Iran war updates: Tehran rejects third-party intervention for Hormuz

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We will be closing this live page soon. Before we do, here’s a look at the day’s main developments:

• Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman confirms that US envoys Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff are in Doha, but no meeting with Iranian officials is scheduled.
• The Foreign Ministry added that “clearance of mines in the Strait of Hormuz is regulated by a relevant memorandum of understanding, and Tehran sees no need for third-party intervention”.
• Qatar’s prime minister reaffirmed his country’s mediation efforts during a meeting in Doha with Witkoff and Kushner to discuss the ongoing talks between Tehran and Washington.
• Iran’s Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf says Tehran will not begin negotiations on a final agreement with the US until all clauses of the MoU have been implemented, including the cessation of hostilities in Lebanon and the release of frozen Iranian funds.
• US Vice President JD Vance says oil traffic in the Strait of Hormuz has “reached its pre-war height”.

Iran’s IRGC says it foiled a cell of separatists attempting to enter the country’s northwest to carry out “acts of sabotage and terrorism”.

The IRGC said it launched the operation after learning that the group had entered Iran’s northwestern border areas, according to a statement cited by the semi-official Tasnim news agency.

All six members of the separatist cell were ambushed and killed, it said.

There are a handful of armed separatist groups operating in Iran’s peripheral regions.

In April, Trump admitted that the US had attempted to send weapons to Iranian demonstrators via Kurdish intermediaries during nationwide protests in December and January. Trump accused Kurdish groups of keeping the weapons for themselves, which they have strongly denied.

Trump’s so-called Board of Peace says the first “tactical vehicles” at the base of the International Security Force near Gaza have arrived, as logistical preparations continue for the deployment of a multinational force in the Palestinian enclave.

“Tactical vehicles arrive at Logistics Support Area: Endurance,” the board wrote on X, accompanied by photographs documenting the arrival.

Hazem Qassem, a Hamas spokesperson, said on Facebook that the group hopes the board’s move will mark “the beginning of implementing the tasks assigned to them”, namely, separating Palestinians in Gaza from Israeli forces and working to halt Israeli violations.

“We call on the Board of Peace to begin the actual implementation of the provisions of the plan to end the war on Gaza,” said Qassem.

The Board of Peace was established in January on Trump’s initiative, as part of efforts to reach a peaceful settlement in Gaza.

Born in Lebanon to Palestinian refugees, Samar Kabouli has never seen her parents’ homeland.

However, more than just making pretty designs, the threads in her needle are stitching a connection to her heritage.

It is known as “tatreez”, and Kabouli, 48, who started doing the traditional form of Palestinian embroidery in her teens to make money, according to The Associated Press news agency.

Kabouli’s work allows her to send a message of resilience, of survival.

“We’re still here,” she told the AP. “All what has been happening in Gaza … and we’re still standing and we’ll not forget the cause.”

Hundreds of thousands of Palestinians were expelled from or fled their homes in present-day Israel during the 1948 war surrounding its creation. Israel has since refused their return.

Israeli forces have raided the headquarters of the al-Tadamon Charitable Society in Nablus, in the occupied West Bank, and ordered its closure for a year, according to a report by Palestinian news agency Wafa.

Security and local sources told Wafa that several Israeli military vehicles entered Sufian Street and al-Adl Street before raiding the association’s headquarters.

Israeli forces also raided the Balata and Askar refugee camps east of Nablus.

Unfreezing Iranian assets is vital for Tehran and one of the main sticking points of the memorandum of understanding (MoU) signed with the US.

Iranians are saying that is the condition for them to move ahead in talks on the [peace] deal.

They got what they wanted, and according to what they say, they got an article about it in the MoU. That is Article 11.

Yesterday, the Iranian president said that the Americans agreed to unfreeze $6bn out of the $12bn that are kept in Qatar.

Qatari Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani met US envoy Steve Witkoff and Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, in Doha to discuss the ongoing talks between Tehran and Washington.

In a statement, Qatar’s Foreign Ministry said Sheikh Mohammed reaffirmed the country’s mediation efforts during the meeting and its support for all negotiations stemming from the memorandum of understanding between Washington and Tehran.

“The meeting also addressed the latest regional developments, particularly the ceasefire in the fraternal Republic of Lebanon.”

In a separate statement, the ministry said that “the Iranian and American technical delegations remain in session, noting that these meetings are taking place in different contexts and with the participation of mediators to ensure their continuity, whether in Doha or elsewhere”.

The ministry added that there are “currently no high-level meetings between the Iranian and American sides” under way.

Israeli officials say the planned withdrawal of Israeli forces from two villages in southern Lebanon will be delayed pending agreement on a US oversight mechanism, Israel’s public broadcaster Kan reports.

“There are currently no timelines. The withdrawal will take place, but it must be done properly,” Israeli security officials told Kan, adding that the pullback would only proceed once clear criteria are set, requiring the Lebanese army to act immediately against Hezbollah fighters and infrastructure.

Netanyahu says Israeli forces would remain in the “security zone” in southern Lebanon “until the threat is eliminated” and that the buffer zones being established in Lebanon and Gaza mark a “paradigm shift” in preventing armed groups from holding ground along Israel’s borders.

“As long as Hezbollah is armed and present here, posing a threat to us, we will remain here,” Netanyahu said, adding that the buffer zones were being built “not on our side of the border, but on their side”.

Iran has exported 50 million barrels of crude oil since the US lifted its naval blockade on the country’s energy exports, according to tanker-tracking firm TankerTrackers.com.

The figure equates to roughly 1.66 million barrels per day for June 2026, the firm said in a post on X, adding that most other countries in the region remain well below pre-war export levels.

The blockade was lifted under the MOU signed by US and Iran on June 17, after which the US Treasury issued a 60-day authorisation permitting the production and sale of Iranian crude through August 21.

The Israeli army says it has killed what it claims was a Hezbollah fighter near the so-called “security zone” in the al-Manzala area in southern Lebanon.

The “security zone” is an area of southern Lebanon that Israeli forces are occupying north of the Israeli border.

Israel continues to commit attacks in this area and target villages on the frontline despite a “ceasefire” deal struck between Israel and Lebanon.

Earlier this month, Israeli ministers had described their expanding colonial project in the language of intent – with Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich announcing the “cancellation” of the Hebron Accords, and Israeli broadcasters reporting on the government cabinet’s intended “quiet annexation” of Gaza.

This week, that vision began to take physical shape.

In Hebron, Israeli forces brought heavy machinery into the Ibrahimi Mosque and began installing steel beams over its open courtyard – a structural alteration the mosque’s director called a fundamental change to the ancient site’s historic character.

Israeli authorities have also blocked the Muslim call to prayer there for a week and a half.

In Gaza, Smotrich announced that the Settlement Administration he heads had “completed plans” for three settlements in the north of the Strip and called on Netanyahu to approve them.

And along the so-called “Yellow Line” demarcating Israeli control within Gaza, Israeli forces pushed their cement markers further west, expanding the territory under their control.

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