Iran to allow Afghan nationals to enter for Khamenei’s funeral
Iran said it will open the border with Afghanistan to allow Afghan nationals to enter through the Dogharoun border crossing 24 hours before the funeral ceremony for late Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, the governor of Taybad said on Thursday.
Special arrangements are being made to transfer Afghan nationals from the border to Mashhad to attend the ceremony.
He said they would then be taken back to the Dogharoun crossing after the funeral, after receiving their passports.
The governor said no Afghan nationals had entered Iran through the crossing so far, adding that visas had been issued to 2,500 people.
Shweta Sharma2 July 2026 10:00
Trump says the US and Iran getting along very well
Trump says the U.S. and Iran getting along very well
Shweta Sharma2 July 2026 09:30
Oil prices fall to pre-war levels as Strait of Hormuz shipping slowly recovers
Oil prices fell to levels last seen before the US-Iran war as the gradual resumption of shipping through the Strait of Hormuz continued to drain the risk premium that had pushed crude to its highs during the conflict.
West Texas Intermediate, the US crude benchmark, fell to around $68.00 a barrel on Thursday morning, while Brent crude, the international benchmark, dropped to $71.16.
The declines extended steep losses from the previous session, when Brent closed down 1.9 per cent at $71.57 and WTI settled 1.3 per cent lower at $68.58.
Shweta Sharma2 July 2026 09:00
Iranian parliament speaker urges mass turnout at ayatollah’s funeral
Iranian parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf on Thursday urged the public to attend the funeral of slain supreme leader Ali Khamenei, saying the ceremony should show what he called the nation’s demand for blood vengeance to the world.
Ghalibaf said people should show that they would not remain silent in the face of arrogance and would not forget “the blood of their imam.”
He described the funeral as a reaffirmation of allegiance to Khamenei’s path and the values of the Islamic Republic.
Shweta Sharma2 July 2026 08:30
US considering pulling back on military footprint in Saudi Arabia: report
(Getty)
The U.S.-Iran war has scrambled relations across the Gulf, and it is reportedly driving a major wedge between America and Saudi Arabia, which angered the Trump administration earlier this year when it temporarily blocked U.S. forces from using its airspace to guide ships through the Strait of Hormuz.
Now, The Wall Street Journal reports, the U.S. is considering reducing its military footprint in the kingdom, a change which would represent a major break with decades of security arrangements.
Josh Marcus2 July 2026 07:59
Iran vow to deliver ‘powerful response’ to threats against people or leadership
Iran will deliver an immediate and powerful response to any threat against its people or leadership, Iranian foreign minister Abbas Araqchi said in an X post on Wednesday.
“POTUS has committed the US to muzzling its pets in Tel Aviv. If they ignore their master, Iran will school them,” Araqchi said.
The US and Iran held technical talks in Doha on Wednesday as they seek to agree on the flow of shipping through the Strait of Hormuz and secure a lasting ceasefire, a source with direct knowledge of the talks and an Iranian official said.
Shweta Sharma2 July 2026 07:45
Gaza marks 1,000 days of war
Palestinians face an uncertain future as Gaza marked the 1,000th day of war since Israel launched an offensive in Gaza following a Hamas-led attack.
Other conflicts have emerged in the region, and fragile ceasefires show scars of persistent attacks.
Both Israelis and Palestinians are weary of the strain.
(AP)
The fate of over 2 million Palestinians in Gaza, largely displaced and living amid ruins, remains uncertain.
Israeli forces controlled over half of the territory under the ceasefire that took effect on October 10, but Israel’s government has expanded that and says it aims to hold 70%.
“Much more needs to be done so that even a semblance of normality can come back, and we are far, far away from this,” the International Committee of the Red Cross regional director, Nicolas von Arx, said this week.
(AP)
Israeli strikes have lessened considerably since the ceasefire took effect, but they continue almost daily.
Gaza’s health ministry counted 1,053 Palestinians dead since the ceasefire as of Tuesday, including over 350 women and children.
The United Nations on Wednesday warned that the Israeli expansion in Gaza increases deadly risks for civilians in “areas lacking clear demarcation on the ground.”
People visit the site where revellers were killed and kidnapped on Oct. 7, 2023, at the Nova music festival near the Kibbutz Reim, southern Israel, Thursday (AP)
The health ministry said over 3,400 people have been wounded since the ceasefire.
The ministry is part of the Hamas-led government and maintains detailed casualty records seen as generally reliable by UN agencies and independent experts.
Shweta Sharma2 July 2026 07:21
Iran war cut into construction spending in US: data
(AFP/Getty)
Construction spending in May was down 4 percent year-over-year, according to new U.S. Census Bureau data, a change homebuilders are blaming on the macroeconomic impacts of the Iran war.
EJ Johnson, president of the Lance Johnson Building Company in Arkansas, had been expecting a strong selling season before the conflict kicked off in late February.
“Then we decided to go to war,” Johnson told Marketplace. “We’re still moving houses, but we’re not moving them at the rate that we should be today.”
Josh Marcus2 July 2026 07:00
Mediators note ‘positive progress’ in US-Iran talks in Doha
Qatar and Pakistani mediators concluded separate meetings with the US and Iranian negotiators in Doha on Tuesday, Pakistan’s foreign ministry said.
It said “positive progress” had been made on the issues related to the MoU.
“Parties have agreed to continue discussions over the coming period with the next meeting set at the earliest possible time following the funeral processions of the former Iranian Supreme Leader,” it said.
Shweta Sharma2 July 2026 06:38
Oil prices extend losses as traffic partially resumed through Hormuz
Oil prices continued to fall in early trading as traffic has partially resumed through the Strait of Hormuz.
Brent crude futures fell 73 cents, or 1.02 per cent, to $70.84 a barrel by 01.02 GMT, while US West Texas Intermediate crude dropped 83 cents, or 1.21%, to $67.75 a barrel.
Both benchmarks had already fallen more than 1% in the previous session, hitting their lowest levels in four months as investors weighed the prospect of continued diplomacy between Washington and Tehran.
Kpler, a data and analytics firm, said shipping traffic through the Strait of Hormuz remained steady on Tuesday, with 34 verified vessel crossings recorded and traffic evenly balanced in both directions.
Shweta Sharma2 July 2026 06:09
