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June 25, 2026e-Paper
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June 25, 2026e-Paper
Updated – June 25, 2026 09:54 pm IST
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio attends a meeting with foreign ministers of the Gulf Cooperation Council member states in Manama, Bahrain on June 25, 2026. | Photo Credit: AP
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who is in Bahrain for a Gulf Cooperation Council meeting, has warned that Iranian tolls on ships passing the Strait of Hormuz would spread to other waterways, risking “total chaos”. He also said that America is open for “real, enduring” peace that does not undermine the security and prosperity of the country and its allies.
This came as Iran’s Revolutionary Guards on Thursday (June 25, 2026) warned against any crossings of the Strait of Hormuz without authorisation, saying vessels not complying “will be dealt with”. They also denounced what they said was a new route through the waterway announced by “certain authorities”, without elaborating.
Also read: Iran says deal to end West Asia war ‘declaration of U.S. defeat
Senior Israeli and Lebanese officials denied on Thursday (June 25, 2026) that there had been any Israeli withdrawal from occupied southern Lebanon, after a U.S. official said Israel had pulled some of its troops back in a good faith gesture toward Lebanon’s government.
Also read: Trump says it may never be known who was at fault for strike on girls’ school in Iran
Senate Republicans who were berated by President Donald Trump over opposition to his war in Iran held a late-night vote Wednesday (June 24) to try to appease him, rejecting a war powers resolution a day after a similar measure passed.
A cargo ship was damaged after it was struck by an unknown projectile off Oman in the Strait of Hormuz today, a British maritime agency said, reporting no casualties.
The U.K. Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) security agency reported that the incident occurred 7.5 nautical miles (14 km) southeast of Dahit, in Oman’s Musandam exclave.
“A cargo vessel has been hit on the starboard side by an unknown projectile, causing damage to the bridge. Master has reported no casualties and no environmental impact,” UKMTO said.
British marine security firm Vanguard Tech identified that vessel as the Singapore-flagged container ship Ever Lovely.
– AFP
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said that Iran and Oman would hold talks “to define future administration and maritime services in the Strait of Hormuz” following a recent joint statement in Muscat.
In a post on X, Mr. Araghchi said he had a productive call with Omani Foreign Minister Badr Albusaidi and that the two countries were determined to pursue the discussions with their neighbours.
Oman told U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Gulf Arab ministers at a meeting on Thursday that future arrangements for the Strait of Hormuz would not involve transit tolls.
– Reuters
The International Monetary Fund said that it has seen energy and commodity prices fall since the U.S.-Iran agreement to halt hostilities and reopen the Strait of Hormuz, but it will take time for prices and Gulf trade flows to normalise.
IMF spokesperson Julie Kozack said that in the next update of its World Economic Outlook on July 8, the Fund will decide whether to continue with the three growth scenarios that it presented in April that depended on Iran war outcomes.
As the Strait of Hormuz remained closed in May, keeping benchmark oil prices above $100 per barrel, Kozack had said that the global economy was moving from the more benign “reference forecast,” which had assumed a quick end to the conflict, to an “adverse scenario” with 2.5% global growth for 2025.
– Reuters
Israel said that it would only withdraw its forces from southern Lebanon after Hezbollah was disarmed, as the two countries engaged in U.S.-mediated talks in Washington.
“We will not withdraw our forces from southern Lebanon as long as Hezbollah remains a threat, are not disarmed and are not demilitarised,” David Mencer, a government spokesman, said in a briefing to journalists.
Asked about the Israel-Lebanon talks in Washington, Mencer said: “We are making extremely clear that our responsibility is to our northern citizens and to the whole of Israel, and we will not allow any terrorist force anywhere near our border — which means that any redeployment of IDF forces comes after, not before, but after the demilitarisation of southern Lebanon and the disarming of Hezbollah.”
“We’ve already been in this situation in 2024,” he added. “Hezbollah were supposed to be disarmed. They weren’t.”
– AFP
An Israeli strike on a vehicle in southern Lebanon killed three people today, Lebanese state media reported, despite a lull in the fighting between Israel and Hezbollah.
Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency said “three people were killed and one person was wounded when an enemy drone targeted a… vehicle on the road between Zawtar and Mayfadoun”.
It is the third deadly incident since Tuesday (June 23, 2026), bringing the number of people killed in Israeli attacks this week to seven. The strike comes as Lebanese and Israeli officials meet in Washington for a fifth round of direct negotiations.
– AFP
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said there was zero support among Gulf countries for a Strait of Hormuz toll, adding that they also shared other serious concerns as he wrapped up his West Asia trip following the U.S.-Iran interim deal.
