Iranian FM: The Region will Enter New Phase through 'Resistance Forces'

Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian receives his Omani counterpart Sayyid Badr al-Busaidi at the Iranian Foreign Ministry headquarters in central Tehran (IRNA)
Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian receives his Omani counterpart Sayyid Badr al-Busaidi at the Iranian Foreign Ministry headquarters in central Tehran (IRNA)
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Iranian FM: The Region will Enter New Phase through 'Resistance Forces'

Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian receives his Omani counterpart Sayyid Badr al-Busaidi at the Iranian Foreign Ministry headquarters in central Tehran (IRNA)
Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian receives his Omani counterpart Sayyid Badr al-Busaidi at the Iranian Foreign Ministry headquarters in central Tehran (IRNA)

Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian warned of the expansion of the war amid the renewed Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip, saying that the region will enter a new phase "through resistance forces."

On Sunday, the foreign minister made the remarks during a press conferen with his Omani counterpart Sayyid Badr al-Busaidi in Tehran.

The two ministers discussed the recent developments in Gaza amid reports about a possible Oman mediation in the Iranian nuclear program.

Amirabdollahian said that the new phase of the Israeli attacks on Gaza began with the presence of US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken at the ministerial meeting of the Zionist entity.

He added that the US must bear the consequences of this hypocritical behavior in supporting Israel, saying Washington claims it recommends Israel does not kill civilians while granting it the green light for genocide.

For more than 50 days, "we have been following the developments in Palestine to return stability and security in the region and stop the killing and genocide of the Zionist regime in Gaza," he said.

The leaders of the resistance warned that if the Israeli attacks continue, the region will enter a new phase, he indicated, warning that the killing of children and women must stop before it is too late.

He asserted that Iran never wanted the war to expand, but the warmongers in the region were strongly warned to stop their support for Israeli crimes.

He said that there is documented evidence that the Zionist regime is seeking to displace people in the Gaza Strip forcibly.

"In a part of the documents that were seized by the Resistance forces during the al-Aqsa Storm operation and in a part of the laptops that were captured, this hypothesis has been proven that the Israeli regime seeks to relocate all the residents of Gaza to a part of the territory and land of Egypt, and it seeks to transfer the residents of the West Bank to parts of Jordan," he noted.

"We hope that our brothers in Egypt will take immediate and serious action to reopen the Rafah border crossing and prevent this Israeli conspiracy against the territorial integrity of Jordan and Egypt."

- Discussing nuclear power

Earlier, the official IRNA agency reported that the two ministers were scheduled to discuss developing cooperation, achieving a ceasefire in the Strip, and delivering humanitarian aid to the people of Gaza.

Ahead of his visit to Tehran, Busaidi and his Iranian counterpart discussed over the phone Israel's resumption of war crimes in Gaza without any regard to the international community and global public opinion.

Busaidi warned against the outbreak of war and its expansion in the region, stressing the necessity of establishing a sustainable truce, sending humanitarian aid on a large scale, and establishing an effective international action.

Iranian media expected Busaidi's visit to Tehran to be within the context of exchanging messages between Tehran and Washington to prevent the expansion of tension in the region.

During the past two months, Iranian officials welcomed an Omani initiative proposed by Sultan Haitham bin Tariq.

However, they noted it was not a new agreement or a new plan but rather a practical initiative to converge views between Washington and Tehran and the return of all parties to the 2015 agreement.

Last week, the Director of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Rafael Grossi, said in press statements that talks with Iran might require a new framework rather than an attempt to revive the 2015 accord.

- Borrell urges Tehran to cooperate constructively

The nuclear agreement was part of the telephone conversation between Amirabdollahian and EU Foreign Policy Chief Josep Borrell.

The Foreign Ministry reported on Saturday that Amirabdollahian called on Borrell to stop the Israeli military attacks on the Strip and allow the entry of humanitarian aid.

