Millions gather in Tehran for Khamenei's funeral; Iran warns UK, France over Hormuz

Iran's ambassador to China insisted Saturday that new fees would be charged to ships transiting the Strait of Hormuz - an idea rejected by Washington - while assuring that "friendly" nations would receive special treatment.

The initial deal struck between Iran and the United States to end their war stipulated that commercial ships would transit the strait free of charge for 60 days, but it remains unclear what will be in place after that period.

Iranian Ambassador Abdolreza Rahmani Fazli told the World Peace Forum in Beijing that his country was working in "collaboration and cooperation" with Oman on "new arrangements" for the vital waterway.

"As a country where the Hormuz is part of its territorial waters, we will definitely charge service fees," Azli said in translated remarks, while insisting such fees would not be a "toll."

"These new arrangements will be concerning guaranteeing the security of passage through the Straits of Hormuz, supervision of the passage of the vessels... and also guaranteeing and dealing with the environmental consequences of the massive number of ships," he said.

"We will definitely consider special treatment for the countries that were friendly to us and specially stood by us during the hard times," he added.

The Israeli military said on Saturday that it killed an armed militant in the "security zone" under its control in south Lebanon.

"Earlier today (Saturday), [Israeli] soldiers identified an armed terrorist operating inside the Security Zone, in the Majdal Zoun area in southern Lebanon," the military said in a statement, adding that troops "opened fire at the terrorist" and, after conducting "extensive searches", then "eliminated" him.

Lebanon's state-run National News Agency (NNA) said an Israeli helicopter carried out "a broad sweep operation on the outskirts" of Majdal Zoun and launched five missiles towards the village, without specifying a target or immediately reporting casualties.

The NNA also reported on Saturday that an Israeli strike on the village of Mansouri wounded one person, and reported Israeli artillery shelling elsewhere.

The last time Lebanon and Israel signed an American-brokered agreement, it took less than a year to die.

The 17 May Agreement of 1983 ended the state of war between the two countries, set out mutual recognition of sovereignty, and laid down a timetable for Israeli forces to withdraw from the country they had invaded the year before.

That deal did not survive the test of time. Israeli negotiators had added a clause that their troops would leave only once Syrian forces left too, and Syria, which had never sat at the table, simply refused.

The clause handed Damascus a veto over the whole arrangement, and Damascus used it. Beirut abrogated the deal within 10 months, and Israel stayed in the south for another 16 years.

It was an almost unachievable clause, and history is repeating itself in 2026.

You can read more about the Lebanon-Israel deal here:

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian has said that Iran's mourning of the late Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was killed in joint US-Israeli airstrikes on 28 February, was the "best evidence of the greatness, dignity, and strength of the martyred leader of the revolution," state news agency ISNA reported, according to Al Jazeera.

Representatives of Tehran-allied militant groups attended the funeral ceremonies of slain Iranian supreme leader Ali Khamenei on Saturday, with envoys from Hezbollah and Hamas meeting with Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, state media reported.

The Hezbollah delegation to Tehran was headed by senior official and former minister Mohammed Fneish, and included officials and families of killed and wounded members, the group told Lebanese media.

Hamas, meanwhile, said in a statement that its delegation was led by the head of its political bureau, Mohammed Darwish, and included other bureau members such as Bassem Naim.

Also attending Saturday's ceremonies in Tehran were Ziyad al-Nakhalah, the leader of the Palestinian militant group and Hamas ally Islamic Jihad, and senior Houthi member Dhaif Allah al-Shami, state TV reported.

Most foreign officials and dignitaries paid their respects on Friday to Khamenei, who ruled Iran from 1989 and was killed aged 86 along with several members of his family and top officials in a US-Israeli strike on 28 February, triggering the war in the Middle East.

The Indian government has lifted restrictions on the use of gas following the resumption of Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) supplies from the region, according to Al Jazeera, citing an Indian government notification.

The restrictions were put in place following the outbreak of the US-Israeli war on Iran, which saw 20% of the world's LNG supply unable to transit out of the Strait of Hormuz.

US President Donald Trump said in an interview with Axios on Saturday that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had asked him for a meeting at the White House, and that it could take place as early as next week after the NATO summit in Turkey.

The number of people killed in Israeli attacks in Lebanon since 2 March has reached 4,303 killed and 12,202 wounded, Lebanon's health ministry said Saturday.

