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Iran denies requesting US talks after Trump says dialogue to continue
Iran denied that it had requested negotiations with the United States after President Donald Trump said Washington and Tehran had agreed to continue talks despite a recent escalation of hostilities.
Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei said Tehran had not sought negotiations with the US, but had accepted a visit by the Qatari mediator to Iran, according to Iranian state TV.
Trump on Friday said the United States had agreed to talks with Iran after Tehran allegedly asked to continue negotiations, while stressing that the June ceasefire between the two nations was over.
Qatar emir and Pakistan PM discuss US-Iran talks and regional security, statement says
Qatar's Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani discussed regional developments and ongoing US-Iran talks with Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, with both leaders stressing the need for diplomacy to reduce tensions and protect maritime security, Qatar's Amiri Diwan said in a statement on Friday.
During a phone call, the two leaders underscored their commitment to coordinating on regional security, safeguarding maritime routes and ensuring lasting peace in the region.
Pakistan PM Sharif urges Iran president to preserve 'hard earned' peace
US issues fresh Iran-related sanctions, website shows
The United States has issued new Iran-related sanctions and a general license, according to a posting on Friday on a Treasury Department website.
Pakistani PM Sharif reaffirms Islamabad's role as mediator in call with Iranian president
Pakistan's Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said he had spoken with Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian on the ongoing war in the Middle East and reaffirmed Islamabad's readiness to continue its role as a mediator.
"We discussed the evolving regional situation and underscored the imperative of restraint, dialogue and diplomacy to safeguard the hard-earned peace gains of recent months," Sharif said in an X post.
Fire breaks out at industrial town in Iran's Lorestan province, Mehr news agency says
A fire broke out on Friday at the Oxin Palayesh industrial facility in Iran's western Lorestan province, the Mehr news agency reported, citing a local official.
Firefighters and emergency teams were working to contain the blaze, which started at the facility in Poldokhtar county, the official said.
No deaths or injuries had been reported, and the cause of the fire was under investigation.
Iran top negotiator Ghalibaf says conflict will not end with Iran's surrender
Iran's top negotiator Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf said that Tehran was ready for "all-out defence" if Washington betrayed last month's memorandum of understanding, and the war would never end with Iran's surrender.
Ghalibaf, speaking during a meeting with Ahmad Muzani, speaker of Indonesia's People's Consultative Assembly, said he had told the US vice president during negotiations that Tehran did not trust Washington and that, in his view, only those prepared for war could negotiate with the United States. The remarks were posted on Ghalibaf's Telegram account.
Egypt and Qatar call for restart of US-Iran talks
Egyptian and Qatari foreign ministers on called on the United States and Iran to resume negotiations, Cairo's foreign ministry said, as US President Donald Trump repeated that the ceasefire between the two countries was over.
During a phone call, Egypt's Badr Abdelatty and Qatari Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani "urged all parties to give priority to the language of diplomacy and dialogue and to return to the negotiating table", the ministry said in a statement.
They also called for "implementing the Memorandum of Understanding signed between the US and Iranian sides, as a prelude to reaching a final agreement between the two sides, in a manner that contributes to de-escalation and to enhancing regional security and stability", the statement added.
Trump claims Iran asked to continue talks, and US has agreed
US President Donald Trump said the United States had agreed to talks with Iran after alleging that Tehran asked to continue negotiations, while stressing that the June ceasefire between the two nations was over.
"The Islamic Republic of Iran has asked us to continue 'talks.' We have agreed to do so, but the United States has stated to them, in no uncertain terms, that the Cease Fire is OVER!" Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social.
Behind Khamenei’s funeral, Iran’s bid to show strength
Ahou Koutchesfahani, scholar in international relations and Iran expert, told FRANCE 24 that the funeral ceremonies for late supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei have been a carefully orchestrated display of power by the Islamic Republic.
The regime, she says, is seeking to send two messages: to its own population, by showcasing its control and ability to mobilise large crowds, and to the international community, by reinforcing the image of Khamenei as an anti-imperialist figure who stood up to the United States.
Watch her full analysis by clicking on the player below.
Russia starts sending back its employees to Iran's Bushehr nuclear power plant, RIA reports
Russia's state nuclear corporation Rosatom said that six employees of Iran's Bushehr nuclear power plant have begun returning to the plant, Russia's RIA reported citing its CEO Alexei Likhachev.
Rosatom, which is building two new units at Bushehr, evacuated hundreds of staff after the United States and Israel launched a war against Iran on February 28.
Qatari negotiators in Iran for talks to de-escalate US-Iran tensions, source says
Qatari negotiators are in Iran to meet Iranian officials in an effort to de-escalate tensions and create conditions for broader negotiations to continue, a source with knowledge of the situation told Reuters, adding that the talks were being conducted in coordination with the United States.
The talks aim to address the implementation of the US-Iran memorandum of understanding and the issues that triggered the recent escalation between Washington and Tehran, including disputes over navigation in the Strait of Hormuz, the source said.