The Iranian diplomat repeated previous warnings against displacing Palestinians and warned of the possibility of expanding the war in the region.

The two officials also addressed Iran and the International Atomic Energy Agency's cooperation, and Amirabdollahian noted that the "cooperation will continue within a technical and legal framework."

Borrell expressed hope that constructive cooperation between Iran and the IAEA will continue.

Meanwhile, Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi defended his country's positions in the Gaza war.

Speaking on Sunday at the "Second National Conference on Responsibility for the Implementation of the Constitution," Raisi said Iran's support for Gaza and Palestine is wholly based on the constitution's principles, which considers the protection of the oppressed as one of its duties.

"Since the beginning of the victory of the Islamic Revolution, one of the basic principles and approaches of the foreign policy of the Islamic Republic of Iran has been to support the rights of the Palestinian people and to recognize this issue as the first issue of the Islamic world."

He asserted that the principle is still standing and that global political developments will not change the primary direction of foreign policy.

Raisi reiterated that 6,000 children killed by the "Zionist usurpers will bring down this fake, cruel and usurping regime."



Trump's Iran Deal Faces Wide Criticism and Some Fear it Could Cost Republicans the Midterm

A sign protesting the Iran war and its impact on gas prices is seen during a protest outside of the US Capitol (AFP)
A sign protesting the Iran war and its impact on gas prices is seen during a protest outside of the US Capitol (AFP)
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Trump's Iran Deal Faces Wide Criticism and Some Fear it Could Cost Republicans the Midterm

A sign protesting the Iran war and its impact on gas prices is seen during a protest outside of the US Capitol (AFP)
A sign protesting the Iran war and its impact on gas prices is seen during a protest outside of the US Capitol (AFP)

US President Donald Trump’s interim agreement to end the war with Iran has dragged down his approval rating and garnered criticism across the political spectrum — even from his own supporters.

Recent interviews with 18 Americans who voted for Trump in 2024, a group that Reuters has interviewed monthly since he returned to office, show that most have doubts about the deal, which has reopened the Strait of Hormuz while temporarily lifting US oil sanctions on Iran and authorizing a $300 billion fund for its reconstruction.

“We need to truly weaken the Iranian regime instead of this, ‘beat them up a little bit and then step back and let them rebuild’,” said Terry Alberta, 65, a pilot in Michigan.

Overall, only a quarter of Americans believe the war with Iran was worth the costs, and a majority worry that the truce with Tehran is unlikely to last, according to the latest Reuters/Ipsos poll.

Many of the Trump voters feared his unpopular concessions to Iran would make it harder for Republicans to retain control of Congress in November's midterm elections, although those most critical of the deal had already begun to lose faith in the president before the war.

Six in the group believed he still had plans to bring down the Iranian government.

The group largely supported the war during its early days, believing US strikes were necessary to deplete Iran's stockpile of long-range missiles and cripple its nuclear program.

Lack of Trust in Tehran

Nearly four months later, with Iran politically emboldened and many of its military capabilities still intact, 14 of the voters criticized some aspects of the memorandum of understanding announced on June 14.

Most were skeptical that Tehran could be trusted to honor any agreement and dismayed by the prospect of granting it billions of dollars to rebuild.

The $300 billion fund will be a private investment vehicle rather than a government-funded plan, though exact details have not been released.

Juan Rivera, 26, said Trump “criticized his predecessors about negotiating with terrorists, and he’s basically done the same exact thing.”

Trump’s Midterm Endorsement now ‘Kiss of Death?’

Rivera still plans to support mostly Republican candidates in the midterms. But he said that when he volunteered recently to canvass Latino voters in his community near San Diego, many fellow Trump supporters were so disappointed by the president's handling of the war, among other issues, that they felt unmotivated to back his party in November.

“A lot of people say: ‘Why should I vote when the president's not doing what he promised?’” Rivera recalled.

