Middle East

Tehran reasserted its claim over the Strait of Hormuz and warned Gulf states after a joint US-Gulf statement rejected Iranian toll demands, while reports said tankers were turned back by the IRGC.

The Israeli Embassy in the United States confirmed the extension of the talks, which entered their fourth day. The negotiating teams will return to the table at the US State Department in the morning

IAEA chief said the current US-Iran deal requires access for UN nuclear inspectors, though Tehran insists that key sites will remain off-limits until a final deal is reached.

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Khamenei’s underground bunker had become an IDF target during Israel’s strikes against Iran in March, with clandestine IDF units 8200 and 9900 providing intelligence on its location.

During US Secretary of State Marco Rubio's visit to the Gulf states this week, he made it clear that Iran would not be allowed to impose tolls on ships wishing to pass through the strait. 

"You Zionists must leave all of Lebanon. This land is the arena of resistance and steadfastness, not a playground for occupiers," he demanded in a social media post.

Rubio was in the UAE and then Kuwait. The visits to Kuwait, Bahrain, and the UAE are important, as these countries were attacked by Iran during the latest conflict.

CENTCOM is entering direct talks with the IRGC in Qatar in a rare military-to-military channel that bypasses usual State Department or CIA mediation.

Syrian authorities have maintained that the woman voluntarily left her family home and converted of her own free will. Her family, however, contends that she was abducted and is being held by force.