Iran’s Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei suffered severe injuries in the strike that killed his father at the start of the war, including burns to his face and body and wounds requiring several surgeries on his leg, according to three people with knowledge of the matter, NBC News reported, adding that he will not attend the funeral of his father.
Iranian hardliners have accused the country's negotiators of compromising Tehran’s authority over the Strait of Hormuz, claiming a recent understanding with the United States has pushed international shipping toward what they call a US-backed Omani route.
Opponents of the Iran-US understanding have launched a fierce campaign against Parliament Speaker Mohammad-Bagher Ghalibaf, described as the agreement's chief negotiator, and President Masoud Pezeshkian, accusing them of surrendering Iran's authority over the Strait of Hormuz, thereby allowing the establishment of an Oman-American shipping corridor.
The criticism intensified after a televised interview with Ghalibaf aired on Tuesday, during which he appeared to reject calls by hardliners to close the strategic waterway.
"We must not turn the Strait against itself. The Strait is valuable only if traffic through it increases day by day, not decreases," he said.
His remarks were interpreted by conservative critics as a signal that Tehran has accepted Washington’s preferred arrangements governing maritime traffic through the Strait.
Focus shifts to Omani route
The controversy was fueled by satellite-based vessel tracking videos recently published by Kpler, which appeared to show that many non-Iranian commercial vessels have recently transited the Omani side of the Strait apparently accompanied by US naval vessels, while only a limited number of Iranian vessels were using the Iranian side. Hardliners argue that this reflects a de facto shift away from Iran's jurisdiction.
Ehsan Hosseini, editor-in-chief of the conservative economic website Khat-e Energy, claimed in a video posted online that both "the naval blockade and the Omani corridor are products of negotiations with the United States."
"At this very moment, groups of ships are passing through this corridor under US military escort. Your grave mistake is unforgivable."
In a separate social media post, Hosseini wrote that Iran's diplomats had "not only failed to collect any fees, but also created the conditions for establishing an Omani corridor through the Strait." He questioned whether Iran lacked the military capability to prevent the arrangement or whether "someone has tied the hands of the armed forces."
Military issues warning
Amid the growing debate, the Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters issued a strongly worded statement on Thursday amid hardliner pressure, without explicitly referring to the alleged Omani corridor.
The military command said all commercial and oil tankers were required to navigate through routes designated by Iran and warned that any vessel departing from those routes or disregarding “Iranian navigation protocols” in the Strait would face "an immediate and decisive response by the armed forces," placing the security of non-compliant ships at risk.
Several Friday prayer leaders also addressed the issue.
Hassan Ameli, Friday prayer leader of Ardabil, claimed the United States had violated the agreement by establishing "a new waterway alongside Oman."
Mohammad-Nabi Mousavifard, the Friday prayer leader of Ahvaz, issued an even stronger warning.
"If any ship passes through this waterway without permission and without observing the laws of the Islamic Republic, it will be sunk in the depths of the Persian Gulf."
Dispute over Strait management fees
According to The Wall Street Journal, US officials proposed during talks in Doha earlier this week that Iran abandon its demand to collect transit charges from ships crossing the Strait in exchange for access to frozen Iranian assets abroad. Tehran reportedly continues to insist on charging vessels for passage.
Hardliners argue that revenue generated from shipping fees could rival Iran's oil income.
They also accuse Ghalibaf of keeping parliament inactive to allow the agreement with Washington to proceed without interference from lawmakers affiliated with the ultra-hardliner Paydari (Steadfastness) Party, who are reportedly preparing draft legislation on a new legal framework for administering the Strait.
Iranian officials have maintained that the payments would be "management fees" rather than transit tolls, which could raise legal objections under international maritime law.
In his interview, Ghalibaf said ships would be allowed to pass without charge for only 60 days under the signed understanding, although he did not specify the type or amount of the fees that would eventually be imposed.
Social media backlash
Hardliner social media users also directed their criticism at Ghalibaf and the Pezeshkian administration.
One X user, Reza Valizadeh, referred to the Kpler tracking footage and wrote: “This is the doing of Ghalibaf and Pezeshkian. Nobody is passing through the Iranian section of the Strait of Hormuz."
Another user, Mohammad-Hossein Chavoshi, claimed that "part of the Strait of Hormuz has effectively slipped out of Iran's control" because international vessels were using a route designated by Oman.
He argued that the sovereign rights over the Strait emphasized by Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei had effectively been abandoned and warned that "no one knows what will happen in two months if this continues."
British Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper said prison sentences handed to two Romanian men over the stabbing of Iran International journalist Pouria Zeraati sent a warning to Iran and those acting on its behalf.
“For anyone to act on behalf of Iran and to plan and carry out an attack on a journalist, on British soil, is deplorable,” Cooper said in a post on X.
George Stana, 25, was sentenced to 12 years in prison and Nandito Badea, 21, to eight years at the Old Bailey on Friday over the March 2024 attack in Wimbledon, south London.
The judge agreed with prosecutors that the attack was carried out in the interests of and on behalf of the Iranian state.
Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) Secretary-General Jassim Mohammed Al-Budaiwi said on Friday that Bahrain's presentation to the UN Security Council on what it described as Iranian attacks reflected the kingdom's commitment to international law and diplomacy, while reaffirming the bloc's full support for Manama.
The GCC chief also urged the international community, particularly the UN Security Council, to take a firm stance against the attacks and fulfill its responsibility to maintain international peace and security.
Iranian lawmaker Meysam Zohourian said on Friday that some within Iran's leadership argued Tehran should let US President Donald Trump portray the recent war as a victory and strike a deal he could sell politically in the United States, in an interview with SNN.
Zohourian called the idea "profound ignorance and compounded foolishness," adding that such an approach would only strengthen Trump's hand and make it easier for him to take military action against Iran after the November US congressional elections.
"What worries me even more is this same profound ignorance and compounded foolishness surrounding the broader implications of the agreement. We have 14 clauses, but in my view the most important is the 15th: the precedent we have from the United States' past conduct in implementing agreements, which deserves serious attention," Zohourian said.
French President Emmanuel Macron said on Friday that France's mine countermeasure assets would remain deployed in the Middle East and ready to help restore safe navigation through the Strait of Hormuz, while the aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle returns to its home port.
"The signing, on June 17 last, of the memorandum of understanding between the United States and Iran constitutes an important step forward for regional stability, particularly by reaffirming freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz," he posted on X.
"In light of this favorable development and the changing needs, following the constructive exchanges I had with the Sultan of Oman, I have decided to adapt our deployment," Macron added. "The aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle is thus returning to its home port in Toulon, while our mine countermeasures assets and their escort remain deployed and ready to intervene alongside our partners."