Asked for comment, a White House spokesperson told Reuters that Trump's achievement “on the battlefield and at the negotiating table is nothing short of remarkable and will strengthen American security for many years.”

Steve Egan, 65, a promotional product distributor in Tampa, soured on Trump in early 2025 after tariff-triggered price hikes hurt his business. From the outset, Egan was skeptical of the president's rationale for the war and upset that it further jacked up the price of gas and other goods.

“Right now it doesn't seem like it's been worth it to go through all that,” he said, noting that the stated goal of regime change “didn't happen.”

His opinion of the president is now so low, Egan said, that Trump's endorsement would be “the kiss of death” for him when deciding which candidates to vote for in the midterms.

Brandon Neumeister, 37, a Pennsylvania state corrections worker and former National Guardsman, said the conflict seemed only to have benefited oil companies. Even before the war, though, Neumeister said he was unlikely to vote in November because he was disgusted with politics.

Robert Billups, 35, of ⁠Washington state, was cautiously optimistic the peace deal would hold. But he believed the war had spawned more hostility toward the United States rather than making the country safer.

Vice President JD Vance, tasked with leading US negotiations with Iran, has fallen in his esteem, and Billups said he no longer feels preferential toward Republican candidates. Come November, “whoever has a better strategy this time, I'm gonna vote for them regardless of their party,” he said.

‘A Bigger Plan’

Though Trump has been adamant about wanting to end the war, six ⁠of his more loyal voters expressed hope that he still had secret plans to bring Iran to heel.

Kate Mottl, 63, a secretary at a municipal office in the Chicago suburbs, said that “destroying” the regime in Tehran seemed like the only way to avert future conflict.

It would be “very disappointing” if Trump refrained from further military intervention, Mottl said, adding that she believed “there’s a bigger plan here.”

Rich Somora, 62, an engineer in North Carolina, agreed that Trump probably had more aggressive ⁠plans up his sleeve. “I can't imagine that he would have gone through all this and not found out a way to get rid of those mullahs,” he said.

According to diplomats and analysts, however, the war has only strengthened the grip of Iran’s clerical rulers. If they remain in power for another month, Somora said, he'll start to worry.

In Prescott, Arizona, 74-year-old retiree Joyce Kenney said she supported lifting sanctions and believed restoring Iran's ability to trade with other countries would ensure its leaders honored the truce.

But the reconstruction fund was a bridge too far: “That's not our responsibility,” she said.


Iran, US Continue Escalating Attacks

This aerial photograph shows boats anchored off Oman's northern Musandam Peninsula near the Strait of Hormuz on June 27, 2026. (Photo by AFP)
This aerial photograph shows boats anchored off Oman's northern Musandam Peninsula near the Strait of Hormuz on June 27, 2026. (Photo by AFP)
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Iran, US Continue Escalating Attacks

This aerial photograph shows boats anchored off Oman's northern Musandam Peninsula near the Strait of Hormuz on June 27, 2026. (Photo by AFP)
This aerial photograph shows boats anchored off Oman's northern Musandam Peninsula near the Strait of Hormuz on June 27, 2026. (Photo by AFP)

Iran and the US continued their attacks in the Gulf as ​each accused the other of violating an interim deal signed less than two weeks ago to end their four-month-old war.

Shortly after President Donald Trump warned the US might "militarily complete the job", Iran early on Sunday launched missiles and drones on US military sites in Kuwait and Bahrain, continuing a series of escalating attacks.

The US military said earlier it had struck Iran again, hours after a tanker was hit in the Strait of Hormuz, the world's most important energy shipping route, which Iran had largely cut off for most of the conflict.

The 14-point US-Iran interim agreement was meant to halt the fighting, which the US and Israel started on February 28, and reopen the strait to shipping while talks began on more deep-seated issues, such as Iran's nuclear program.

