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Morocco Adjourns Trial in Murder of Scandinavian Hikers

Flowers and candles in memory of Louisa Vesterager Jespersen and Maren Ueland are seen at the Town Hall Square in Copenhagen, Denmark December 28, 2018. (Reuters)
Flowers and candles in memory of Louisa Vesterager Jespersen and Maren Ueland are seen at the Town Hall Square in Copenhagen, Denmark December 28, 2018. (Reuters)
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Morocco Adjourns Trial in Murder of Scandinavian Hikers

Flowers and candles in memory of Louisa Vesterager Jespersen and Maren Ueland are seen at the Town Hall Square in Copenhagen, Denmark December 28, 2018. (Reuters)
Flowers and candles in memory of Louisa Vesterager Jespersen and Maren Ueland are seen at the Town Hall Square in Copenhagen, Denmark December 28, 2018. (Reuters)

Morocco adjourned on Thursday the trial of two dozen suspects charged in the murder of two Scandinavian hikers.

A total of 24 defendants -- one of whom shot a smile at journalists -- appeared in the criminal court in Sale to face charges including promoting terrorism, forming a terrorist cell and premeditated murder.

The opening hearing was immediately postponed until May 16 after defense lawyers requested more time to examine the case.

Danish student Louisa Vesterager Jespersen, 24, and 28-year-old Norwegian Maren Ueland had their throats slit before they were beheaded in December at an isolated site in the High Atlas Mountains.

The killings shocked the North African country and three main defendants accused of direct involvement, who allegedly pledged allegiance to the ISIS group, could face the death penalty.

A Spanish-Swiss national is among the suspects.

Nature lovers, the two friends shared an apartment and went to Norway's Bo University where they were studying to be guides. They had traveled together to Morocco for their Christmas holidays.

Their lives were cut short in the foothills of Toubkal, the highest summit in North Africa, some 80 kilometers (50 miles) from the city of Marrakesh, a tourist magnet.

Police quickly arrested a first suspect in the suburbs of Marrakesh, and three others were arrested a few days later when they tried to leave the city by bus.

Aged from 25 to 33, all had struggled to get by in poor districts of Marrakesh.

They made a living from "small jobs" and were educated to a "very low" level, according to investigators.

They had recently become radicalized, according to friends, neighbors and some family members.

The "terrorist cell" was inspired by ISIS ideology, according to investigators.

But Morocco's anti-terror chief has said the accused had no contact with the group in conflict zones.

And ISIS has never claimed responsibility for the double-murder.

Abdessamad Ejjoud, a 25-year-old street vendor referred to as the emir of the group by peers, is the suspected ringleader of the operational cell and a wider group he formed in Marrakesh, according to investigators.

Twenty others are due to face justice in Sale for links to the alleged killers.

Among them is Kevin Zoller Guervos, a Spanish-Swiss citizen living in Morocco.

Authorities allege he subscribes to "extremist ideology".

He stands accused of teaching the main suspects how to use encrypted communications and how to fire a gun, according to investigators.

Suspected of being a recruiter, he denied all charges when brought in front of an anti-terror judge.

Another Swiss citizen arrested after the double-murder was tried separately and sentenced in mid-April to 10 years in prison for "forming a terrorist group" and for his links to another extremist network.

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World

Report: Iran Sealed Uranium Cache with Mines

Satellite imagery shows an overview of a tunnel complex carved into rocky terrain near a developed facility area in Isfahan, Iran, on November 11, 2025. Maxar/DigitalGlobe/Getty Images
Satellite imagery shows an overview of a tunnel complex carved into rocky terrain near a developed facility area in Isfahan, Iran, on November 11, 2025. Maxar/DigitalGlobe/Getty Images
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Report: Iran Sealed Uranium Cache with Mines

Satellite imagery shows an overview of a tunnel complex carved into rocky terrain near a developed facility area in Isfahan, Iran, on November 11, 2025. Maxar/DigitalGlobe/Getty Images
Satellite imagery shows an overview of a tunnel complex carved into rocky terrain near a developed facility area in Isfahan, Iran, on November 11, 2025. Maxar/DigitalGlobe/Getty Images

In recent weeks, Iran has dramatically escalated efforts to seal off its cache of near bomb-grade uranium, deliberately collapsing tunnels and booby-trapping entrances with explosive mines, five sources familiar with US intelligence told CNN on Saturday.

Getting to the roughly half-a-ton of highly-enriched uranium is now far more difficult, dangerous and time-consuming than it already was just a month ago, when President Donald Trump was publicly signaling that he might order the US military to seize it, the sources said.

The new fortifications by the Iranians add an additional layer of complexity to the Trump administration’s proposed deal with Tehran to remove and destroy its uranium, and the move raises questions about who will take on the dangerous task of digging it out.

