Saudi Arabia condemns Iran’s drone attack on Bahrain

Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz described a newly signed agreement with Lebanon as "a strategic blow to the Iranian axis" on Saturday, saying Israeli troops would remain in a security zone inside southern Lebanon until Hezbollah is disarmed across the country.

"The important principle established in the agreement is that there will be no withdrawal whatsoever as long as the Hezbollah terror organization has not been disarmed throughout Lebanon," Katz said.

The Israeli military, Katz noted, would maintain its positions, including the Beaufort Castle ridge area, and had been instructed to prepare for a prolonged deployment to protect northern communities.

"Iran attempted to force Israel to withdraw from Lebanon through threats and pressure on the United States, and failed," Katz said.

"If Iran attempts to attack Israel to prevent the implementation of the agreement, we will act against it with great force," he added.

All branches of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps are ready to carry out any order issued by Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei in any field, his representative in the force, Abdollah Hajisadeghi, said Saturday.

“All forces of the Revolutionary Guards, including the Aerospace Force, Navy, Ground Force, Quds Force and Basij, are ready, with fingers on the trigger, to execute any order Mojtaba Khamenei issues in any field,” Hajisadeghi said.

Resistance and steadfastness remain the Islamic Republic’s main option, while negotiations are not its primary path, he said.

Even if the Islamic Republic enters talks, “it is the enemy that is desperate,” he added.

Hezbollah must continue fighting Israel in Lebanon to prevent the conflict from reaching Iran, Alireza Salimi, a member of the Iranian parliament's presiding board, said on Saturday.

"Iran has not been alone in this war, and Lebanon is part of the war. Lebanon is our strategic depth," Salimi said in remarks broadcast by state television.

If Hezbollah did not fight in Beirut, he added, Iran would have to confront Israeli soldiers "on the borders of Tehran and Kermanshah and elsewhere."

Salimi described the issue as "vital and serious" for Iran.

Authorities are considering holding slain Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei's funeral procession airborne to reduce crowding and improve security, the governor of Razavi Khorasan province said on Saturday.

Gholamhossein Mozaffari said the proposal, put forward by the provincial security council, was likely to be implemented because it would ease crowd management and provide safer conditions.

Officials have announced that Khamenei is due to be buried in the northeastern city of Mashhad on July 9.

Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei’s representative to the Revolutionary Guards said on Saturday that the force would never reconcile with the United States and remained committed to Israel’s destruction.

Abdollah Haji-Sadeghi said any negotiations with Washington would not aim at peace or friendship, citing religious grounds for hostility.

The Guards view US power as harmful to the Muslim world and consider fighting it a permanent duty, Haji-Sadeghi said.