US House votes for measure that would end Iran war, in blow to Trump
The US House of Representatives on Wednesday backed a Democratic-led resolution aiming to stop the Iran war until hostilities are authorized by Congress, reflecting growing congressional concern, even among
President Donald Trump's Republicans, over the war.
The House voted 215 to 208, as four Republicans voted with Democrats in favor of the war powers resolution. It was the latest setback for Trump in Congress despite his party's slim majorities in both chambers.
Netanyahu says decisions on disarming Hamas will be made with Board of Peace
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, asked in an interview with CNBC about Hamas disarming, said decisions about what kind of action will be taken and when would be made with the Board of Peace, which US President Donald Trump set up last year to oversee a phased ceasefire.
Trump says he wants to separate Lebanon, Iran talks
President Donald Trump said he wants to separate talks on the conflict in Lebanon and those on the war between the United States and Iran, although Tehran insists the conflicts are linked.
"I'd like to separate it, I'd like to have a separate thing, because it is, it is separate," Trump told reporters.
Trump says of Iran's enriched uranium: 'We will get it'
US President Donald Trump said that under a deal being discussed with Iran, "we will get" Tehran's stockpile of highly enriched uranium, which has been a major sticking point in negotiations.
Hamas postpones talks with Gaza mediators in Egypt to Sunday
A meeting between Hamas and Gaza truce mediators in Egypt has been postponed until Sunday, a source close to the movement said, as it demanded Israel halt ongoing attacks in the Palestinian territory.
The meeting had originally been planned for Wednesday in the Mediterranean city of El-Alamein, and was set to include a Hamas delegation headed by chief negotiator Khalil al-Hayya, along with Palestinian factions such as Islamic Jihad and mediators from Egypt, Turkey and Qatar.
"Hamas and the Palestinian factions are expected to begin consultative meetings in Cairo next Saturday" ahead of meetings between the Palestinian movements and the mediators on Sunday, a source close to the negotiations told AFP.
Trump says Iran talks could yield result this weekend
US President Donald Trump said that talks with Iran could yield results over the coming weekend and are going "very well."
"I hear the negotiation itself is going very well actually," Trump told reporters, adding of a potential deal: "It could happen ... over the weekend."
US denies Iranian claim of attack on military ship in Gulf of Oman
The US Central Command denied an Iranian claim that it had targeted a US military ship in the Gulf of Oman.
Iran war is over, Rubio says, as strikes continue
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio stood by his claim that the war with Iran was over, even as deadly strikes continued.
"We're no longer conducting sustained strikes inside of Iran to degrade their military, because Epic Fury is over," Rubio told the House Foreign Affairs Committee, asserting that the United States had secured victory.
Iran targets a US military ship in the Gulf of Oman, state media says
Iran has targeted a United States military ship hosting a "control and command center" while it was approaching Iranian territorial waters in the Gulf of Oman, Iran's state media reported.
Iran FM says 'no tangible progress' in talks with US to end war
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said that lines of communication with the United States were still open, but "no tangible progress" has been made in negotiations to end the Middle East war.
"Communications with the Americans have not been cut off, and messages have been exchanged regarding the need to stop aggression against Beirut, but no tangible progress has been made in the negotiation process," the Tasnim news agency quoted him as telling Lebanon's Al Mayadeen TV.
"Returning to the negotiating table is conditional on ensuring the rights of the Iranian people, ending the war in Lebanon, and stopping tensions in the region."
US central command denies claim that damage to Kuwait airport was caused by US missile interceptor
The US military said Iranian claims that a US missile interceptor had damaged Kuwait International Airport were false, adding that Iran struck the civilian airport with drones in a "deliberate, calculated, and unjustified attack".
Iran FM warns any attack on Beirut will trigger 'full-scale resumption of war'
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi warned that any attack on Lebanese capital Beirut would trigger a "full-scale resumption" of the Middle East war, as Israel pressed its campaign against Lebanese militant group Hezbollah.
"Any attack on Beirut will have grave consequences and will lead to a full-scale resumption of the war," the Tasnim news agency quoted Araghchi as telling Lebanon's Al Mayadeen TV. "Our armed forces are ready to strike Israel if it attacks Beirut."
