Iran-US war latest: Vance says US in ‘great position’ even if talks fail in Qatar

A police officer was killed as gunmen opened fire in Sib and Suran county in Iran’s southeastern Sistan-Baluchestan province, the provincial police information centre said this morning.

Mohammad Palangi, a Sunni Baluch officer, was on his way to work when he was shot at, the authorities said.

Football fan and founder of Palestine’s first national team for people of short stature, Haitham Al-Saqqa describes the danger of watching matches in the enclave, Maira Butt reports.

Iran’s chief negotiator Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf has claimed that Tehran has been unable to sell any oil during the US blockade on its ports.

“From the day the blockade was lifted until today, we have exported more than 40 million barrels of oil,” he told state TV.

“By contrast, during the previous 50 to nearly 60 days, we were genuinely unable to export even a single barrel of oil,” he added.

Ghalibaf added that Iran was prioritising diplomacy with the US, but remained prepared to go to war should Trump attack again.

“We are pursuing dialogue, but if the dialogue is not implemented, we are also prepared for war and will respond accordingly,” he said.

South Korean cargo vessel Namu is set to leave the Strait of Hormuz by mid-July following repairs for damage sustained in a May attack.

Seoul had initially pointed to an Iranian anti-ship missile as the likely cause for the damage, although responsibility for the incident was still to be officially determined.

The hull of the bulk carrier, operated by HMM, was struck near the stern. Following the incident, Seoul stated on 27 May that an Iranian anti-ship missile was the probable cause, leading to the summoning of Iran’s ambassador to share investigation findings and lodge a formal protest.

Israeli pime minister Benjamin Netanyahu yesterday visited Lebanese territory occupied by the Israeli military and told soldiers that Israel would not withdraw from the country’s south ‌as long as Iran-backed Hezbollah continued to pose a threat.

It was the first visit by Netanyahu to occupied Lebanese territory since the Israeli and Lebanese governments reached a security agreement last Friday, mediated by the US, under which Israel will hand over two areas to Lebanon’s army.

“Our insistence is that we will not leave southern Lebanon until the threat is removed,” Netanyahu told troops, according to a statement released by his office, referring to Hezbollah.

“And as long as Hezbollah remains here, armed and threatening ⁠us, we will remain here as well,” he said.

Netanyahu, who last publicly visited occupied Lebanese territory in April, was joined by defence minister Israel Katz and senior military officials.

Oil prices rose in early trade this morning as investors responded to news that ‌Iran will not be meeting with US envoys, a further strain on the interim ceasefire agreed between the two in the four-month-long war.

Brent futures rose 50 cents or 0.69 per cent to $73.45 a barrel, while US ​West Texas Intermediate crude climbed 63 cents, or 0.91 per cent, to $70.13 a barrel.

Brent fell by around $45 a barrel between the first and second quarters of this year, its largest quarterly loss since 2008 during the financial crisis.

US crude futures meanwhile ​fell by around $31, their largest quarterly loss since 2020, when the Covid-19 pandemic crushed global oil ​demand.

South Korea’s oceans ministry said this morning that the cargo vessel Namu would exit the Strait of Hormuz in mid-July at the ⁠earliest once the damage sustained in an attack in May was repaired.

The bulk carrier’s hull was hit near the stern in the attack, which Seoul said on 27 May probably involved an ⁠Iranian anti-ship missile, summoning the Iranian ​ambassador ⁠to share the results of its investigation and lodge a protest.

Saeed Koozechi, Iran’s ambassador to South Korea, ⁠denied Tehran’s involvement, the Yonhap news agency reported, and South Korea ​later ⁠said it could not ‌conclusively determine who was responsible or whether the attack was intentional.

There are currently two vessels stuck in the Strait ‌of Hormuz, including Namu, with 35 crew ‌members on board, Nam Jae-heon, vice oceans minister, told a press briefing today.

Nam added that 21 South Korean-operated vessels had passed safely through ⁠the strait since Washington and Tehran signed a ceasefire two weeks ago.

US vice president JD Vance has claimed that the Trump administration was in a “great position” despite how talks with Iran have been panning out.

“I actually think that the United States is in a great position, however, the negotiation ultimately shakes out,” Vance said, as US envoys met with a Qatari official yesterday.

He told Fox News: “If the negotiation is successful, which obviously we want it to be successful, you have an Iran that is permanently transformed.”

“That’s not funding regional terrorism and instability; that is permanently given up on any nuclear weapons ambition, and that, as a result, is welcomed back into the world economy. That’s a great outcome for the American people; it’s a great outcome for the whole region.”

US president Donald Trump ‌has weighed a return to all-out war, holding conversations with defence secretary Pete Hegseth and chair of the joint chiefs of staff General Dan Caine on conducting more strikes, the Wall Street Journal reported.

But for ‌now, Trump, who has publicly threatened Iran with more attacks, has decided to give diplomacy ‌more time, the report said.

The report comes as Iran said it would not meet with top US envoys who flew to the region following an outbreak of hostilities, clouding the prospects for a lasting peace between the two countries.

Iranian officials also said the two sides must still sort out the terms of a ⁠ceasefire they signed two weeks ago before they could tackle more difficult topics, such as possible limits to its nuclear program.

The two countries were due to commence lower-level technical talks, according to Majed al-Ansari, spokesperson for Qatar’s foreign ministry.