Iran threatens reprisals over attacks on its infrastructure
The head of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council on Friday said that Tehran would retaliate against any attacks against its infrastructure. Mohammad Bagher Zolghadr also warned that Israel would not be spared.
Mysterious air strikes target Iran after US attacks
A series of mysterious, unclaimed air strikes that hit Iran after the US said it finished its attacks have again raised questions of who else may be targeting the Islamic Republic.
The strikes Thursday, just as Iran prepared to bury the late supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, hit areas across southern Iran. The country’s theocracy hasn’t directly blamed anyone for the strikes, though one lawmaker issued a warning to the United Arab Emirates over allegedly providing support to the United States in its campaign against Iran.
Gulf Arab states, which repeatedly have been targeted by Iran since the war began February 28, did not immediately respond to requests for comment Friday over the strikes. Israel, which took part in the Iran war, also has not claimed any recent attacks on Iran.
Fact-checking group says claims that 24 million attended Khamanei’s funeral massively exaggerated
The fact-checking group Factnameh said that online claims that up to 24 million people attended Ali Khamenei’s funeral are “highly inflated and based on flawed assumptions”.
Instead, Factnameh said total attendance is estimated to have been between 600,000 and 3 million people.
Greek PM announces deal to cut fuel prices over summer
Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said that gasoline and diesel costs for consumers will be cut during the summer following a government deal with oil refineries aimed at taming the impact of the Iran war on fuel prices.
Greece has recovered from a 2009-2018 debt crisis that forced wage cuts as part of bailout austerity measures, and Mitsotakis’ government has cut taxes and raised salaries since it took power in 2019. But rising consumer prices exacerbated by the conflict in the Middle East have strained household budgets in Greece, where purchasing power still trails the European average.
Responding to a question about the cost of living by an opposition lawmaker, Mitsotakis told parliament Greece’s two major oil refineries had agreed to price reductions until the end of next month.
“Fuel prices will drop by 10 cents per litre and diesel fuel will drop by 5 cents per litre,” he said, adding that the relief would be temporary until the end of August.
US-Iran escalation could threaten 2027 oil market surplus, IEA says
A recent escalation of hostilities between the US and Iran could upend the International Energy Agency’s forecast of a significant oil market surplus next year, as global supply jumped in June when the Strait of Hormuz reopened but still lagged pre-war levels.
Global oil markets received some respite last month as a peace agreement between the US and Iran facilitated the opening of the Strait, the effective closure of which had taken out as much as 14 million barrels per day of crude flows during the peak of the largest oil supply crisis in history.
Global oil supply rose by 4.1 million bpd in June, the agency said, but remained 9.4 million bpd below pre-war levels. The agency predicts supply will expand by 7.5 million bpd next year, but this is contingent on improved Hormuz transits.
“An escalation in hostilities on 7-8 July, however, clouds the outlook and could upend the forecast that sees the market flipping to a surplus next year,” it said.
Fuel markets flash supply crunch despite calmer oil prices
Gasoline and diesel markets are signalling a fuel supply crunch despite relatively subdued crude oil prices, suggesting the energy shock from the Iran war may be far from over.
Energy prices surged after the US-Israeli war on Iran led to the effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz, which carried about a fifth of global oil supplies before the conflict. But while crude prices fell sharply after last month’s ceasefire deal — and have risen relatively modestly on bursts of renewed fighting since — fuel prices have remained elevated.
That suggests the inflationary pressures weighing on industry and consumers, and worrying central banks, is set to continue, even if flows through the Strait of Hormuz have improved.
Pressure on fuel markets intensified this week after Russia banned diesel exports as Ukrainian attacks battered its refining infrastructure and raised the risk of domestic shortages. The gap between fuel and crude prices — a proxy for refinery profit margins — has widened sharply even as refiners in Europe and the US struggle to absorb a glut of crude oil from emergency stock releases and from the Middle East during the US-Iran ceasefire.
“There’s just not enough refining capacity left globally to deal with all this,” Sparta Commodities analyst Neil Crosby said, adding high fuel prices could soon curb consumer demand.
- Israel shared intel about 'new' Iran plot to kill Trump, US media reports
- Iran buries Khamenei after new fighting with US erupts
- US-Iran escalation could threaten 2027 oil market surplus, IEA says
- Qatari negotiators in Iran for talks to de-escalate US-Iran tensions, source says
Yesterday's key developments:
- US President Donald Trump briefed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday about US operations in the Gulf after Iran reported fresh US strikes.
- The US will oversee the withdrawal of Israeli forces from "pilot zones" in Lebanon 's occupied south, with the first to get underway within days, Lebanese and US officials said.
- Several explosions were heard in southern parts of Iran including Bushehr, where one of Iran 's nuclear plants is located, Konarak and Choghadak, Iran's Mehr news agency reported.
(FRANCE 24 with Reuters, AP and AFP)
