Oil prices extend losses as traffic partially resumed through Hormuz
Oil prices continued to fall in early trading as traffic has partially resumed through the Strait of Hormuz.
Brent crude futures fell 73 cents, or 1.02 per cent, to $70.84 a barrel by 01.02 GMT, while US West Texas Intermediate crude dropped 83 cents, or 1.21%, to $67.75 a barrel.
Both benchmarks had already fallen more than 1% in the previous session, hitting their lowest levels in four months as investors weighed the prospect of continued diplomacy between Washington and Tehran.
Kpler, a data and analytics firm, said shipping traffic through the Strait of Hormuz remained steady on Tuesday, with 34 verified vessel crossings recorded and traffic evenly balanced in both directions.
Shweta Sharma2 July 2026 06:09
Vance praises troops for giving Trump ‘leverage’ to seek Iran deal
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U.S. Vice President JD Vance praised American troops — and the Trump administration’s Iran deal tactics — during a visit Wednesday to a naval base.
“Today, as I sit here, there are people in this country who want you to just keep going and keep going,” Vance, a longtime critic of foreign wars, told service members at Naval Air Station Oceana in Virginia.
He also blasted critics who he said “attack the president of the United States for using the leverage that you gave him to engage in negotiation.”
“And why do we engage in negotiation?” Vance added. “Because of you. It’s not out of weakness, but it’s out of strength.”
How much leverage Trump really has remains to be seen.
The conflict, which the Republican promised would be a brief military operation, has evaded a tidy resolution for months.
Josh Marcus2 July 2026 06:00
Iran preparing for largest state funeral for Khamenei
Iran is preparing for the largest state funeral in the history of the country for late Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, months after he was killed in US-Israel strikes.
Iran will hold a six-day, multi-city funeral, including in Iraq, amid tight security and fragile US-Iran talks over Hormuz.
The ceremonies will begin on Saturday with Khamenei’s body lying in state at Tehran’s Grand Mosalla prayer complex.
Motorists ride motorcycles along a road past a mourning billboard depicting Iran’s slain supreme leader Ali Khamenei, who was killed in a strike on the first day of the US-Israeli wa (AFP/Getty)
On Monday, the procession will be held in the streets of Tehran and reach the holy city of Qom on 7 July followed by the cities of Najaf and Karbala in Iraq, the two holiest cities in Shiite Islam.
The body of the leader who was killed on 28 February will return to his home city in Iran’s Mashhad on 9 July.
Authorities are preparing for more than 15 to 20 million mourners who are expected to participate from various parts of the world.
Police have declared a state of high alert for the event as senior officials and representatives from more than 30 countries, including Russia, China, Pakistan, India, Georgia and Cuba, are expected to attend.
File Mourners crowd around the grave of the late Ayatollah Khomeini at the cemetery in Beheshte e Zahra, some 70 kms from Tehran, Iran, June 11, 1989 (1989 AP)
Religious leaders from 90 countries will also take part.
Tehran’s highways will be turned into temporary parking areas, while mosques, schools, sports halls and universities will be repurposed as emergency accommodation.
Prime minister Shehbaz Sharif confirmed earlier this month that he would attend.
Shweta Sharma2 July 2026 05:44
Iran protests to UN over Israeli threat against Supreme Leader
Iran’s ambassador to the United Nations, Amir-Saeid Iravani, has lodged a formal protest over what Tehran says is Israel’s latest threat to assassinate Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei.
In a letter addressed to UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, the Security Council and the General Assembly, Iravani described remarks by Israeli defence minister Israel Katz as part of a “deliberate and systematic policy of state terrorism” targeting Iran’s political leadership.
Amir-Saeid Iravani, Iran’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations, speaks at a Security Council meeting at UN headquarters in New York (AFP/Getty)
The letter also accused Israel of carrying out what it called unlawful acts of aggression against Iran, including the killing of former Supreme Leader Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei and other senior political and military officials, alleging the operations were conducted with the “participation, coordination, and support” of the United States.
Iravani criticised the UN Security Council for failing to hold Israel accountable, arguing that its inaction had emboldened Israel and normalised what Tehran described as state terrorism.
“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.”
Shweta Sharma2 July 2026 05:28
Iran war cost American households $1,000 each, economist estimates
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The fighting may have come to a pause, but Americans are still feeling the pain from the Iran war.
The conflict, which paralyzed global oil traffic and sent prices spiking, has cost the typical American household $1,000 each, Moody’s chief economist Mark Zandi estimates.
“The true cost is likely higher—meaningfully higher,” he wrote in a recent op-ed in The Philadelphia Inquirer. “It’s fair to ask whether it was worth it.”
