US-Iran war highlights: Next indirect talks after Ayatollah Khamenei's funeral, say mediators

Iran war news LIVE: The next indirect US-Iran talks will come after the late Iranian supreme leader’s funeral, mediators said Thursday, as diplomacy inches ahead on ending the Middle East war.

Following the foes’ indirect discussions in Doha on Wednesday, US President Donald Trump as well as mediators Qatar and Pakistan offered signs that diplomacy was holding, despite exchanges of fire this week.

-AFP

Iran war news LIVE: Frozen assets are funds or financial holdings that cannot be used because of sanctions or other restrictions.

In Iran’s case, the funds are mainly oil revenues and foreign currency reserves held in banks abroad. Estimates put the total at more than $100bn, although the exact amount is unknown.

Most of the funds are held in countries that have purchased Iranian oil, including China, Iraq, Japan, South Korea and parts of Europe.

-Al Jazeera

Iran war news LIVE: Iran’s ambassador to the UN, Amir-Saeid Iravani has lodged a complaint with the global body against recent remarks made by Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz to assassinate the country’s Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei.

In a letter to Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, the Security Council and the General Assembly, Iravani described the threat by Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz as “part of a deliberate and systematic policy of state terrorism” targeting Iranian government officials, Al Jazeera reported.

He added that the UN Security Council has allowed Israel to act with impunity and warned that Tehran would respond to any hostile actions.

“Unfortunately, the failure of the Security Council to fulfill its responsibilities under the UN Charter has reinforced the climate of impunity and has made the Israeli regime more brazen in normalising state terrorism, which sets a very dangerous precedent and poses a serious threat to international peace and security.”

Iran war news LIVE: Vice president JD Vance on Wednesday said that the US dropped bombs on Iran days ago to ensure free commercial transit through the Strait of Hormuz.

“We dropped some bombs a couple of days ago. You know why? Because the Iranians were shooting at commercial ships. We dropped some bombs, we applied some leverage, and we’ve had free commercial transit for the last three days,” he said.

Iran war news LIVE: Oil prices fell about 1% on Thursday, marking their third straight day of losses after Qatar said Iran and the United States had made progress in indirect talks about the Strait of Hormuz.

By 0256 GMT, Brent crude was down 77 cents, or 1.1%, at $70.80 a barrel, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude fell 84 cents, or 1.2%, to $67.74 a barrel, Reuters reported.

Iran war news LIVE: Indian shares opened higher on Thursday as crude oil prices dropped below $71 per barrel after Qatar said Iran and the U.S. made “positive progress” in indirect talks that concluded on Wednesday.

The benchmark Nifty 50 rose 0.23% to 24,062.2, while the BSE Sensex added 0.21% to 77,083.14, as of 9:15 a.m. IST.

All 16 major sectors advanced. The broader small-caps and mid-caps rose 0.4% each.

-Reuters

Iran war news LIVE: A hoard of Iranian oil is building up at sea, as the Islamic Republic struggles to find buyers before the expiry of a 60-day window granted by Washington.

More than 58 million barrels of Iranian crude and condensate was on-the-water as of July 1, according to data from Vortexa and Bloomberg calculations. More than 90% has no clear destination. The vessels are either indicating “for orders” or Singapore as their next port of call, a sign they may conduct ship-to-ship transfers in the Malacca Strait.

-Bloomberg

Iran war news LIVE: As the United States and Iran concluded a round of indirect talks in Qatar’s Doha, the negotiations mainly focused on the Strait of Hormuz and Tehran’s demand seeking to charge tolls through the waterway.

While there was no word from both sides on whether there had been progress towards achieving lasting peace, the negotiators were still arguing over terms they had agreed to in the 14-point memorandum of understanding they signed last month, Axios reported.

According to sources cited by Axios, among the main issues discussed were the strait, Iranian frozen assets and the ceasefire in Lebanon. In the context of the Strait of Hormuz, US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner tried to convey to the Iranian side that their demand for tolls in the strait could derail the entire US-Iran deal, which could be far more lucrative for Tehran.

Iran war news LIVE: Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has warned of stern attack if Israel continues to attack Lebanon. He said his country would launch an “immediate powerful response” to any Israeli attack and repeated demands for the United States to restrain its ally.

In a post on X, he said, “POTUS (US President Donald Trump) has committed the US to muzzling its pets in Tel Aviv. If they ignore their master, Iran will school them. Any threat against our people and leadership will receive immediate powerful response.”

His comments come after Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz warned that Iranian Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei was “marked for death,” in comments reported by the Israeli news agency Ynet on Monday, according to CNN.

Iran war news LIVE: Vice President JD Vance said talks in Doha are “going well” and that discussions about the nuclear issue would start soon.

“It’s still pretty early, but talks are going well,” he told CNN’s Adam Cancryn on Wednesday after remarks to US service members in Virginia.

“Well, right now, the technical negotiators are sitting down with the Iranians, with the Qataris, and with others in Doha, you know, talking, talking about some of the details here,” he said. “We’re worried about the nuclear issue, we’re going to start talking about that, so right now the talks are going well,” CNN reported.

Iran war news LIVE: Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian has vigorously defended Tehran’s ongoing indirect talks with the United States, dismissing criticism from domestic opponents who claim his administration pursued negotiations without the approval of the country’s highest religious authority.

Speaking at a gathering of officials from the Islamic Development Coordination Council’s commemoration headquarters, Pezeshkian stressed that every diplomatic step has been carried out in accordance with the Islamic Republic’s established decision-making framework and under the strategic direction of the new Supreme Leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, news agency ANI reported.

Responding to growing accusations from hardline groups that his government had acted independently of the nation’s top leadership, Pezeshkian emphasized that the executive branch remains fully aligned with the Supreme Leader’s directives.

“If the leadership had instructed us not to negotiate, we would have complied without hesitation. Had he ordered that no meetings or negotiations take place, we would not have held any meetings or engaged in negotiations,” he said.

Iran war news LIVE: Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi said on Wednesday the Strait of Hormuz is “under Iran’s command, not CENTCOM’s,” adding that a military meeting in Bahrain cannot establish a legal or security order for the Persian Gulf.

“Hormuz is defined under Iran’s command, not CENTCOM. A military summit in Bahrain cannot establish legal order and security for the Persian Gulf. The region’s security will be ensured through the end of interventions and the U.S. withdrawal from the area, respect for countries’ sovereignty, and acceptance of new geopolitical realities—not under the military umbrella of America,” he wrote in a post on X.

Iran war news LIVE: US President Donald Trump said US negotiators had made progress in indirect talks with Iran, as the two countries seek to move past last week’s tit-for-tat strikes and convert their interim truce into a lasting peace.

“They’ve had very good meetings, and we’ll see. We hit them very hard for three nights, as you know, but we’re getting along very well, so I call it the denuclearization, and it’s all taking place,” Trump said, without specifying what, if any, breakthroughs were made, Bloomberg reported.