
Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi has reiterated that, "The Strait of Hormuz has been Iranian, is Iranian, and will remain Iranian." He added that "this strait will only be closed and opened under Iran's command."
Gharibabadi's remarks on Saturday came as US President Donald Trump claimed he would soon declare the Strait of Hormuz part of US territory.
Last week, a top Iranian official set out a list of conditions for reopening the strait, including an end to the "war and aggression against Iran and its allies in Lebanon, Palestine, Yemen, and Iraq".
Mohammad Bagher Zolghadr also demanded the end of crippling sanctions, the release of frozen assets and compensation for wartime damage.
US-Iran talks
As diplomacy stalls between the longtime foes, attacks in the Strait of Hormuz have continued, highlighting the continued risks to regional shipping.
The United Arab Emirates' state-owned oil giant ADNOC said on Saturday that one of its vessels came under attack the night before. Abu Dhabi's foreign ministry later blamed Tehran, and said that Iran's Revolutionary Guards were engaged in "acts of piracy" in the strait.
In Lebanon
At least 11 people were killed in Israeli strikes on the south of the country Saturday, Lebanese officials said, marking the deadliest day since a June ceasefire agreement.
Israel said it was responding to a Hezbollah attack that wounded three Israeli soldiers.
Iran strongly condemned the latest Israeli strikes on southern Lebanon as the "brutal attacks" carried out by the "Zionist regime" on several areas of Lebanon, including Al-Ansar, Ali Al-Taher heights, Nabatieh al-Faouqa and Deir al-Zahrani, according to Tasnim News.
Iran claims Qatar is holding pilots
Iran claimed that Qatar was holding three of its pilots who had been missing since March, which Qatar denied. Until now, Tehran had said it had no information about their fate.
This is the first known case in the war where Iran has said a regional country is holding its fighters. Qatar on March 2 said its air force shot down two Iranian bombers as Tehran lashed out against countries hosting US military bases in the opening days of the war.
Stay tuned to this LIVE blog for all the updates on US-Iran war:
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Israeli strikes in southern Lebanon killed 11 people, marking the deadliest escalation since the June ceasefire.
Israel said it killed Abu Hassan Alaa, a senior Hezbollah commander.
PM Benjamin Netanyahu said the strikes were retaliation for an attack that wounded three Israeli soldiers and warned of further action.
The renewed Israel-Hezbollah fighting comes as Washington and Tehran struggle to resolve differences over the Strait of Hormuz.
The June ceasefire is set to formally expire Monday, with no clear agreement on the next steps.
Former Iranian President Mohammad Khatami urged Tehran to pursue a measured diplomatic approach towards the United States and Israel.
Khatami said Iran cannot live indefinitely under war conditions, stressing that ordinary people cannot maintain normal lives during prolonged conflict.
He said, “We cannot live with war. The people cannot,” warning that continued fighting would make governance and meeting people's needs increasingly difficult.
Khatami said the United States cannot be trusted, but argued that Tehran must still confront the challenge through “prudence and measured diplomacy.”
He accused Israel of being determined to continue tensions and conflict.
Saudi Arabia issued a “potential danger” warning for southern Jazan province, near the Yemen border.
The National Early Warning Platform alert is typically issued ahead of potential attacks targeting an area.
The Houthis control large parts of Yemen, including Sanaa, as well as areas bordering Saudi Arabia's Red Sea provinces.
Iran army puts $30,000 bounty for killing or capturing US soldiers, offers double reward if carried out by women
Iran's military announced a $30,000 reward for anyone who kills or captures a US soldier.
Iranian women who carry out the act would reportedly receive twice the bounty, or about $60,000.
Iran's Army chief Amir Hatami announced the plan, saying it followed a large number of requests for financial participation.
There has been no known deployment of US ground troops inside Iran during the conflict, apart from a rescue mission for a downed US pilot in April.
Iran executed Shahram Sadeghi early Sunday after accusing him of security offenses and deliberately driving into police officers during protests in Karaj on January 8, the judiciary’s Mizan News reported.
The judiciary said Sadeghi had carried out “operational actions” on behalf of Israel, the United States and other groups classified as hostile under Iran’s espionage laws.
Israel’s military displayed a vast arsenal seized from Iran-backed Hamas and Hezbollah, including Iranian-made mortars, cannons, sniper rifles and anti-tank launchers, as well as weapons manufactured in Russia, China and other countries.
