Iran says EU leaders won't have 'honor' of attending Khamenei funeral

Talks in Doha will focus primarily on the release of Iran’s frozen funds and a ceasefire in Lebanon, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei said.

Baghaei said Iran had no plans to hold talks with the United States in the coming days, adding that an expert delegation led by Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi was being sent to Doha to follow up on the implementation of a memorandum of understanding, with Qatar as the counterpart.

He said the war in Lebanon must end before negotiations can begin, and that the United States was obligated under the bilateral memorandum of understanding to compel Israel to withdraw from Lebanon.

Iran will receive $3 billion of its frozen assets by the end of the week, while US and Iranian delegations are set to hold indirect talks in Qatar on Wednesday, Al Arabiya reported citing unnamed sources.

According to the report, Wednesday's talks will be held in the presence of mediators and focus on the Strait of Hormuz and broader regional stability.

The report added that both delegations were also expected to meet Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani and Pakistani mediators in Doha on Tuesday.

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.