Middle East crisis

Iran War
Report: US Warned Iran That Israel Would Kill Top Officials

The US warned Iran in April that Israel was planning to kill its Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and Speaker Mohammad Ghalibaf, who was then leading the country's negotiations with the US. This was reported by several high-ranking sources to the New York Times.

The warnings were reportedly made via other countries in the region. The US feared that the sensitive ceasefire negotiations would be disrupted if Israel carried out the targeted killings. The two men were previously considered legitimate targets, but were removed from the list of war targets at Donald Trump's request when negotiations between the US and Iran got underway, according to the Wall Street Journal.

After a meeting with US Vice President JD Vance in Pakistan in April, Mohammad Ghalibaf's plane made an emergency landing in Mashhad in eastern Iran after Iranian intelligence reported a planned Israeli attack. This was stated by Mahdi Mohammadi, an advisor to Ghalibaf, on social media. The delegation then traveled by bus for eight hours to Tehran.

Situation in Iran
Religious leaders mourn Ali Khamenei's body

Next week, the state funeral for Iran's former supreme leader Ali Khamenei will be held for several days. His body has now been taken to a religious center in the capital Tehran, where religious leaders and other mourners will be able to visit his coffin, the Iranian state news agency Irna reports.

The ceremony is expected to begin on Saturday and continue until July 9. Representatives from Pakistan, China and Afghanistan, among others, will attend the funeral. In total, it is estimated that up to 20 million people will mourn Khamenei in the coming week.

Ali Khamenei was killed in a US-Israeli attack on February 28 of this year. He was 86 years old.