Fox News Digital was given rare access to the Israeli Defense Forces’ Tzrifin base in central Israel, where the captured weapons are stored. The arsenal includes rockets, drones, machine guns, grenades and other military equipment seized from the two groups.
Among the weapons displayed was a German-made MG 34 machine gun dating to World War II that the IDF said was seized from a Hezbollah compound in Lebanon. Israeli military officials also showed Iranian-produced weapons and an Iranian replica of an Austrian Steyr sniper rifle.
Here are Iranian foreign minister’s latest comments to Shahrara News on the status of the talks with Oman.
Accoridng to AlJazeera, Araghchi said:
“Our negotiations with Oman are ongoing. That is a completely separate matter. It is a technical issue concerning the designation of maritime routes in the Strait of Hormuz for the passage of ships.”
“The routes that existed previously are no longer functional, so a new route needs to be defined. For now, we are designing a temporary route, which can then, at a later stage, be turned into a final route.”
“We may reach an outcome soon, but I want to emphasise that these negotiations and the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz are two separate issues. This is a technical negotiation concerning the designation of a maritime route.”
“Once this route has been determined, whether the Strait will be reopened or not will depend on the fulfilment of other conditions to which the United States must adhere.”
Yemen's years-long civil conflict killed tens of thousands of people, uprooted millions and drove the country to the brink of famine before a 2022 truce restored relative calm.
Now, renewed hostilities between the Houthi rebels and the government have many fearing the return of all-out war, AFP reported.
Hodeida native Anwar, a father of two, recalls fleeing the advance of the Iran-backed Houthis, seeking refuge in the city of Mokha.
Last week, explosions startled him and his children as the rebels hit Mokha port, reviving fears of another cycle of displacement and violence.
"I do not want our lives to be haunted by constant panic caused by Houthi terror. Mokha used to be a safe city and a haven for many Yemenis," he told AFP.
"The hardest part is not fearing for my own safety, but fearing for my children and family," he said.
The future USS John F. Kennedy, the US Navy’s second Gerald R. Ford-class aircraft carrier, has completed acceptance trials, marking a major step toward its delivery to the Navy, PAЕ Maritime said on Saturday.
US Central Command Commander Adm. Brad Cooper completed a 10-day trip to the Middle East on Saturday, visiting six countries and the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier in the Arabian Sea as more than 50,000 US troops operate across the region.
“While at sea, Cooper met with Sailors and Marines aboard USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN 72) for the second time this year. He previously visited the aircraft carrier in February with U.S. Special Envoy for Peace Missions Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner,” CENTCOM posted on X.
Iranian Judiciary Chief Gholamhossein Mohseni-Eje'i dismissed US President Donald Trump’s claims on ownership of the Strait of Hormuz as “nonsense”, stressing that Tehran is the true owner and ruler of the strategic maritime route.
Qatar denied on Saturday that it was holding Iranian pilots, saying they had violated Qatari airspace earlier this year and had failed to respond to attempts to contact them.
A Qatari foreign ministry spokesperson said on X that search and rescue teams later found the remains of one of the pilots and that it had contacted Iran to coordinate a handover.
The spokesperson said Tehran had yet to respond to an invitation to review details of its operations.
The commander of the Missing Persons Search Committee of Iran’s Armed Forces General Staff announced that three Iranian pilots were taken captive after their Sukhoi-24 fighter jets crashed during attacks several months ago, and said that the Qatari government has still not allowed the pilots to contact their families or the officials following their cases after six months, Fars news reported.
Qatar's armed forces captured and were holding three pilots who went missing in March when their jets were downed, the Missing Persons Committee of Iran’s Armed Forces General Staff was quoted by the Associated Press as saying. Qatar, however, denied it.
In Saturday, Iran's statement alleged that Qatar had not allowed the pilots to meet or communicate with families or Iranian officials handling their cases. Iran asked the International Committee of the Red Cross president for help. The letter said a fourth pilot was killed while on the mission “targeting an enemy military base in Qatar," state media reported.
A spokesperson with Qatar's foreign ministry, Majed Al Ansari, later denied the claims and indicated on X that the pilots had been shot down and that Qatar's search and rescue teams found the remains of one. He said Iran was invited in April to visit and be briefed on those efforts, with no respons
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