The dayslong funeral for assassinated former Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei continued on Monday, with millions of people expected to pay their respects at some point throughout the week, as negotiations to end the Iran War entered their 19th day.
President Donald Trump on Monday said that the U.S. will either make a deal with Iran or “finish the job,” meaning defeat Iran militarily, adding that “it won’t be tough to finish the job.” Trump said that the U.S. ended its blockade of the Strait of Hormuz “because we’re close to maybe making a deal,” before adding “I don’t know, look — we’re going to win one way or the other.”
Kpler ship tracking data, cited by The New York Times, showed that 108 ships passed through the Strait of Hormuz in both directions from Friday through Sunday. The Times noted that “the latest shipping data appears to show that more ships in the past week took the Iranian route than the Omani route,” after Iran warned vessels last Thursday that all vessels transiting the Strait of Hormuz must follow routes designated by the Iranian government or face an “immediate and forceful response.” The Financial Times reported this past weekend that traffic through the Strait of Hormuz has more than quadrupled in the past week, noting that “the number of transits into and out of the Gulf including ‘dark voyages’ reached a total of 258 in the week to June 28, up from 41 in the first week of the crisis in March, according to data from Lloyd’s List Intelligence.”
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Trump told Axios on Saturday that Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu could visit the White House as early as this week.
Lebanon’s National News Agency reported that an Israeli drone strike on southern Lebanon killed at least four people on Monday, as Israel continued an occupation and military campaign that Iran says could derail the memorandum of understanding designed to lead to the end of the Iran War. Netanyahu said on Sunday that Christian villages in southern Lebanon “have actually asked to be annexed to Israel.” Netanyahu’s claim was rejected by several leaders of Christian villages in Lebanon and comes after attacks on Christian sites and villages by Israeli forces.
Gaza’s Government Media Office announced Monday that its Emergency Committee, which governs the strip, had been dissolved, transferring administrative authority of Gaza to an organization created by Trump’s Board of Peace.
