Mojtaba Khamenei suffered minor leg injury after US-Israeli strikes, official says

Iran ensures the safe passage of shipping through the Strait of Hormuz under a new legal framework, Russia’s Vedomosti newspaper quoted Iran’s ambassador to Moscow as saying on Monday.

"Iran ensures safety of passage. Based on the security measures and the legal regime of the Strait of Hormuz, ships and vessels can pass through," Kazem Jalali said.

He also said US and Israeli attacks on Iran had failed to achieve regime change, and that the Islamic Republic was more united than before.

Iran executed two political prisoners, Hamed Validi and Mohammad Shahi, on Monday following convictions on security charges.

Iran Human Rights Monitor had earlier warned that the two were at risk of execution after they were transferred to an undisclosed location.

“Such transfers in Iran often signal executions are imminent,” the group warned.

The two were arrested in Tehran last year and were subjected to forced confessions.

“Reports indicate serious due process violations, including torture, forced confessions, lack of transparency, and denial of full legal defense,” according to Iran Human Rights Monitor.

They were later sentenced to death by Branch 3 of the Revolutionary Court in Karaj on charges including “enmity against God” (moharebeh), and propaganda against the Islamic Republic.

The United States Central Command on Monday released video showing its forces boarding an Iranian-flagged vessel, detailing the operation after the ship’s seizure.

CENTCOM said the footage showed Marines departing the amphibious assault ship USS Tripoli by helicopter and rappelling onto the M/V Touska.

It said the guided-missile destroyer USS Spruance disabled the vessel’s propulsion after it failed to comply with repeated warnings from US forces over a six-hour period.

The video showed Marines transiting over the Arabian Sea before boarding the ship, according to CENTCOM.

Global oil prices rose and stock futures fell on Monday as tensions in the Middle East disrupted shipping through the Persian Gulf, while Asian equities advanced toward record levels, Reuters reported.

Brent crude climbed about 5% to $95.16 a barrel. S&P 500 futures dropped around 0.6% and European futures fell 1.1%. However, stock benchmarks in Seoul, Taipei and Tokyo moved higher, with Taiwan’s index hitting a record high.

A ceasefire in the Iran war, set to last until Tuesday, appeared uncertain after the United States seized an Iranian cargo ship and Iran’s top military command warned of retaliation.

“The headlines look bad; it looks like there’s disagreement ... which has led to a little bit of re-escalation,” Damien Boey, a portfolio strategist at Wilson Asset Management in Sydney told Reuters. “But I think, ultimately, both sides want to be able to do a deal.”

Reports from Tehran suggest the government’s new reconstruction plan has created a deep sense of abandonment among citizens who assumed war-related destruction caused by a national conflict would be covered by the state.

On Thursday, the Iranian Labor News Agency (ILNA) quoted Tehran Province official Mohammad Sadeq Motamedian as saying that “nearly 40,000 residential units across Tehran Province have been damaged.”

Earlier, Donya-ye Eghtesad reported that the Ministry of Roads and Urban Development estimated roughly 45,000 residential and non-residential units were damaged during the March war but did not require demolition, while nearly 1,000 units needed full reconstruction.

Motamedian’s assessment has intensified debate over the true scale of destruction and the government’s approach to rebuilding.

In Tehran, Mayor Alireza Zakani had previously promised full reconstruction of ruined homes and restoration of damaged buildings, but there has been little clarity on how much progress has been made.

The government’s reconstruction strategy became more controversial after spokesperson Fatemeh Mohajerani said on April 15 that the administration would not provide direct financial assistance to rebuild destroyed homes.

Instead, she said the government would offer what officials call “floating density,” a system of additional building permits intended to encourage private developers to help reconstruct damaged housing.

Under the plan, builders could reconstruct damaged or destroyed homes in exchange for permission to add one or two additional floors to new buildings, which they would then be allowed to sell for profit.

Critics say the proposal is unrealistic. Density bonuses cannot compensate families who have lost their homes, especially at a time when construction costs are soaring.

For many displaced households, the absence of direct financial support raises serious questions about how reconstruction could realistically proceed.

Government bodies have also released widely differing figures about the scale of damage. Some officials have suggested only a few thousand homes were affected, while others have put the number in the tens of thousands.

Donya-ye Eghtesad noted that estimates range from about 1,000 homes requiring full reconstruction to tens of thousands with varying levels of damage, leaving residents uncertain about the true scale of destruction and the level of support they can expect.

The discrepancies have fueled speculation that the government may be downplaying the extent of war damage in order to limit financial obligations, reinforcing broader criticism of opaque communication during and after the conflict.