– Reuters
Israel must withdraw on its own from Lebanon’s entire territory or be forced to flee in defeat, the commander of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards’ Quds Force Esmaeil Qaani said today according to state media.
Last week, the United States and Iran signed an interim deal ending hostilities on all fronts, including Lebanon, and pledged to ensure Lebanon’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, with Tehran saying this means Israeli troops must leave southern Lebanon.
– Reuters
Oman’s top diplomat today said no transit fees would be imposed in the Strait of Hormuz after Muscat and Tehran, which border the key waterway, had earlier said they were discussing service “costs”.
Badr Albusaidi said “future arrangements regarding the Strait do not entail the imposition of any transit fees,” during a meeting of Gulf foreign ministers in the Bahraini capital Manama with U.S. Secretary Marco Rubio, whose administration has repeatedly opposed any fees or tolls.
– AFP
Pakistan says Iran-U.S. talks expected to resume next week
In a statement issued late on Wednesday (June 24, 2026), Pakistan’s foreign office spokesperson Tahir Andrabi said “parties are on the table” and that the process was going on.
“Talks are continuing. I believe that the talks will resume next week, probably on Tuesday… Basically, this is a temporary gap, and it is not as such a break,” Mr. Andrabi was quoted as saying in the statement.
Read the full story below
Pakistan announces expected resumption of U.S.-Iran talks next week, signaling progress towards a final peace deal.
Top US diplomat Marco Rubio warned on Thursday (June 25, 2026) that a deal with Iran would not come at any price, as he sought to reassure Gulf allies that it would not undermine their security.
“While we want a deal, we don’t want a deal at any price,” Mr. Rubio told a Gulf Cooperation Council meeting in Bahrain.
“We want to ensure… that there is no part of this deal that’s undertaken that in any way undermines the security, the stability, or the prosperity of any of our partners in the Gulf region,” he told.
– AFP
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio told Gulf Arab allies on Thursday (June 25, 2026) that any deal with Iran would take their interests into account, as he wrapped up a trip in West Asia aimed at selling the Trump administration’s preliminary accord to sceptical regional partners.
Speaking at a meeting of Gulf Arab foreign ministers and officials in Bahrain — home to the U.S. Navy’s Fifth Fleet — Mr. Rubio said Washington was seeking an enduring peace with long-time foe Iran that would not undermine the security and prosperity of its allies in the oil-rich region, which fear the accord is too soft on Iran after it attacked them in the war.
Rubio assures Gulf allies that any Iran deal will prioritize their security amidst concerns over concessions in U.S.-Iran negotiations.
Iraq will consider all available options if its OPEC quota is not significantly increased and has weighed leaving the producer group, sources with knowledge of Iraqi oil policy told Reuters. The prospect of OPEC’s second-largest producer considering an exit would be a further blow to the group after the departure this year of the United Arab Emirates.
Iraq is one of the five founding members of OPEC, which was formed in the Iraqi capital. Iraq is suffering a financial crisis as a result of the Iran war and a significant rise in its OPEC quota should be treated seriously, a senior Iraqi oil ministry official said.
Iraq had considered leaving OPEC, but the current plan was to remain a member and seek a higher quota, he added. “Saudi Arabia and other OPEC allies should treat this matter with the utmost seriousness. Failing that, Iraq will be compelled to consider all available options,” he said. Asked if they had discussed an OPEC exit, he said: “It’s still premature for this step”.
OPEC did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Reuters
Senior Israeli and Lebanese officials denied on Thursday (June 25, 2026) that there had been any Israeli withdrawal from occupied southern Lebanon, after a U.S. official said Israel had pulled some of its troops back in a good faith gesture toward Lebanon’s government.
“Israel has already taken a concrete step by pulling back from a part of its buffer zone. This is a significant demonstration of good faith toward Lebanon’s legitimate government,” the State Department official had said.
A senior Israeli defence official said that Israel’s policy was clear and that the military would not be withdrawing from its so-called “buffer zone” in southern Lebanon.
Asked about the State Department official’s comments, a senior Lebanese military official said developments on the ground in recent days “show the opposite of a pullback”. The official said Israeli forces had been enforcing their buffer zone against anyone approaching it, including Lebanese Army troops.
Reuters
Bahrain’s Foreign Minister Abdullatif bin Rashid Al Zayani welcomed on Thursday (June 25, 2026) Oman’s announcement of a corridor for the safe passage of vessels through the Strait of Hormuz.
Mr. Al Zayani made the remarks as he chaired a Gulf Cooperation Council meeting during U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s visit to the country.
