CENTCOM chief meets Israeli, Lebanese leaders during regional trip

Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister for Legal and International Affairs Kazem Gharibabadi said Monday that demining the Strait of Hormuz would be carried out only by Iran under the Islamabad memorandum of understanding, warning France not to complicate the situation with what he called “provocations.”

Gharibabadi made the remarks after French President Emmanuel Macron said France would cooperate with Oman and other partners on demining the strait to secure maritime routes and ensure free passage.

“Demining is to be carried out exclusively by Iran and by no other country,” Gharibabadi said in a post on X. “In principle, we will not allow any other country to do so. The situation is sensitive and complex. We strongly advise France not to make it more complicated with its provocations.”

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Monday that Iran's former Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei would still be in power if Israel had accepted Hamas's terms for ending the war in Gaza.

“If we had done that, Deif, Sinwar, Haniyeh, Nasrallah, Khamenei, Assad – everyone would still be in place,” Netanyahu said during a multi-front military assessment. “With all their weapons, with all their organization, in the exact same place.”

Netanyahu said he had rejected calls to withdraw from Gaza in exchange for the release of all hostages, arguing that doing so would have amounted to “a massive defeat.”

Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said Monday he had ordered the military to prepare an independent strike plan against Iran, warning that Israel could go to war with Tehran “tomorrow” if it fired missiles at Israeli territory.

“If Iran fires missiles at Israel, Israel will strike Iran with force,” Katz told military and diplomatic reporters. “There is no equation we will accept in which Iran fires at Israel. This has also been made clear to the Americans. The IDF is just waiting for it and is on alert. There are targets.”

“My directive to the IDF is to prepare for a blue-and-white operation in Iran,” he added, referring to an operation carried out independently by Israel.

Katz said Israel did not want to disrupt US President Donald Trump’s diplomatic efforts with Iran but added: “When it comes to defending ourselves, there are no compromises, not in Lebanon and not in Iran.”

US special envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner will travel to Doha on Monday for meetings this week on the Iran deal, Axios reported, citing a White House official.

Witkoff and Kushner are expected to meet Qatar’s prime minister and other officials on Tuesday to discuss the deal, the report said.

US and Iranian technical teams will meet separately with Qatari and Pakistani mediators on Wednesday, the report added.

Qatar advised the temporary suspension of sailing, fishing boats, jet skis and some other maritime activities until further notice, the transport ministry said Monday.

The ministry said the measure was precautionary and exempted vessels subject to international maritime conventions. It did not give a reason for the suspension.

The advisory came a day after Qatar said one of its nationals was killed after sustaining shrapnel injuries due to “military operations in the region” after his vessel went missing.