting that happens before they proceed with the next round of direct negotiations, which is scheduled for next week in Rome.

    Now, Hezbollah has maintained its opposition to those direct talks between Lebanon and Israel, preferring to maintain a ceasefire between the US and Iran which stipulates a ceasefire here in Lebanon. But despite the breakdown in that ceasefire this week, the group has held its fire here in Lebanon.

    The Israeli military has continued its operations, but not escalated them. On Friday, the Israeli Broadcasting Authority said that the military had been instructed to refrain from what it described as sensitive operations in southern Lebanon at the request of the United States.

Power cuts plunge Gaza hospitals into darkness as Israel’s attacks persist

By Eman Abu Zayed

    Omar Abu Atwa was walking home from work one day in central Gaza last month when an explosion shook the street around him.

    Bloodied and confused, the 30-year-old driver was taken to Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir el-Balah, where doctors examined injuries to his hand.

    As he waited for an X-ray, the lights cut out and so did much of the hospital’s medical equipment, including the machine doctors needed to inspect his wound.

US involved in planned Iraq-Syria pipeline deal to circumvent Strait of Hormuz: Report

    The US has been working with Iraq and Syria on a plan to revamp an old pipeline running from Iraq’s northern city of Kirkuk to Syria’s Baniyas on the Mediterranean coast, which would allow Iraq to export oil without using the Strait of Hormuz, reports Middle East Eye.

    The London-based news outlet cites Iraqi and other regional officials as saying an agreement to restore the 500-mile (800km) pipeline, which has been closed for decades and is badly damaged, is expected to be announced during a meeting between Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi and Trump in the White House next week.

    One senior official told Middle East Eye that the pipeline will probably have to be completely replaced, which would take two to three years. The official said a group of US companies have already been recruited for the project.

Iranian and Omani ministers meet in Muscat, discuss Hormuz ‘safe passage’

    Iran’s Foreign Minister, Abbas Araghchi, has met his Omani counterpart, Badr al-Busaidi, in the capital Muscat, according to a post on Araghchi’s official Telegram page.

    They discussed bilateral relations and regional developments, especially regarding the Strait of Hormuz. The post added that the ministers “exchanged views on appropriate mechanisms for the safe passage of ships through the Strait of Hormuz,” in accordance with the US-Iran MoU.

Israeli forces move into eastern outskirts of Lebanon’s Beit Yahoun: Lebanese state media

    Israeli forces have used three tanks and several bulldozers to advance into the eastern edge of the town of Beit Yahoun in southern Lebanon, reports Lebanon’s National News Agency (NNA).

    In Houla, also in southern Lebanon, NNA said Israeli forces ignited fires, damaging homes and olive trees.

    As we reported earlier, an Israeli air attack hit the southern town of al-Mansouri, while Israeli forces blew up homes in Nabatieh district.

Qatar, Jordan discuss regional tensions, call for de-escalation

    Qatar’s Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani has held a phone call with Jordan’s Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi to discuss the current escalation between the US and Iran.

    In a statement, the Qatari Foreign Ministry said both sides emphasised the importance of diplomacy and de-escalation. Qatar called for the implementation of the US-Iran memorandum of understanding and the safeguarding of freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz.

US lawmaker Ro Khanna says he was detained by armed Israeli settlers during West Bank visit

    US Congressman Ro ⁠Khanna has said Israeli settlers wielding US-made rifles detained him as he made a visit to the occupied West Bank earlier this week.

    Khanna told Reuters that his group’s van was surrounded by Israeli settlers wielding M4 rifles on Wednesday as he toured a part of the southern West Bank where Israeli settler attacks are frequent.

    “We were at a village that Israeli settlers had destroyed, they had destroyed the school, they had destroyed that village, and we were just looking at it,” Khanna, ⁠a progressive lawmaker from California, told Reuters.

    “And these hoodlums come in with machine guns – M4, an American-made machine gun – and they detain us. They block off the road. And then they call the [Israeli military] and the [Israeli military] is on their side, not on the side of the Americans,” Khanna said, referring to the Israeli military.

    In a post on X, Khanna said that Israeli military forces “continued our detention” once they arrived, adding that they “made a huge mistake”.

    An aide to Khanna who was in the group, Cameron Kasky, said they were held for more than an hour and made appeals to the US embassy in Jerusalem for help. A group of officers ‌who appeared to be police eventually intervened, leading to their release, Kasky said.

US, Lebanon delegations meet to discuss implementation of framework agreement

    Lebanese sources have told Al Jazeera that delegations from the armed forces of the US and Lebanon have met to work out a mechanism for implementing the first so-called pilot zone in the south.

    This follows reports in Lebanese media and the Financial Times that a US delegation was in Beirut for talks.

    The US-brokered framework agreement between Lebanon and Israel outlines two pilot zones for an initial Israeli withdrawal, where the Lebanese military “will gradually assume full and effective security responsibility”.

