Iran to receive $3 billion in frozen assets - Al Arabiya

Israeli forces will continue operating in the security zone of southern Lebanon until Hezbollah no longer threatens Israel, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Tuesday.

"As long as Hezbollah is here, armed, threatening us, we will remain," Netanyahu said.

He added that Hezbollah's rocket and missile stockpile had been reduced to 8% of its original 150,000, calling the group the central link in the Iranian axis.

Iran and US-allied Oman are moving forward with plans to collect payments from ships transiting the Strait of Hormuz despite public US objections, The New York Times reported, citing an Iranian official and four diplomats familiar with the matter.

According to the report, Oman has submitted a formal proposal to the United States and other Western allies under which shipping companies would pay service fees to use the strait.

A person familiar with the US position told the newspaper Washington had received the proposal and intended to discuss its concerns with Omani officials.

The newspaper said the proposal is modeled partly on arrangements in the Straits of Malacca and Singapore, where voluntary contributions help fund navigational safety. While a regional diplomat said any payments in Hormuz would be voluntary, an Iranian official told the newspaper they would be mandatory.

Safely evacuating more than 8,500 seafarers trapped in the Strait of Hormuz requires Iranian guarantees that vessels will not be targeted, CNN reported, citing the head of the UN’s International Maritime Organization (IMO).

“Once the reassurance comes back that no vessel that is being evacuated will be targeted, we are ready to immediately react,” IMO Secretary-General Arsenio Dominguez told CNN.

Dominguez also called for urgent demining of the strait to allow a gradual return to normal vessel traffic through the vital waterway, according to the report.

A 20-year-old US citizen living in the Jerusalem area is expected to be charged with security offenses for allegedly spying on behalf of Iran, the Times of Israel reported, citing police.

Police said the suspect was arrested June 9 on suspicion of contact with an Iran-linked agent and had allegedly photographed and filmed “sensitive sites” over several months in exchange for payments.

Prosecutors filed a declaration against the suspect on Tuesday, signaling a formal indictment is expected soon, according to the report.

The directive by the Supreme National Security Council said that, with programs linked to what it called the “historic funeral procession of the martyred Leader of the Revolution” beginning Friday, media outlets should help preserve national cohesion and maintain a focused media narrative.

It recommended that issues related to follow-up on the Islamabad memorandum of understanding — including the “balanced implementation of commitments,” especially over Hormuz, developments inside Lebanon, what it called the destructive role of the Lebanese government, the need to end Israeli attacks and opposition to externally imposed solutions — be gradually removed from media priority over the next 48 hours.

Instead, the directive said media capacity should mainly be used to explain the “personal, intellectual, cultural, political, historical and national dimensions of Iran’s martyr,” reflect “the presence and solidarity of the people,” and provide the “most magnificent possible coverage” of the ceremonies.

It said that if any “transgression or aggression” by enemies occurred during the period, “the issue of continuing defense alongside the holding of extensive ceremonies related to the funeral procession will naturally receive attention.”

The directive also urged outlets to avoid amplifying “internal political disputes, factional disagreements, media controversies” and issues that could polarize public opinion or divert attention from what it called a “national and historic occasion.”

News and analysis related to “negotiations, the agreement and other political and regional developments” should be covered “only to the extent necessary,” it said, warning media outlets not to turn those issues into the main focus of coverage or reproduce and amplify “rival media narratives about Iran’s defeat or retreat.”