One round of mediated talks, led by ‌Vice President JD Vance ‌and Iran's Parliamentary Speaker, Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf, was held in Switzerland a week ago and Washington ​then ‌waived ⁠sanctions on Tehran, ​but ⁠the fighting and recriminations have since resumed and intensified.

"There may come a point when we are no longer able to be reasonable, and will be forced to militarily complete the job that we very successfully started," Trump posted on social media. "If that happens, the Islamic Republic of Iran will no longer exist!"

About an hour after Trump's post, the Kuwaiti army said its air defenses were responding to "hostile" missile and drone attacks, while sirens sounded in Bahrain, according to that country's interior ministry.

US Central Command said earlier that its forces had carried out fresh strikes after a Panama-flagged tanker was attacked by ‌an Iranian drone on Saturday.

"Iran was given a chance to honor the ceasefire agreement but elected not to," Central Command said in a statement, adding the strikes were "in direct response to continued Iranian aggression against commercial shipping" and targeted Iranian military surveillance, communications, air defense, drone storage and mine-laying facilities.

Iranian state broadcaster IRIB said explosions were heard in Sirik in southern Iran, without providing further details.

The Guards said "America's blind shots at Sirik will not resolve our dominance over the Strait ‌of Hormuz. But our shots at violators will remind the rest of the vessels of the clear passage route."


Israel Defense Minister Says Will Use ‘Force’ Against Iran if It Prevents Lebanon Deal Implementation

 A car with Iranian and Hezbollah flags attached to it as displaced people make their way back to their homes in southern Lebanon following an interim deal between the US and Iran, in Sidon, Lebanon, June 24, 2026. (Reuters)
A car with Iranian and Hezbollah flags attached to it as displaced people make their way back to their homes in southern Lebanon following an interim deal between the US and Iran, in Sidon, Lebanon, June 24, 2026. (Reuters)
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Israel Defense Minister Says Will Use ‘Force’ Against Iran if It Prevents Lebanon Deal Implementation

 A car with Iranian and Hezbollah flags attached to it as displaced people make their way back to their homes in southern Lebanon following an interim deal between the US and Iran, in Sidon, Lebanon, June 24, 2026. (Reuters)
A car with Iranian and Hezbollah flags attached to it as displaced people make their way back to their homes in southern Lebanon following an interim deal between the US and Iran, in Sidon, Lebanon, June 24, 2026. (Reuters)

Israeli defense minister vowed on Saturday to respond with "great force" if Iran attacked Israel in an attempt to prevent the implementation of an agreement with Lebanon aimed at securing peace between the two countries. 

"If Iran tries to attack Israel to prevent the implementation of the agreement, we will act against it with great force," Israel Katz said in a video statement, adding that the agreement with Lebanon had dealt a "strategic blow to the Iranian axis". 

Lebanon and Israel, under US sponsorship, signed an agreement on Friday hoping to end hostilities between them, but experts say it does not guarantee Israeli withdrawal from Lebanon and its implementation depends on Hezbollah and its backer Iran. 

Hezbollah leader Naim Qassem condemned the agreement on Saturday, accusing the government of surrendering Lebanese sovereignty and declaring the agreement null and void. 

Lebanon took the historic step of negotiating directly with Israel despite them having no diplomatic relations, as a reaction to Tehran-backed Hezbollah drawing the country into the Middle East war on March 2. 

Israel said it will not leave occupied Lebanese territory unless the group is disarmed. 

Katz added on Saturday that Israeli forces had been ordered to prepare for an extended stay in the so-called occupied security zone in southern Lebanon, after Israel and Lebanon agreed on the framework to end hostilities. 

"The prime minister and I have instructed the army to prepare for an extended stay in the security zone," Israel Katz said in a video statement, referring to an area up to 10 kilometers (six miles) inside the Lebanese territory. 

"The important principle established in the agreement is that there will be no redeployment by Israel in southern Lebanon, no withdrawal, as long as the terrorist organization Hezbollah is not disarmed throughout Lebanon," he said.