If you’re just joining us

    Let’s bring you up to speed:

    Iran’s Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei has issued his first message since his father’s funeral, pledging to “avenge [his] innocent blood” and adding that “revenge is the will of our nation”.

    Iran’s ambassador to the UN warned that Tehran will stop honouring the MoU with the US if attacks continue, accusing Washington of a “flagrant violation” of the UN Charter.

    A drone attack on a vehicle near Nuseirat camp in Gaza has killed one person and wounded several others, say emergency services.

    Israeli air raids on southern Lebanon are continuing – the latest reported in the town of al-Mansouri in Tyre district.

Four Israeli settlers apprehended after allegedly attacking CNN media team: Israeli police

    Four Israeli settlers have been taken into custody after they allegedly attacked a vehicle carrying a CNN media crew in the town of Sinjil in the occupied West Bank, reports The Times of Israel.

    The newspaper cites Israeli police as saying they were called to the scene over a report that the settlers had obstructed and damaged the media team’s car.

    Israeli police officers detained four of the settlers and seized their vehicle, in which they found clubs and a knife, police said, according to the publication.

    As we reported earlier, Israeli settlers have carried out several other attacks in the occupied West Bank today, including destroying a farm in the al-Masoudiya area and wounding four people in Masafer Yatta.

Iran tripled drone production during war, says minister

    Iran’s investment in technology allowed it to triple drone production capacity during the war, according to the acting defence minister.

    “The recent war showed that Iranian elites and investment in modern technologies are the most important components of the country’s defence power,” Majid Ibn al-Reza was quoted by Iran’s Tasnim news agency.

    “At the height of the war, not only did defence production not stop, but the drone production capacity increased threefold.”

Iran looking to deter US from carrying out targeted assassinations

    Iran has pledged revenge to inflict a cost on the US and prevent future attacks against its leadership, Mostafa Khoshcheshm, professor at the University of Applied Science and Technology in Tehran, has told Al Jazeera.

    “[Iranians] believe that if there is no vengeance, then the Israelis and the Americans will continue killing Iranian top leaders,” Khoshcheshm said.

    In 2020, a US drone strike killed Iran’s top general Qassem Soleimani. Since then, a string of top Iranian leaders, including Ali Shamkhani, the secretary of Iran’s Defence Council and a close adviser to the late Supreme Leader Khamenei, have been killed.

    “So this cycle should stop, and it will not stop until Iran inflicts heavy costs on the United States and Israel as a deterrent,” the professor said.

US sees diplomatic talks in Oman as ‘pivotal’

    Washington views today’s meetings in Oman between Iranian and Omani officials as pivotal for future diplomacy, according to unnamed US officials cited by Radio Free Europe.

    Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi is in Muscat to help find a diplomatic solution to the ongoing crisis.

Oman well-positioned to mediate path out of ‘diplomatic minefield’: Former British ambassador

Nicholas Hopton hopes that officials in Oman, where Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi is visiting today, can help broker a resolution to the US and Iran’s dispute over the status of the Strait of Hormuz,

    “The Omanis, who are very practised at dealing with the Iranians, and of course have good relations with the West as well, will be in a very good position to try and find a way through this diplomatic minefield,” Hopton told Al Jazeera. “In particular, because, of course, Oman also borders the Strait of Hormuz.”

    He said one way forward could be “some sort of formula… that pays at least lip service to the fact that things have changed since the 28th of February and that Iran does in fact have de facto control over the Strait of Hormuz at the moment”.

    While Iran certainly has the ability to disrupt passage in the strait, Hopton added, Iran “cannot be allowed to charge a toll or defy international law of the sea”.”

Saudi foreign minister holds phone call with Pakistani counterpart over Iran-US war

    Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan has received a phone call from Pakistan’s Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Mohammad Ishaq Dar, in which they discussed regional developments.

    According to a statement by the Saudi foreign minister, the two leaders underscored the importance of supporting mediation efforts between the US and Iran and facilitating talks to reach a comprehensive solution that promotes regional stability.

Vague MoU provisions fuelled competing interpretations on Hormuz: Former British ambassador

Nicholas Hopton, a former UK ambassador to Qatar and Iran, has said vague provisions within the US-Iran MoU have given room for competing interpretations, contributing to the latest round of tit-for-tat strikes

    “Many such documents which bring wars to an end are vague and open to misinterpretation or interpretation in different ways – and certainly that is the case with the 14-point memorandum of understanding,” Hopton told Al Jazeera.

    He said the US and Iran are especially at odds over the implications of Article 5 of the MoU, which concerns safe passage of the Strait of Hormuz, with Iran insisting that it still retains some control over the strait and that ships need to coordinate with it to pass.

    “Both sides obviously differ on that – that’s why we’ve had the tit-for-tat strikes this week,” said Hopton. “That is why we’ve had the spike in tensions, but we’re not back to full-scale war, which is the good news.”