Iran’s Supreme Leader Mojataba Khamenei will not attend the funeral ceremonies for his father, former Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, due to security concerns, according to the current leader’s representative in India, Ayatollah Hakim Elahi.

Elahi attributed the decision to Israeli threats and surveillance risks that would make public attendance dangerous.

Earlier on Wednesday (July 1, 2026), Iran’s Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi issued a sharp warning to the United States, urging President Donald Trump to “muzzle its pets” in Israel after Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz said that Iran’s Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei was “marked for death”.

ANI

President Donald Trump ⁠said on Wednesday (July 1, 2026) the United States ‌was getting along ‌very well ‌with Iran ⁠and that ⁠recent indirect talks in Qatar went well.

“The ‌denuclearization of Iran is moving along well,” ‌Mr. Trump told reporters. “They’ve had very good ⁠meetings, and we’ll see.” “We’re ‌getting along very well,” Mr. Trump said, adding the Iran ‌has “come a long way.”

Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio appear to be staking out differing approaches to carrying out President Donald Trump’s national security agenda as the possible 2028 Presidential rivals jostle for position in a divided Republican Party.

With vastly different backgrounds and policy experience, they have moved along separate paths to stake out territory: Rubio, the son of Cuban immigrants with a long history in the Senate and major interest in Latin America, and Mr. Vance, a child of the Midwest and Marine Corps veteran who served in the Senate for only two years before being tapped as Trump’s 2024 running mate, with a message of opposing foreign wars.

While deferential to each other — and with the White House and State Department denying any suggestion of a rift — Mr. Vance and Mr. Rubio appear the most divergent on West Asia. 

In discussing Iran, Mr. Vance has several times been critical of Israel and its actions in Lebanon, saying Mr. Trump has been frustrated by Israeli actions against the Iranian-backed militant group Hezbollah that have angered Iran and made negotiations with Tehran more difficult.

Mr. Rubio, meanwhile, has remained supportive of Israel or held his tongue, particularly over the situation in Lebanon — an issue he has taken the lead on and resulted in a preliminary framework agreement last week.

-AP