Indirect technical talks by US and Iran in Doha sees 'positive progress'

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A blast in central Damascus on Thursday was caused by an explosive device, Syrian state television said, with the health ministry updating the toll to five dead.

"The explosion that occurred in a cafe near the Palace of Justice in Damascus resulted from an explosive device planted in the location," state television said, after earlier reporting that authorities were seeking to determine the source of the blast.

Lebanese President Joseph Aoun defended on Thursday negotiations with Israel, saying they were not a betrayal and he would not surrender "a single inch of Lebanon's territory", according to the presidency.

Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz said on Wednesday that the Israeli army would remain "until further notice" in what it describes as "security zones" in Lebanon, Syria and the Gaza Strip.

Lebanon signed last week a US-backed framework agreement with Israel with the aim of securing peace between the two countries -- a move that has been met with major protest from Iran-backed Hezbollah.

Negotiations with Israel are not "treason but a diplomatic war without unnecessary bloodshed", Aoun said on Thursday.

The Lebanese president said that Beirut has decided to engage in talks "to guarantee Israel's withdrawal from its territory".

"We will not yield a single inch of Lebanese territory," Aoun declared.

An explosion Thursday in a cafe in the Syrian capital, Damascus, killed at least four people, according to a Health Ministry official

Dr. Ahmad al-Bakour told the state-run SANA news agency that 10 others were injured in the explosion near the main courthouse complex in the Syrian capital.

It was not immediately clear whether the explosion was the result of an attack or accident. Security forces rushed to the cafe and cordoned off the area.

A video circulating on social media showed several injured people laying on the floor, with police officers nearby.

At least one lawyer has been killed, and several people have been wounded by an explosion in a cafe in the Syrian capital, Damascus, on Thursday, according to The New Arab's correspondent in Syria.

State media noted that the blast was near the Palace of Justice, and the cause remained unclear.

Lebanon and Syria have signed an agreement of mutual respect and non-interference in Beirut.

Lebanon’s National News Agency reported the agreement includes "principles of cooperation, including respect for the sovereignty, independence, unity, and territorial integrity of either state, equality between the two parties, and non-interference".

The deal was signed as both Lebanon and Syria face ongoing attacks and an expanded occupation by Israel.

Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said they had killed five members of the banned Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan (PDKI) in the country’s northwest, state media reported on Thursday, amid heightened tensions between Tehran and Kurdish militant groups.

The Guards said the group was ambushed after entering Iranian territory in mountainous border areas near Piranshahr in West Azerbaijan province, without specifying when the operation took place.

According to the Norway-based Kurdish rights group Hengaw, the clashes took place on Wednesday evening.

Lebanese President Joseph Aoun, in a statement to the press, says that his administration will not yield "a single inch" of territory to Israel.

Aoun and other members of the government are under heavy scrutiny in the country over the framework agreement signed with Israel that critics have described as akin to the controversial Oslo Accords. 

The next round of negotiations between the United States and Iran will take place on 18 July, a 'senior source' told the Saudi Arabian Al-Hadath network.

India said on Thursday that its deputy foreign minister and a state governor would represent the country at the state funeral of Iran's former Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Governor of Bihar, Syed Ata Hasnain, and deputy foreign minister Pabitra Margherita will visit Iran on 3 July, the Indian foreign ministry said in a statement.

Meanwhile, Pakistan's Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif will also attend the funeral.

"The Prime Minister, Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif, will go to Iran and Turkey from 3-5 July... he will go to Iran first for (the) supreme leader's funeral," ministry spokesman Tahir Andrabi told reporters.

Hong Kong's flagship airline, Cathay Pacific, announced Thursday that it will resume flights to the Middle East, as the United States and Iran signal that efforts to end the war remain viable.

Following the two sides' 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.

Cathay suspended flights to Dubai and Riyadh at the end of February after the war broke out.

The airline has raised fuel surcharges several times as the conflict has driven up oil prices.

