Middle East

Australia had granted humanitarian visas to six players and one support staff member last week from the Iranian squad after they sought asylum over fears of possible persecution upon returning home.

The secret letter follows a more public statement made by Hamas on Saturday, in which the terrorist group urged Iran not to target neighboring Gulf countries. 

Trump told the Financial Times he could also delay his summit with China’s President Xi Jinping later this month as he presses Beijing to help unblock the crucial waterway.

"The actions of this proscribed terrorist group - at the instigation of the Iranian regime - are once again drawing the people of Lebanon into a conflict they do not want," Cooper said.

"This scenario cannot be repeated," Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi warned, asserting that "reparations will be paid" following the conclusion of the war.

Many Iranian residents in Dubai, which hosts one of the largest Iranian diaspora communities in the Gulf, spend their days waiting for brief messages or calls from relatives sheltering inside Iran.

The EU’s Aspides mission was established in 2024 to protect ships from attacks by Yemen’s Houthi rebel group in the Red Sea. It currently has an Italian and a Greek ship under its direct command.

The coalition, US officials told the Journal, was still deliberating whether to begin its operations before or after the end of the ongoing Iranian hostilities. 

Fires are still burning in parts of the island, with regime authorities insisting that operations at Iran's most critical oil export terminal must continue without interruption.

Israel has begun targeting security checkpoints based on tip-offs from informants on the ground, representing a new phase of its assault on Iran, a source told Reuters this week.