Fresh Israeli strikes were reported in the south on Saturday despite the US-backed framework agreement signed last week.

•    Million of people gathered in Tehran for the funeral of former supreme leader Ali Khamenei, who was killed in US-Israeli strikes at the start of the war in February.

•    Iran's deputy foreign minister issued a "serious warning" over foreign military deployments in the Strait of Hormuz after the UK and France said they would work with Oman to secure the strategic waterway.

•    Lebanese media have reported fresh Israeli strikes in the south of the country, despite signing a framework agreement with Lebanon last month to end the conflict.

•    Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan accused Israel of trying to "dynamite" the Iran-US deal.
 

Turkish President Erdogan on Saturday accused Israel of trying to undermine the recent MoU between Iran and the US and warned it against sabotaging diplomatic efforts to end the war.

"We are closely following the Israeli administration's attempts to dynamite the [US-Iran] deal... The current war-addicted Israeli government must not be allowed to drown our geography in the smell of gunpowder and blood again," he said during a press conference with Pakistan's Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif in Istanbul.

Negotiations between Iran and the US are due to resume in Pakistan after Tehran concludes the week-long ceremony marking the killing of its supreme leader Ali Khamenei, Al Arabiya is reporting, citing anonymous sources.

Talks in Islamabad are set to begin on 11 July and will focus on three of the core issues between the two countries, including the future of Iran's nuclear programme, the release of its frozen assets, and the lifting of US sanctions.

Pakistan helped broker last month's agreement to re-open the Strait of Hormuz, lift the US blockade on Iranian ports, and start negotiations for a final settlement to end the war.

Lebanese President Joseph Aoun on Saturday urged the United States to stand by his country after a recent US-backed framework deal with Israel aiming to permanently end hostilities after the latest Israel-Hezbollah war.

In a congratulatory message to President Donald Trump marking the United States' 250th anniversary of independence, Aoun urged Washington to "keep always standing beside Lebanon's right and just causes, its institutions, army and people".

Aoun expressed hope that Lebanon could "turn the page on wars... and open a new page of hope, peace and stability".

In a message also marking the independence anniversary, the US embassy in Lebanon said on X that "it is with great pride that we stand with the people of Lebanon as they forge a brighter future - one of peace, prosperity, and promise long overdue".

Israel's military said Friday it had struck several Hezbollah sites in southern Lebanon a day earlier in response to attacks on its troops in the area, which are occupying swathes of Lebanese territory along the border.

"The IDF struck approximately 10 Hezbollah infrastructure sites and a truck used to transfer weapons in southern Lebanon," the military said in a statement.

The sites were in areas of the southern towns of Bint Jbeil, Beit Yahoun, Kounine, and Baraachit, and "were used by Hezbollah to advance attacks against IDF soldiers operating in the Security Zone," the army said.

The military said the strikes on the infrastructure sites were carried out following attacks on its soldiers inside the Israeli-declared "security zone", which stretches about 10 kilometres (six miles) deep inside Lebanese territory along the border.

The military said the strike on the truck carrying weapons near the area was carried out "to remove a threat to the soldiers."

Dozens of British lawmakers have called on the foreign secretary to impose sanctions on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his justice minister for the "systematic and well-documented torture of Palestinian civilians".

The letter to Yvette Cooper was signed by 71 cross-party MPs and peers, more than half of which are part of the governing Labour Party.

The lawmakers welcomed the government's decision to impose sanctions on far-right Israeli ministers last year but wrote they have done little to change the government's mistreatment of Palestinian detainees.

"Since the sanctions were announced, the systematic torture of Palestinians, including children, has escalated, with near total impunity," the letter reads.

The remains of three men were found in south Lebanon on Friday, weeks after they were reported missing after travelling to the south following the abortive ceasefire between Hezbollah and Israel.

Lebanon’s Annahar newspaper said the remains were discovered in Wadi al-Slouqi, while a fourth man reported missing was found alive.

The remains and the injured survivor were found during search operations carried out by teams from the Islamic Health Society’s Civil Defence and the Lebanese army, after a shepherd reported seeing two motorbikes in the area.

Search and rescue teams found evidence of "extensive destruction" after arriving at the site.