Trump has repeatedly stated that securing the material is a priority for the US in the ongoing negotiations to end the war and re-open the Strait of Hormuz, which Iran has effectively closed.

And according to a senior administration official who briefed reporters Friday, the two sides are inching closer to a deal that would require Iran to turn its enriched uranium over to the US. It would be destroyed on site and then taken out of the country, according to that official.

But US and Iranian officials have offered conflicting accounts of the tentative deal, and its precise terms remain unclear. The purported text of a draft deal leaked to a semi-official Iranian news agency Friday, triggering an angry outburst from Trump on social media.

Difficult and Dangerous Mission

Even for the Iranians themselves, several of the sources said, removing the enriched material would now be difficult and dangerous. It would require heavy excavation equipment and de-mining efforts — which are difficult and risky.

“If this reporting is true, it would definitely complicate ... retriev[ing] the HEU,” said Scott Roecker, who headed the National Nuclear Security Administration’s Office of Nuclear Material Removal from 2017 to 2021.

It could also offer an opportunity for Iran to obfuscate its compliance efforts.

If negotiators “require that Iran bring the entire stockpile to a central location for verification and ultimately to remove or downblend the material,” that would place the onus on Tehran to access and “provide the full inventory” of enriched uranium, Roecker said.

But, “in this scenario, I would worry that Iran would claim that some portion of the HEU was irretrievable,” Roecker said. “We wouldn’t have full confidence that Iran couldn’t retain access to it at some point in the future.”

The international community believes most of the stockpile is in collapsed tunnels at the Isfahan nuclear complex in central Iran, with some additional material held at other sites.

In mid-May, the military was prepared to conduct an operation to seize the nuclear material that was ultimately deemed to be too high-risk, CNN has previously reported
But in the time since then, Iran has only further fortified the sites where its highly enriched uranium is believed to be buried underground.

Protection of Nuclear Material

Trump has previously acknowledged the dangerous nature of retrieving the uranium by force, and he expressed skepticism in a May appearance on Fox News that the Iranians would ever be capable of accessing and retrieving the buried nuclear material without detection from US intelligence.

“We know exactly what’s happening,” Trump told Fox host Sean Hannity of the site. “Nobody’s even gotten close to it.”

But by publicly discussing the uranium as a possible target, two of the sources noted, the president may have provided Iran with the impetus to better defend its own assets.

Now, even if the agreement between Tehran and Washington is signed in the coming week, additional technical negotiations to hammer out the details on the future of Iran’s nuclear program are expected.

Removing the uranium from the country would likely require the deployment of a specialized mobile uranium facility organized under the National Nuclear Security Administration at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Tennessee.

But even the world’s top nuclear removal experts would need significant time to complete their task — Trump told reporters earlier this month that removal would take at least two weeks to complete.

World

Trump Says Deal to End War Will Be Signed on Sunday, Iran Questions Timing

A drone view of vessels anchored in the Strait of Hormuz as seen from Musandam, Oman, June 8, 2026. (Reuters)
A drone view of vessels anchored in the Strait of Hormuz as seen from Musandam, Oman, June 8, 2026. (Reuters)
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Trump Says Deal to End War Will Be Signed on Sunday, Iran Questions Timing

A drone view of vessels anchored in the Strait of Hormuz as seen from Musandam, Oman, June 8, 2026. (Reuters)
A drone view of vessels anchored in the Strait of Hormuz as seen from Musandam, Oman, June 8, 2026. (Reuters)

US President Donald Trump and mediator Pakistan said on Saturday an initial deal to end the war in the Middle East would be signed on Sunday, although Iran denied the signing would take place so soon. 

Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said the two sides had agreed on a framework for a peace deal and that Islamabad was preparing for an electronic signing on Sunday, to be followed by technical-level talks next week. 

Trump also said in a social media post that the deal with Iran was scheduled to be signed on Sunday and that the Strait of Hormuz, a vital artery for global oil supplies which Iran has blocked, would be immediately "open to all" after it was signed. 

Earlier on Saturday, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei cautioned against commenting on the timing the signing. 

"We will have to wait and see about the exact date of the signing of the memorandum of understanding, although it will not be tomorrow," state media quoted Baghaei as saying. 

"The possibility of this happening in the coming days cannot be ruled out. However, due to the ‌hesitation of the ‌other side, we must be cautious in making any comments about this process." 

A US official who spoke to ‌reporters ⁠later declined to ⁠be drawn on the timing but said: "It's a great deal and a very strong deal." 

It is not the first time the two sides have appeared close to an initial agreement on ending the war that began on February 28 with joint US-Israeli strikes on Iran, but Sharif said on X: "We are closer to a peace deal than ever before." 

The war has sent global energy prices sharply higher and killed thousands of people, mostly in Iran and Lebanon, where the war has revived a conflict between Israel and Iran-aligned Hezbollah. 

WHAT IS IN THE DEAL? 