Reuters
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Thursday (June 25, 2026) warned that Iranian tolls on ships passing the Strait of Hormuz would spread to other waterways, risking “total chaos”.
“International waterways do not belong to any nation state. This is a foundational principle in the world today, without which the world would be in total chaos,” he told a Gulf Cooperation Council meeting in Bahrain.
“If in fact we accepted that you can charge money to use an international waterway because it happens to be near your territorial space, well then this will spread throughout the world like a contagion.”
AFP
Republicans in the U.S. Senate, who were berated by President Donald Trump over opposition to his war in Iran, held a late-night vote on Wednesday (June 24, 2026) to try to appease him, rejecting a War powers resolution a day after a similar measure passed.
Mr. Trump harangued GOP Senators face to face earlier in the day for allowing a vote to block his war in Iran on Tuesday (June 23, 2026), further escalating a feud that has diverted GOP efforts to focus on election-year affordability issues and brought much of the chamber’s business to a halt.
Senate Republicans reject Trump's War Powers resolution, amid tensions and personal attacks, signaling ongoing party divisions.
A Liberian oil tanker made its way out of the Strait of Hormuz on Thursday (June 25, 2026) despite threats to shipping from Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard and using a new route close to Oman’s shore that has been promoted by a UN maritime agency.
The transit of the Stoic Warrior and the threats come as tensions rise between Iran and the United States over the terms of their interim accord aimed at permanently ending the Iran war.
The Stoic Warrior — signalling that it planned to transit the Strait of Hormuz — took off early Thursday (June 25) on a trip that saw it hug the coast of the United Arab Emirates and then Oman.
The vessel then travelled around Oman’s Musandam Peninsula fairly close to the shore, part of a route that Oman laid out alongside the International Maritime Organisation, an agency of the United Nations that oversees shipping at sea.
AP
Celebrating the MoU between Iran and the U.S., President Donald Trump said it was time to start the engines and let the oil flow. Yet one of the biggest challenges facing shipowners and crews lies largely out of sight, beneath the waterline. “Ships are not designed to remain indefinitely idle. Even when stationary, a ship remains a continuously living industrial system requiring maintenance, preservation and regulatory oversight,” says Ajithkumar Sukumaran, retired Additional Director General of Shipping.
Shipping through the Strait of Hormuz faces complex challenges as vessels resume operations after prolonged anchorage, impacting efficiency and crew welfare.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards on Thursday (June 25, 2026) warned against any crossings of the Strait of Hormuz without authorisation, saying vessels not complying “will be dealt with”.
Tehran has said it plans to impose what it calls maritime service fees, as opposed to tolls, while the United States argues it is an international waterway and therefore should not be charged.
“The only authorised route for passage through the Strait of Hormuz is the route announced by the Islamic Republic of Iran,” said the Revolutionary Guards, the ideological arm of Iran’s military.
Any crossing without authorisation is “unacceptable and extremely dangerous”, they warned in a statement.
They also denounced what they said was a new route through the waterway announced by “certain authorities”, without elaborating.
AFP
U.S. President Donald Trump said on Wednesday (June 24, 2026) it may never be known who was at fault for a deadly strike on a girls’ school in Iran on February 28, the first day of the Iran war, that killed scores of children. Reuters first reported in March that an initial internal U.S. military investigation showed U.S. forces were likely responsible for the fatal strike in Minab in southern Iran. The Pentagon has since elevated the probe but it has not acknowledged any preliminary findings.
“I don’t know that they are ever going to solve that problem,” Mr. Trump told reporters.
Trump suggests the responsibility for the deadly strike on an Iranian girls' school may never be determined amid ongoing investigations.
The Israeli military said on Thursday (June 25, 2026) that one soldier was killed during what it described as “operational activity” in southern Lebanon.
It did not provide further details.
Reuters
Shiite Muslims around the world marked Ashoura, a holy day symbolising sacrifice and martyrdom that holds special significance for many this year after months of war in Iran and Lebanon.
Ashoura commemorates the martyrdom of Imam Hussein, grandson of the Prophet Muhammad, at the Battle of Karbala in 680 AD Imam Hussein was killed with his family and companions after refusing to pledge allegiance to the Umayyad caliphate.
The event cemented the schism between Sunni and Shiite Islam and remains a powerful symbol of resistance against oppression and injustice.
This year, Ashoura comes after months of war in Iran and Lebanon, homes to two of the world’s largest Shiite populations. Iran and the U.S. this week launched talks aimed at finalising a fragile ceasefire agreement.