Josh Marcus2 July 2026 05:00
Qatar says US-Iran talks made ‘positive progress’, next round after Khamenei funeral
Qatar has said the latest round of indirect talks between the United States and Iran made “positive progress”, with both sides agreeing to resume negotiations after the funeral ceremonies for Iran’s former Supreme Leader.
It came even as talks ended in a stalemate in Doha without any indication of a breakthrough.
In a post on X, Qatari foreign ministry spokesperson Majed Al Ansari said Qatari and Pakistani mediators held separate meetings with US and Iranian negotiators in Doha on Wednesday.
He said the discussions made “positive progress” on issues related to the Islamabad Memorandum of Understanding and built on the outcomes of the Lake Lucerne Summit.
Al Ansari added that the parties had agreed to continue negotiations, with the next round to be scheduled “at the earliest possible time” following the funeral processions for Iran’s former Supreme Leader.
Shweta Sharma2 July 2026 04:59
Iran says Strait of Hormuz is under its control, rejects US military role
Iran’s deputy foreign minister Kazem Gharibabadi has asserted that the Strait of Hormuz is “under Iran’s command, not Centcom’s”, dismissing any suggestion that US-led military efforts can determine security in the strategically vital waterway.
In a post on X on Wednesday, Gharibabadi said a military meeting in Bahrain could not establish a legal or security framework 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,” he wrote.
He added that regional security could only be achieved through an end to foreign intervention, the withdrawal of US forces from the region, respect for the sovereignty of regional states, and recognition of what he described as “new geopolitical realities” – “not under the military umbrella of America.”
Shweta Sharma2 July 2026 04:30
ICYMI: Iran–US held fresh indirect talks in Doha with no breakthrough
Iran and the US have wrapped up a fresh round of indirect talks in Qatar without any indication of a breakthrough, with discussions focused on implementing an interim agreement reached two weeks ago rather than tackling the long-running dispute over Tehran’s nuclear programme.
According to sources familiar with the negotiations, delegations spent two days in Doha discussing maritime traffic through the Strait of Hormuz and the unfreezing of Iranian funds – two key elements of the June memorandum that halted the conflict between the two countries.
Qatar’s foreign ministry said the talks made “positive progress” on issues related to the interim agreement and were “building on the outcomes” of a previous summit in Switzerland. The ministry added that the next round of negotiations will take place after the funeral ceremonies for Iran’s late Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who is due to be buried on 9 July.
Speaking in Washington, US president Donald Trump struck an optimistic tone, saying negotiations on possible limits to Iran’s nuclear programme were progressing.
“The denuclearisation of Iran is moving along well,” Trump told reporters. “They’ve had very good meetings, and we’ll see.”
However, sources familiar with the Doha discussions said the nuclear issue was not raised during the latest round, describing the meetings as technical and focused on implementing previously agreed measures.
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US vice president JD Vance acknowledged that nuclear negotiations were yet to begin in earnest.
“Obviously, we’re worried about the nuclear issue, we’re going to start talking about that,” he told reporters.
The talks remained indirect, with American and Iranian negotiators meeting separately with Qatari and Pakistani mediators, according to Qatar’s foreign ministry.
Notably absent were Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner and US special envoy Steve Witkoff, despite earlier White House indications that senior officials would participate. A source familiar with the matter said neither attended the Doha meetings.
Iran’s delegation was led by deputy foreign minister Kazem Gharibabadi, who confirmed the talks had concluded. Neither Tehran nor Washington indicated whether the latest discussions had narrowed the remaining differences between the two sides.
Shweta Sharma2 July 2026 04:13
Trump administration lobbied Saudis over Strait of Hormuz as tensions flared: report
In May, U.S. leaders embarked on frantic charm offensive to smooth things over with their ally Saudi Arabia, as the Gulf nation barred American forces from using its air space for “Project Freedom,” an effort to guide commercial ships through the Strait of Hormuz during the U.S.-Iran cease-fire.
Despite calls from President Donald Trump, Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio, the Saudis initially didn’t budge, The New York Times reports, though they later reportedly changed course.
As a result, the planned escort operation was soon scrapped.
For more context, here’s our story about the operation.
Josh Marcus2 July 2026 04:00
Drone attack targets Iranian Kurdish group in Iraq
An explosive-laden drone targeted a camp belonging to an Iranian Kurdish opposition group in the Koysanjaq district of Iraq, security sources in Iraq said.
The attack in the east of Erbil in Iraq’s Kurdistan region caused a fire at the camp.
There was no immediate information on casualties or who was responsible for the attack.
Shweta Sharma2 July 2026 03:58
