Israel struck an air base in northwest Syria early yesterday, saying it aimed to prevent Turkish troops from deploying there.

Turkey, which has close ties with the Syrian government and has been providing assistance to Syria’s military, has tense relations with Israel. The rival countries have sought to curb each other’s influence in neighboring Syria.

Eight strikes hit the runway of the Abu Duhur air base in the northwestern province of Idlib, causing damage but no casualties, state TV said. Syria’s Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shibani told reporters in Damascus that Syria condemns the “Israeli aggression,” adding that the strikes were “an unjustified provocation, a violation of Syria’s sovereignty, and a direct threat to regional and global stability.”

-AP

The United Arab Emirates on Friday condemned an Iranian attack it said targeted two vessels linked to state-owned Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) as they passed through the Strait of Hormuz.

Iran has imposed an effective blockade of the strait and wants to charge users for passage, which the U.S. fiercely opposes. Iran is in talks with Oman over arrangements for the strait’s future management.

The UAE Foreign Ministry in a statement denounced what it called “the hostile Iranian attack that targeted two vessels affiliated with ADNOC as they transited the Strait of Hormuz, with no injuries reported”.

ADNOC confirmed “two of its vessels were attacked while transiting” the waterway on Thursday evening, adding the situation was “brought under control”, the official WAM news agency reported.

-AFP

Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told reporters that negotiations with Oman about “new maritime routes” on the Strait of Hormuz were in the final stages but “this, however, does not mean that the Strait of Hormuz will reopen.” That step requires conditions that “have been conveyed through intermediaries.” 

The Supreme National Security Council on Saturday said the strait will not reopen until the U.S. “corrects its behavior.” It demanded that the U.S. never threaten Iran again, a permanent end to the war with Iran and its armed allies, a lifting of the naval blockade of Iranian ports and a withdrawal of the US military from the area. The U.S. also must “completely compensate” Iran for war damage, lift sanctions and “unconditionally” release frozen assets.

The United States did not comment on the demands. Mr. Trump yesterday asserted to Axios that “we are only semi-negotiating” with Iran and letting economic pressures take their toll.

Mr. Araghchi said an “exchange of messages through intermediaries” continues with the U.S., but that doesn’t constitute negotiations, which he said can’t resume until violations of the interim deal end and the U.S. “has remedied” provisions it violated.

– AP

Secretary of State Marco Rubio promised Gulf allies of the United States on Wednesday that Washington would protect their interests as it seeks to hammer out a final settlement of the Middle East war in talks with Iran. 

Mr. Rubio is on a regional tour to reassure the Gulf states, which were targeted by Tehran’s missiles and drones during the conflict and saw their crucial oil and gas shipments effectively cut off by an Iranian blockade of the Strait of Hormuz. 

During a visit to Kuwait City, Mr. Rubio said Washington would be on the same page as Gulf states as it wrangles with Iran over a permanent settlement to the conflict.

“We’re going to be completely aligned with our partners in the Gulf,” he said, adding that the United States would “engage them on conversations about every decision that’s made with regards to this negotiation.”

Mr. Rubio is due to attend a Gulf Cooperation Council meeting in Bahrain on Thursday after sitting down with the leaders of Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates on Wednesday. 

-AFP

Iran’s chief negotiator, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, said that the Strait of Hormuz will be administered by Tehran, state media reported today, following talks pushing to end the US-Israeli war on the Islamic republic.

Iran and the United States agreed on yesterday to set up communication lines to keep the vital shipping route open and end fighting in Lebanon, mediators said, after their first round of talks in Switzerland toward ending the conflict that has engulfed the West Asia.

“The Strait of Hormuz will never return to its pre-war conditions and will be administered by the Islamic Republic of Iran, in accordance with international law,” Ghalibaf said on his return from the talks, according to IRNA.

In a video posted to Ghalibaf’s Telegram account, he said the talks at the luxury Swiss resort of Burgenstock produced “good achievements”.

-AFP

Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Monday (June 22, 2026) there was “major progress” in talks with the United States.

“Pakistani and Qatari mediation has delivered major progress to end Lebanon War,” Mr. Araghchi posted on X.

“Oil and petrochem exports are waived, blockade lifted, some frozen assets released, and major reconstruction & development plan launched for Iran.” — AFP

Pakistan will continue to support the implementation of the understanding between Iran and the U.S., said the Pakistan Ministry of Foreign Affairs, on Sunday (June 21, 2026). Pakistan was the mediator between U.S. and Iran for a peace deal.

Pakistan Foreign Ministry further said that PM Shehbaz Sharif and field Marshal Asim Munir left for Burgenstock, Switzerland to participate in talks on implementation of an MoU.

“On the sidelines of the talks, PM Sharif is expected to hold bilateral interactions with the participating delegates,” said the Foreign Ministry. — Reuters

Iran’s stockpile of enriched uranium must be “taken out” before the U.S.-Israeli war against Iran can be considered over, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told an American broadcaster yesterday.

“It’s not over, because there’s still nuclear material — enriched uranium — that has to be taken out of Iran. There are still enrichment sites that have to be dismantled,” Mr. Netanyahu said in an interview that aired yesterday on the CBS News program “60 Minutes.”

“You go in and you take it out,” the Israeli leader said when asked how the uranium could be removed.

Mr. Netanyahu said U.S. President Donald Trump had a similar position.

-AFP

Tehran on Saturday threatened to shut the Strait of Hormuz once more if the United States continues its blockade of Iranian ports, hours after the key waterway was reopened in the wake of a ceasefire deal in Lebanon.

The resumption of transit had lifted stock markets on Friday and prompted optimism from Washington, with U.S. President Donald Trump telling AFP a peace deal was “very close” and saying Iran had agreed to hand over its enriched uranium — a key sticking point in negotiations.

“We’re going to get it by going in with Iran, with lots of excavators,” Mr. Trump told a gathering of the conservative Turning Point USA movement in Phoenix, Arizona.– AFP