Israel threatens Khamenei after Iranian outlet publishes kill list

Iran’s newly appointed Supreme National Security Council secretary, Ali Larijani, is undertaking consultations as part of his first foreign trip since taking office.

The talks aim to secure backing from key Shia groups for the PMF law project, which seeks to formalize the status of Iran-backed militias integrated into Iraq’s security apparatus, according to the Baghdad-based source.

The source told Iran International that Larijani will meet with Shiite leaders to stress the “necessity” of passing the legislation.

Larijani arrived in Baghdad on Monday as part of his first regional diplomatic tour as Iran's top security chief that also includes Lebanon. He has indicated plans to sign a bilateral security agreement with Iraq and engage various political currents.

The timing of Larijani’s visit follows recent remarks by Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani, who emphasized that weapons should be controlled by the state and reported efforts to curb Iran-aligned militias’ participation in the June 12-day conflict between Israel and Iran. Iraqi authorities say they have prevented multiple planned attacks by these groups on US military bases.

Since the 2003 US-led invasion of Iraq, the country’s security landscape has been significantly influenced by various militias, many of which maintain close ties with Iran.Among these, the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF), an umbrella organization composed primarily of Shia militias, was initially formed to combat the Islamic State.

Although integrated into Iraq’s formal security forces in 2016 and legally subordinate to the Iraqi prime minister, the PMF continues to operate with a high degree of autonomy, with many of its factions maintaining strong Iranian connections.

The PMF consists of approximately 67 armed groups, nearly all of which are backed by Iran. These militias play a crucial role in Iraq’s security environment but have also been a source of controversy due to their influence and perceived external alignment.

Efforts to reform the PMF aim to reduce this influence by formalizing their integration under Iraqi state control.

In March 2025, the Iraqi parliament introduced draft legislation seeking to reform the PMF by placing it more firmly under the authority of the prime minister as commander-in-chief, explicitly aiming to limit external influence, including from Iran.

The proposed law also includes provisions such as a mandatory retirement age for senior commanders, potentially replacing key figures with longstanding Iranian ties.

The vessel, identified as Phoenix and sailing under the flag of a third country --Cook Islands -- was intercepted in Iran’s exclusive waters near Jask, said Ahmadali Goudarzi, commander of the border guards.

He said the operation was carried out following aerial surveillance and electronic monitoring that indicated an alleged large-scale smuggling attempt.

Authorities said 17 foreign nationals on board were detained and transferred to Jask for legal proceedings.

The cargo’s value was estimated at 759 billion rials (about $840,000), according to state media.

Iran has stepped up maritime enforcement in recent months, especially in waters near the Strait of Hormuz and the Persian Gulf, where fuel smuggling remains a persistent issue due to price differences with neighboring countries.

In April, Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Navy said it had seized a tanker carrying 100,000 liters of smuggled fuel and detained six people, according to Fars News Agency. That followed a separate operation in which two tankers allegedly transporting more than 3 million liters of diesel were intercepted and taken to the port of Bushehr.

The IRGC regularly announces such seizures as part of what it calls efforts to curb fuel trafficking in the region, a key route for global oil shipments. Iran has also seized tankers over maritime disputes or in response to international sanctions enforcement.

“It is natural that the struggle between right and wrong has existed from the beginning, exists now, and will continue until the end,” said Ali Fadavi, deputy commander of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), when asked if Israel remained a threat.

“This [renewed aggression] depends on whether these malicious ones think they have a chance of success — in that case, they will definitely act,” Fadavi said, according to Iranian media.

He added that Israel had “suffered a major blow” in its recent confrontation with Iran, saying that “the whole corrupt world” was on Israel’s side, while Iran stood alone before its adversary until it called for an end to the fighting.

The 12-day war between Iran and Israel began on June 13, when Israel launched a surprise military campaign targeting military and nuclear sites, killing hundreds of Iranians, including civilians, military personnel, and nuclear scientists, as well as assassinating senior commanders.

Iran retaliated with missile strikes that killed 32 people, including 31 civilians and one off-duty soldier.

On June 22, US President Donald Trump ordered airstrikes on Iran’s nuclear facilities at Isfahan, Natanz, and Fordow, before brokering a ceasefire that was announced on June 24, two days after Tehran struck a US airbase in Qatar.

“The other meaning of the president’s view is that either through negotiation we must bow to America’s demands or, in the course of war, give in to them,” the Ali Khamenei-linked paper wrote in a commentary.

“In this view, resistance has the least place—both sides of this dichotomy are submission.” Kayhan asked, “Is the opposite of negotiation war? If we refuse to talk with a country, must we necessarily enter into war with it?”

Kayhan further challenged the president to explain “when America has ever honored its commitments” and what basis exists for talks if Washington has already set the terms in advance.

Speaking in Tehran on Sunday, Pezeshkian dismissed what he called emotional approaches to confrontation and pressed his critics to offer concrete alternatives to engagement.

“No one has said that if I talk (negotiate), it means I’m surrendering… Surrendering is not in our nature at all… I don’t talk, then what do you want to do? Do you want to go to war? Fine, he [Trump] came and struck. Now we go and fix it again, and he will come and strike again. Someone should tell us what we’re supposed to do? These are not issues we should deal with emotionally,” he said.