AP
The biggest casualty of the U.S.-Iran deal may not be Israel’s Iran strategy, but the political brand Benjamin Netanyahu spent decades building as the Israeli leader who could uniquely bend Washington to his will on Iran, analysts, former U.S. officials and diplomats say.
Mr. Netanyahu shaped his political identity on an audacious assertion: that he alone could keep the U.S. and Israel in strategic lockstep on Iran. Cultivating Republican support, he cast himself as the only Israeli leader capable of influencing successive U.S. presidents and insisted that only sustained military pressure could contain Tehran.
Analysts suggest the U.S.-Iran deal severely undermines Netanyahu's political influence and strategy regarding Israel's relationship with the U.S.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio will meet with Bahrain officials on the final leg of a trip to West Asia, where he has sought to sell the Trump administration’s preliminary Iran accord to sceptical Gulf Arab allies.
Mr. Rubio has acknowledged his delicate mission in pitching the peace deal to Gulf Arab leaders who fear excessive concessions will strengthen Tehran and reshape the region’s security balance and oil flows.
Arriving on Wednesday (June 24, 2026) night in Bahrain’s capital Manama, which hosts the headquarters of the U.S. Navy’s Fifth Fleet, Rubio will also meet with the Gulf Cooperation Council, or GCC, a grouping of six Sunni monarchies that also includes Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Oman, the United Arab Emirates, and Kuwait.
Reuters
Tehran accused NATO on Thursday of “complicity” in the U.S.-Israeli war against Iran, after the bloc’s chief noted its support for the United States in the conflict.
Responding to U.S. President Donald Trump’s criticism of allies for not supporting the war, NATO boss Mark Rutte told _Fox News_ that hundreds of American planes launched from bases in Italy.
Mr. Rutte also told Fox News that Romania “cut down on commercial air flights and airplanes because they had to use the airports for the tanker facilities” during the Iran war.
Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei condemned the NATO chief’s admission of “active complicity” in the “unlawful war”.
“This is a clear and damning admission of NATO’s active complicity in an unlawful war of aggression against a sovereign UN Member State,” Mr. Baqaei wrote on X.
He accused NATO of “a flagrant violation of peremptory norms of international law and the core principles of the UN Charter”.
-AFP
Oil prices extended their decline on Thursday to near levels last seen before the start of the Iran war, as rising supply expectations from the Middle East outweighed demand concerns.
Prompt-month Brent crude futures for August delivery fell $1.22, or 1.65%, to $72.52 a barrel as of 0337 GMT, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate lost $1.02, or 1.45%, to $69.32 a barrel.
Both contracts hit their lowest since February 27.
-Reuters
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards Corps on Thursday said safe passage through the Strait of Hormuz is only possible through routes designated by Iran, and that a new route announced without coordination with Iran is unacceptable and a safety risk.
IRGC said it will take action against vessels that fail to comply with the requirements.
-Reuters
President Donald Trump’s administration asked the U.S. Congress on Wednesday for $87.6 billion in additional funding, most of it related to the Iran war, setting the stage for another fight with lawmakers already frustrated with the conflict.
The supplemental funding request, posted on the White House website and transmitted to Congress, includes $67.15 billion for the military, in addition to some $1 trillion appropriated last year and another $1.5 trillion Mr. Trump wants for next year.
The White House said the latest funding request is to cover operational costs of the Iran war, including for military personnel and readiness, operational costs to rebuild weapons stocks, and classified programs.
The funding request for the military includes $21 billion to procure munitions, strengthen the U.S. industrial base and support critical capabilities.
-Reuters
Secretary of State Marco Rubio promised Gulf allies of the United States on Wednesday that Washington would protect their interests as it seeks to hammer out a final settlement of the Middle East war in talks with Iran.
Mr. Rubio is on a regional tour to reassure the Gulf states, which were targeted by Tehran’s missiles and drones during the conflict and saw their crucial oil and gas shipments effectively cut off by an Iranian blockade of the Strait of Hormuz.
During a visit to Kuwait City, Mr. Rubio said Washington would be on the same page as Gulf states as it wrangles with Iran over a permanent settlement to the conflict.
“We’re going to be completely aligned with our partners in the Gulf,” he said, adding that the United States would “engage them on conversations about every decision that’s made with regards to this negotiation.”
Mr. Rubio is due to attend a Gulf Cooperation Council meeting in Bahrain on Thursday after sitting down with the leaders of Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates on Wednesday.
-AFP
Published – June 25, 2026 07:42 am IST
Israel-US strikes on Iran / Iran / USA / war / Donald Trump / Live news / unrest, conflicts and war / negotiation / West Asia
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