It is unclear what the cause of their deaths were, with some speculating a mine or an attack by Israeli forces which continue to occupy swathes of the south.

Egypt’s football coach Hossam Hassan dedicated the team’s win against Australia on Friday evening to the Palestinian people, waving their flag as crowds roared with jubilation.

The Pharaohs secured their first-ever knockout win after beating Australia 4-2 on penalties, setting up a last-16 encounter with Argentina.

"Good things happen because of good people, in Egypt and all over the world, and across the Arab world. I want to say one more thing – the Palestinian people, my heart and soul is with them, they are so happy for us, and I thank them. May God make them successful, make them victorious, and may God have mercy on the martyrs," Hassan told reporters after the match.

The comments came on the same day Gaza marked 1,000 days since Israel launched its genocidal assault.

#فيديو| المدرب المصري حسام حسن يرفع العلم الفلسطيني خلال الاحتفال بتأهل المنتخب المصري إلى دور الـ16 في كأس العالم. pic.twitter.com/2UPy3f0cau

— الجرمق الإخباري (@aljarmaqnet) July 4, 2026

The death toll from Israel's genocidal assault on Gaza has risen to 73,090, Gaza's health ministry said in its daily bulletin on Saturday. At least 173,553 others have been wounded.

Meanwhile, 1,066 people have been killed since the "ceasefire" was supposed to come into effect on 10 October. Another 3,445 people have been injured in the same period.

Iran's deputy foreign minister Kazem Gharibabadi has warned countries against deploying militaries to the Strait of Hormuz, hours after the UK and France reiterated plans to send warships into the disputed waterway.

"The Strait of Hormuz is not a theatre for the military display of extra-regional powers," he wrote in a post on X.

"The security of Hormuz lies with the coastal states; the crisis-makers will be held accountable for the consequences of their adventurism; this is a serious warning."

The UK has reportedly decided to deploy warships to de-mine the Strait of Hormuz even as Tehran warned against the move, according to The Times.

In a joint statement UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer and French President Emmanuel Macron said that they had agreed to work with Oman "to ensure that its sovereign territorial waters are safe for navigation".

The newspaper reports that the decision was taken despite a request from Tehran that no operations  be carried out in the strait during the week-long funeral of its slain supreme leader, Ali Khamenei.

A government source told The Times that there was concern that the operation could be seen in Tehran as a provocation.

It is unclear when the operation will start, though the move appears timed to appeal to President Trump ahead of the NATO summit in Turkey next week.

US President Donald Trump said Friday that Iran is "dying to settle" with Washington, adding that the US had paused negotiations for a week during the funeral processions of slain former Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.

Trump was speaking at Mount Rushmore in South Dakota at an event marking the 250th anniversary of US independence.

"We knocked the hell out of Iran; they're dying to settle. They want to settle so badly. We gave him a week off for a funeral because we're nice," he said.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will "soon" travel the US for talks with Trump, his office said following a phone call between the two leaders on Friday.

The conversation follows reports of tensions between the two leaders over efforts to end the Iran war and Israel's war with Hezbollah in Lebanon.

This would be the seventh time Netanyahu has travelled to the US for talks since Trump took office in January 2025.

Lebanon's state-run news agency is reporting an Israeli drone strike in the town of Al-Mansouri in Tyre district, south Lebanon.

Mourners thronged a vast prayer complex in Tehran on Saturday as the week-long funeral ceremonies of Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei began with the national anthem, religious eulogies and readings from the Koran.

Iran is staging mass funeral processions for Khamenei, who was killed in US-Israeli airstrikes at the beginning of the war in February, ending his 37-year reign.

Television footage showed his coffin draped with the Iranian flag and topped with his black turban. It was placed, along with four other coffins of his slain family members, on a large black platform that resembled the Kaaba, the cube-shaped structure at the centre of Islam's holiest site in Mecca.

The vast courtyard of the complex, the Imam Khomeini Grand Mosalla, was filled with mourners, many waving Iranian flags and carrying photographs of the slain leader.

"'Death to America' chants echoed through Tehran's Mosalla on the day of the farewell to 'Mr. Martyr'," state broadcaster Seda va Sima said.

In video posts on other state media news sites, mourners were also heard chanting: "Our slogan is one word: Revenge, revenge," and "We will kill, we will kill he who killed our Imam."