Pezeshkian said any foreign policy step would be taken only with the approval of Khamenei.

“We will not do anything without the consent and coordination of the Supreme Leader, even if it goes against my own opinion, because I believe in this,” he said. “And once this coordination has been made, it is better that others do not criticize the action. Without coordination, we will not take any action.”

Tasnim, the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corp-linked news agency, also attacked the president’s framing on Sunday, saying that while his declaration of loyalty to the Supreme Leader’s strategic direction was a positive point, the tone of his remarks risked sending the wrong message to the country's adversaries.

“An enemy hearing these sentences can form no perception other than weakness,” Tasnim wrote.

Portraying dialogue as the only path—and suggesting that without it the other side will come and strike—undermines even the negotiations Pezeshkian supports, the agency argued.

“In such a situation, if the enemy does negotiate, it is doing us a great favor—let alone offering concessions at the table,” Tasnim wrote.

Both outlets stressed that presidential statements are heard abroad before they echo at home, saying that language perceived as hesitant could shape foreign decision-making to Iran’s detriment.

“We will in no way accept any border blockade with Armenia,” foreign ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei said. “The claim of a 99-year lease to the US has no basis and is fabricated news.”

Armenia’s deputy foreign minister will visit Tehran on Tuesday, while President Masoud Pezeshkian and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan are scheduled to hold a phone call later on Monday, Baghaei added during his weekly briefing.

The announcement follows a US-brokered peace deal between Armenia and Azerbaijan signed Friday at the White House. The agreement grants Washington rights to develop the route—renamed the “Trump Route for International Peace and Prosperity”—linking mainland Azerbaijan to its Nakhchivan exclave through southern Armenia.

Tehran has repeatedly warned against foreign control over the corridor, which bypasses both Iran and Russia.

IAEA's technical visit to Tehran

A team from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) began talks in Tehran on Monday, including meetings at the foreign ministry, Baghaei confirmed, saying that discussions were “technical and complex” but declined to predict the outcome.

“In the history of the agency’s work, we have never seen a peaceful nuclear facility under 24-hour monitoring attacked, without the IAEA condemning it,” he said, adding that the consultations would focus on future cooperation in light of recent events and parliamentary resolutions.

In late June, Iran’s parliament approved a bill to suspend the country’s cooperation with the IAEA, a day after a ceasefire with Israel following 12 days of deadly war.

Iran maintains its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes, but the UN’s nuclear watchdog has warned that the levels of uranium enrichment Tehran is pursuing have no civilian justification.

Talks with US and EU

The spokesman denied reports that Norway would host the next round of talks between Iran and the United States.

Iran and the US held five rounds of talks between April and May this year in Muscat, Oman, and Rome, Italy. A sixth round was scheduled to take place in Muscat on June 15, but was indefinitely suspended after Israel launched airstrikes on Iran two days earlier.

The ensuing 12-day conflict in June included US strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities at Isfahan, Natanz and Fordow, and Israeli strikes that destroyed critical infrastructure, killing several senior military and scientists as well as hundreds of civilians. Iran responded with missile strikes that killed 32 Israelis.

Talks with E3

On negotiations with France, Germany, and the United Kingdom, Baghaei said discussions had not stopped.

“At the Istanbul meeting about two weeks ago, both sides agreed to continue talks, but no time or venue has been decided,” he added.

France, Britain, and Germany have said they will activate the United Nations snapback mechanism against Iran by the end of August if no tangible progress is made on a nuclear deal.

The snapback mechanism is part of UN Security Council Resolution 2231, which endorsed the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, or JCPOA. It allows any participant in the nuclear agreement to reimpose sanctions if Iran is deemed non-compliant. If no resolution to maintain sanctions relief is passed within 30 days, all previous UN measures return automatically.

Lebanon and regional diplomacy

On Lebanon, Baghaei said Tehran recognizes the country’s inherent right to defend itself against Israel.

“Exercising this right without weapons is impossible. The decision on this rests with Lebanon,” he said.

Lebanon's cabinet instructed the army last week to develop a plan by the end of the year aimed at creating a state monopoly on weapons—an implicit challenge to Hezbollah, which has resisted disarmament since last year’s conflict with Israel.

Hezbollah decried the move as a "grave sin" and vowed to ignore it.

Baghaei said the newly appointed Supreme National Security Council secretary Ali Larijani’s visits to Iraq and Lebanon were part of Iran’s neighborhood policy, aimed at finalizing security agreements and advancing regional peace.

In Beirut, Larijani is expected to meet senior officials for talks on stability in West Asia, he added.

“Living next to an occupying entity that knows no limits in committing crimes is difficult. Our position in supporting Lebanon’s sovereignty has always been clear,” Baghaei said.

Senior Iranian officials, including Velayati and military commander Iraj Masjedi, have publicly opposed the move, describing it as an American- and Israeli-driven policy that will fail.

The Lebanese foreign ministry in a statement on X condemned the remarks as "a flagrant and unacceptable interference in Lebanon’s internal affairs."