It said Thursday it would resume daily passenger flights to Dubai and four-times-weekly passenger flights to Riyadh from 1 September.

Freighter services to Riyadh will resume from 1 August.

"Cathay will continue to closely monitor the evolving situation in the Middle East prior to the resumption dates," the company said.

Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam said during a joint press conference with Foreign Minister Asaad Al-Shaibani, who is visiting Lebanon, that the goal of the meeting is "to strengthen cooperation in several areas that we began discussing during a visit to Damascus, most notably electrical connectivity, transportation, exchange of goods, and facilitating traffic between Lebanon and Syria."

"We discussed signing the establishment of a joint Lebanese-Syrian higher committee that includes the relevant ministers and meets periodically to enhance cooperation between the two countries," he added.

For his part, Al-Shaibani said: "We signed with all determination to form the Higher Committee for Cooperation and Partnership with Lebanon, and this framework will be a platform for all relevant ministries to develop economic, investment and trade partnerships, security understandings, and expand the scope of cooperation between the two countries."

Regarding the message that President Ahmed Al-Sharaa conveyed to him, he explained that it relates to "our current visit, in which we speak clearly and meet with all parties without exception to express that we believe in Lebanon with all its religions, sects and ethnicities, and we want a direct relationship with the official Lebanese state."

The Syrian minister touched on the issue of Syrian prisoners and detainees, noting that "there is a judicial path that we have advanced in the past period, and we want it to result in the handover of all Syrian prisoners present in Lebanon. As for the non-Syrians who were arrested for supporting the Syrian revolution, this is also something we are discussing openly with the Lebanese side, and it may be resolved in the near future."

Regarding the Israeli attacks on Lebanon, Al-Shaibani stressed that the official Syrian position rejects all Israeli attacks on Lebanon and the bombing and displacement operations that have afflicted the Lebanese people in the recent period.

Regarding the issue of the framework that was signed with Israel, he said that this is "a Lebanese matter determined by the Lebanese interest, and the Lebanese government is responsible for this path, but we also want this framework or discussion to be in a calm atmosphere and put the Lebanese interest first and not be an escape from an area of ​​pressure or a specific scene that southern Lebanon is witnessing and bring it to quick understandings that may not lead to stopping the war."

According to the Israeli press, the Israeli Defence Ministry's Rehabilitation Division reports that 65% at least 26,200 wounded Israeli soldiers and security force members treated by the division sought treatment for mental disorders.

It was further noted that the number of Israeli military wounded from all wars is expected to exceed 90,000 wounded this year, a sharp jump of more than 40% within three years.

Nearly half of the new patients are under 30. 

High-ranking Chinese legislator He Wei will attend the funeral of the late Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in Tehran, the Chinese Foreign Ministry said. A ministry spokesman said at a regular press conference that the event the lawmaker will attend will take place on 3 July.

He is Vice Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, China's top legislative body.

 Iran’s joint military command warned Thursday that all oil tankers moving through the Strait of Hormuz must use its approved routes or face a "forceful response," again ratcheting up tensions over a waterway crucial for international energy supplies.

The statement from the Khatam al-Anbiya military command, reported by Iranian state television, comes after both US and Iranian diplomats met with mediators in Qatar on Wednesday.

It wasn’t immediately clear what sparked the threat from Iran. However, the U.S. military's Central Command issued a statement about a meeting with officials from Mideast nations in Bahrain, saying: "Leaders underscored their shared commitment to the free flow of commerce through the Strait of Hormuz."

"Any failure to comply, deviation from the designated route, or disregard for the navigation protocols of the Islamic Republic of Iran in the Strait of Hormuz will be met with an immediate and forceful response from the armed forces, endangering the security of the violating vessels," the Iranian statement said.

It also said the continued presence of US fighter jets over the strait "causes insecurity in this waterway and threatens regional security."

Syria's foreign minister, Assad al-Shiabani, said during a press conference in Beirut that Syria is "open to meeting Hezbollah if interest requires".