Sirens sound in Israeli border town of Zarit over 'hostile aircraft infiltration'
Wall Street eases as Middle East tensions escalate
Wall Street stocks pulled back from record highs on Wednesday as flaring tensions in the Middle East and rising crude prices stoked inflation jitters and convinced investors to take some profits.
All three major US stock indexes were dragged lower by financials and tech, with the small-cap Russell 2000 underperforming its large-cap counterparts.
Middle East hostilities intensified and diplomatic efforts to end the war stood at an apparent impasse after the US and Iran traded a new round of air strikes, the latest test of a shaky ceasefire.
Oil prices rose, adding to worries that upward pressure on energy prices could metastasize into broader, systemic inflation.
"The market is desperate to believe the narrative that we're heading towards some sort of longer-term sustainable deal in the Middle East," Mayfield said.
"And this is a market that's pretty narrow and at all-time highs so it's susceptible to any piece of that narrative falling apart."
'If Israel attacks Beirut, Iran would respond decisively,' says Iran's FM
In an interview with Lebanese broadcaster Al-Maydeen, Iran's foreign minister Abbas Araghchi said that "Iran would respond decisively" should Israel attack Beirut.
Tehran's contacts with Washington have not been cut off, Araghchi said, but no progress has been made in the
negotiations, adding both sides were studying the texts that were exchanged.
Iran's Guards deny deadly attack on Kuwait airport
Iran's Revolutionary Guards denied responsibility for an attack on Kuwait's international airport that officials said left an Indian national dead and 63 people wounded.
"Our investigation and review into the Kuwait passenger terminal attack shows that the IRGC Air Force did not fire any shots at this target," said Guards spokesman Hossein Mohebi, according to the IRGC's official Telegram channel.
He said that "the destruction of the Kuwait airport passenger terminal was caused by an error in the American Patriot systems, which landed on the terminal after failing to intercept Iranian missiles".
Trump to attend upcoming NATO summit in Turkey, Rubio says
US President Donald Trump will attend the NATO summit in Turkey in July, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said, amid lingering questions about Washington's commitment to the security alliance.
"The President himself will be attending the next NATO meeting of heads of state, where all these points will be made clear," Rubio told the House Foreign Affairs Committee, referring to the July 7-8 conference in Ankara. "We're still in NATO, but NATO needs significant changes."
Rubio described the summit, which will bring together 32 member states, as "probably the most important meeting in NATO's history, because there's some things that need to be cleared up and fixed".
US-Iranian charged with selling banned computer equipment to Iran
A dual US-Iranian citizen was arrested and charged with providing sophisticated computer equipment to Iran, including technology for its military and nuclear programs, officials said.
Jamshid Ghomi, 63, could face up to 20 years in prison if convicted of violating US sanctions on Iran, Justice Department officials said.
Ghomi allegedly "violated US sanctions against Iran, aided one of our nation's enemies, supported Iran's nuclear program, and got rich doing it," Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said on X.
Enriched uranium key issue in Iran talks, no deal yet, Rubio says
The fate of Iran's highly enriched uranium stockpiles is at the center of talks with Washington, and Tehran has not yet agreed to a peace deal, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said.
Washington insists that Iran must turn over its near-weapons-grade enriched uranium, agree to curb its nuclear activities and re-open the Strait of Hormuz for any peace agreement to take hold.
"I think now, in some of the papers that have been exchanged back and forth, it's clearly addressed, but we ... still don't have final sign off from their system as of this morning," Rubio told the House Foreign Affairs Committee.
Tehran negotiating team says talks still ongoing, no final decision has been made, Iran's Fars news agency reports
Yesterday's key developments:
• US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said President Donald Trump's negotiating team has not offered Iran any sanctions relief in exchange for reopening the Strait of Hormuz.
• The first day of direct talks between ambassadors of Israel and Lebanon in Washington made no headway, after Trump said he had received commitments to de-escalation from both sides.
• Israel kept up strikes on southern Lebanon just a day after Trump asked Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu not to attack Beirut to avert further escalation in the three-month-old war.
(FRANCE 24 with Reuters, AP and AFP)
