U.S. Revokes Iran Oil License After Strikes Hit Strait of Hormuz Tankers

The U.S. launched a new wave of strikes against Iran on Tuesday, revoking a license that had allowed Iran to sell oil after three tankers were hit in the Strait of Hormuz, as U.S. Central Command said the action aimed to impose "heavy costs".

“In Pictures The funeral procession for late Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei has begun in Tehran as authorities prepare for crowds that could rival those that turned out for his predecessor nearly four decades ago”

Al Jazeera

Iranian media reported explosions early Wednesday local time in the southern port city of Sirik on Qeshm Island and in Bandar Abbas, with reports saying strikes hit a commercial pier in Sirik and fishing piers in both Sirik and Bandar Abbas.

Al Jazeera

A U.S. official told Reuters that strikes targeted Iranian air defense systems, coastal surveillance systems, surface-to-air missiles, anti-ship cruise missiles and drone launch sites, while Reuters also reported that negotiators continued to work in good faith toward a final agreement.

In a potentially major blow to the ceasefire framework, Washington moved to withdraw a key concession, and a U.S. official said Iran had until July 17 to wind down any transactions after the June 22 general license was revoked.

Qatar blamed Iran for attacking vessels including the Qatari liquefied natural gas tanker Al Rekayyat, and Qatar’s foreign ministry said it had summoned Iran’s deputy ambassador and handed him a protest note following the attack.

As huge crowds mourned Iran’s slain Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the funeral procession began in Tehran after his body lay in state for two days at Tehran’s Grand Mosalla religious complex, with state broadcaster IRIB reporting the start of the journey on Monday.

The Washington Post reported that mourners chanted "Death to America!" and "Death to Israel!" during the casket’s movement through Tehran, and it quoted Ezat Vezvaei, 67, saying, "Just be sure we will take our revenge from this, Trump!"

Al-Monitor

CBS News said President Trump told reporters in the Oval Office, "We're either going to make a deal, or we're going to finish the job," as U.S.-Iran talks were paused for the multiday funeral.

The Washington Post also noted the conspicuous absence of Khamenei’s son and successor Mojtaba Khamenei, while Ayatollah Jafar Sobhani led the prayer of the dead at the Grand Mosalla.

In Tehran, the BBC reported that Iranian government authorities neither confirmed the death of Khamenei nor denied it at first, and an anchor on Iran’s Channel 3 called the news "baseless rumors" that "will soon be clarified."

Iran’s Minister of Justice Amin-Hossein Rahimi announced that the judiciary, the Ministry of Justice, and the government established a framework allowing citizens to grant power of attorney to lawyers to file lawsuits for free in domestic and international courts over what he termed “emotional and psychological distress caused by the loss of the Supreme Leader.”

“What is being said to Iranians about the war - Author: Raha Kansara and Soroush Negahdari - Occupation: from BBC's Global Unit for Countering Misinformation and the BBC Monitoring section - Published in - Reading time: 6 minutes The first reports appeared on the screens of foreign networks, a place out of reach for most Iranians”

BBC

Rahimi said the process would let Iranian judicial authorities prosecute perpetrators including the governments of the United States and Israel, describing the effort as part of the Islamic Republic’s “legal warfare” alongside other arenas of confrontation.

In parallel, the Al-Monitor report said the ceasefire was intended to provide a 60-day window for negotiations on a permanent agreement, but indirect talks in Qatar ended last week with no sign of headway.

The BBC also described how state media blended reality with fake news and cited examples such as a Press TV caption that read: 'Smoke from a tall tower in Bahrain rises after Iran's attack.'

With the ceasefire described as shaky and the U.S. having withdrawn the oil-selling license, the Al-Monitor report said Iran’s foreign ministry condemned the move as a breach of the framework agreement and said Washington would bear responsibility for the consequences.