"Our presence today in Lebanon is a message of love and cooperation with all Lebanese components and institutions," al-Shibani said after the initial meetings. "Our meeting today with Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri was excellent, and is in the interest of Syrian-Lebanese relations."

The municipality of Nabatieh Al-Fawqa called on the President of the Lebanese Republic, Joseph Aoun, and Prime Minister Nawaf Salam to intervene urgently, issue a clear official position clarifying the legal and security reality of the town, and take all necessary measures to stop the repeated Israeli attacks, ensure the return of the people to their homes in safety and dignity, and preserve the sovereignty of the state and protect the rights of its citizens.

The mayor of Nabatieh Al-Fawqa, Zein Ghandour, sent a letter to Aoun and Salam, in which he denounced the continued official silence regarding the daily Israeli attacks on the town since the announcement of the ceasefire.

The attacks included three military air strikes, repeated drone strikes, arson, throwing sound bombs, and the martyrdom of more than ten civilians, in addition to the drones dropping dozens of suspicious objects into the town.

"These attacks come even though Nabatieh Al-Fawqa does not fall within what is known as the 'yellow line', and is not considered one of the occupied towns, nor was it mentioned in any of the official or leaked statements related to the ceasefire agreement or what is known as the Framework Agreement, which raises legitimate questions among the people of the town, puts them in a state of anxiety and uncertainty, and prevents their safe return to their homes," he said.

Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad Al-Shaibani has arrived at Baabda Palace, where he will meet with Lebanese President Joseph Aoun.

Iran's chief negotiator, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, called on Thursday for massive turnout at Ali Khamenei's funeral to avenge the supreme leader's death in US-Israeli strikes at the start of their war on Iran.

"I invite all the Iranian people... to write a glorious page in the history of Islamic Iran through your presence" at the funeral ceremonies starting Saturday, Ghalibaf said in a statement, adding: "The nation's call for vengeance must ring in the ears of the whole world."

Today marks 1,000 days since Israel’s genocidal war began after the 7 October 2023 Hamas-led attacks on Israeli military sites and settlements in and around the Gaza envelope.

Since then, Israel has killed at least 73,066 Palestinians and injured 173,514 others in Gaza alone. 

The Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister said that the Strait of Hormuz "is under Iranian command and not US Central command."

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.

An interim deal was agreed to reopen the vital Strait of Hormuz and end hostilities, but major questions still need to be tackled in talks, including Iran's nuclear programme.

"Qatari and Pakistani mediators concluded separate meetings with the US and Iranian negotiators in Doha (Wednesday), with positive progress made," Pakistan said Thursday.

Islamabad added the sides agreed to keep talking, "with the next meeting to be set at the earliest possible time following the funeral processions of the former Iranian Supreme Leader."

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was killed aged 86 at his compound in the centre of the Iranian capital on 28 February the first day of the war. Power was swiftly passed to his son Mojtaba.

Ali Khamenei's public funeral will begin on Saturday, with his body lying in state at the colossal complex in central Tehran that hosts major Friday prayers, official ceremonies and religious gatherings.

His burial will take place on July 9 at the shrine of Imam Reza in the northeastern city of Mashhad, his birthplace.

Designed to bridge Gaza's post-war security vacuum, the international force is struggling to move from diplomatic blueprint to operational reality, writes Mohamed Solaimane.

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The Lebanese National News Agency reported hearing the sounds of intense gunfire coming from the town of Khiam, noting that the sounds are clearly heard in neighbouring towns.

The US Army announced the loss of one of its members and the injury of three others following the emergency landing of an MH-60 SC Hawk military helicopter in the Arabian Sea.

The US Navy's Fifth Fleet said that search and rescue operations are still underway to find one of the air crew members who is still missing, stressing that there are no indications yet that the accident resulted from hostile action.

They added that the helicopter belongs to the George H. W. Bush aircraft carrier group.