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said on Friday that while changes in the deal were still possible, the tentative agreement showed his country had emerged stronger from the conflict. 

Hours after those remarks, US forces shot down multiple Iranian one-way attack drones heading toward the Strait of Hormuz, a source familiar with ⁠the matter told Reuters. 

The source, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the drones had posed a threat to ‌commercial traffic. US Central Command later confirmed the action and said the strait, a major artery for ‌global oil supplies, was open. 

Iran has for months effectively blockaded the strait, and the US navy has blocked Iranian ports to reduce its oil exports. 

The proposed memorandum of understanding ‌calls for reopening the strait and lifting the US naval blockade, sources on all sides of the talks said. Negotiations over Iran's nuclear program - Trump's stated ‌rationale for starting the war - would take place afterwards. 

"Iran is going to open up the Strait of Hormuz, that's a requirement. It could be open with no tolls. As they do that, we will lift our blockade," said the US official who spoke on Saturday. 

"It's going to happen in conjunction, and part of the next step, the phase after that, is going to be the demining of the straits," the official said, indicating countries in the Group of Seven major powers could have a role in this. 

FROZEN ASSETS 

Draft terms ‌described to Reuters by multiple sources indicate the US would begin releasing billions of dollars in frozen Iranian assets and waive sanctions on its oil exports, in return for Iran opening the strait. 

Iran's Fars news agency quoted ⁠Baghaei as saying the release of Iran's ⁠frozen assets was an integral part of the agreement and also that Iran would have to charge for services in the Strait of Hormuz. 

Fars also quoted him as saying foreign military bases in the region must end without providing details. 

Iran's nuclear program would be addressed during a 60-day period of talks. A US official said the agreement would ultimately lead to the dismantling of Iran’s nuclear program, with its stockpile of highly enriched uranium to be destroyed and removed. 

But Araqchi said that Iran, which sources said has not accepted the dismantling of its nuclear program, wanted to retain the uranium in diluted form. 

The proposals also include discussion of possible war reparations for Tehran and dropping longstanding US demands for limits on Iran's missile program, the sources said. The US official disputed that account. 

ISRAEL NOT PARTY TO MEMORANDUM 

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said his country would not be party to the agreement. He has clashed with Trump over US demands that Israel curb military action in Lebanon to allow Washington to reach a deal with Tehran. 

Araqchi said the agreement would end the war in Lebanon, implying an Israeli withdrawal from occupied areas. 

Israel's defense minister said it would not withdraw. A senior Israeli official said Israel expects to retain its freedom to act against threats. 

Iran's supreme leader, Ali Khamenei, was killed in an airstrike on the first day of the war and later replaced in the role by his son Mojtaba. Khamenei's funeral will begin in Tehran on July 4 and conclude with his burial in his hometown, the northeastern holy city of Mashhad, on July 9, Iranian state media reported on Saturday.  

World

Iran Says Funeral for Late Supreme Leader Khamenei to Begin July 4, Burial Set for July 9

A woman holds an image of late Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei during a rally in Tehran, Iran, May 29, 2026. Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via Reuters
A woman holds an image of late Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei during a rally in Tehran, Iran, May 29, 2026. Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via Reuters
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Iran Says Funeral for Late Supreme Leader Khamenei to Begin July 4, Burial Set for July 9

A woman holds an image of late Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei during a rally in Tehran, Iran, May 29, 2026. Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via Reuters
A woman holds an image of late Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei during a rally in Tehran, Iran, May 29, 2026. Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via Reuters

The ‌funeral for Iran's late Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei will begin in Tehran on July 4 and conclude with his burial in his hometown, the northeastern holy city of Mashhad, on July 9, state media reported on Saturday. 

Khamenei was killed on the first day of Israeli and US airstrikes against Iran on February 28. The 86-year-old cleric had been at the helm of the regime ‌for 36 ‌years. 

The funeral arrangements will include ‌ceremonies ⁠on July 7 in ⁠the holy city of Qom, south of Tehran, media said. 

Islamic law requires the deceased to be buried as soon as possible, and ideally within 24 hours of death, but exceptions are allowed, for example in time of war. 

During his ⁠rule, Khamenei built Iran into a ‌powerful anti-US force, spreading ‌its military sway across the Middle East through proxy forces ‌such as Hezbollah in Lebanon, while using an ‌iron fist to crush outbreaks of unrest at home. 

Khamenei remained a strong critic of the United States throughout his rule, while successive US administrations tried unsuccessfully ‌to resolve a dispute with Iran over its nuclear program. 

The airstrike that killed ⁠him pulverized ⁠his central Tehran compound. His 56-year-old son Mojtaba, who also lost his wife in the airstrike and was himself injured, succeeded his father as Supreme Leader. 

Pakistan's Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said on Saturday that Iran and the United States had agreed on a framework for a peace deal after more than three months of war and are expected to sign the initial deal in the next 24 hours.